Mohabbatein

''Mohabbatein'' () is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama film written and directed by Aditya Chopra, and produced by Yash Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films. The ensemble cast is led by Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai, with supporting roles by Uday Chopra, Shamita Shetty, Jugal Hansraj, Kim Sharma, Jimmy Sheirgill, and Preeti Jhangiani. Loosely inspired by the American film '' Dead Poets Society'' (1989), the narrative centres on Narayan, the authoritarian principal of Gurukul, a prestigious all-boys college, who strictly forbids romantic relationships. After his daughter Megha takes her own life due to his opposition to her romance with a student, Raj, the latter returns years later as a music teacher and inspires three students to challenge Narayan’s rules and pursue love.

Originally intended to mark Aditya Chopra’s directorial debut, ''Mohabbatein'' became his second film following the success of '' Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' (1995). The film was shot primarily in the United Kingdom between October 1999 and July 2000, with cinematography by Manmohan Singh. The sets were designed by Sharmishta Roy, while Karan Johar handled costume design. The soundtrack was composed by Jatin–Lalit with lyrics by Anand Bakshi.

Released theatrically on 27 October 2000, ''Mohabbatein'' received mixed-to-positive reviews, with praise directed at its performances, music, and production design, although its length and pacing were critiqued. The film went on to become a major commercial success, grossing ₹900 million (US$20 million) worldwide, and emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. At the 46th Filmfare Awards, it won four awards including Best Supporting Actor (Bachchan) and Best Actor (Critics) (Khan). It also received accolades at the IIFA Awards, Zee Cine Awards, Screen Awards, and Sansui Viewers' Choice Movie Awards.

Plot

Narayan Shankar is the stern and traditional principal of Gurukul, a prestigious all-boys boarding school that he has led for 25 years. He upholds the values of honour, discipline, and tradition, and strictly forbids any form of romantic relationships, threatening expulsion to those who fall in love.

Raj Aryan, a music teacher who believes in the power of love, joins Gurukul. In contrast to Narayan’s rigid worldview, Raj gradually encourages students to embrace emotion and pursue their feelings. His presence begins to challenge the conservative atmosphere of the school.

Raj forms a close bond with three students—Sameer, Vicky, and Karan—each of whom falls in love. Sameer reconnects with his childhood friend Sanjana, who is initially in a relationship with another man, Deepak. After witnessing Deepak mistreat her, Sanjana realises her true feelings and chooses Sameer. Vicky becomes infatuated with Ishika, a student from a nearby girls’ college. Though she initially rebuffs his advances, the two are paired for a dance competition and eventually fall in love. Karan encounters Kiran, a reserved woman whose husband is missing in action at the border. With Raj's guidance, he becomes a piano teacher to Kiran’s nephew and slowly wins her affection, despite the emotional complexities of her situation.

As the trio secretly nurtures their relationships, Narayan becomes increasingly suspicious. Upon discovering their romantic pursuits, he tightens the rules at Gurukul and eventually decides to expel them. Raj intervenes, revealing his true identity as Raj Malhotra, a former Gurukul student who had once fallen in love with Narayan’s only daughter, Megha. Narayan had expelled Raj without meeting him, and Megha, devastated by her father's disapproval, took her own life. Raj had returned to Gurukul with the hope of instilling a more compassionate ethos and challenging Narayan’s rigid principles.

Although Narayan orders Raj to denounce love before the entire school and leave Gurukul, Raj asserts that Narayan has already lost—by sacrificing his daughter to his beliefs and by forcing out someone who once respected him as a father figure. Moved by Raj’s words, Narayan has a change of heart. The next morning, he publicly acknowledges his mistakes and asks Raj to take his place as principal, entrusting him with the responsibility of guiding Gurukul’s future generation with love and understanding.

