Deewana (1992 film)

Plot

Kajal, a beautiful young lady, falls in love with Ravi, a rich and handsome man. They happily marry with the blessings of Ravi's mother, Lakshmi Devi. Ravi's greedy uncle Dhirendra and cousin Narendra are disappointed to hear of this, because they are next in line to inherit the family's vast wealth after Ravi. Dhirendra hires hoodlums to murder Ravi. The hoodlums, along with Narendra, try to murder Ravi. During the struggle, Ravi manages to kill his cousin Narendra and both of them topple over a cliff. The hoodlums flee. The news reaches Ravi's family. Widowed and depressed, Kajal moves to another city along with Ravi's mother Lakshmi Devi.

Raja, a handsome, rich and good-hearted guy riding a motorcycle, accidentally knocks down Lakshmi Devi on the street, takes her to her home, and thus meets Kajal. He falls in love with Kajal, and tries to express it, but she cuts him short and reveals that she was already married and now a widow. Taken aback briefly, Raja returns with his suit, but Kajal continues to resist his advances. Raja's rich father, Ramakant, dislikes the idea of his son marrying a widow and tries to get rid of Kajal. After this, Raja quarrels with his father and begs Lakshmi Devi for her permission to marry her widowed daughter-in-law. Lakshmi Devi persuades Kajal to marry Raja, saying that Kajal has a long life ahead of her, she has no child, and will be totally alone after Lakshmi Devi's death. Kajal finally accepts at her mother-in-law's behest. Lakshmi Devi conveys the acceptance to Raja, but she also tells him how reluctant Kajal was, and advises him that even after the wedding, he should go slow and not approach Kajal in a sexual way until she genuinely, in a heartfelt way, accepts him as her husband.

News of Raja's forthcoming engagement is the last straw for his father, who throws him out. Raja now has to look for a job. His friends open a garage with him. He meets with an accident and is hospitalised. Kajal rushes to see and realises that she is also in love with him. They admit their feelings for each other.

A man is attacked by a gang of ruffians waiting to rob him, and Raja saves him. They soon become good friends. Little does Raja know that this man is none other than Kajal's first husband and Lakshmi Devi's much-mourned son, Ravi.

When Raja introduces Ravi to Kajal, she is shocked to learn that Ravi survived Dhirendra's attempt to murder him. However, she stays with Raja. Dhirendra learns about Ravi. He kidnaps Kajal and Raja, demanding Ravi's property in exchange. Raja escapes and beats Dhirendra along with Ravi. They find Kajal tied up with a bomb strapped around her. Ravi manages to stop the bomb timer. Dhirendra returns to kill Raja. Enraged, Ravi pushes him and sets the bomb off, causing a large explosion that kills both. Raja and Kajal honor Ravi for his sacrifice.

Cast

• Rishi Kapoor as Ravi
• Divya Bharti as Kajal
• Shahrukh Khan as Raja Sahai
• Amrish Puri as Dhirendra Pratap Singh
• Alok Nath as Mr. Sharma
• Deven Verma as Devdas Sabrangi, Kajal's maternal uncle.
• Asha Sachdev as Chandramukhi, Kajal's maternal aunt.
• Dalip Tahil as Ramakant Sahai, Raja's father.
• Sushma Seth as Laxmi Devi, Ravi's mother.
• Mohnish Behl as Narendra Pratap Singh, Dhirendra's son. (special appearance)
• Brahmachari as Chintamani
• Ankush Mohit as Albert, Dhirendra's henchman.
• Shehnaz Kudia as Kajal's friend
• Salim Khan Ding-Dong as Raja's friend
• Maqsood as a man in Temple

Production

Development

In the early 1990s, Ranbir Pushp conceived the story of Deewana, and Guddu Dhanoa being pleased with it, decided to bankroll the film under his own production banner, Mayank Arts. In an interview to Rediff.com, Raj Kanwar, who had previously worked as an assistant director to Shekhar Kapur in films such as Mr. India (1987) and Ghayal (1990), revealed that he was approached by Dhanoa to direct Deewana, becoming his directorial debut. Lalit Kapoor and Raju Kothari co–produced the film along with Dhanoa.

