Main Khiladi Tu Anari


Main Khiladi Tu Anari is a 1994 Indian action comedy film directed by Sameer Malkan. The screenplay is written by Sachin Bhowmick. Starring Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan and Shilpa Shetty in pivotal roles, the film went on to become one of the top 5 highest-grossing movies of the year and was declared a box office success at the end of its theatrical run.
The massive success of this film catapulted Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan to the top rung of Bollywood's leading men and cemented their status as bankable stars, and as a successful pair following Yeh Dillagi. Kumar in particular, who also had 1994 hits like Mohra, Suhaag, and Elaan, gained a considerable fan following, especially among the youth. He became renowned for his thrilling action scenes featuring martial arts and hand-to-hand combat; his daring stunts; his athletic dance moves and his rugged, macho good looks. The core storyline is loosely based on the 1991 movie The Hard Way with few scenes copied from 1987 movie Lethal Weapon.

Plot

One of the most respected inspectors, Arjun Joglekar is killed by drug dealer and gangster, Goli. Mona, a cabaret singer and Goli's mistress, agrees to testify against Goli and is placed into witness protection by Inspector Karan, Arjun's younger brother, who aims to fight any injustice and avenge his brother's murder. When Goli finds out about Mona's forthcoming testimonial which would expose his real identity, he tracks her down and kills her.
Deepak Kumar, who is the most romantic actor around, is frustrated with his roles and for being type-cast as a romantic hero. He would like to do something different and bring some change and excitement to his dull and boring existence. To change his monotonous life, he gets drunk and drives around. He is arrested by the police and brought to his rowdy producer. This is where he meets Karan and is very impressed with his assertiveness, courage, and honesty; Deepak would like to study his behaviour so that he can use this as a background for his next movie.
Karan meets Basanti, who looks identical to Mona. He tells Deepak to hang around him if Deepak can get Basanti to act as Mona. Deepak trains Basanti and presents the new "Mona" to Karan. Karan places Basanti at the Moonlight Hotel as an amnesiac Mona, where she can report on Goli's criminal activities. That's how they uncover Goli eventually. While Karan and Basanti fall in love with each other, Deepak falls in love with Karan's sister, Shivangi, which makes Karan mad and he tries to get rid of Deepak Kumar, for which Deepak Kumar reminds Karan that he wanted to hang around with him because he wanted to learn what it is like being a cop and apologises for loving his sister Shivangi, which makes Karan guilty and tries to win back Deepak Kumar for his sister and bhabhi sister-in-law.
In the end, Karan avenges the death of his brother by killing Goli.

Cast

The music of the film was scored by Anu Malik. Singers Asha Bhosle, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Udit Narayan, Pankaj Udhas, Alka Yagnik, Anu Malik and Alisha Chinai rendered their voices in this album. The lyrics were penned by Rani Malik, Rahat Indori, Hasrat Jaipuri, Maya Govind, Zameer Kazmi and Anwar Sagar. "Churake Dil Mera" and "Zara Zara" were the most popular songs from the soundtrack. "Zuban Khamosh Hoti Hai" was picturised, but not included in the final version of the film.
It became one of the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack albums of 1994, selling between 3.2million and 3.5million units.
#SongSingerLyricistNotes
1"Chura Ke Dil Mera"Kumar Sanu & Alka YagnikRani MalikPicturised on Akshay Kumar & Shilpa Shetty
2"Zara Zara"Kumar Sanu & Alka YagnikHasrat JaipuriPicturised on Saif Ali Khan & Rageshwari
3"Zuban Khamosh"Kumar Sanu & Alka YagnikRani MalikPicturised on Akshay Kumar & Shilpa Shetty
4"Lakhon Haseen"Asha Bhosle, Kumar SanuAnwar SagarNot included in film
5"Hoton Pe Tera Naam"Pankaj UdhasRahat IndoriNot included in film
6"Dil Ka Darwaza"Alka YagnikRani MalikPicturised on Shilpa Shetty
7"My Adorable Darling"Anu Malik & Alisha ChinaiZameer KazmiPicturised on Saif Ali Khan & Raveena Tandon
8"Main Khiladi Tu Anari"Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Udit Narayan & Anu MalikMaya GovindPicturised on Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan & Johnny Lever

Reception

It was the first Bollywood action film to be reviewed by martial arts film critic Albert Valentin on the now defunct Kung Fu Cinema site. He rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars. He notes that, while the plot is largely borrowed from The Hard Way, Main Khiladi Tu Anari "kicks it up a notch due to the presence of one of India's biggest action stars, martial artist Akshay Kumar", comparing his martial arts skills to Jean-Claude Van Damme and praising his stuntwork, and concluding that it "is a fun action-comedy" film.