Baazigar

Baazigar (transl.  Gambler) is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film directed by Abbas–Mustan. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Dalip Tahil; while Raakhee, Shilpa Shetty, Siddharth Ray, and Johnny Lever appear in supporting roles. It is a contemporary thriller about a young man who stops at nothing to get what he wants. The story is a remake of the 1991 film A Kiss Before Dying . This was Shah Rukh Khan's breakthrough role as the sole lead and Kajol's first commercial success.[1] Actress Shilpa Shetty was supposed to debut with Gaata Rahe Mera Dil, but it remained unreleased, and this became her debut film.[2] Baazigar was the first film in which Shah Rukh Khan played the role of an anti-hero[3] and the first which earned Khan a Filmfare Award for Best Actor.[4] Initially this movie was offered to Armaan Kohli and Salman Khan to play the lead role, but they all rejected it as the role had negative shades.[5][6]

Baazigar
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Abbas-Mustan
Produced by	Ganesh Jain Champak Jain
Written by	Robin Bhatt Akash Khurana Javed Siddiqui
Starring	Shah Rukh Khan Kajol Siddharth Ray Shilpa Shetty Rakhee Gulzar Dalip Tahil Johnny Lever
Music by	Songs: Anu Malik
Cinematography	Thomas A. Xavier
Edited by	Hussain M. Burmawala
Production company	Venus Movies
Distributed by	Eros Labs
Release date	12 November 1993
Running time	182 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Baazigar was a major commercial success upon release,[7][1] and the first film of the famous Shahrukh Khan-Kajol pair.[8] In addition to box office success, the film's soundtrack album composed by Anu Malik was also a success, selling 10 million units.[9] The film brought actors Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, and Shilpa Shetty, and composer Anu Malik, to the limelight. It was remade in Telugu as Vetagadu with Rajasekhar,[10] in Tamil as Samrat and in Kannada as Nagarahavu with Upendra.[11]

Baazigar garnered ten nominations at the 39th Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, and Lux New Face of the Year and Best Supporting Actress for Shetty. The film won four awards, including Best Actor for Khan. Over the years the film has gained a cult classic status and is remembered for its popular dialogues, music, story and performances. It was the film to break the routine Indian film making formula.[12]

Plot

Ajay Sharma (Shah Rukh Khan) is a young boy who grows up to seek revenge for his father's death caused by Madan Chopra (Dalip Tahil), a rich businessman. Chopra has two daughters; the elder is Seema (Shilpa Shetty) and the younger is Priya (Kajol). Ajay begins a secret relationship with Seema. Chopra takes part in his last car race, only to learn that another participant, Vicky Malhotra, who Ajay assumes the role as, let him win on purpose to meet him. Chopra is impressed with 'Vicky', and Priya falls in love with him. This way, Ajay manages to date both Seema and Priya using different identities.

Later, Ajay convinces Seema to commit suicide with him, when her father arranges her marriage with someone else. They write and sign suicide notes, but he then lies that he was simply testing her and rips up his note while keeping hers. They make plans to get married at the registrar's office the next day. However, while waiting for the office to open, Ajay takes Seema to the roof of the building and pushes her off, murdering her. He then discreetly mails her suicide note to her home. Chopra hastily orders the case closed to prevent further embarrassment should the suicide note be discovered. Suspecting that her sister didn't commit suicide, with the help of her college friend, police inspector Karan Saxena (Siddharth Ray), Priya secretly continues the investigation.

Ravi (Daboo Malik), a college friend of Seema who had a crush on her, tells Priya that he has a photo of Seema and Ajay together at a birthday party back at his hostel. When Ajay finds out about this, he murders Ravi and forces him to sign a suicide note, which makes it seem as if Ravi is Seema's murderer. Thus, the investigation is halted a second time. Meanwhile, Ajay, posing as 'Vicky', slowly wins Chopra's confidence.

It is revealed through a flashback that Chopra had been a project manager in the company run by Ajay's late father Mr. Sharma (Anant Mahadevan), but when Sharma discovered that he was embezzling money, he had Chopra imprisoned for three years. After Madan completed his jail term, he asked for forgiveness, and Sharma's wife (Rakhee Gulzar) persuaded her husband to re-employ him. However, unbeknownst to anyone, Chopra had returned to exact revenge. One day, Sharma had to go on a business trip, so he handed the power of attorney to Chopra, who used the opportunity to become the company's owner. Sharma learned of this after returning, but it was too late. His family was ejected from their palatial home after Chopra took a loan on Sharma's name. Ajay witnessed Chopra eve-teasing his mother when she came to ask for their home back, and she subsequently cursed him to tragedy and helplessness later on in Life. Heartbroken, Ajay vowed to make Chopra pay. Ajay's only mission in life now is the downfall of Chopra.

Back in the present, Seema's friend Anjali (Resham Tipnis) meets Priya and Ajay at a jewellery shop. She also discovers a photo of Seema and Ajay at her birthday party. 'Vicky' and Priya get engaged. Anjali phones the Chopra residence during Ajay's engagement party to warn them that Ajay and 'Vicky' look the same. Ajay intercepts the phone call, impersonates Chopra, arrives at Anjali's place, and kills her, stuffing her body in a suitcase and throwing it in a river.

