Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani

Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani
Directed by	Aziz Mirza
Written by	Sanjay Chhel (story idea & dialogues)
Screenplay by	Raaj Kumar Dahima Manoj Lalwani
Produced by	Shah Rukh Khan Juhi Chawla
Starring	Shah Rukh Khan Juhi Chawla Paresh Rawal Johnny Lever Dilip Joshi
Cinematography	Santosh Sivan
Edited by	Chandan Arora
Music by	Jatin-Lalit
Production company	Dreamz Unlimited
Release date	21 January 2000 (2000-01-21)
Running time	166 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹13 crore[1]
Box office	₹25.46 crore[2]

Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (transl. Yet, The Heart is Indian) is a 2000 Indian Hindi action thriller film released by Dreamz Unlimited (now Red Chillies Entertainment) on 21 January. The producers derived the title from lines of the song Mera joota hai Japani from the 1955 Raj Kapoor film Shree 420 (originally written by Shailendra and composed by Shankar-Jaikishan). Aziz Mirza directed stars Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, focusing on the TV media war. Ajay Bakshi and Ria Banerjee are two television reporters for rival news channels who try to save the life of a man who has been fixed by politicians for the death of his brother, from a death sentence. The film marked the first attempted by Khan, Chawla, and Mirza under their new production company Dreamz Unlimited, now Red Chillies Entertainment. This film won the IIFA Award for Best Special Effects.

Plot[]

Ajay Bakshi (Shahrukh Khan) is a successful loudmouthed reporter, working for a reputed news channel. The rival news channel ropes in Ria Banerjee (Juhi Chawla) to bring him down. Ria is the antithesis of Ajay and uses her intelligence, charm and wits to get her work done.

Pappu Junior alias Choti (Johnny Lever) is a don who is to be ousted from his own gang, owing to his inability to make it big in the crime world. Ajay approaches Choti with an offer: arrange a fake attack on minister Ramakant Dua's (Shakti Kapoor) brother-in-law Madanlal Gupta (Mahavir Shah), on national TV. Choti will earn respect & Ajay's channel will gain ratings. Little does Ajay know that the plan is going to turn too real.

Ramakant Dua's brother-in-law is gunned down by an assailant named Mohan Joshi (Paresh Rawal). Minister Ramakant takes advantage of his brother-in-law's death to gain votes and sympathy; he also instigates a pogrom to ensure his position in the government. Ajay and Ria start getting along as they work together to cover the city riots. Mohan is arrested and to avoid public unrest, the Police Commissioner declares that Mohan is a foreign terrorist. Mohan escapes jail and hides in Ajay and Ria's car.

When Mohan accosts them, Ajay accuses him of being a terrorist. Mohan yells that he is not and tells the two his story: Mohan had a happy family with a wife (Neena Kulkarni) and daughter. One day, his daughter went for an interview and Ramakant's brother-in-law raped and beat her. She died from the trauma and as no lawyer was willing to fight the case due to the perpetrator's political power, Mohan was left helpless, running from door to door for justice. Hence hopeless, he took the law into his own hands and killed the rapist.

Ajay and Ria decide to help Mohan, who sees them as his own kids and helps them realize their love for each other. Ajay hands over the videotape of Mohan's confession to his boss and uncle Kaka (Satish Shah). Unfortunately, the minister has joined hands with rival minister Mushran (Govind Namdeo) as he fears that their secrets might come out if Mohan's truth is revealed. Ajay's boss forms an alliance with Ria's boss Chinoy (Dalip Tahil). The ministers and channel heads come together and trick Ajay and Ria into giving them the tape.

When Mohan is arrested and sentenced to be publicly hanged, Ajay and Ria realize they were tricked. They work together with Choti to get the tape back. Ajay succeeds in broadcasting Mohan's confession just an hour before Mohan's execution and tearfully requests the nation to stop this injustice.

The ministers and policemen try to prevent the protesters from entering the prison ground but the ACP joins Ajay and Ria, thus neutralizing the police barricades. In a blatant mockery and critique of media's selfish obsession with ratings and views, Mohan is made to wear a shirt sporting logos of sponsors and companies. Seconds before the execution, Ajay saves Mohan and the protesters beat up the politicians and chase them out, ensuring their careers are over.

Mohan's execution is called off and the film ends happily as Ria proposes to Ajay, who accepts.

Cast[]

• Shahrukh Khan as Ajay Bakshi
• Juhi Chawla as Ria Banerjee
• Paresh Rawal as Mohan Joshi
• Johnny Lever as Choti/Pappu Junior
• Atul Parchure as Shahid
• Sanjay Mishra as Bomb Defuser
• Sharat Saxena as Pappu's boss
• Aanjjan Srivastav as Police Commissioner
• Neena Kulkarni as Mohan's wife
• Dalip Tahil as Chinoy
• Satish Shah as Kaka
• Govind Namdeo as Chief Minister Mushran
• Shakti Kapoor as Minister Ramakant Dua
• Mahavir Shah as Ramakant's brother-in-law Madanlal Gupta
• Bharti Achrekar as Ria's mother
• Smita Jaykar as Ajay's mother
• Vishwajeet Pradhan as Head Police inspector
• Dilip Joshi as Sapney (Choti's aide)
• Mona Ambegaonkar as Shalini (Cameo)
• Hyder Ali as Ajay's father
• Pappu Polyester

Music[]

Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani
Studio album by Jatin Lalit
Released	26 November 1999[3]
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	33:26
Label	Sony Music
Producer	Jatin-Lalit
Jatin Lalit chronology
Mohabbatein (2000) Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (1999) Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya (2000)
External audio Audio Jukebox on YouTube

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Planet Bollywood	[4]

The music was composed by Jatin Lalit who also composed the background score assisted by brother in law Aadesh Shrivastava. All lyrics were written by Javed Akhtar. The music of the film was appreciated. Manish Dhamija of Planet Bollywood gave 8.5 stars stating, "Overall, the album is a pleasant surprise from Jatin-Lalit".^[4] the soundtrack and feature song "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani" in particular, with its concept of "Love our country", were well-received and praised for their patriotism. Author M. J. Akbar highlighted the "very heavy winking" by Khan during his performance of the song, accompanying the evocative lyrics.^[5]

Track listing[]

Box office[]

Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani grossed ₹18.20 crore (US$2.6 million) in India and $1.67 million (₹7.26 crore) in other countries, for a worldwide total of ₹25.46 crore (US$3.6 million), against its ₹13 crore (US$1.8 million) budget. It had a worldwide opening weekend of ₹7.45 crore (US$1.0 million), and grossed ₹12.50 crore (US$1.8 million) in its first week.^[2] It is the 13th-highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2000 worldwide.^[6]

On Up Close & Personal with PZ, Shah Rukh Khan said that the movie "was the biggest failure for Juhi [Chawla], Aziz [Mirza], and him".^{[citation needed]}

India[]

It opened on Friday, 21 January 2000, across 240 screens, and earned ₹91 lakh (US$130,000) nett on its opening day. It grossed ₹2.74 crore (US$380,000) nett in its opening weekend, and had a first week of ₹5.08 crore (US$710,000) nett. The film earned a total of ₹10.74 crore (US$1.5 million) nett, and was declared "Flop" by Box Office India.^[2]

Overseas[]

It had an opening weekend of $650,000 (₹2.82 crore) and went on to gross $900,000 (₹3.91 crore) in its first week. The film earned a total of $1.67 million (₹7.26 crore) at the end of its theatrical run.^[2]

Awards[]

See also[]

• Mera Joota Hai Japani

References[]

External links[]

• Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani at IMDb

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