Mohra

Mohra is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film co-written, edited and directed by Rajiv Rai and produced by his father Gulshan Rai. It stars Naseeruddin Shah, Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Raza Murad, Gulshan Grover, Paresh Rawal, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. The film was also the first collaboration between the trio of Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal, who went on to collaborate several times later on.

Originally, Divya Bharti was cast as the female lead but she died very early in the production. Raveena Tandon was cast as her replacement, as was the case with the movie Dilwale, which was released earlier the same year. The film was reported to be inspired by the 1987 film Death Wish 4: The Crackdown. while the climax was inspired by the 1992 Hong Kong film, Hard Boiled. The film was remade in Bengali, in Bangladesh, as Gupto Ghatak (1998).

The film was a major box office success, and went on to become the second highest-grossing Indian film of that year only behind Hum Aapke Hain Koun. It received nine Filmfare nominations in 1995 including Best film, Best director and Best Music director. Songs of the film also became huge chartbusters in that year. The popularity of the song "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast", which was picturised on Raveena Tandon, led to her being nicknamed 'the Mast Mast girl'. The song was an adaptation of the popular Qawwali song "Dam Mast Qalandar Mast Mast" by Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The film's soundtrack album sold more than 8million units, making it the second highest-selling Bollywood soundtrack album of 1994, behind only Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!.

Plot
Vishal Agnihotri is imprisoned for killing four criminals who raped and killed his sister-in-law, Rita. However, a corrupt public prosecutor helps the criminals escape punishment.

In revenge, the criminals attempt to rape Vishal's wife, Priya, but she kills herself with a knife and the criminals flee. Vishal decides to take matters into his own hands and murders the four criminals.

Journalist Roma Singh visits Vishal in prison and becomes a target from some of the convicts. Vishal comes to her rescue. Roma is determined to help him regain his freedom. She goes to the police station to meet Inspector Amar Saxena to obtain Vishal's case file.

Roma's boss, Mr. Jindal who is supposedly blind and the owner of "Samadhan Newspaper," reopens Vishal's case by presenting new evidence to the legal authorities. The judge reviewing the case accepts the new evidence and makes arrangements for Vishal's release from prison.

After being freed, Vishal starts working for Jindal. He is given the task of eliminating Jibran, Tyson and their associates. He is also instructed to kill Kamdev Kulkarni, the Commissioner of Police. Vishal begins eliminating the drug suspects one by one, alternating between Jibran's gang and Tyson's gang, in order to incite a rivalry between them.

After being informed by Kashinath that Vishal is the hitman responsible for killing his gang members, Jibran calls Tyson to meet and clear up any misunderstanding. During the meeting, Vishal shoots Tyson with a sniper rifle from a distance, causing both gangs to start shooting at each other. Tyson shoots Jibran, but he fakes his death and witnesses Vishal shooting Tyson up close.

Vishal intends to assassinate Kamdev at his house, but overhears a conversation between a drunk Kamdev and Constable Kranti Kumar. Kamdev discloses that the mysterious killer is actually benefiting society by eliminating criminals, which the police couldn't do because of the legal system. Vishal decides not to kill Kamdev.

Vishal informs Jindal that he spared Kamdev because he is a good man and not involved in protecting drug lords. Jindal becomes furious upon hearing this and slaps Vishal. Vishal throws a bowl at Jindal, but Jindal catches it. To Vishal's surprise, Jindal reveals he is not blind and used Vishal as a Mohra (pawn). Vishal is about to shoot Jindal, but Jibran arrives and saves Jindal. Jibran and Jindal"s men tie up Vishal.

There is a flashback to Jindal’s past. He had approached Jibran and Tyson to sell drugs and make more money, but Inspector Karan Saxena (Amar's father) was assigned to stop the drug lords. Jindal stole Karan's police uniform to proceed with the drug deal.

When Karan found out, Jindal killed him. His wife Pooja witnessed the murder and Jindal kills her too. Jindal pretended to be blind to the police to avoid prison. Jindal and Jibran leave Vishal to die by placing a bomb next to him but he escapes just in time.

Amar breaks into Vishal's house and discovers the files of all the individuals Jindal instructed Vishal to eliminate. Amar locates Vishal at Roma's residence and reveals that he has the files, leaving no room for denial regarding the killings. Amar wants to arrest Vishal for his crimes, but the encounter escalates, resulting in Vishal losing consciousness when Roma distracts him and gets knocked out by Amar.

