Jump to content

Henna (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henna
Original poster
Directed byRandhir Kapoor
Written byKhwaja Ahmad Abbas
Jainendra Jain
Hasina Moin
V. P. Sathe
Produced byRandhir Kapoor
Rajiv Kapoor
StarringRishi Kapoor
Zeba Bakhtiar
Ashwini Bhave
Narrated byShammi Kapoor
CinematographyRadhu Karmakar
Edited byJethu Mundal
Music byRavindra Jain
Production
company
R. K. Studios Chembur
Distributed byR. K. Films Ltd.
Digital Entertainment
Eros Entertainment
H.M.V.
Release date
  • 28 June 1991 (1991-06-28)
Running time
184 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguagesHindi
Urdu
Budget₹4 crore[1][2]
Box office₹12 crore[2]

Henna is a 1991 Indian romance drama film, written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, produced and directed by Randhir Kapoor. It stars Rishi Kapoor, along with Pakistani actress Zeba Bakhtiyar in the title role and Ashwini Bhave. This film was planned and started by director Raj Kapoor, but due to his death during the filming, the remaining portions were directed by his eldest son Randhir.[1] It is considered as the last film of Raj Kapoor. The dialogues of the film were written by the 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.[3]

Plot

[edit]

Chandar Prakash (Rishi Kapoor), who lives in Srinagar, is due to be engaged and married to Chandni Kaul (Ashwini Bhave), whom he calls Chand. On the day of the engagement, he experiences an accident, and mistakenly strays into the Pakistani side of Kashmir. A native girl, Henna (Zeba Bakhtiar), falls in love with him; this is amidst the India-Pakistan tensions in Kashmir, which leads to him being suspected, by the Pakistani police, of being an Indian spy.

Beautiful Henna Khan lives a transient life near the river Jhelum, 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 washed ashore. Khan Baba, Gul Bibi (the village doctor) and Henna take this stranger in and nurse him back to health, only to find out that he has lost his memory. The man, in his sleep, cries out the name "Chand!", thus everyone starts calling him by that name. Soon, he is well enough to walk around and starts working for Gul Bibi, helping her make clay pots. Henna falls in love and wishes to marry him, much to the chagrin of Daroga Shahbaaz Khan (Raza Murad), who has already been married twice; according to Shariat law, he can marry twice more. Khan Baba arranges the marriage of Henna and Chand; a day is set for the marriage. On the day of the wedding, Chand finally regains his memory. The family finds out that “Chand” is actually Chandar, and he is neither a Muslim nor Pakistani. He is from India, having strayed across the border into Pakistan after a random car accident. The group decides to ensure a safe passage for Chand to get back home.

The first attempt is foiled, due to one of Henna’s brothers colluding with Shahbaaz Khan. The second attempt succeeds, but Henna ultimately loses her life in the chaos.

The film ends with Chandar asking why war must be.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

The Kashmir part of the film was shot in Manali, Himachal Pradesh. Some parts were shot in Pakistan (Murree, Islamabad), Switzerland and Austria.[4]

Soundtrack

[edit]

Lyrics by Ravindra Jain, Naqsh Lyallpuri and Maulana Qudsi.

# Title Singer(s) Lyricist
1 "Main Hoon Khushrang Henna" (Happy) Lata Mangeshkar Ravindra Jain
2 "Anar Dana" Lata Mangehskar Ravindra Jain
3 "Der Na Ho Jaye Kahin" Lata Mangeshkar, Suresh Wadkar, Mohd. Sayeed, Farid Sabri, Satish Ravindra Jain
4 "Chitthiye Ni Dard Firaaq Valiye" Lata Mangeshkar Naqsh Lyallpuri
5 "Marhaba Sayyedi" Mohammed Aziz Maulana Qudsi
6 "Janewale O Janewale" Lata Mangeshkar, Suresh Wadkar Ravindra Jain
7 "Bedardi Tere Pyar Ne" Lata Mangeshkar Ravindra Jain
8 "Vash Malle" Mohammed Aziz Ravindra Jain
9 "Main Hoon Khushrang Henna" (Sad) Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Aziz Ravindra Jain
10 "Main Der Karta Nahin" Lata Mangeshkar, Suresh Wadkar Ravindra Jain

Reception

[edit]

The film was a hit, especially given the locations it was shot in, and for the excellent musical score by Ravindra Jain, which spawned internationally-known hits such as "Main Hoon Khush Rang (I’m Happy)", "Anaaradana (Pomegranate)" and "Der Na Ho Jaaye Kahin (Don’t Be Late)”.

Zeba Bakhtiar's performance in the title role was much acclaimed, garnering her a nomination under the Best Actress category at the Filmfare Awards.[5][6][7] She, alongside Salma Agha and Saba Qamar, is one of the only Pakistani actresses to be nominated at the Filmfare Awards.[8][9][10]

Farida Jalal's performance as Bibi Gul was also much appreciated; she won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.[11][12] The film also picked up several other nominations, including Best Film and Best Director.

The movie marked the Hindi film debut of actress Ashwini Bhave, who played one of the prominent roles in the story. She subsequently gained much popularity from the success of the film.[13]

Awards

[edit]
37th Filmfare Awards

Won

Nominated

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Jain, Madhu (31 July 1991). "Raj Kapoor's dream film Henna releases". India Today. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b "How Pakistani Writer Haseena Moin Contributed To Raj Kapoor's Henna". News18. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  3. ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  4. ^ Jain, Madhu. "Henna: Labour of love". India Today. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  5. ^ "TheNews Weekly Magazine". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Filmfare Best Actress Award - History-US". Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  7. ^ "The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  8. ^ Babar, Sarah (18 January 2018). "Saba Qamar Just Became The First Pakistani Actress To Be Nominated For 'Best Actress' At The Filmfare Awards, In 25 Years". MangoBaaz. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Pakistani artistes in India". filmfare.com. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  10. ^ "Tracing back the Pakistani presence in Bollywood". The National. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  11. ^ "farida jalal actress- Mobile Website Powered By Zimbile - Free Mobile webapps For Africa". faridajalal4indianfilms.zimbile.com. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  12. ^ "Farida Jalal Awards & Nominations List". FilmiBeat. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  13. ^ "Ashwini Bhave - Movies, Biography, News, Age & Photos". BookMyShow. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
[edit]