Raja Hindustani

Raja Hindustani
Film poster
Directed by	Dharmesh Darshan
Written by	Dharmesh Darshan Javed Siddiqui (dialogues)
Screenplay by	Robin Bhatt
Story by	Dharmesh Darshan
Produced by	Ali Morani Karim Morani Bunty Soorma
Starring	Aamir Khan Karisma Kapoor
Cinematography	W.B. Rao
Edited by	Bharat Singh
Music by	Songs: Nadeem-Shravan Background score: Surinder Sodhi[1]
Production company	Cineyug Films
Distributed by	Tips Industries Eros International
Release date	15 November 1996 (1996-11-15)
Running time	177 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹5.75 crore[2]
Box office	₹76.34 crore (US$21.55 million)[2]

Raja Hindustani (transl.  Raja The Indian) is a 1996 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Dharmesh Darshan. It tells the story of a cab driver from a small town who falls in love with a rich young woman.^[3] Aamir Khan and Karisma Kapoor play the lead roles. Released on 15 November 1996, the film's plot was inspired from the 1965 film Jab Jab Phool Khile, starring Shashi Kapoor and Nanda.^[4] The film's music was composed by Nadeem-Shravan, with lyrics by Sameer.^[5] It went on to win five Filmfare Awards, including the awards for Best Film, Best Actors,^[6] Best Music and seven Screen Awards.^[7]

Raja Hindustani was the third most commercially successful Hindi film of the 1990s in terms of net gross.^[8] Made on a budget of ₹5.75 crore, the film went on to gross ₹76.34 crore worldwide,^[9] becoming the highest-grossing film of the year,^[10] and the fourth highest-grossing film in India of the 1990s behind Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.^[8] The film's music became popular and album sold over 11 million copies and is one of the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack albums of all time.^[11] It was the third best selling album of the 1990s after Aashiqui (1990) and Dil To Pagal Hai (1997).^[11]. The music composers Nadeem Shravan got their 4th Filmfare Award for the film. The soundtrack ^[12] Karisma Kapoor was complimented for her looks and performance as Aarti: a rich, beautiful, sensitive, young woman full of dreams and desires.^[13] It is Kapoor's biggest commercial success till date and is regarded as one of her best performances; it was a major turning point in her career.^{[14][15][16][17]} She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her role.^[13][18] The chemistry between the lead pair of Aamir Khan and Karisma Kapoor was praised and there was a much talked-about kissing scene.^[19][20][21] The film was remade in Kannada as Naanu Naane in 2002, starring Upendra and Sakshi Shivanand in lead roles and was later dubbed in Telugu as Prema Bandham.

Plot

Aarti Sehgal is a beautiful young girl. Her evil stepmother Shalini wants to gain her father Bakshrath's wealth. Aarti arrives in Palankhet for a vacation to discover memories of her late mother and hires the services of available driver, Raja Hindustani. Ultimately, they bond and fall in love after an accidental passionate romantic kiss. Bakshrath arrives to take Aarti back to Mumbai and rejects Raja as his son-in-law, but they disobey him and marry. He later accepts their love, bringing them to Mumbai.

To gain total control of Bakshrath's assets, Shalini sets a trap that causes Raja and Aarti to get separated. Upon knowing her pregnancy, Aarti decides to inform and reunite with Raja. The doctor advises her not to travel. Shalini is asked to reach Palankhet to inform and convince Raja to come back to Mumbai. However, she misleads him that Aarti wants to divorce him, and then Aarti that Raja now hates her. Thus they get stuck in misunderstandings and separate.

6 months later

Aarti gives birth to a son, whom she dearly loves. Raja later gets to know that she has his child and is under the impression she intends to keep him away from it. Fearing he can never see his son, Raja kidnaps him. The lies and deception of Shalini come out. Distraught, Aarti reveals the truth to Raja, and they unite.

Cast

• Aamir Khan as Raja Hindustani
• Karisma Kapoor as Aarti Sehgal
• Suresh Oberoi as Bakshrath Sehgal
• Archana Puran Singh as Shalini "Shalu" Mitra
• Tiku Talsania as Sanjeev Sharma
• Farida Jalal as Suhasini Sharma
• Johnny Lever as Balwant Singh
• Pramod Moutho as Swaraj Mitra
• Mohnish Behl as Jay Mitra
• Navneet Nishan as Kamal "Kammo" Singh
• Veeru Krishnan as Gulaab Singh
• Master Kunal Khemu as Rajnikant
• Razak Khan as Taxi Driver
• Kalpana Iyer in song "Pardesi Pardesi"
• Pratibha Sinha in song "Pardesi Pardesi"

