Hum Saath-Saath Hain

 Hum Saath-Saath Hain, also abbreviated as HSSH, is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language family drama film written and directed by Sooraj Barjatya under the production and distribution of Rajshri Productions. The film stars an ensemble cast with Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Mohnish Bahl alongside Neelam, Mahesh Thakur, Reema Lagoo and Alok Nath. The story centers on a joint family and its values and togetherness, who grow apart after a misunderstanding.

Hum Saath-Saath Hain: We Stand United is the third film to feature Salman Khan with Rajshri Productions. Principal photography took place in Mumbai and various locations in Rajasthan. The film's cinematography was done by Rajan Kinagi. Raamlaxman composed its music and lyrics are written by Dev Kohli.

Hum Saath Saath Hain was released on 5 November 1999, and eventually became the highest grossing film of the year and one of biggest blockbusters of the decade, with a worldwide gross of inr 817000000. It received predominantly positive reviews from critics. It was also the first Bollywood film to be played in Canadian theatres, with six screenings in Toronto. The film was also dubbed in Telugu and released with the title Premanuragam.

At the 45th Filmfare Awards, Behl received a Best Supporting Actor nomination. At the 3rd Zee Cine Awards, the film earned 12 nominations including Best Actor for Salman Khan, and won two awards. Also, at the 1st IIFA Awards, the film won the Best Makeup for Jayanti Shevale.

Plot
In the past Ramkishan Chaturvedi, a rich businessman loses his first wife Lakshmi. They have a one-year old son, Vivek. Ramkishan remarries the kind Mamta, and Vivek also accepts and respects her as his mother. Later the two have three kids: Prem, Sangeeta, and Vinod. Seven years later, while trying to save Prem and Vinod from a probable accident, Vivek is injured which leaves his right hand partially paralyzed.

Nineteen years later, Prem returns from US after completing his studies. Sangeeta lives with her husband Anand and their daughter Radhika. Vinod is busy with studies. Vivek is still undergoing treatment for his hand. On Ramkishan and Mamta's anniversary function, the four siblings wish them with respect.

Seeing Vivek's love for them, Ramkishan's business associate Adarsh's daughter Sadhna likes him at first sight. Adarsh sends a marriage proposal to Ramkishan's family. Vivek agrees and marries Sadhna. Vinod is secretly in love with Sapna who is the daughter of Ramkishan's former neighbour in his ancestral village, Dharamraj Bajpai.

Ramkishan's friend Pritam's daughter Preeti is in love with Prem. Everyone agrees to their engagement. Eventually, Prem and Preeti find out about Vinod and Sapna who get engaged too. Ramkishan makes Vivek the managing director of his company.

A bitter turn comes when Anand's brother Anurag cheats him for inheritance and share in the family business. This incident triggers insecurity in Mamta's mind. Meanwhile, her three friends and Dharamraj fill her head with thoughts as to why Vivek shouldn't be in charge of the family inheritance. This makes Mamta very paranoid.

She questions Ramkishan's decision and wants the division of the business equally between all their children. He disagrees as it will divide the family. Heartbroken, after finding out about it, Vivek asks Ramkishan to put Prem in charge of the family business and moves back to their ancestral village Rampur with a pregnant Sadhna. Vinod accompanies them.

Prem refuses to replace Vivek as head of the family business. Vivek convinces him to go along with the plan in the interest of preventing further conflict within the family. Prem tells Mamta that he won't marry and can't replace Vivek like she wants. Eventually, Anurag realizes his mistake and unites with Anand.

Sangeeta asks Mamta to bring back Vivek. Mamta realizes her mistakes and visits Rampur with Ramkishan. In the hospital, Sadhna delivers a baby boy. Later, Prem and Vinod marry Preeti and Sapna, respectively. Dharamraj apologises realizing ill-manner cannot end the love in the family.

Development
Hum Saath-Saath Hain: We Stand United's concept was conceived by Sooraj Barjatya, who wanted to make a family drama. The film is produced under his banner Rajshri Productions, the 48th film under the banner and Barjatya's third film as a director. The film was a modern day adaptation of the epic Ramayana. Lyricist Raghvendra Singh worked as an assistant director for the film.

