Shool

Shool
Directed by	E. Nivas
Produced by	Ram Gopal Varma Nitin Manmohan
Written by	Ram Gopal Varma Anurag Kashyap (dialogue)
Screenplay by	Ram Gopal Varma
Story by	Ram Gopal Varma E. Nivas
Starring	Manoj Bajpayee Sayaji Shinde Raveena Tandon
Music by	soundtrack Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy background score Sandeep Chowta lyrics Sameer
Cinematography	Hari Nair
Edited by	Bhanodaya
Production company	Varma Corporation
Distributed by	Dream Merchants Enterprise
Release date	5 November 1999
Running time	135 min
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Shool (English: The Thorn) is a 1999 Indian action crime drama film written, and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. Directed by E. Nivas, with screenplay by Ram Gopal Varma, the film portrays the politician-criminal nexus and the criminalization of politics in the Indian state of Bihar, and its effect on the life of an honest police officer. The film starred Manoj Bajpayee as Inspector Samar Pratap Singh and Sayaji Shinde as the borderline psychopath criminal-politician Bachhu Yadav, a character loosely based on politician turned criminal, Mohammad Shahabuddin. The soundtrack consisting of "Main Aayi Hoon U.P. Bihar Lootne" featuring Shilpa Shetty became a chartbuster."

The climax of the film was entirely shot at the state Legislative Assembly in Hyderabad. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, and was screened at the International Film Festival of India, and the Toronto International Film Festival. "India Today" cited the film as the "Best Cop Movie"of the decade.

The film opens with a late night telephone call from Patna asking to speak to Bachchu Yadav (Sayaji Shinde), an MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) of the ruling political party in Bihar. Bachchu Yadav' lackeys trace their boss to a prostitute's abode, where he receives the telephone and is informed that his party has selected another MLA for the ticket this time. Yadav wastes no time, reaches the newly selected MLA's home and pressurises him to give up his nomination in lieu of money. When intimidation fails, Yadav's thugs stabbed the MLA under Yadav's supervision. When his deadliest cohort, Sudhir Vinod, stabs him in right-side of the chest, Yadav rebukes him for this "mistake" and stabs the half-dead man himself on the left, jokingly reminding him that heart is on the left side, by enacting Madhuri Dixit's famous Bollywood song, "Dhak Dhak Karne Laga".