History repeats itself with Chopra handing over the power of attorney to 'Vicky'. However, a man and his dog find the body soon after, and Priya and Inspector Karan realize that the murderer is still alive. Ajay decides to hasten his plans on realizing that Priya and Karan are hellbent on finding the killer, and that he has fallen in love with Priya. His plans hit a glitch when he and Priya run into the real Vicky Malhotra (Adi Irani), Ajay's friend, whose identity he had taken, which makes Priya suspicious. After Chopra returns from his business trip, he is shocked to find that the company is run by the Sharma group. Ajay reveals the truth of his desire to seek revenge and kicks Chopra out.

Priya learns of Ajay's true identity from his friend, Vicky and rushes to Ajay's home in Panvel. She is shocked to see a marriage locket with photos of him with her sister. Ajay comes home, where she confronts him with his misdeeds. He then tells her his story and also tells her that due to poverty, his father died of a heart attack, and his sister died of illness, which also made her mother go into a shock and unable to recognise him, and Priya realizes that it is her father who is at fault. Ajay introduces her to his mother. Chopra arrives at his home, shoots Ajay in the arm, and has his goons beat him up.

Soon his mother comes back to her senses and when trying to intervene, Chopra injures her, angering Ajay. He fights the goons viciously and is about to kill Chopra when Chopra stabs him with a rod after he is stopped by Karan. Ajay laughs back and impales Chopra with the same rod, killing him. He collapses in his mother's arms. Priya, Inspector Karan, and his mother watch despondently as Ajay succumbs to his injuries, finally at peace.

Cast

• Shah Rukh Khan as Ajay Sharma / Vicky Malhotra (fake identity) — Vishwanath and Shobha's son, Seema's murderer boyfriend, and Priya's fiancé
• Kajol as Priya Chopra — Madan Chopra's younger daughter, Seema's younger sister, and Vicky's fiancé
• Shilpa Shetty as Seema Chopra — Madan Chopra's elder daughter, Priya's elder sister, and Ajay's girlfriend who gets murdered by him for revenge on Madan Chopra
• Rakhee Gulzar as Shobha Sharma — Ajay's mother and Vishwanath's widowed wife
• Dalip Tahil as Madan Chopra — Seema and Priya's father, Vishwanath's employee, and Vishwanath's killer
• Siddharth Ray as Inspector Karan Saxena — Priya's friend
• Johnny Lever as Babulal — Servant of Chopra Household
• Anant Mahadevan as Vishwanath Sharma — Ajay's father who dies after a sudden heart attack that was a plan created by Madan Chopra
• Prithvi Zutshi as Desai- Company employee of Madan Chopra
• Resham Tipnis as Anjali Sinha — Seema's friend
• Daboo Malik as Ravi Shukla — Seema's friend and obsessive lover
• Dinesh Hingoo as Bajodia Seth
• Manmauji Taalia as the servant
• Adi Irani as The real Vicky Malhotra
• Sumeet Pathak as Young Ajay Sharma
• Sharad Sankla as Charlie (a guy in party)
• Raju Srivastav as a guy in party with Charlie
• Harpal Singh (actor) as Motu the cook
• Amrut Patel as Seema's driver
• Anu Malik as the musician at the engagement

Production

The film's premise is a subversion of a concept loosely inspired by a Hollywood film, A Kiss Before Dying (1991), which itself was based on a novel of the same name. While it borrows the basic premise, Baazigar tells a different, subversive story. While Matt Dillon's character in A Kiss Before Dying is a villain who murders for money, Baazigar subverts this, with Shah Rukh Khan's character instead being a sympathetic anti-hero seeking vengeance for the brutal injustices done to his family.[13]

Several A-list Bollywood stars were approached for the lead role, but they turned it down, due to the character being a murderous, negative anti-hero. Salman Khan was the first choice, but he turned it down, with his father Salim Khan saying Salman was not ready for such a gamble. Anil Kapoor and Akshay Kumar was the next choice, but he also rejected the offer, as it went against his "heroic" on-screen image. Shah Rukh Khan eventually convinced producer Ratan Jain that only he could pull off the role; Jain liked his confidence, and cast him in the role. However, his casting was criticized by trade pundits who incorrectly predicted that "a boy with cute dimples" would never be accepted as an anti-hero.[13] Sridevi was supposed to play both female roles (twin sisters) as did Sean Young in original film, but the director realized that because of her popularity, the audience will not be able to sympathize with the hero if he kills the character played by Sridevi, hence they decided to cast different actresses.[14]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Anu Malik and won him the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director.[15] The song "Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein" bagged singer Kumar Sanu his fourth consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer after Aashiqui, Saajan and Deewana.[16] Other singers featured in the album are Asha Bhosle, Pankaj Udhas, Alka Yagnik, Vinod Rathod and Sonali Vajpai. The soundtrack was released by Venus Music.[17] Dr. Alban's song "It's My life" was also featured.

