''Criminal'' is a 1994 Indian

action thriller The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

film directed by

Mahesh Bhatt Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Mahesh Bhatt, a number of accolades, including four Nati ...

, starring

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

Ramya Krishna Ramya Krishnan (born 15 September 1970), also credited as Ramya Krishna, is an Indian actress predominantly known for her work in Telugu and Tamil films, along with appearances in Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films. Early life Ramya was born ...

and

Manisha Koirala Manisha Koirala (; born 16 August 1970) is a Nepali people, Nepalese actress who works in Cinema of India, Indian films, predominantly in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil. Born to the politically prominent Koirala family, she is the daughter of ...

. Shot simultaneously in Telugu and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

languages, the film was produced by K. S. Rama Rao under the Creative Commercials banner in Telugu, and by

Mukesh Bhatt Mukesh Bhatt (born 5 June 1952) is an Indian people, Indian film producer and actor who has produced several Bollywood films. He is the younger brother of Mahesh Bhatt, and also the co-owner of the production company Vishesh Films, set up in 19 ...

under the Vishesh Films banner in Hindi with the music composed by M. M. Keeravani (credited as MM Kreem in Hindi). ''Criminal'' was inspired by the 1993 American film '' The Fugitive''. The Telugu version released on 14 October 1994, while the Hindi version released on 21 July 1995. ''Criminal'' was the last film of the Hindi film actor Ajit Khan. The Telugu version was not commercially successful.

Plot

After witnessing the unfortunate death of a woman, who was unable to afford hospital treatment, Dr. Ajay Kumar cancels his planned immigration to the U.S. and instead sets out to develop a plan to open a hospital that will be accessible to people who cannot afford treatment in regular hospitals, called "Amma Hospital". This draws quite a lot of attention, and he becomes popular, especially with two young women, Dr. Swetha and ACP Ramya. He falls in love with Swetha, and both get married, breaking Ramya's heart in the process. Shortly thereafter, much to their delight, Swetha becomes pregnant. When Swetha discovers a frightening organ-smuggling operation in her hospital while going through a friend's diagnostic report, she calls Ramya. Soon after, Swetha is attacked by a killer and rings the police. Ajay enters their home to find Swetha, who soon succumbs to her injuries. The police arrive to find her dead body and arrest Ajay for murder. They deduce that Ajay's motive for killing Swetha was money, as Swetha was a wealthy heiress. Furthermore, she shouted Ajay's name as she was on the phone with the police. The court finds Ajay guilty, and he is sentenced to death. While being transported to the jail for the sentence to be carried out, the police bus meets with an accident as the other prisoners have staged a riot. Ajay escapes and changes his appearance. The police launch a manhunt for him but are unable to catch him. Ajay goes to Ramya's house to prove his innocence. Meanwhile, he used to know Ramya had a crush on him. Ajay catches the real killer and discovers the man behind everything - including the smuggling - was Ajay's friend Dr. Pratap. Finally, he reopens the hospital and puts garland on Swetha's picture.

Cast

Soundtrack

All the music is composed by M. M. Keeravani. The song "Paapki Paapki/Keemti Keemti" is inspired by "Lonely Monday Morning" from '' 12 Inches of Snow'' (1993) by the Canadian musician

Snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

. The track "Thelusa Manasa" (only the humming portion) was inspired from the English album

The Cross of Changes ''The Cross of Changes'' is the second studio album by the German musical project Enigma, headed by Romanian-German musician and producer Michael Cretu, released on 6 December 1993 by Virgin Records internationally and by Charisma Records in t ...

(1993) and the song Age of Loneliness (1994) both composed by the German band Enigma. K. S. Chithra took 4 days to practice and replicate the same humming in her style. The song was set in the abheri/

bhimpalasi Bhimpalasi or Bheempalasi (also known as Bhimpalas or Bheempalas) is a Hindustani classical raga. The Carnatic Music equivalent of this raga is Abheri. Raga Bhimpalasi belongs to the Kafi Thaat. Theory * Aaroha: * Avaroha: The raga has k ...

ragas A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, from the perspec ...

, and became a popular cult song.

Telugu version

Hindi version

Hindi lyrics were written by Indeevar. Original audio was released on

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

. At first the tracks of "Tu Mile Dil Khile- All versions" were recorded in the voice of K. S. Chithra but due to some unforeseen reasons all the tracks sung by Chithra were replaced by

Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik (born 20 March 1966) is an Indian playback singer who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. One of the most prominent singers of 1990s era Bollywood, she has received several accolades, including two National Film Awards, two Ben ...

, but still Keeravani managed to keep the humming portion sung by Chithra intact in all the tracks.

Tamil version

The soundtrack was released in Tamil as ''Ellame En Kadhali''. The lyrics for songs were written by

Piraisoodan Piraisoodan (6 February 1956 – 8 October 2021) was a Tamil poet and lyricist. He won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist for his songs in movies like '' Thayagam'', '' En Rasavin Manasile'' and ''Neeyum Naanum'' in 1996, 1991 a ...

Release and reception

Alluru Rahim of '' Zamin Ryot'', reviewing the Telugu version of the film on 21 October 1994, described it as "the film which drives the audience out the theatres 'sic''" While appreciating the Nagarjuna's performance and the soundtrack by Keeravani, Rahim opined that the film lacked good story and screenplay. After the film's success, it was later dubbed and released in Tamil as ''Ellame En Kadhali''. K. Vijiyan reviewing this version for ''

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as a local offshoot of Singapore-based ''The Straits Ti ...

'' on 3 July 1995, opined that Bhatt had made a faithful remake of ''The Fugitive''.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1990s Hindi-language films 1990s Indian films 1990s Telugu-language films 1990s chase films 1990s crime action films 1990s crime drama films 1990s mystery films 1990s mystery thriller films 1994 action thriller films 1994 crime thriller films 1994 films 1994 multilingual films Fiction about prosthetics Fiction about wrongful convictions Fictional portrayals of the Maharashtra Police Films about amputees Films about miscarriage of justice Films about murder Films about surgeons Films based on adaptations Films based on television series Films directed by Mahesh Bhatt Films scored by M. M. Keeravani Films set in Mumbai Films set in the 1990s Films shot in Mumbai Hindi-language action thriller films Hindi-language crime thriller films Hindi-language films based on actual events Hindi-language mystery thriller films Indian action adventure films Indian action thriller films Indian chase films Indian courtroom films Indian crime action films Indian crime thriller films Indian films about revenge Indian legal drama films Indian multilingual films Indian mystery thriller films Indian police films Indian remakes of American films Medical-themed films T-Series (company) films The Fugitive (TV series) Indian detective films Films set in hospitals Films about physicians Films about prison escapes