{"id":3261,"date":"2016-05-24T00:36:25","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T19:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261"},"modified":"2016-05-24T00:36:25","modified_gmt":"2016-05-23T19:06:25","slug":"gangaajal-15-years-ago-a-film-warned-us-about-lynchings-and-mob-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3261","title":{"rendered":"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span class=\"dropcap\">M<\/span>idway through Prakash Jha\u2019s <\/p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gangaajal<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Amit Kumar (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/humour\/andhras-son-ajay-devgn\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ajay Devgn<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), the honest Superintendent of Tejpur Police, tells his wife that he is in a dilemma: Should he take a bet on Bachha Yadav (a fine Mukesh Tiwari), a temporarily suspended subordinate and include him in a sensitive operation? In the next few scenes, we find out that Kumar follows his gut and is rewarded for it. The operation, which involves cracking down on the district\u2019s most notorious crime family, is successful and Yadav wins his confidence back. <\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But a little later in the film, Kumar is tested on this very decision when Yadav and his colleagues commit a horrific act of brutality. They blind two prisoners who they thought deserved a gruesome punishment. If it weren\u2019t bad enough that this extrajudicial violence is meted out by the men Kumar trusted, public opinion is also in their favour. Naturally Kumar, horrified at this breach of power, is caught in a quagmire, for upholding his principles, means that he\u2019d be required to throw his colleagues under the bus and go against the sentiment of the janata.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the aftermath of the blindings, the town unconditionally stands by the accused cops, who they claim have brought them justice faster than the due process of law. It doesn\u2019t take long for the neighbouring towns to follow suit, resulting in more unlawful blindings. Any <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/politics\/urban-naxals-anti-nationals-vivek-agnihotri-democratic-values\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dissenting voice<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, critical of this \u201cpractice\u201d is not spared: An enraged mob heckles and threatens a local journalist while the police watch in silence.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the public mood, Kumar takes a moral stand against his colleagues for their ghastly actions. There\u2019s an elaborate scene where he explains to an anguished crowd that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/politics\/urban-naxals-anti-nationals-vivek-agnihotri-democratic-values\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">public lynchings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 even when they are committed against criminals \u2014 are never the solution for a society founded on democratic principles. And it\u2019s through the moral conundrum of its lead that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gangaajal <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">takes a stand against police excesses, goading the audience into an ethical dialogue over mob mentality and vigilante justice. It\u2019s been 15 years since the film released, but given the country\u2019s turbulent socio-political climate, there might not be a more appropriate time to revisit it.<\/span>\n\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gangaajal\u2019s<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> stand feels all the more revolutionary when you consider the message that most films were disseminating at the time. For the better part of the noughties, Bollywood was churning out movies which romanticised police officers bypassing the law for the just cause of decriminalising the streets. Films like <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aan<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Garv<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kranti<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kagaar<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indian<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ab Tak Chhappa<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">n \u2013 in varying degrees of nuance \u2013 humanised police brutalities. They\u2019d be accompanied by a standard narrative: A garden variety upright cop being driven to the point of forcibly taking matters in his hands due to the loopholes of a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/politics\/urban-naxals-anti-nationals-vivek-agnihotri-democratic-values\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">corrupt system<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In these films, the end always justified the means.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Jha admirably went against the tide to drive home the point that the tempting immediacy of justice can never be a justification for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/people\/part-time-businessman-full-time-gaurakshak\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">vigilante killings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In his last relevant film, the director also dissects mob behaviour and pinpoints where it germinates. He goes as far as to say that a culture of mob violence can\u2019t exist only due to groups of people assembling to vent out their anger. In order to lynch another person with impunity, any group requires a tacit endorsement from the state. The police in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gangaajal<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> not only set a precedent for vigilante justice but also remain silent enablers to situations that descend into violent chaos. <\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s exactly the kind of state patronage that both abets and emboldens this organised violence against <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/music\/jai-bhim-dr-babasaheb-ambedkar-dalits-india-sheetal-sathe-sachin-mali-naxalites-songs-resistance-music\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lower castes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/social-commentary\/india-muslim-community-not-in-my-name-protests-lynching-quran\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">religious minorities<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the country today. There\u2019s hardly a need to incite people with speeches directly calling for violence when gestures like a BJP Union Minister, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtv.com\/india-news\/minister-jayant-sinha-garlands-8-men-who-killed-meat-trader-in-jharkhand-1879268\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">garlanding<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> men convicted of heinous mob lynchings are seen as a nod of approval. Moreover, members of the Parliament labelling the rise of lynchings in the country as \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/bjp-mp-terms-dadri-lynching-a-small-incident-kicks-up-row\/article7757150.ece\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">minor incidents<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d or citing the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/bjp-mp-hari-om-pandey-rapes-murders-muslim-population-5279384\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rising population<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Muslims as a contributing factor for the violence comfortably provide the endorsement vigilante justice thrives on. <\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we\u2019re witnessing, when extrajudicial brutalities of the police find a heroic reception in the media, violence feels like a normal reaction to replicate by ordinary men on the streets. In a way, the police then conveniently outsource the grammar of violence to the public, escaping any legal scrutiny. Take the recent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/uttar-pradesh-hapur-lynching-linked-to-cows-claim-victims-kin-police-deny-say-road-rage-5224925\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hapur lynching<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for instance. A man who was beaten to death over rumours of cow slaughter, was dragged on the streets in the presence of three police officers. What\u2019s unfolding today isn\u2019t all dissimilar from a scene in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gangaajal<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where the police conspire with the locals to incite a mob into violence and promising to look away. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gangajaal<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> predicted this reality.<\/span>\n<blockquote class=\"quote--center\">In order to lynch another person with impunity, any group requires a tacit endorsement from the state. The police in Gangaajal not only set a precedent for vigilante justice but also remain silent enablers to situations that descend into violent chaos.<\/blockquote>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a sea of cop dramas where police officers are pictures of unabashed machismo, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gangaajal<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> let us in on their insecurities, anxieties, and even, pettiness. Once the realisation of their horrific act sinks in, the cops in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gangaajal<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> resort to more violence to prevent the witnesses from testifying against them. Prakash Jha\u2019s nuanced narrative resists broad strokes and no one is an outright villain. But while the film attempts to separate the man from his crime, it also takes no half measures in exposing the moral illegitimacy of police excesses. \u00a0<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In today\u2019s time, when powerful sections of the media, in collusion with the state machinery, justify the mistreatment of dissenting voices in the name of nationalism, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gangaajal<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a timely reminder of where this madness leads.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Prakash Jha\u2019s Gangaajal, its lead Ajay Devgn takes a stand against police excesses, goading the audience into an ethical dialogue on mob mentality and vigilante justice. It\u2019s been 15 years since the film released, but given the country\u2019s turbulent socio-political climate, there might not be a more appropriate time to revisit it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":3262,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3114],"tags":[6361,2597,6362,6363,6199,6364,6365,6366,5762,6367,6368,4375],"class_list":["post-3261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bollywood","tag-activists-arrest","tag-ajay-devgn","tag-arun-ferreira","tag-bhima-koregaon","tag-emergency","tag-gangaajal","tag-lynchings","tag-police-brutality","tag-riots","tag-sudha-bharadwaj","tag-vernon-gonsalves","tag-vigilante-justice"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Prakash Jha\u2019s Gangaajal, its lead Ajay Devgn takes a stand against police excesses, goading the audience into an ethical dialogue on mob mentality and vigilante justice. It\u2019s been 15 years since the film released, but given the country\u2019s turbulent socio-political climate, there might not be a more appropriate time to revisit it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Prakash Jha\u2019s Gangaajal, its lead Ajay Devgn takes a stand against police excesses, goading the audience into an ethical dialogue on mob mentality and vigilante justice. It\u2019s been 15 years since the film released, but given the country\u2019s turbulent socio-political climate, there might not be a more appropriate time to revisit it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-23T19:06:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535867615.