Her cruel, disapproving father in rage at their relationship, has Jeeva's mother and two sisters publicly arrested for prostitution, and eventually all three kill themselves. Jeeva becomes a professional killer and later exacts vengeance against Kiran's father and his henchmen. He and his neighbour Kiran Bali (Mukerji) soon witness the entire Bali family get murdered. Jeeva now decides to help Kiran seek revenge on the men who killed her family. The film and Deol's performance was panned by the critics, with Sakanya Verna of Rediff.com citing the film as "one of the most painful of the year" and commenting, "Deol's performance is quite, well, robotic. He religiously hangs on to a brooding expression right through the film. Why-o-why doesn't someone insist he goes to an acting school?" In 2001 (although filmed in 2000), Deol starred alongside Karisma Kapoor and Rahul Dev in Indra Kumar's Aashiq. Following this, he featured in Abbas–Mustan's thriller, Ajnabee, alongside Kareena Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Bipasha Basu. The film, adapted from the 1992 American thriller Consenting Adults, features Bobby as Raj, the new husband of Priya Malhotra (Kapoor) who after moving to Switzerland and initially befriending their neighbors (Kumar and Basu), become entangled in a web of deceit and extra-marital affairs. Ziya us Salaam of The Hindu was unconvinced with Deol's performance, remarking that he "only occasionally manages to transmit fear of the fugitive." In 2002, Deol starred alongside his brother Sunny in the historical drama 23rd March 1931: Shaheed. Set in British India, it depicts the events leading up to the hanging of Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and his companions Rajguru and Sukhdev on 23 March 1931. The film stars Bobby Deol as Bhagat Singh and Sunny Deol as another revolutionary Chandra Shekhar Azad. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rediff.com believed the movie had plenty of good moments, and plenty of bad ones and believed the film was superior to that of the original on Bhagat Singh, although they believed the agony of Bhagat Singh's fight was underplayed, diminishing the brutality and anguish suffered in the real-life event. While Deol was praised for some scenes, he was criticised for his loud acting and Rediff.com believed he was overshadowed by Ajay Devgan remarking, "In terms of performance, Devgan is clearly the winner, with the advantage of a stronger script and a better director. Devgan, who reportedly lost weight to look the part, is