''King Uncle'' is a 1993 Indian

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 ...

-language

action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...

directed by

Rakesh Roshan Rakesh Roshan (born 6 September 1949) is an Indian film producer, director, screenwriter and actor who works in Bollywood, Hindi films. He appeared in 84 films in the 1970s and 1980s. As an actor, he is mostly known for his supporting roles in ...

. The film stars

Jackie Shroff Jaikishan Kakubhai Shroff (born 1 February 1957), known by his screen name Jackie Shroff, is an Indian actor and former model from Mumbai, Maharashtra, who primarily works in the Hindi film industry. In a career spanning over four decades, he ...

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...

, Anu Aggarwal,

Nagma Nagma Arvind Morarji (born Nandita Arvind Morarji; 25 December 1974), known mononyomusly as Nagma. is an Indian politician and former actress. She gained prominence as a leading actress in the 1990s and appeared in films across various India ...

Paresh Rawal Paresh Rawal (born 30 May 1955) is an Indian actor, comedian, film producer and politician known for his works primarily in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. He has Paresh Rawal filmography, appeared in over 240 films and is the recipient of various L ...

, Sushmita Mukherjee, Pooja Ruparel and

Deven Verma Deven Verma (23 October 1937 – 2 December 2014) was an Indian film and television actor, particularly known for his comic roles, with Bollywood directors like Basu Chatterji, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Gulzar. He also produced and directed fi ...

. The film was inspired from the 1982 English film '' Annie'' that starred Aileen Quinn and

Albert Finney Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining fame for movie acting during the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' ( ...

, which in turn is based on the 1924 comic strip ''

Little Orphan Annie ''Little Orphan Annie'' was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and print syndication#Comic strip syndication, syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James ...

'' by Harold Gray. The film was a moderate box office success and has since gained cult status, well-received by families and children. Both Shroff and Ruparel's performances received critical acclaim.

Synopsis

Ashok Bansal (

) is a wealthy industrialist, inspired by the British 'stiff upper lip' syndrome. Ashok hates poor people and works hard to become rich because his mother abandoned him and his two siblings for a rich man when they were young. In the process of acquiring wealth, Ashok has become an unbearable disciplinarian and neglects his family consisting of his younger brother Anil ( Shahrukh Khan) and sister Suneeta (Nivedita Saraf). Ashok gets Suneeta married to Pradeep (

Dalip Tahil Dalip Tahil (born Dalip Tahilramani; 30 October 1952) is an Indian people, Indian film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for his work in ''Baazigar'' (1993), ''Raja (1995 film), Raja'' (1995), ''Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke'' (1993) and ' ...

) although she is in love with someone else ( Vivek Vaswani). Pradeep has an affair with another woman and abuses Suneeta frequently. Anil goes against his brother's highhanded ways, marries a poor girl Kavita (

) and leaves the house. Munna (Pooja Ruparel), a runaway orphan arrives at Ashok Bansal's house, initially creates havoc and eventually becomes the apple of his eye. When he takes her back to the orphanage she spills the beans about the warden's drunken behavior. Based on Munna's suggestions he frees his sister from her abusive husband and brings her home. He decides to adopt Munna and save her from the clutches of the warden and her criminal boyfriend (Paresh Rawal). Ashok mends fences with his brother and becomes a kind man with happy family.

Cast

as Ashok Bansal a.k.a. King Uncle * Shahrukh Khan as Anil Bansal *

as Kavita * Anu Aggarwal as Fenni * Pooja Ruparel as Munna, Orphaned girl * Vivek Vaswani as Kamal * Nivedita Joshi as Suneeta Bansal *

as Pratap * Sushmita Mukherjee as Shanti, Orphanage Principal *

as Karim *

as Pradeep * Bharat Kapoor as Mr. Mallik *Madhu Malhotra as Mrs Mallik *

Viju Khote Viju Khote (17 December 1941 – 30 September 2019) was an Indian actor best known for his role as Kaalia, a dacoit in the 1975 film ''Sholay'' with the iconic dialogue, “Sardar, maine aapka namak khaya hai.” His career spanned six deca ...

marriage counselor *

Dinesh Hingoo Dinesh Hingoo (born 13 April 1940) is an Indian actor who played comic and supporting roles in Hindi films. He has appeared in over 300 films, from ''Taqdeer (1967)'' to ''Be Careful (film), Be Careful (2011)'', and is known for his laughter an ...

* Raj Kishore * Deb Mukherjee as Ashok's father *

Kunika Kunika Sadanand, known mononymously as Kunika, is an Indian actress, advocate, producer and social activist. She is known for her various characters in many Indian films as a villain and in comic roles. Also a singer, she has released three ...

as Ashok's mother * Joginder * Rajesh Puri * Guddi Maruti

Soundtrack

The music is composed by Rajesh Roshan, while the songs are written by Indeevar and Javed Akhtar. The film's song "Taare Aasman Ke Dharti Pe" as well as some continued melodies through the movie are sampled from the whistling tune used by

Roxette Roxette is a Swedish pop rock duo originally consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, both of whom were already established musicians in Sweden prior to the band's formation. Fredriksson had released a number of successful solo albums, ...

in their song " Joyride". A similar song "Tera Shukriya", from the soundtrack of Shah Rukh Khan's earlier film '' Chamatkar'', not featured in the movie itself, also uses the melody. The original song from where the melody was borrowed was a Kenyan Song named Jambo Bwana by Kenyan band Them Mushrooms.

Production

The title role was originally offered to

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

however he declined.

References

External links

* {{Rakesh Roshan 1990s Hindi-language films 1993 films 1993 action comedy films Films directed by Rakesh Roshan Films scored by Rajesh Roshan Films about orphans