Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani

Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language drama film released by Dreamz Unlimited (now Red Chillies Entertainment). The producers derived the title from lines of the song "Mera Joota Hai Japani" from Shree 420 (1955). Directed by Aziz Mirza, the film focuses on TV media wars. Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla play Ajay Bakshi and Ria Banerjee, respectively, who are two television reporters for rival news channels, KTV and Galaxy TV. They try to save the life of a man, who has been fixed by politicians for the death of his brother, from a death sentence. The film marked the first production venture by Khan, Chawla, and Mirza under their production company Dreamz Unlimited, now Red Chillies Entertainment. The film won the IIFA Award for Best Special Effects.

Plot
Ajay Bakshi is a successful loudmouthed reporter, working for a reputed news channel, KTV. A rival news channel, Galaxy TV, ropes in Ria Banerjee to bring him down and garner the highest ratings. Ria is the antithesis of Ajay and uses her intelligence, charm and wits to get her work done.

Pappu Junior, alias Choti, is a don who is to be ousted from his own gang, owing to his inability to make it big in the crime world. Ajay approaches Choti with an offer: arrange a fake attack on Minister Ramakant Dua's brother-in-law, Madanlal Gupta, on national television. Choti will earn respect and Ajay's channel will gain ratings. Little does Ajay know that the plan is going to turn too real.

During the public drama, Madanlal is gunned down by an assailant named Mohan Joshi who is arrested immediately as the Police Commissioner declares that Mohan is a foreign terrorist. Minister Ramakant takes advantage of his brother-in-law's death to gain votes and sympathy; he also instigates a pogrom to ensure his position in the government.

As the news of the incident begins circulating around India, violent protests begin. Ajay and Ria both start covering the city's riots and start to get along with one another; Ajay's womanizing nature had previously turned off Ria and caused friction between them. As Ria and Ajay are reporting, Mohan escapes jail and seeks shelter in Ajay and Ria's car.

When Mohan confronts them in their car, Ajay hastily accuses him of being a terrorist. Mohan yells that he is not and tells the two his story: Mohan had a happy family with his wife and daughter, Kavita. One day, his daughter went for a job interview at Madanlal's residence and he brutally raped and beat her. She died from the trauma and as no lawyer was willing to fight the case due to the perpetrator's political power, Mohan was left helpless, running from door to door for justice. Hopeless and distraught, he took the law into his own hands and killed the rapist.

Ajay and Ria, who now feel an immense amount of empathy, decide to help Mohan get justice for his daughter. Throughout their journey together, Mohan sees Ajay and Ria as his own children and feels genuine gratefulness towards them, returning the favor by helping them realize their love for each other. Eventually, Ajay and Ria reunite Mohan with his wife, who is extremely happy to see him. Ajay needs a place to store the videotape of Mohan's confession, and decides to give it to his boss and his Uncle Kaka. Unfortunately, Minister Ramakant has joined hands with the rival minister Mushran, as he fears that their secrets might come out if Mohan's truth is revealed. Additionally, Ajay's boss forms an alliance with Ria's boss, Chinoy. The ministers and channel heads come together and trick Ajay and Ria into giving them the tape with no intention of giving it back, for their own selfish reasons.

Mohan gets found, and after being arrested, is sentenced to be publicly hung; Ajay and Ria suddenly realized they were tricked and conned by their bosses. Together with Choti, they work to get the tape back from the clutches of the minister. They successfully receive the tape, and Ajay succeeds in broadcasting the confession and story from Mohan just one hour before his execution. Ajay and Ria tearfully plead with the nation to stop this injustice and call on all Indians to rescue Mohan. They succeed, and the entire city, including Ajay's family, gather to save Ajay from being tortured by the police and save Mohan.

Although the ministers and policemen are desperate to stop the protestors from entering prison grounds, the ACP's force is unable to shoot at the crowd due to them wielding India's flag; they are unable to stop the city from breaching the police barricades. In a blatant mockery and critique of media's selfish obsession with ratings and views, Mohan is made to wear a shirt sporting logos of sponsors and companies. as he is about to be hung. Seconds before the execution, Ajay having stormed into the prison ground with Ria and the others, saves Mohan and the protesters beat up the politicians and chase them out, ensuring their careers are over.

The film ends happily as Mohan thanks everyone and Ria proposes to Ajay, who accepts.

Cast

 * Shah Rukh Khan as Ajay Bakshi, News Reporter of KTV Channel
 * Juhi Chawla as Ria Banerjee, News Reporter of Galaxy TV Channel
 * Paresh Rawal as Mohan Joshi
 * Johnny Lever as Choti / Pappu Junior
 * Atul Parchure as Shahid Akram
 * Sanjay Mishra as Bomb Defuser
 * Sharat Saxena as Pappu's boss
 * Aanjjan Srivastav as Police Commissioner
 * Neena Kulkarni as Laxmi Joshi, Mohan's wife.
 * Dalip Tahil as Shenoy, Boss of Galaxy TV Channel, Employer to Ria
 * Satish Shah as Kaka, Boss of KTV Channel, Employer to Ajay
 * Govind Namdev as Chief Minister Mushran
 * Shakti Kapoor as Minister Ramakant Dua
 * Mahavir Shah as Ramakant's brother-in-law, Madanlal Gupta
 * Bharti Achrekar as Mrs. Neha Banerjee, Ria's mother
 * Smita Jaykar as Mrs. Sudeepa Bakshi, Ajay's mother
 * Vishwajeet Pradhan as Head Police Inspector
 * Dilip Joshi as Sapney (Choti's aide)
 * Mona Ambegaonkar as Shalini Bahl (Cameo)
 * Sheeba Chaddha as Anushka Roy (TV Reporter)
 * Hyder Ali as Mr. Bakshi, Ajay's father.
 * Syed Badr-ul Hasan Khan Bahadur

Music
The music was composed by Jatin–Lalit who also composed the background score assisted by their brother-in-law Aadesh Shrivastava. All of the lyrics were written by Javed Akhtar. The music of the film was highly appreciated by critics and the audience alike. Manish Dhamija of Planet Bollywood gave 8.5 stars stating, "Overall, the album is a pleasant surprise from Jatin-Lalit". The soundtrack and the song "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani" in particular, with its concept of "Love our country", was well-received and praised for its patriotism. Author M. J. Akbar highlighted the "very heavy winking" by Khan during his performance of the song, accompanying the evocative lyrics.

Box office
Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani grossed inr 182000000 in India and $1.67 million (₹7.26 crore) in other countries, for a worldwide total of inr 254600000, against its inr 130000000 budget. It had a worldwide opening weekend of inr 74500000, and grossed inr 125000000 in its first week. It is the 13th-highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2000 worldwide.

On Up Close & Personal with PZ, Shah Rukh Khan said that the film "was the biggest failure for Juhi [Chawla], Aziz [Mirza], and him".

India
It opened on Friday, 21 January 2000, across 240 screens, and earned inr 9100000 nett on its opening day. It grossed inr 27400000.000000004 nett in its opening weekend, and had a first week of inr 50800000 nett. The film earned a total of inr 107400000 nett, and was declared a flop by Box Office India.

Overseas
It had an opening weekend of $650,000 (₹2.82 crore) and went on to gross $900,000 (₹3.91 crore) in its first week. The film earned a total of $1.67 million (₹7.26 crore) at the end of its theatrical run.