Kashinath tells Jindal that Vishal is alive and will tell Amar and Kamdev the truth by the morning. Afterwards, Jindal reveals his attraction for Roma and demands she marries him, Roma also discovers Jindal is not blind. Jindal then grabs Roma forcefully. The sub-editor Siddiqui sees this, but is killed by Jindal.

Kamdev releases Vishal. Vishal tells Amar the truth about Jindal and everything that transpired in detail and tells him that jindal is Karan "s assian .Amar, Vishal and Kamdev go to Jindal's office, but they find Siddiqui’s body instead. Jindal calls and says he has kidnapped Roma. Kashinath helps Vishal and Amar trace Jindal to an abandoned fort where drug lords have assembled.

Amar and Vishal kill most of the drug lords. Jindal forces Roma to go with him but is confronted by Vishal. Amar kills Jindal and avenges the death of his father and vishal who pushes Jindal towards amar and dies in Amar's lap, saluting him for one last time. In the climax, Roma had been shown married to Amar Saxena.

Cast

 * Naseeruddin Shah as Sandeep Jindal
 * Suniel Shetty as Vishal Agnihotri, Priya's husband
 * Akshay Kumar as Inspector Amar Saxena, Roma's love interest
 * Raveena Tandon as Roma Singh, Amar's love interest
 * Paresh Rawal as Sub-Inspector Kashinath Sahoo
 * Raza Murad as Jibran, a drug lord
 * Gulshan Grover as Tyson, a drug lord
 * Sadashiv Amrapurkar as Police Commissioner Officer Kamdev Kulkarni
 * Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Mr Singh, the Jailor and Roma's father
 * Avtar Gill as Inspector Karan Saxena, Amar's father
 * Harish Patel as Constable Kranti Kumar
 * Priya Tendulkar as Pooja Jindal, Jindal's wife
 * Yunus Parvez as Siddiqui, an editor
 * Vinay Sapru as Tony, Rita's friend
 * Razak Khan as Rizwan, Jibran's brother
 * Tej Sapru as Irfan, Jibran's nephew
 * Vishwajeet Pradhan as Jackson, Tyson's brother
 * Kunika as Flora, Tyson's kept.
 * Gavin Packard as Douglas, a drug lord.
 * John Gabriel as Rampal
 * Poonam Jhawer as Priya Agnihotri, Vishal's wife. (extended cameo appearance)
 * Sonali Singh as Rita, Priya's sister (special appearance)

Soundtrack
The music for the film was composed by Viju Shah, with lyrics by Indeevar and Anand Bakshi. Mohra was one of the most successful soundtrack albums of 1994, especially the song "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast". The track is set to Raag Bhimpalasi (known as Abheri in Carnatic Music), and is based on the popular Qawwali song "Dam Mast Qalandar Mast Mast" by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Initially, Viju Shah wanted Sapna Mukherjee to render "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast" but, upon Rajiv Rai's insistence, opted for Kavita Krishnamurthy instead. The song "Na Kajre Ki Dhaar" was composed in the 1970s by Kalyanji-Anandji, the father and uncle of Viju Shah, and sung by Mukesh, for a shelved film, meaning that the song was unreleased. Viju Shah added the song to this film, and got singers Pankaj Udhas and Sadhana Sargam to sing it.

The film's soundtrack album sold 8million units, making it the second highest-selling Bollywood soundtrack album of 1994, behind only Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! The soundtrack was #81 on the list of "100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks of All Time", as compiled by Planet Bollywood. The song "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast" was remade as "Cheez Badi" for the 2017 film Machine. The song "Tip Tip Barsa Pani" was remade as "Tip Tip" for the 2021 film Sooryavanshi. The background score consisted of plagiarised versions of "The Terminator theme" and "I feel you (Babylon Mix)" by Depeche Mode.


 * Track list

Box office
It was the 2nd-highest-grossing film of 1994.

Awards

 * 40th Filmfare Awards :

Won


 * Best Choreography – Chinni Prakash for "Tu Cheez Badi Hai"

Nominated


 * Best Film – Gulshan Rai
 * Best Director – Rajiv Rai
 * Best Comedian – Paresh Rawal
 * Best Villain – Naseeruddin Shah
 * Best Music Director – Viju Shah
 * Best Lyricist – Anand Bakshi for "Tu Cheez Badi Hai"
 * Best Male Playback Singer – Udit Narayan for "Tu Cheez Badi Hai"
 * Best Female Playback Singer – Kavita Krishnamurthy for "Tu Cheez Badi Hai"