A minister (Govind Namdeo) is kidnapped by a dreaded terrorist gang leader Abrush (Danny Denzongpa). Major Jai Rajwansh with his men rescue the minister and arrest Abrush whose aim was to enter India. For his commendable job, Jai is greeted by his town people and becomes famous.

Then starts the romantic track of the film. Anjali (Madhuri) is Jai's childhood mate whose love is only Jai. But Jai does not reciprocate her love and instead falls in love with Miss India Pooja (Namrata Shirodkar). Very possessive of Jai and being rejected by him, a hurt Anjali becomes very jealous of Pooja and decides to adopt any means to get back Jai. Taking advantage of the vulnerable state of mind of Anjali, a corrupt minister (Anjan Srivastav) provokes her to steal the secret code from Jai's office. This results in the fleeing of Abrush from jail.

The blame goes on Jai who is declared a traitor. The same people who gave him all the honours humiliate him. Even his love Pooja breaks all ties when he is court-marshalled. Anjali realises her mistake and decides to help Jai, and so admits her mistake to Jai's senior (Om Puri). They all get together and fight terrorism.

A few of the patriotic dialogues and scenes are some of the best one has heard and seen. Raj Kumar Santoshi has proved again that he is one of the best directors and is capable of giving a slick film. The first half is pacy however the climax becomes predictable. When three of the best cinematographers of Bollywood come together (Ashok Mehta, Baba Azmi and Santosh Sivan), one can expect magic and truly Pukar is no doubt a visual treat. The snow-clad mountains of Alaska are mesmerising and the gorgeous Madhuri Dixit makes it worth a watch.

The drawbacks of the film (AR Rehman's music and less exciting climax) are covered by the high voltage performance by the lead stars (Anil and Madhuri) and few of the supporting stars. There is no doubt that Anil Kapoor is at his best. He has given an excellent performance especially when he is humiliated and court-martialled. He conveys the trauma and the emotional scenes with utmost ease -- simply superb. Madhuri Dixit has once again proved that no one can compete against her versatile talent -- whether it is dance, emotion, jealousy, liveliness....She has given an award winning performance and looks beautiful. Though her character is slightly negative she brings a certain amount of dignity in her role. She has proved her critics wrong; she is still here to stay for long. Her perfect matching of steps with rubber man Prabhudeva in Que Sera... is simply astounding. Namrata Shirodkar looks beautiful but needs to work on her acting. Danny is superb in the role of the terrorist. Anjan Srivastav gives an outstanding performance.

This well-made film with high-spirited performances and excellent cinematography is definitely worth a watch.