Production

Juhi Chawla was first offered the lead actress role, but she refused.^[22][19] Pooja Bhatt and Aishwarya Rai were also among those actresses who were considered for the role. Palankhet was a fictional location created for the film, and is a portmanteau of two real hill stations' names: Palampur and Ranikhet.^[23]

Reception

Critical response

Film critic Anupama Chopra, while reviewing Raja Hindustani for India Today wrote, "the film is disappointingly dated, but Darshan scores with his music-catchy 'Pardesi, Pardesi'— and with his leading lady, Karisma."^[24] She went on to praise Kapoor's performance saying, "Karisma looks stunning and acts surprisingly well. She is the lifeblood of this otherwise-banal film."^[24]

Box office

Raja Hindustani earned ₹76.34 crore worldwide, including a domestic gross of ₹73.84 crore.^[25] Its domestic nett was ₹43.15 crore, and its adjusted worldwide gross is equivalent to ₹394 crore.^[2]

Box Office India declared it an "All-Time Blockbuster".^[26][27][28] Domestically, it was the fourth highest-grossing film of the 1990s, after Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994) (₹116 crore),^[29] Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) (₹86.49 crore)^[30] and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) (₹80.12 crore).^[31] Adjusted for inflation, Raja Hindustani is the fifth highest-grossing film of India since the 1990s.^[32]

Soundtrack

Raja Hindustani/Prema Bandham
Studio album by Nadeem Shravan
Released	1996
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	51:20
Label	Tips
Producer	Nadeem Shravan
Nadeem Shravan chronology
Jeet (1996) Raja Hindustani/Prema Bandham (1996) Himmatvar (1996)

The soundtrack was composed by Nadeem-Shravan. Planet Bollywood ranks the film's soundtrack at 56 in its all-time top 100 greatest Bollywood soundtracks.^[33]

It consisted of tracks like "Kitna Pyara Tujhe Rab Ne" (which is uncredited and unofficial translation of the Punjabi song "Kinna Sohna Tenu Rab Ne Banaya" by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), "Aaye Ho Meri Zindagi Mein", which had become an immensely popular wedding song, and Sapna Awasthi, Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik's "Pardesi Pardesi", which was a major chartbuster at the time and which also led to the film's success.^[21] Udit Narayan won his 3rd Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer for this song. The album became the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack of the year by a wide margin.^[11]

Aniket Joshi of Planet Bollywood gave the album a rating of 9.5 out of 10 stating, "Raja Hindustani is a must for lovers of good ever lasting melody."^[34] The soundtrack album sold 11 million copies and is one of the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack albums of all time.^[11] It was the third best selling album of the 1990s after Aashiqui (1990) and Dil To Pagal Hai (1997).^[11]

Alka Yagnik considers "Poochho Zara Poocho" as one of the best songs she ever rendered. The song has been copied by many a composer since. Anand-Milind lifted the tune in the "Tumse Dil Lagane Ki Sazaa Hai" part of the song and used it in the song "Mausam Ki Tarah Tum Bhi Badal To Na Jaaoge" from Jaanwar (1999). Both songs were picturized on Karisma Kapoor and had in common, singer and lyricist: Alka Yagnik and Sameer. The director of the later movie is Suneel Darshan, who is an elder sibling to Dharmesh Darshan.

Again, the same portion of the song was used by Himesh Reshammiya in the "Tujhe Apna Dil Dene Ka Hai Mazaa" part of the song "Pyaar Kar" from the film Humraaz (2002).

One of the riffs used in the background score of the film was later on used by Nadeem-Shravan in the chorus of the song "Tum Dil Ki Dhadkan Mein", from the film Dhadkan (2000). Dhadkan was also directed by Dharmesh Darshan, with the movie's soundtrack composed by Nadeem-Shravan, and lyrics written by Sameer.

The song, "Saala Main To Sahab Ban Gaya", from the 1974 film Sagina, was briefly used in the movie. The song was picturised on Aamir Khan. In Sagina, the song was filmed on Dilip Kumar and sung by Kishore Kumar. In this film, Kishore Kumar's original vocals were retained.

Track list

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Pucho Zara Pucho"	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik	06:12
2.	"Aaye Ho Meri Zindagi Mein (Male)"	Udit Narayan	06:03
3.	"Aaye Ho Meri Zindagi Mein (Female)"	Alka Yagnik	06:03
4.	"Kitna Pyaare Tujhe Rabne"	Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik	06:22
5.	"Pardesi Pardesi (Part 1)"	Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Sapna Awasthi	07:28
6.	"Pardesi Pardesi (Part 2)"	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik	08:20
7.	"Tere Ishq Mein Nachenge"	Kumar Sanu, Alisha Chinai, Sapna Mukherjee	08:14
8.	"Pardesi Pardesi (Sad)"	Suresh Wadkar, Bela Sulakhe	02:40
Total length:			51:22