Casting

Rishi Kapoor was the first actor to be signed, being Kanwar's first choice. He was given a remuneration of . For the female lead, Madhuri Dixit was Kanwar's initial choice. Her unavailability and lack of dates led to the casting of Divya Bharti, on the recommendation of Guddu Dhanoa's friend and the former's manager, Jatin Rajguru. Dhanoa addressed Bharti to be "time-punctual" and that once she refused to get off her car as she had come a bit late for the shoot.

Kanwar had several actors in mind for the role of Raja. Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor, Govinda and Nagarjuna were considered for the role, before Armaan Kohli was signed. Kohli had shot for a few days but was removed due to a misunderstanding between him and Shabnam Kapoor, the wife of Lalit Kapoor, one of the producers of the film on the sets of Insaaf Ki Devi (1992). Shah Rukh Khan, then a budding artist, was finally selected. Kanwar had liked his performance in Circus and Dil Dariya and thus suggested his name to the producers. He worked in the film alongside his prior commitments to Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992), his other film which was supposed to mark his debut. He expressed his enjoyment on hearing that Rishi Kapoor was also a part of the film.

Filming

Principal photography took place in and around Mumbai and Ooty. The songs were shot across various locations in Ooty, such as the Botanical Gardens and Ooty Lake.

Music

The soundtrack album features 7 songs composed by duo Nadeem-Shravan. The lyrics were written by Sameer. Kumar Sanu (singing for Kapoor), Sadhana Sargam, Alka Yagnik (both singing for Bharti), and Vinod Rathod (singing for Khan) provided the vocals. The album sold between 7million and 8million units, making it the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack album of 1992.

The soundtrack was #79 on the list of "100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks of All Time", as compiled by Planet Bollywood. News18 included "Aisi Deewangi" as one of the "5 Memorable Songs of Divya Bharti" and raved about her presence in it by saying that it made "people swoon over her as well the tune. Her effortless beauty, along with her charming on-screen chemistry with Shahrukh Khan multiplied the X-Factors and made it a delightful watch." Rediff listed it among the "10 Amazing Nadeem-Shravan songs".

Release

The film was released on 25 June 1992. It was promoted with the tagline The Power of Love. When director Raj Kanwar had gone to attend the first screening of the film, along with the distributors, he was shocked to find the theatre deserted. But later, they found it swarming with mostly college kids, ensuring that the film became a blockbuster. It ran at theatres for 50 weeks and emerged a golden jubilee film. According to the film-trade website Box Office India, it collected worldwide and became the second highest-grossing film of the year, surpassed only by Beta. It was made available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video since 2020.

Reception

Deewana received positive reviews from critics upon release, with major praise directed towards its [cinematography], soundtrack and the cast performances, particularly that of Bharti and Khan. Nikhat Kazmi published a review of the film in The Times of India on 28 June 1992, writing that Khan's role is clichéd but he was able to "interpret it with a fresh zeal and wafts across like a breeze in the traditional role of a young man obsessed with love. Angry, confused, tender, mature and childishly rebellious, Deewana marks the advent of a new talent". On 31 July, a writer in The Indian Express praised the film's cinematography and songs but was critical to its story which he called "no more than a routine melodrama". The writer added that Bharti had a "pretty ... but ... thin" role and "there is nothing she can do about it". He further observed that Khan is "fairly impressive and brings some life to a conventional role". In an interview, while reviewing the film by himself, Khan said that his performance in the film was "awful–loud, vulgar and uncontrolled" and that he "overacted terribly" in it. According to him, he hasn't contributed anyway to the film's success, and credited Nadeem–Shravan's music for the same, while also praising the performances of Kapoor and Bharti.

Modern film reviewers, however, appreciated Deewana. In 2007, the author Anupama Chopra described the film as a "crude and melodramatic" work, with Khan's performance being "equally loud". She said that the film established his position as a leading actor of Hindi cinema, despite his "over-the-top" performance. Rachit Gupta of Filmfare in 2014 stated, "Divya seemed at ease sharing screen space with Rishi Kapoor. She also matched Shah Rukh Khan's manic intensity emotion to emotion. She fit perfectly into the character of a woman dealing with the loss of her husband." In 2018, Sampada Sharma from The Indian Express wrote that her performance is unforgettable, adding, "From playing a newly married girl to being the one who is at a crossroads in her life, Deewana was Divya's film and she delivered a performance that was applause-worthy."

