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Ghulam (film)

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This article is about the Indian film. For other uses, see Ghulam (disambiguation).

Ghulam
Poster
Directed byVikram Bhatt
Written byAnjum Rajabali
Story byBudd Schulberg (adapted screenplay)
Based onOn the Waterfront (1954)
Produced byMukesh Bhatt
Starring
CinematographyTeja
Edited byWaman Bhonsle
Music bySongs:
Jatin–Lalit
Background score:
Amar Haldipur
Distributed byVishesh Films
Release date
  • 19 June 1998 (1998-06-19)
Running time
162 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹72 million[1]
Box office₹242 million[1]

Ghulam (transl. Slave) is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language action film, directed by Vikram Bhatt, and starring Aamir Khan and Rani Mukerji in lead roles. The plot of the film is similar to Vishesh Films' first production Kabzaa (1988), starring Sanjay Dutt,[2] in turn inspired by Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954; itself inspired by "Crime on the Waterfront" by Malcolm Johnson, a series of November–December 1948 articles published in the New York Sun).[3]

Ghulam released on 19 June 1998, and was a commercial success at the box office.[1]

At the 44th Filmfare Awards, Ghulam received 6 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Bhatt) and Best Actor (Khan), and won Best Scene of the Year. The film was remade in Tamil in 2000 as Sudhandhiram.

Plot

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Siddharth "Siddhu" Marathe, a boxing champion from Mumbai, lives an aimless life, overshadowed by his older brother Jai, the right-hand man of local gangster Raunak "Ronnie" Singh. Siddhu befriends and falls in love with Alisha, unaware that her brother, Hari, a principled social worker, opposes Ronnie's reign of terror. When Siddhu unwittingly lures Hari into a fatal ambush orchestrated by Ronnie, he is overcome with guilt but initially refuses to testify against Ronnie due to his loyalty to Jai.

After losing a boxing match on Jai's orders to protect Ronnie's illegal activities, Siddhu confronts his family's history of cowardice and resolves to fight injustice. Despite personal and emotional losses, including a breakup with Alisha and Jai's eventual murder by Ronnie, Siddhu testifies in court against Ronnie.

Siddhu challenges Ronnie to a public boxing duel, defeating him and inspiring the local community to stand against Ronnie's tyranny. The collective resistance forces Ronnie and his gang to flee, signaling the community's empowerment and Siddhu's transformation into a courageous leader.

Cast

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Production

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Filming for Ghulam began in June 1997. By mid-August, a week-long schedule at a specially erected set at Film City in Mumbai was completed.[4]

Dubbing

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Rani Mukerji's voice was dubbed by Mona Shetty,[5] who had a much more high-pitched voice. When asked if the director's decision to not use her voice in the film affected her, she said that her voice was dubbed as it "did not suit the character".[6][7]

Stunts

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A sequence in the film shows Aamir running on a rail track towards an oncoming train, which misses him by a few feet as he jumps off the tracks. 1.3 seconds was the only difference between Aamir and the train. This stunt was actually performed by Aamir himself. At the 44th Filmfare Awards, it won the Best Scene of the Year award, but Aamir later criticized himself for taking such an unnecessary risk.[8]

Soundtrack

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Ghulam
Studio album by
Jatin–Lalit
Released8 March 1998
Genre
Length33:12
LanguageHindi
Label
Tips Music
Jatin–Lalit chronology
Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge!
(1998) 		Ghulam
(1998) 		Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai
(1998)

The music was composed by Jatin–Lalit. Lyrics were handled by Indeevar, Nitin Raikwar, Sameer and Vinod Mahendra. The film's soundtrack album sold 2.5 million units in India, making it the year's fifth best-selling Bollywood soundtrack album.[9]

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Aankhon Se Tune Yeh Kya Keh Diya"Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik05:06
2."Jadoo Hai Tera Hi Jadoo"Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik07:53
3."Ab Naam Mohabbat Ke"Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik05:18
4."Aati Kya Khandala"Aamir Khan, Alka Yagnik04:11
5."Saath Jo Tera Mil Gaya"Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik05:26
6."Tujhko Kya"Udit Narayan, Jojo, Surjeet06:09
Total length:33:42

Reception

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The film was declared a hit by Box Office India and its total gross was 242 million.[1]

Awards

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Awards Category Recipient(s) Results
44th Filmfare Awards Best Film Mukesh Bhatt Nominated
Best Director Vikram Bhatt
Best Actor Aamir Khan
Best Villain Sharat Saxena
Best Male Playback Singer Aamir Khan for "Aati Kya Khandala"
Best Scene of the Year The train-race scene Won
Zee Cine Awards Best Actor Aamir Khan Nominated
Best Actress Rani Mukerji

Remake

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The film was remade in Tamil in 2000 as Sudhandhiram. The remake rights were sold for ₹25 lakh (equivalent to ₹1.1 crore or US$130,000 in 2023).[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Ghulam - Movie - Box Office India". www.boxofficeindia.com.
  2. ^ "Kabzaa Remake". The Times of India.
  3. ^ "The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | 7days | No ripoffs, please". Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  4. ^ "On the Sets: Ghulam". Screen. 15 August 1997. Archived from the original on 14 September 2001. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  5. ^ Ansari, Shabana (30 April 2006). "Ghost speakers lend voices to Bollywood". DNA India.
  6. ^ Ganti, Tejaswini (2012). Producing Bollywood: Inside the Contemporary Hindi Film Industry. Duke University Press. p. 388. ISBN 978-0-8223-5213-6.
  7. ^ Interview with Rani Mukherjee. 2006. p. 16. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  8. ^ "Amir Khan: Every shot is important". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2007.
  9. ^ "Music Hits 1990-1999 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. 2 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010.
  10. ^ "Plagiarism issue jolts Bollywood". The Times of India. 18 May 2003.
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