A soundtrack was also released in Marathi. The film's soundtrack album sold 10 million units,[9] making it the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack album of 1993.[18] The soundtrack " Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein" was inspired by the African hit "Yeke Yeke" and others.[19]

Baazigar
Soundtrack album by Anu Malik
Released	1993
Genre	Film soundtrack
Label	Venus Music
Anu Malik chronology
Phool Aur Angaar (1993) Baazigar (1993) The Gentleman (1994)

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Baazigar O Baazigar"	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik	07:31
2.	"Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein"	Kumar Sanu, Anu Malik	07:53
3.	"Kitabein Bahut Si"	Asha Bhosle, Vinod Rathod	06:28
4.	"Chhupana Bhi Nahi Aata"	Vinod Rathod	07:01
5.	"Chhupana Bhi Nahi Aata" (Not in Film)	Pankaj Udhas	05:31
6.	"Samajh Kar Chand Jis Ko" (Not in Film)	Vinod Rathod, Alka Yagnik	08:53
7.	"Aye Mere Humsafar"	Vinod Rathod, Alka Yagnik	07:29
8.	"Tere Chehre Pe" (Not in Film)	Kumar Sanu, Sonali Vajpai	07:09
Total length:			57:51

Box office

Baazigar was a commercial success and the fourth highest-grossing Indian film of 1993, below another Shah Rukh Khan film, Darr.[20] Baazigar's collections in India were ₹7.75 crore nett and ₹14 crore gross,[20] equivalent to ₹250 crore (US$35 million) adjusted for inflation.[21]

Awards and Nominations

Award	Category	Recipients and Nominees	Results
39th Filmfare Awards	Best Actor	Shah Rukh Khan	Won
	Best Music Direction	Anu Malik
	Best Male Playback Singer	Kumar Sanu for "Yeh Kali Kali Aankhein"
	Best Screenplay	Robin Bhatt, Javed Siddiqui, Akash Khurana
	Lux New Face	Shilpa Shetty	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Shilpa Shetty
	Best Performance in a Comic Role	Johnny Lever
	Best Lyricist	Dev Kholi for "Yeh Kali Kali Aankhein"
	Best Male Playback Singer	Kumar Sanu for "Baazigar, O Baazigar"
	Best Female Playback Singer	Alka Yagnik for "Baazigar, O Baazigar"

Influence

The later Hollywood films Almost Famous (2000) and Baywatch (2017) had strikingly similar posters to Baazigar. The posters of the two films feature Kate Hudson and Priyanka Chopra, respectively, wearing sunglasses that reflect other cast members, similar to the sunglasses Shah Rukh Khan wears on the poster for Baazigar.[22]

References

1. "Baazigar to Krrish 3: Diwali hits, misses and clashes from Bollywood". Firstpost. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
2. Taliculam, Sharmila (4 April 1997). "Rediff On The Net, Movies: An interview with Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty". Rediff.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
3. "Fan trailer tonight: 5 times Shah Rukh Khan wowed us with his 'dark side'". Daily News & Analysis. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
4. "Shah Rukh Khan Filmfare Awards 1992 - 2009". YouTube. 30 May 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
5. Ruhani, Faheem (22 August 2013). "25 unknown things about Salman Khan". India Today. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
6. BusinessofCinema News Network (16 July 2014). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Salman Khan". businessofcinema. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
7. Katiyar, Arun (30 April 1994). "What the stars don't foretell". India Today. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
8. "From 'Baazigar' to 'Dilwale' - A look at SRK and Kajol's on-screen magic". The Express Tribune. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
9. "Bollywood hinges on Hindi film music industry, fans soak up wacky new sounds". India Today. 31 October 1994. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
10. "Telugu Cinema Etc - Idlebrain.com". www.idlebrain.com.
11. Upadhyaya, Prakash (14 October 2016). "Nagarahavu aka Shivanagam movie review: Live audience response". www.ibtimes.co.in.
12. https://web.archive.org/web/20080226122111/http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2005/oct/18sld4.htm
13. Iyer, Meena (14 July 2014). "Baazigar: The rise and fall of Shah Rukh, Kajol and Shilpa Shetty". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
14. "Roles Rejected by Sridevi".
15. "I dont want other music directors to catch up with me: Anu Malik". India Today. 15 November 1994. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
16. Press Trust of India (13 August 2012). "Melody will return to Bollywood songs: Kumar Sanu". Business Standard. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
17. Vijayakar, Rajiv (4 November 2015). "Anu Malik and Shah Rukh Khan: Sharing more than birthdays". Bollywoodhungama.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
18. "Music Hits 1990-1999 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
19. "How A 1956 Italian Song Became A Shah Rukh Khan Song In 1993".
20. "Box Office 1993". Boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
21. "Darr - Movie (1993 inflation rate)". Box Office India. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
22. "Did Baywatch copy the poster featuring Priyanka Chopra from Shah Rukh Khan's Baazigar and Kate Hudson's Almost Famous?". Bollywood Hungama. 20 April 2017.

External links

• Baazigar at IMDb