Awards

Award	Category	Nominee	Result
42nd Filmfare Awards	Best Film	Cineyug	Won
	Best Actor	Aamir Khan	Won
	Best Actress	Karisma Kapoor	Won
	Best Music Director	Nadeem-Shravan	Won
	Best Male Playback Singer	Udit Narayan for "Pardesi Pardesi"	Won
	Best Director	Dharmesh Darshan	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Archana Puran Singh	Nominated
	Best Performance in a Comic Role	Johnny Lever	Nominated
		Navneet Nishan	Nominated
	Best Lyricist	Sameer for "Pardesi Pardesi"	Nominated
	Best Female Playback Singer	Alka Yagnik for "Pardesi Pardesi"	Nominated
1997 Screen Awards	Best Film	Cineyug	Won
	Best Director	Dharmesh Darshan	Won
	Best Actor	Aamir Khan	Won
	Best Comedian	Johnny Lever	Won
	Best Music Director	Nadeem-Shravan	Won
	Best Male Playback Singer	Udit Narayan for "Aaye Ho Meri Zindagi Mein"	Won
	Best Screenplay	Robin Bhatt	Won

See also

• List of highest-grossing Indian films

References

1. Tiwari, Gorakh (8 August 2020). "परदेसी परदेसी जाना नहीं | Pardesi Pardesi Jana Nahi Lyrics in Hindi".
2. "Raja Hindustani – Movie". Box Office India.
3. Ghura, Pritika (13 February 2014). "5 Lessons of Love from Bollywood". The Times of India. p. 5. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
4. Chowdhury, Nandita (31 December 1996). "Charisma takes over". India Today. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
5. PTI (5 February 2012). "I miss music director duo Nadeem-Shravan: Sameer". The Times of India. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
6. "Best Film award winners down the years". Filmfare. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
7. "Screen Awards Winners 1996". Screen India. Archived from the original on 17 January 2002. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
8. "Top Hits 1990–1999 - - Box Office India". Boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
9. "Raja Hindustani — Movie — Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
10. "Top Hits 1996 – Box Office India". Boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
11. "Music Hits 1990–1999 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. 22 January 2009. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
12. "19 Years of Raja Hindustani: 5 unforgettable songs from Aamir-Karisma's blockbuster". India TV News. 15 November 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
13. N, Patcy (1 December 2011). "Best of the Kapoors III: Karisma, Kareena, Ranbir". Rediff. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
14. "Birthday blast: Karisma Kapoor's biggest hits". filmfare.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
15. Iqbal, Murtuza (25 June 2019). "Birthday Special: Top performances of Karisma Kapoor". EasternEye. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
16. "Happy birthday Karisma Kapoor: Raja Babu to Fiza, 10 films which show how she carved a niche for herself in Bollywood". The Indian Express. 25 June 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
17. Desk, India TV News (25 June 2014). "Karisma Kapoor best films – IndiaTV News". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
18. "From Zubeidaa to Fiza, a look at Karisma Kapoor's iconic performances on her 44th birthday". Firstpost. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
19. "Raja Hindustani turns 21: Did you know Aamir Khan consumed one litre of vodka for the film?". Hindustan Times. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
20. Prakashan, Priya (25 June 2014). "Birthday Special: Watch Karisma Kapoor's uncensored hottest kiss with Aamir Khan!". India.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
21. "5 Reasons We Still Remember Aamir-Karisma's Raja Hindustani Even After 20 Years". Entertainment News. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
22. "Juhi Chawla: Thought industry will shut down without me". The Indian Express. Mumbai. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
23. Daniels, Christina (2012). I'll Do It My Way: The Incredible Journey Of Aamir Khan. Om Books International. p. 91. ISBN 978-93-80069-22-7.
24. Chopra, Anupama (15 December 1996). "Movie review: Raja Hindustani". India Today. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
25. "Raja Hindustani - Movie - Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com.
26. "Top Lifetime Inflation Adjusted Grossers Worldwide (IND Rs)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
27. Nikhat Kazmi. "Box Office: With Rs 200cr in kitty, 'Ghajini' rewrites records". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
28. "Top Lifetime Grossers 1990–1999 (Figures in Ind Rs)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
29. "Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! - Movie - Box Office India". www.boxofficeindia.com.
30. "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge - Movie - Box Office India". www.boxofficeindia.com.
31. "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - Movie - Box Office India". www.boxofficeindia.com.
32. "Top Hits All Time". Box Office India. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
33. Lall, Randy. "100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks Ever Features". Planet Bollywood. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
34. Joshi, Aniket. "Raja Hindustani Music Review". Planet Bollywood. Retrieved 17 October 2011.

External links

• Raja Hindustani at IMDb