Henna is a 1991 Indian romance drama film, written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, produced and directed by Randhir Kapoor, and starring his brother Rishi Kapoor, along with Pakistani actress Zeba Bakhtiyar in the title role and Ashwini Bhave. It was shot in Kashmir. This film was planned and started by legendary director Raj Kapoor, but due to his demise during the filming, the remaining portions were directed by his eldest son Randhir. It is considered as the last film of Raj Kapoor. The dialogues of the film were written by the acclaimed Pakistani writer Haseena Moin. The film was a critical and a commercial success and was also India's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Plot
Chander Prakash, who lives in Srinagar, is about to get engaged to Chandni On the day of his engagement, he meets with an accident and mistakenly strays into the Pakistani side of Kashmir. A native girl, Henna, falls in love with him, amidst the controversial Indian-Pakistani tension on Kashmir, which leads him to be suspected by the Pakistani police of being an Indian spy. Beautiful Henna Khan lives the life of a gypsy near the riverJhelum, in Pakistan with her widowed dad, Khan Baba and three brothers, Ashraf, Razzak, and Zaman. One day she comes across an unconscious man who has been washed ashore. Khan Baba, Bibi Gul, and Henna take this male in, nurse him back to health, only to find out that he has lost his memory. The man, in his sleep, cries out the name of "Chand", and everyone starts calling him by that name. Soon he is well enough to walk around and starts working for Bibi and helping her make clay pots. Henna falls in love with him and would like to marry him, much to the chagrin of Daroga Shahbaaz Khan, who has already been married twice, but according to Shariat law, he can marry twice more. Khan Baba arranges the marriage of Henna and Chand and a day is set for the marriage. On the day of marriage, Chand regains his memory. The trio finds out that Chand is neither a Muslim nor from Pakistan. He is from India and strayed over to Pakistan during a car accident. The tribe decides to create a safe passage for Chand to get back home. The first attempt is foiled due to one of the brothers colluding with Shahbaaz Khan. The second attempt succeeds, but Henna is killed in the climax. The film ends with Chander asking why war happens.
The film was a hit, especially for the locations it was shot in and the excellent musical score by Ravindra Jain that included hit songs like "Main Hoon Khush Rang", "Anaaradana" and "Der Na Ho Jaaye Kahin". The Pakistan part of the film was shot in Kashmir. Some parts were shot in Switzerland and Austria. Zeba Bakhtiar's performance in the title role was much acclaimed and fetched her a nomination under the Best Actress category at the Filmfare Awards. She alongside Salma Agha and Saba Qamar; is one of the only Pakistani actresses to be nominated at the Filmfare Awards. Farida Jalal's performance as Bibi Gul was also much appreciated; she won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film also picked up several other nominations including Best Film and Best Director. The film marked the Hindi film debut of Actress Ashwini Bhave; who played a prominent role in the film and she gained much popularity from the success of the film.
