Kohram

1999 Indian Hindi action film

Kohram

Poster

Directed by| Mehul Kumar
Written by| Iqbal Durrani
Produced by| Amitabh Bachchan Corporation[1]
Starring| Amitabh Bachchan
Nana Patekar
Jaya Prada
Tabu
Mukul Dev
Mukesh Rishi
Danny Denzongpa
Jackie Shroff
Kabir Bedi
Ayesha Jhulka
Cinematography| Rasool Ellore
Music by| Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen

Release date

* 13 August 1999 (1999-08-13)

Running time

| 145 minutes
Country| India
Language| Hindi
Budget| ₹110 million[2]
Box office| ₹161 million[2]

Kohram is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Mehul Kumar.[3] It features an ensemble cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Nana Patekar, Jaya Prada, Tabu, Mukul Dev, Mukesh Rishi, Danny Denzongpa, Jackie Shroff, Kabir Bedi and Ayesha Jhulka.

The film is notable for being the only occasion when Bachchan and Patekar costarred on screen. The film released worldwide on 13 August 1999 to mixed reviews, with praise for the performances of the principal cast, but criticism for the story and screenplay. Commercially the film was an average grosser.

## Plot

[edit]

The story starts with the death of an army officer (Jackie Shroff), and it is believed to be the act of a terrorist group headed by Changezi (Mukesh Rishi). Colonel Balbir Singh Sodhi (Amitabh Bachchan) is asked to investigate this matter and he ends up discovering that minister Veerbhadra Singh (Danny Denzongpa) is involved in this conspiracy. Colonel Sodhi stages his own death in an attempt to kill Changezi and starts living as Dadabhai/Devraj Hathoda in Mumbai. Major Ajit Arya (Patekar) is sent in the guise of a Bengali journalist to find out the true identity of Dadabhai/Devraj Hathoda. Once Arya discovers the truth, he joins hands with Colonel Sodhi to bring the minister to justice and terminate the terrorist group. Tabu is a police officer in love with Major Ajit Arya and Jaya Prada is Colonel Sodhi's wife.[4][5]

## Cast

[edit]

* Amitabh Bachchan as Colonel Balbir Singh Sodhi/Devraj Hathoda (Dadabhai)
* Nana Patekar as Major Ajit Arya/Basu Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay (BBC)
* Jaya Prada as Namrata B. Sodhi
* Tabu as Inspector Kiran Patkar
* Jackie Shroff as Major Rathod (cameo)
* Danny Denzongpa as Minister Virbhadra Singh
* Kabir Bedi as Brig. Bedi
* Mukesh Rishi as Ghafoor Changezi
* Mukul Dev as Monty
* Ayesha Jhulka as Sweety
* Avtar Gill as Police Commissioner
* Kishori Godbole as Virbhadra Singh's daughter

## Songs

[edit]

Kohram

Soundtrack album by

Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen

Released| 1999
Genre| Feature film soundtrack
Label| Universal Music India

Music by the duo Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen.[6]

1. "Jay Mata Dee He Ambe Baliharee" – Sanjeevani, Sukhwinder Singh
2. "Palakon Ko Kalam Banaa Ke, To Meraa Naam Nahin" – Alka Yagnik, Hariharan (Not in the film)
3. "Satanaam Vaaheguru, Baabaa Naanak Dukhiyaan De Naath Ve" – Kishanpal Singh
4. "Janeman Janeman Ladakee Too Number One" – Udit Narayan, Kavita Krishnamurthy
5. "Pagal Huwa Huwa Huwa" – Shankar Mahadevan, Jaspinder Narula
6. "Ik Mashuka Hai Yeh Jindagee Tum Ho Isape Shaida" – Sudesh Bhosle, Amit Kumar
7. "Ladakee Ladakee Too Woh Ladakee" – Alka Yagnik, Abhijeet (Not in the film)
8. "Hum Hai Banaras Ke Bhaya" – Sudesh Bhosle, Amit Kumar

## Production

[edit]

After his film Mrityudata (1997) flopped at the box office, director Mehul Kumar wanted to make another film with Amitabh Bachchan. Both these films were produced by Amitabh Bachchan Corporation. This is when he came up with the idea for Kohram.[7] The original cast announced consisted of Dimple Kapadia, Arshad Warsi and Karisma Kapoor with the working title as "Aye Watan Tere Liye". However, later that was scrapped and this film was made. Initially, Nana Patekar had declined Kumar's offer, but later agreed to do the film. Initially the film was slated to release on 6 August, but then Mehul Kumar advanced it to 13 August.[8]

## Release

[edit]

Initially the film was slated to release on 6 August 1999, but then Mehul Kumar advanced it to 13 August 1999.[8] Kohram grossed ₹ 133 million at the box office, while its collections in U.S were $70,257. It performed some good in interiors but couldn't do much and finally declared an average earner.[9]

### Critical response

[edit]

Kohram received mixed reviews but was received better than Mrityudata, Kumar's previous film. While only 16% users liked it on Rotten Tomatoes,[10] critic Ajay Chaturvedi called it an average film.[11] He said that while the first half is good, the second half is jarringly edited, but the film is a treat for Nana Patekar fans. He also appreciated Tabu's performance in the film.[12][13] Indolink.com ranked the film 9th in its list of "The Best Bollywood Films of 1999" and wrote, "Though the story isn't all suspense nor substance, the songs aren't record-breaking, the production and camerawork isn't amazing, the film is short enough to keep the audience sitting (less than three hours!), while the acting is excellent enough to keep the audience watching and listening."[14]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Bollyspice article
2. ^ a b "Kohram 1999 Movie Box Office Collection, Budget and Unknown Facts 1990's Box Office Collection". KS Box Office. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
3. ^ Siddiqui, Rana (25 May 2007). "Tabu returns, and how!". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
4. ^ "Friday Moviez review". Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
5. ^ Film synopsis[permanent dead link]
6. ^ "Planet-Bollywood - Music Review - Kohram".
7. ^ IMDB trivia
8. ^ a b Rediff News
9. ^ Box office collections at Ibos[permanent dead link]
10. ^ Rotten Tomatoes review
11. ^ Ajay Chaturvdedi's review on Apunkachoice.com
12. ^ "Rediff on the NeT, Movies: The review of Mehul Kumar's Kohram".
13. ^ "Film review: Mehul Kumar's 'Kohram', starring Amitabh Bachchan, Nana Patekar, Tabu".
14. ^ "Planet-Bollywood - Film Review - Kohram". 16 January 2000. Archived from the original on 16 January 2000. Retrieved 24 October 2022.

## External links

[edit]

* Kohram at IMDb