Ishq (1997 film)

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Ishq
Promotional Poster
Directed by	Indra Kumar
Written by	Tanveer Khan (dialogues)
Screenplay by	Praful Parikh Rajiv Kaul
Story by	Praful Parikh Rajiv Kaul
Produced by	Gordhan Tanwani
Starring	Aamir Khan Ajay Devgan Juhi Chawla Kajol
Cinematography	Baba Azmi
Edited by	Hussain A. Burmawala
Music by	Songs: Anu Malik Background Score: Surinder Sodhi
Production company	Baba Films
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	28 November 1997 (1997-11-28)
Running time	170 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹10.4 crores[1]
Box office	est. ₹500million crores[1]

Ishq (English: Love) is an Indian 1997 Hindi-language romantic action comedy film directed by Indra Kumar. It stars Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgn, Juhi Chawla and Kajol along with Dalip Tahil, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Johnny Lever and Mohan Joshi in supporting roles.

The film theatrically opened on 28 November 1997, to mixed reviews, but became the third-highest grossing film of 1997, grossing more than ₹500 million (US$6.6 million) worldwide.

Plot[]

Ranjit Rai and Harbans Lal Saxena are two wealthy businessmen who despise the poor. However, Ranjit's son Ajay meets with his childhood friend Raja, a poor mechanic; while Harbans's daughter, Madhu is good friends with Kajal, who is also poor. They fix up Ajay's marriage with Madhu by getting their signatures on a marriage certificate by deceit and send Ajay to meet Madhu at Harbans's place in Ooty. As fate would have it, Ajay falls in love with Kajal instead and Raja and Madhu, after a bad start, fall in love. This angers the two men, and they try to bribe Raja and Kajal into leaving Madhu and Ajay. When this doesn't work, they unsuccessfully try to get Raja and Kajal killed. Upon realizing what their fathers really did, the children refuse to back down.

Eventually, the parents play a nasty trick, by making the four lovers believe that they have changed their ways and are ready for their children to marry the person they wish to. On the way to Raja and Madhu's engagement ceremony, Kajal gets kidnapped. Raja saves her from being raped and comforts her. Meanwhile, without their knowledge, photos are taken of them. Shortly after Raja and Kajal arrive at the party, the fathers then show the photos of Raja comforting Kajal. Taken out of context, the photos make it look like Raja and Kajal are being intimate with each other. Kajal's uncle is also bribed to falsely testify to the fabricated illicit affair between the two. Raja and Kajal try to prove their innocence, but Ajay and Madhu, refusing to listen to them, break up with Kajal and Raja, and the fathers' plan succeeds.

The situation worsens further when Ajay and Madhu think that Kajal is pregnant with Raja's child. They tell Raja and Kajal that they are getting married, which is what their fathers wanted all along. After hearing this, Kajal attempts to kill herself, but Raja stops her. Intending to teach Ajay and Madhu a lesson, Raja attacks them while they are in a car mobile. Raja pretends to show that he is about to rape Madhu, but Ajay saves and comforts her. Raja, taken into custody by the police, is beaten brutally, and Kajal pleads with the fathers to release him. Both agree, but on the condition that Kajal and Raja leave the country for good and that they would be killed if they ever did return. Kajal agrees and Raja is set free.

Ajay and Madhu's wedding is about to start when Ajay's uncle, Lambodar, shows them pictures of Ajay comforting Madhu after she almost got raped. This proves that Raja had attacked them to recreate the situation he and Kajal had been in, which in turn proved that Raja and Kajal are innocent and that the fathers were behind the initial attack on Kajal. Further proving Raja and Kajal's innocence, Kajal's uncle also confesses that he lied out of bribery. Angry and heartbroken about doubting Kajal and Raja, Ajay almost chokes his father to death but his conscience stops him. He then tries to kill himself but Madhu and Lambodar stop him. Ajay and Madhu decide to find Raja and Kajal, and they rush to the shipyard, succeeding in stopping Raja and Kajal from leaving the country on the ship. They ask for forgiveness and the lovers get back together. They then get to know that Ranjit delayed the ship's departure by half an hour, allowing Ajay and Madhu to meet their partners. The fathers arrive, having realized their grave mistake in their hatred for the poor, and also ask for forgiveness, declaring their discovery of how poor they are in spite of wealth and that their real wealth is their children. The lovers forgive them and everyone is reunited.

Cast[]

• Aamir Khan as Raja
• Ajay Devgan as Ajay Rai
• Juhi Chawla as Madhu Saxena
• Kajol as Kajal Jindal
• Johnny Lever as Lambodar Upadhyay
• Sadashiv Amrapurkar as Ranjit Rai
• Dalip Tahil as Harbans Lal Saxena
• Mohan Joshi as Madan Jindal
• Razzak Khan as Nawaab naadin Dhinna Changezi
• Shwetha Menon as Jia, dancer in song "Humko Tumse Pyar Hai"
• Ghanashyam Nayak as ACP Ghanshyam Gulati
• Achyut Potdar as Barrister Chandrakant Gokhale
• Deepak Shirke as Damliya
• Tiku Talsania as Pankaj Gaitonde
• Deven Verma as Behram
• Anant Mahadevan as Brijesh Lal Saxena

Production[]

Development[]

Director Indra Kumar had initially planned to make Ishq in 1991 with Aamir Khan and Pooja Bhatt as two of the four leads, but due to their personal problems at the time, they opted out of the film. Later, Boney Kapoor asked Kumar to make the film with Sanjay Kapoor and Vivek Mushran playing the roles of Ajay and Raja, respectively. However, Kumar had no happiness to cast the two, and he then made the film Raja (1995) with Sanjay Kapoor, which released in 1995. He again came with the idea of making Ishq in 1996 and selected Ajay Devgn, Aamir Khan, Kajol and Juhi Chawla to play the leads.

Casting[]

Karisma Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit were offered the roles of Kajol and Juhi Chawla, respectively, but the former declined to work opposite Devgan and the latter had date issues. Along with this, Amitabh Bachchan was signed to play the role of a man who after completing an intermission tries to unite the four lovers, but due to some problems with Kumar, he left the film, and Kumar later removed that character from the film. Ishq was Kumar's first film to not star Madhuri Dixit as a female lead and the second movie with Aamir Khan after 1990's Dil. The film also marked the first collaboration between Kumar and Devgn.

Filming[]

During the shooting of the film, Aamir Khan threw a prank on Juhi Chawla, after which she got irritated.

Box office[]

The movie was a blockbuster at the box office. It earned ₹53.2 crore, against a budget of ₹10 crore. Its gross is equivalent to ₹368 crore adjusted for inflation in 2019.^[1] It became the third-highest grossing film of 1997, behind Dil To Pagal Hai and Border.^[2]

Music[]

The music was composed by Anu Malik. The Ishq soundtrack album sold 3 million units, making it the year's sixth best-selling Bollywood soundtrack album.^[3] The tune of the hit track '"Neend Churai Meri" was copied from the Linear song "Sending All My Love". It was subsequently remade as Maine Tujhko Dekha by Malik's nephew Amaal Malik for the 2017 film Golmaal Again.^[4][5]

Awards[]

References[]

External links[]

• Ishq at IMDb