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Parth Pandya\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"In Prakash Jha\u2019s Gangaajal, its lead Ajay Devgn takes a stand against police excesses, goading the audience into an ethical dialogue on mob mentality and vigilante justice. It\u2019s been 15 years since the film released, but given the country\u2019s turbulent socio-political climate, there might not be a more appropriate time to revisit it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Parth Pandya\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Parth Pandya\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7671fc448f2a267d9de8d96368bf0b68\"},\"headline\":\"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-23T19:06:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261\"},\"wordCount\":981,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1535867615.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"activists arrest\",\"Ajay Devgn\",\"Arun Ferreira\",\"Bhima Koregaon\",\"emergency\",\"Gangaajal\",\"lynchings\",\"Police Brutality\",\"riots\",\"sudha bharadwaj\",\"Vernon Gonsalves\",\"vigilante justice\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Bollywood\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261\",\"name\":\"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1535867615.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-23T19:06:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7671fc448f2a267d9de8d96368bf0b68\"},\"description\":\"In Prakash Jha\u2019s Gangaajal, its lead Ajay Devgn takes a stand against police excesses, goading the audience into an ethical dialogue on mob mentality and vigilante justice. It\u2019s been 15 years since the film released, but given the country\u2019s turbulent socio-political climate, there might not be a more appropriate time to revisit it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1535867615.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1535867615.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3261#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7671fc448f2a267d9de8d96368bf0b68\",\"name\":\"Parth Pandya\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/891e02fba5ccd0486d069dc54dc2d02594249836fd9945cdb3f5e8b8d50a1ca6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/891e02fba5ccd0486d069dc54dc2d02594249836fd9945cdb3f5e8b8d50a1ca6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/891e02fba5ccd0486d069dc54dc2d02594249836fd9945cdb3f5e8b8d50a1ca6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Parth Pandya\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=251\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice","description":"In Prakash Jha\u2019s Gangaajal, its lead Ajay Devgn takes a stand against police excesses, goading the audience into an ethical dialogue on mob mentality and vigilante justice. It\u2019s been 15 years since the film released, but given the country\u2019s turbulent socio-political climate, there might not be a more appropriate time to revisit it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice","og_description":"In Prakash Jha\u2019s Gangaajal, its lead Ajay Devgn takes a stand against police excesses, goading the audience into an ethical dialogue on mob mentality and vigilante justice. It\u2019s been 15 years since the film released, but given the country\u2019s turbulent socio-political climate, there might not be a more appropriate time to revisit it.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-05-23T19:06:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535867615.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Parth Pandya","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice","twitter_description":"In Prakash Jha\u2019s Gangaajal, its lead Ajay Devgn takes a stand against police excesses, goading the audience into an ethical dialogue on mob mentality and vigilante justice. It\u2019s been 15 years since the film released, but given the country\u2019s turbulent socio-political climate, there might not be a more appropriate time to revisit it.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Parth Pandya","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261"},"author":{"name":"Parth Pandya","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/7671fc448f2a267d9de8d96368bf0b68"},"headline":"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice","datePublished":"2016-05-23T19:06:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261"},"wordCount":981,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535867615.jpg","keywords":["activists arrest","Ajay Devgn","Arun Ferreira","Bhima Koregaon","emergency","Gangaajal","lynchings","Police Brutality","riots","sudha bharadwaj","Vernon Gonsalves","vigilante justice"],"articleSection":["Bollywood"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261","name":"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535867615.jpg","datePublished":"2016-05-23T19:06:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/7671fc448f2a267d9de8d96368bf0b68"},"description":"In Prakash Jha\u2019s Gangaajal, its lead Ajay Devgn takes a stand against police excesses, goading the audience into an ethical dialogue on mob mentality and vigilante justice. It\u2019s been 15 years since the film released, but given the country\u2019s turbulent socio-political climate, there might not be a more appropriate time to revisit it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535867615.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535867615.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3261#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gangaajal: 15 Years Ago, a Film Warned Us About Lynchings and Mob Justice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/7671fc448f2a267d9de8d96368bf0b68","name":"Parth Pandya","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/891e02fba5ccd0486d069dc54dc2d02594249836fd9945cdb3f5e8b8d50a1ca6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/891e02fba5ccd0486d069dc54dc2d02594249836fd9945cdb3f5e8b8d50a1ca6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/891e02fba5ccd0486d069dc54dc2d02594249836fd9945cdb3f5e8b8d50a1ca6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Parth Pandya"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=251"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535867615.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}