Director: Rakesh Roshan; Writer: Sachin Bhowmick, Ravi Kapoor; Producer: Rakesh Roshan; Cinematographer: Kaka Thakur; Editor: Sanjay Verma; Cast: Raakhee, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Mamta Kulkarni, Amrish Puri, Ranjeet, Ashok Saraf, Johnny Lever, Ranjeet, Dinesh Hingoo, Suresh Chatwal
Summary: The Hindi hit of 1995 is a remarkably scripted
drama combining at least four genres: a Kali
mythological, a reincarnation drama, a
modernisation melodrama and a Sholay (1975)
kind of Western. At some time in the past in
Rajasthan, shown before the credit titles, Karan
(Salman Khan) and Arjun (Shah Rukh Khan),
the sons of Durga (Raakhee), are killed by the
evil Durjan Singh (Puri). Durjan Singh had
earlier killed their father and grandfather and
appropriated the family’s ancestral property.
However, Kali responds to Durga’s pleas and
the dead sons are reborn as the streetfighter
Ajay and the stable boy Vijay. The plot
becomes complicated when a ‘modernised’
Durjan Singh, his villainy intact, becomes an
arms smuggler in partnership with Mr Saxena
(Ranjeet), whose daughter Sonia (Kajol) loves
Vijay although she is supposed to marry Durjan
Singh’s equally villainous son, Suraj. However,
troubled as well as invigorated by memory
flashes stemming from their earlier
incarnations, Ajay and Vijay in the end unite
with their mother to defeat the evil gang. The
film had a series of hit songs, e.g. Yeh janmon
ka bandhan hai (its leitmotif spanning the
generational divide) and Jaati hun main/Jaldi
hai kya, picturised on Kajol and Shah Rukh
Khan.
Minimal Bollywood Art for Karan Arjun Indiancine.ma requires JavaScript.