Accolades

Theme

Deewana deals with the central theme of love. [Raj Kanwar] had compared the role of [Divya Bharti] to that of female roles in his other films like Laadla (1994), Jaan (1996), Jeet (1996) and Judaai (1997) stating that they all were "strong female characters", portraying either the plight of women or displaying the acting prowess of the respective actresses. The film also shows how individuals become "obsessed" while in love, through the character of [Khan]. He himself talked about this as a lesson he learnt from the film while at University of Edinburgh to receive an honorary degree. Several critics compared [Rishi Kapoor]'s role to that in Chandni (1989) for in both the films, he was portrayed as the sacrificing husband. In another aspect, [Deewana] emerged as the pathbreaking Bollywood love triangle with its storyline portraying the first lover to be sacrificer, a reversal to the general rule.

Legacy

Deewana has been regarded as one of the earliest Indian films based on the social stigma of widow remarriage. The film's music, composed by the duo Nadeem-Shravan, became a multi-platinum success. Bharti's performance fetched her critical appreciation; the film's title became synonymous with her. The film is also notable for being the film debut of Shah Rukh Khan. Despite having limited screen presence in the second half of the film, his portrayal of an obsessive lover achieved him a major career breakthrough. The song "Koi Na Koi Chahiye" picturised on him has gradually gathered a cult following. Ashok Raj described his role as "A small-town commoner who stalks a rich widow to gain access to a prosperous lifestyle." News18 remarks that Kapoor's "filmography came to a head" with Deewana and that it remains it to be one of his most memorable works, his fashion in the film being considered a trendsetter for himself.

Additionally, Deewana has been included in many listings—"500 Greatest Bollywood Movies of the 80s, 90s and 2000s", "Top 90 Hindi Movies Of The 1990s" and "100 Greatest Bollywood Love Triangle Movies". The soundtrack album was featured by Planet Bollywood among the "100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks" with a conclusion that "Deewana was simply one of the best albums of the 90s". India Today ranked Deewana first as one of the "Top Films of Raj Kanwar". Filmfare featured it in their listing of "16 Best Shah Rukh Khan Movies". Rediff.com has placed the film twice in its listing of "Top 20 soundtracks of Nadeem–Shravan" and "10 Amazing Nadeem–Shravan songs". The scene where Khan confronts Bharti and throws red colour on her white saree to confess his love to her was included by NDTV as one of the "Top 10 Holi scenes from Bollywood". Diptakirti Chaudhuri, a film critic, hailed Deewana to be a pathbreaking film in Bollywood, as it showed a complete contrast to the general storyline of love triangles.

Emphasising on the distinctive dressing styles, Speaking Chic commented, "In his introductory song Koi Na Koi Chahiye, Shah Rukh Khan donned a brown leather jacket, and this became a defining on-screen look for him for many years... In the rest of the film, he wore oversized shirts with loose sleeves and high waisted jeans, often paired with a prominent belt and matching buckle" As soon as she was married though, she became a wealthy family's bahu (daughter-in-law), wearing mostly saris of rich fabrics and embroideries" accompanied by "carefully featured makeup of coordinated lip colours and bindis with wavy hair, reminiscent of a perm. The biggest surprise though were her French braids. They were super cute." --

The film has been referenced many times in the following years. In Pehla Nasha (1993), Khan says to Deepak Tijori, "You have done a miracle (Chamatkar) gentleman, I have become a crazy fan (Deewana) of you." Moreover, in the "Chennai Express Special - Part 2" episode of the popular television sitcom Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, Popatlal dances along the song "Koi Na Koi Chahiye". The film's poster is shown in the film Dhanak. A footage from Deewana is also shown in Fan.

Khan and Kapoor reunited again in Om Shanti Om and Jab Tak Hai Jaan in 2007 and 2012, respectively. Although the latter appeared in special appearances.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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