Mr. India
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| Mr. India | |
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| Directed by | Shekhar Kapur |
| Produced by | Boney Kapoor |
| Written by | Salim-Javed |
| Starring | Anil Kapoor Sridevi Amrish Puri |
| Music by | Laxmikant-Pyarelal Javed Akhtar (lyrics) |
| Cinematography | Baba Azmi |
| Editing by | Waman Bhonsle Gurudutt Shirali |
| Distributed by | Narsimha Enterprises |
| Release date(s) | 25 May 1987 |
| Running time | 181 mins |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
Mr. India (Hindi: मिस्टर इंडिया) is a 1987 Hindi science fiction superhero film directed by Shekhar Kapur. It stars Anil Kapoor in the title role, Sridevi as his romantic interest and Amrish Puri in one of his best-known roles as the villain Mogambo.
The film was the second biggest hit of 1987 after the Anil Sharma film, Hukumat, which starred Dharmendra. It remains a cult classic in India. The film was known for several of its lines and songs, including Sridevi's Miss Hawa Hawaii performance, and Amrish Puri's quote "Mogambo khush hua" (Mogambo is pleased), which is one of the most famous quotes of Bollywood and has become synonymous with Puri.[1] The Mogambo character is also considered to be one of the best villains in Bollywood history.[1] Laxmikant-Pyarelal's music performed well too, especially the song Hawa Hawaii which is very popular till today. The film has often been featured in different lists of top Bollywood films. Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.[2] This was the last film that the writing duo Salim-Javed wrote together. They had split up earlier in 1982, but came back for one last film.
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[edit] Plot
The film opens with the revelation that violence has escalated in India, in which the central villain is Mogambo (Amrish Puri). Mogambo is a a brilliant yet insane General whose goal is to conquer India. From his island, modeled after the island of Dr. No, Mogambo monitors the evil-doings perpetrated by his henchmen. All his subordinates know the formal salute "Hail Mogambo!", emphasizing his complete authority over his minions.
Arun Verma (Anil Kapoor) is an orphan and a street-walking violinist who rents a large, old house. There, he houses a dozen or so orphaned children and takes care of them with the help of his cook and caretaker Calendar (Satish Kaushik). Arun is poor, owes debts to the local food merchant Roopchand (Harish Patel), and is overdue to pay the landlord Maniklal (Yunus Parvez). In spite of these problems, Arun tries to look on the bright side of every situation. As time goes by, Calendar reminds Arun that the cost of running the home continues to rise. Arun decides to rent out the room on the first floor. When he goes to the local newspaper to run an advertisement for the room, he meets Seema Sohni (Sridevi) and makes her his tenant. They get off to a rocky start but Seema eventually becomes friends with everyone.
One day, Arun receives a mysterious letter from a family friend, Dr. Sinha (Ashok Kumar), who reveals that Arun's late father had created a device that would make its user invisible. With the directions in the letter, Arun, accompanied by his ward Jugal, enters his father's laboratory and finds the device. The device is in the shape of a gold watch worn on the wrist. When it is activated, it makes the wearer invisible to the naked eye. This invisibility is pervasive except for one flaw: when red light is focused on the wearer, he becomes visible. Arun and Jugal decide to keep the device a secret between them. Seema goes to a lavish party hosted by Teja and Daaga, where she performs a song under the guise of a Hawaiian dancer. She is nearly killed by the criminals after her disguise is spoiled, but Arun invisibly rescues her, styling himself "Mr. India". Thereafter, Seema falls in love with her rescuer, though not attracted to his civilian alter ego.
Mr. India later defeats Mogambo's men in several encounters, foiling their criminal plans. Mogambo's computer-aided intelligence teams reveal that Mr. India's specific actions against the gambling den bring benefit to Arun Verma. Mogambo has bombs disguised as toys, planted in places where children can find them. One of the bombs kills Arun's youngest and dearest charge, Tina, driving Arun to immense grief. Arun, Seema, Calendar, and the surviving children are brought before Mogambo. Mogambo tortures them so that they reveal Mr. India's true identity and the location of the invisibility device. Arun eventually volunteers to this when Mogambo threatens to drop two children into a pit of acid; but because Arun has dropped the device, he cannot become invisible to prove himself. Frustrated, Mogambo has them sent into the dungeons.
However, they are all able to escape. Mogambo activates four missiles, which are poised to destroy all of India. Arun confronts him, and the two fight. When Arun has overcome Mogambo, he deactivates the launch of the missiles. Arun, Seema, Calendar, and the children escape, while Mogambo's fortress is destroyed. Mogambo himself dies in the fire.
Arun's dual identity remains a secret to most people, while he returns to his former life.
[edit] Cast
- Anil Kapoor .... Arun Varma / Mr. India
- Sridevi .... Seema Sohni / Miss Hawa Hawaii / Charlie Chaplin in the casino of Karga Social Club
- Amrish Puri .... Mogambo
- Satish Kaushik .... Calender the Cook
- Annu Kapoor .... Mr. Gaitonde (Newspaper Editor)
- Sharat Saxena .... Daaga
- Ajit Vachani .... Teja
- Ashok Kumar .... Prof. Sinha
- Aftab Shivdasani.... Orphan (Child Artist)
- Vivan Bhatena.... Orphan
- Karan Nath .... Orphan
- Ahmed Khan .... Orphan
- Vidya Mohan .... Orphan
- Tapan Shah .... Orphan
- Harish Patel .... Roopchand
- Gurbachchan Singh .... Captain Zorro
- Anjan Srivastav .... Baburam
- Bob Christo .... Mr. Wolcott
[edit] Soundtrack
| Mr.India | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Laxmikant-Pyarelal | |
| Genre | Hindi Film Soundtrack |
| Label | |
| Producer | Laxmikant-Pyarelal |
| Track # | Song | Singer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Hawa Hawaii" | Kavita Krishnamurthy |
| 2 | "Mr.India" | Kishore Kumar, Kavita Krishnamurthy |
| 3 | "Parody Song" | Anuradha Paudwal, Shabbir Kumar |
| 4 | "I Love You" | Kishore Kumar, Alisha Chinai |
| 5 | "Zindagi Ki Yahin" | Kishore Kumar |
| 6 | "Zindagi Ki Yahin" (Sad) | Kavita Krishnamurthy |
[edit] Sequel
A sequel to the 1987 film titled Mr. India 2 is going to be produced by Boney Kapoor and the film is going to be shot in 3D.[3] According to the rumours, Salman Khan might play a negative role in the film. Anil Kapoor and Sridevi are to reprise their roles as Arun Verma and Seema Sohni respectively. The film's budget is said to be 
100 crore.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Top 20 Villains of Bollywood
- ^ Kanwar, Rachna (3 October 2005). "25 Must See Bollywood Movies". Indiatimes movies. Archived from the original on 2008-08-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20080822132950/movies.indiatimes.com/Special_Features/25_Must_See_Bollywood_Movies/articleshow/msid-1250837,curpg-6.cms. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
- ^ 3D sequel of Mr.India
[edit] External links
- Mr. India at the Internet Movie Database
- Mr. India (1987) & The history of Invisible Man in Hindi films.
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