Casting
Reema Lagoo (as Mamta), Alok Nath (as Ramkishan), Himani Shivpuri (as Neenakshi), Satish Shah (as Pritam) and Ajit Vachani (as Pranab) were cast. It marks their second film with Barjatya after Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!. For Salman, Lagoo, Nath, Bahl, and Vachani, it was their third film with Barjatya after Maine Pyar Kiya.

Salman Khan was cast as Prem, marking his eighth film with the same character name. Salman at that point, found the character to be "similar to him" in real life. For Preeti's role, Barjatya first approached Raveena Tandon, who refused the part due to it being a multi-starrer. Later, Sonali Bendre was cast as Dr. Preeti. It marked Bendre's only film opposite Salman Khan. Bendre said that she knew exactly what she was "supposed to do" for her character, after the narration.

Vivek's role was first offered to Anil Kapoor and later to Rishi Kapoor but after their refusal, Mohnish Bahl was cast as Vivek. Bahl made it a habit to keep his right hand in his pocket, as per the role's requirement. Bahl called Vivek’s character "an opportunity of a lifetime". Barjatya approached Madhuri Dixit for Sadhna's role, who declined. Manisha Koirala was offered the role, who refused due to filming of her film Mann. Finally Tabu was cast as Sadhna.

Later, Karisma Kapoor (as Sapna), Saif Ali Khan (as Vinod) and Neelam (as Sangita) were cast. Kapoor called working with Barjatya a "dream come true" experience. The makers offered Rishi Kapoor, Anand's role, but he again refused, it was then offered to Nitish Bhardwaj, who refused too. Finally Mahesh Thakur was cast as Anand.

Zoya Afroz was cast as Sangita and Anand's daughter Radhika. Also, Shakti Kapoor (as Anwar), Sadashiv Amrapurkar (as Dharamraj), Rajiv Verma (as Adarsh), Sheela Sharma (as Jyoti) and Dilip Dhawan (as Anurag), were cast in other prominent roles.

Filming


The principal photography commenced in 1998. A major portion of the film was shot at the Film City, Mumbai. The filming of other scenes of the film including the song "Mhare Hiwade Mein Naache Mor" was done in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Mandore Gardens, Mehrangarh Fort, and Jaswant Thada, were some of the locations in Jodhpur where the film was shot. The rain sequence of "Mhare Hiwade", was also shot at Chennakeshava Temple, Somanathapura.

Post-production
During the post-production stage of the film, the filmmaker announced a unique campaign for its promotions. The team of Hum Saath-Saath Hain and Coca-Cola launched a nationwide marketing programme called 'Coca-Cola Hum Saath Saath Hain'. The common ad campaign laid equal focus on both the soft drink brand and the film. The Barjatyas were quite press-friendly during the making of their previous films, but for Hum Saath-Saath Hain, the press screening was restricted to an elite few.

Controversy
During the Jodhpur film schedule in 1998, some members of the cast, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Neelam Kothari, Tabu, and Sonali Bendre, were involved in a case of shooting of an endangered black buck on a hunting expedition, on the outskirts of Kankani village in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. The incident generated significant press coverage and Salman Khan spent a week in Jodhpur jail in 2007, before the court granted him bail. In 2018, the Jodhpur court convicted him and acquitted the others. In 2019, Rajasthan High Court issued a notice challenging the acquittal of Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Saif.

Soundtrack
Raamlaxman composed the music, teaming up with Sooraj Barjatya for the third time. Raamlakshman had composed as many as 27 tunes, out of which the soundtrack of the film features seven songs and playback singers: Kavita Krishnamurthy (for Karishma Kapoor), Alka Yagnik (for Sonali Bendre), Anuradha Paudwal (for Tabu), Kumar Sanu (for Salman Khan), Udit Narayan (for Saif Ali Khan), Hariharan (for Mohnish Behl), Sonu Nigam (for Shakti Kapoor), Hema Sardesai (for Neelam), Roop Kumar Rathod (for Ajit Vachani) and Pratima Rao (for Himani Shivpuri).