Cast

The cast is listed below:-

* Amitabh Bachchan as Narayan Shankar, Principal of Gurukul
* Shah Rukh Khan as Raj Aryan Malhotra, music teacher
* Aishwarya Rai as Megha Shankar
* Uday Chopra as Vikram “Vicky” Kapoor
* Jugal Hansraj as Sameer Sharma
* Jimmy Sheirgill as Karan Choudhary
* Shamita Shetty as Ishika “Ishq” Dhanrajgir
* Kim Sharma as Sanjana “Sanju” Paul
* Preeti Jhangiani as Kiran Khanna
* Amrish Puri as Major General Khanna
* Shefali Shah as Nandini Khanna
* Anupam Kher as Kakke
* Archana Puran Singh as Preeto
* Helen as Miss Monica (special appearance)
* Parzan Dastur as Ayush Khanna
* Saurabh Shukla as Tom Paul(special appearance)
* Ram Mohan as Khan Baba
* Meghna Patel as Aanchal
* Sindhu Tolani as Malini
* Raman Lamba as Deepak Singhania
* Rushad Rana as Rushad

Production

Development

Prior to the production of '' Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' (1995), Aditya Chopra had begun writing ''Mohabbatein'' as his intended directorial debut. However, he considered the subject matter of ''Mohabbatein'' too mature for a first film and instead made ''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' his debut, postponing ''Mohabbatein'' to be his second directorial project. Chopra briefly considered making a thriller for his sophomore film, but ultimately returned to ''Mohabbatein'', explaining: "I realised that there is something in that story that keeps drawing me to it, so one day I just shut my thriller file and casually picked up my ..''Mohabbatein'' file—that one simple action decided my second film for me."

Writing resumed following the release of '' Dil To Pagal Hai'' (1997), with Chopra aiming to explore themes beyond conventional romance. According to the '' Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema'', the narrative was inspired by the 1989 American coming-of-age drama '' Dead Poets Society''. Chopra presented the story to his father, producer Yash Chopra, who was impressed and agreed to produce the film under the Yash Raj Films banner. In an interview with '' Screen'', Yash Chopra described the project as “a modern film, a film about today,” adding that it upheld Indian values while appealing to a broad audience.

The film was officially announced in June 1999 on the Yash Raj Films website.

Casting

Aditya Chopra envisioned ''Mohabbatein'' with Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai in lead roles and stated he could not imagine other actors portraying those characters. All three accepted immediately. The film marked Khan’s second collaboration with Rai after '' Josh'' (2000), and his first with Bachchan. Kajol was initially considered for the role of Megha but declined due to her recent marriage. Bachchan, who portrayed the strict principal Narayan Shankar, described the role as his most significant since '' Deewaar'' (1975), and agreed to the project because of the strength of the script, referring to Chopra as "the little boy".

To portray the six student characters, Chopra sought out new talent. His brother Uday Chopra was cast in one of the male lead roles, and a national search was conducted to find five additional newcomers. The final ensemble included Shamita Shetty, Jugal Hansraj, Kim Sharma, Jimmy Sheirgill, and Preeti Jhangiani. Aditya Chopra also wrote the screenplay and dialogues for the film.

Filming

Principal photography began on 25 October 1999 and was conducted largely in the United Kingdom. 213] The historic Longleat, Longleat estate in Wiltshire was used to represent the fictional Gurukul boarding school. Cinematography was handled by Manmohan Singh. Karan Johar designed the costumes for Khan and Bachchan, while Manish Malhotra styled Rai. Farah Khan served as the film’s choreographer. Sharmishta Roy, a frequent Yash Raj collaborator, worked as the production designer. She recalled the experience as creatively demanding, particularly in personalising each space to reflect the narrative. “The challenge is in individualising, in personalising each house to suit the script and the characters,” she told '' Rediff.com''. Roy designed 13 to 14 distinct sets for the film, including Narayan Shankar’s stone-heavy office, for which she sourced props from Lohar Chawl in Mumbai.

Filming concluded between August and September 2000. The film was edited by V. Karnik, with sound design by Anuj Mathur and Kunal Mehta.

Soundtrack

The music for ''Mohabbatein'' was composed by the duo Jatin–Lalit, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi. Vocals for the younger cast members were performed by debut singers Ishaan (for Jimmy Sheirgill), Manohar Shetty (for Jugal Hansraj), Pritha Mazumdar (for Shamita Shetty), Shweta Pandit (for Kim Sharma), Sonali Bhatawdekar (for Preeti Jhangiani), and Udhbhav (for Uday Chopra). In an interview with '' Rediff.com'', Lalit stated that using new voices for the newcomers was intended to give the album a fresh tonal quality, although he and Jatin faced challenges in matching the vocal textures to the actors.
Established playback singers Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan, and Jaspinder Narula lent their voices to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Archana Puran Singh’s characters, respectively.

