Pratighaat (1987)

Continuing on a more ambitious scale his contributions to lumpenised political activity in India (cf. Ankush, 1985), Chandra pits a violent criminal-political gang against a small group of morally upright citizens in the fictional town of Dharampura. The bad guys are led by the dreaded gangster Kali Prasad (Charan Raj), who runs his own court and police with the help of a crooked lawyer (Saraf). On the side of the good is the young college lecturer Laxmi (Mehta), the fiery Durga (Hattangadi) whose husband was killed by Kali, and former policeman Karamveer (Patekar), who goes mad when his wife is raped by the gangster. Laxmi is stripped in public by Kali, after which - having reformed her unruly students - she contests a local election with their help in an effort to defeat the villain. Kali wins the election through booth capturing and terror. In the end Laxmi kills the gangster in a public gathering, using his election symbol of the axe, invoking in the process the legend of Parashuram.