Raamlaxman plagiarised his track "A B C D" from the Spanish singer Jeanette's 1974 song "Porque te vas". The remaining songs of the album include, the title track "Hum Saath Saath Hain", the wedding tracks "Chhote Chhote Bhaiyon Ke", and "Sunoji Dulhan", "Yeh To Sach Hai Ki Bhagwan Hai", "Mhare Hiwda" and "Maiyya Yashoda".

At the 2000 Zee Cine Awards, Raamlaxman received a nomination for Best Music Director. At the same event, he won the award for the Best Background Score.

Critical reception
Savera R Someshwar of Rediff.com said "..It is time for Barjatya to look out for a new music director. Even the lyrics – barring "Maare Hidwa Ma Naache Mor" and "Mayya Yashoda" – are banal...".

Charts and sales
The music topped the charts on several platforms in India. According to Box Office India, the soundtrack of Hum Saath-Saath Hain went on to sell 18 lakh (1.8million) units, becoming the twelfth best-selling album of the year.

Release
Hum Saath-Saath Hain was released earlier but the music director Raamlaxman took time to check the soundtrack album for the second time to not make any mistake. Following all the post-production, cinematography, choreography and other things were completed, the film finally hit the theatre screens on 5 November 1999 during Diwali. It became the first Bollywood film to be played in Canadian theatres, with six screenings in Toronto. Eros Entertainment released the film on over 60 screens in North America, the biggest opening for any film then. The film was also dubbed in Telugu and released with the title Premanuragam. Hum Saath-Saath Hain was later made available on Netflix and Zee5.

Critical reception
Anupama Chopra of India Today noted, "A time-warped patriarchal fantasy, but somehow HSSH glows with Barjatya's conviction. Despite the diabetic sweetness, it has some wonderfully crafted moments. It's maudlin and regressive but he believes in it. And at least partially, he makes you believe in it too."

Savera R Someshwar of Rediff.com stated, "Barjatya's film is pure escapism, very feel-good. While you are ensconced with the moving images, you smile, laugh, feel sad, and maybe even a little angry. Hum Saath-Saath Hain is an enjoyable experience, especially if you contain yourself from comparing it to Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!"

Alok Kumar of Planet Bollywood wrote, "Hum Saath-Saath Hain is repetitive, sickeningly sweet, and sappy. Though, the performances were pretty good from the whole cast. If you're a Barjatya fan, you should watch this, as it's almost guaranteed you will love it."

Box office
Hum Saath-Saath Hain became the highest grossing film of the year, with a worldwide gross of inr 817099999.9999999. It became one of the biggest blockbusters of the decade. It is one of the top earners of the decade in India and at the foreign box office. When adjusted for inflation, Hum Saath-Saath Hain is still among the highest grossers worldwide. Rediff.com termed Hum Saath-Saath Hain, a "Super Hit" and the "biggest hit" of 1999. The film is also among the highest grossing Diwali releases in India.

Legacy
Hum Saath-Saath Hain remains one of the most popular family drama film of Indian cinema. It is also considered among the best ensemble cast films by Filmfare. India Today added it in its list of "10 evergreen Hindi films". Indian Express named it Barjatiya's one of the "most family-friendly" flicks. The film is also listed among the best films made on siblings relationship.

Navya Kharbanda of Hindustan Times termed it a "cinematic masterpiece" and stated, "The film continues to captivate audiences with its themes of family bonds, love, and traditions." Aakriti Anand of Filmfare stated that the film justified its title "to the fullest" and termed it an "out-and-out family entertainer". Vibha Maru from India Today noted, "The film set a template of how family films are to be made. Hum Saath Saath Hain was also a rare film that saw so many popular actors together on the big screen; something that is hard to imagine today." The songs of the film are highly popular. Songs like "Sunoji Dulhan", "Mhare Hiwda" and "Maiyya Yashoda" have become synonym with the wedding, monsoon and festive seasons. Actor Vicky Kaushal admitted to being a fan of the film and said that it is "etched in his mind". The film also has over 1.9 billion views on YouTube.