The soundtrack album comprises seven original songs and two instrumental tracks, and was released on 21 January 2000 by Saregama, which acquired the music rights for ₹75 million (US$1.67 million). Although critical reception was mixed, the album was a major commercial success, becoming the highest-selling Bollywood soundtrack of the year with over five million units sold.

Jatin–Lalit received a nomination for Best Music Director at the 46th Filmfare Awards, and were also nominated in the same category at the Bollywood Movie Awards, the IIFA Awards and the Screen Awards.

Release

''Mohabbatein'' was among the most anticipated Hindi films of 2000, generating significant pre-release buzz and heightened audience expectations. A special preview screening was held on 8 October 2000 at Film City, Mumbai, attended by director Aditya Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan, and filmmaker Karan Johar.

The film was released theatrically on 27 October 2000, coinciding with the Diwali festival weekend. It opened alongside Vidhu Vinod Chopra's thriller '' Mission Kashmir'' and K. S. Ravikumar's Tamil-language comedy-drama '' Thenali'', resulting in a highly competitive box-office period. Due to its extended running time of over three and a half hours, theatres limited screenings to three shows per day instead of the usual four.

Reception

Box office

''Mohabbatein'' was opened on 315 screens across India and grossed on the first day. The film collected in India and $4.2 million overseas. Box Office India estimated the film's total gross to be , making it the highest-grossing Indian film of the year. It ran at theatres for over 175 days, becoming a silver jubilee film.

Critical response

The film received mixed-to-positive reviews upon release. Savera R. Someshwar of '' Rediff.com'' called it "a mish-mash alright. But it is also a successful, feel-good film," noting that the confrontations between Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan created "an expectant hush" every time they appeared together. Taran Adarsh of ''Bollywood Hungama'' rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, praising Aditya Chopra’s handling of the drama and character dynamics: "Not once do you feel that the writer in Chopra has tilted on any one side."

Other critics were less favorable. Vinayak Chakravorty of the ''Hindustan Times'' described the film as "a veritable lesson to any budding filmmaker on how not to make a film," citing issues with scripting and directorial treatment. Vinaya Hagde of '' Zee Next'' gave a scathing review, calling the film "dumb" and criticising the underutilisation of supporting actors such as Anupam Kher and Archana Puran Singh. ''The Hindu''''’s'' Savitha Padmanabhan expressed dissatisfaction with the film’s length and its structure, saying the confrontational sequences were "always interrupted by the love stories of the teenyboppers."

A '' Filmfare'' reviewer, however, praised the lead performances, stating that both Bachchan and Khan "excelled in their respective roles." Nikhat Kazmi referred to the film as emblematic of the "inglorious uncertainties of cinema," while Khalid Mohamed likened it to "a rich, multi-layered, vibgyor cake"—though he noted that "only a few slices tickle the taste-buds." Suman Tarafdar, also writing for ''Filmfare'', felt many cast members appeared "unconvinced about their roles and perform daccordingly."

'' Screen'' acknowledged Chopra’s "untiring efforts," highlighting his "mastery over screenplay" in the film’s first half. Comparing the film to '' Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' (1995), Dinesh Raheja of ''India Today'' remarked that ''Mohabbatein'' had "too many diverse strands" and a "disappointingly pat and oversimplified" story.

Accolades

Home media and streaming

The film’s satellite rights were acquired by Sony Entertainment Television, and it has been available for streaming on platforms such as Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ since 18 November 2016.

Notes

References

External links

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2000 fantasy films
2000s Hindi-language films
2000s buddy films
2000s musical drama films
2000 romantic drama films
2000 films
Films scored by Jatin–Lalit
Films shot in England
Indian buddy films
Indian coming-of-age films
Films about scandalous teacher–student relationships
Indian romantic musical films
Indian musical drama films
Yash Raj Films films
Films directed by Aditya Chopra
2000s ghost films
Hindi-language romance films
2000 musical films