''Ram Lakhan'' is a 1989 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

masala film Masala films of Indian cinema are those that blend multiple genres into one work. Masala films emerged in the 1970s and are still being created as of the 2020s. Typically these films freely blend action, comedy, romance, and drama, or melod ...

directed by Subhash Ghai and written by Anwar Khan with screenplay by Ram Kelkar. ''Ram Lakhan'' stars an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

Raakhee Raakhee Gulzar ( Majumdar) (; born 15 August 1947), professionally known as Raakhee, is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi and Bengali films. One of the leading and most popular actresses of the 1970s and early 1980s, Raakhee is a ...

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 ...

Anil Kapoor Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema, Hindi films, in addition to Indian television and international films. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a ...

, Dimple Kapadia,

Madhuri Dixit Madhuri Dixit Nene (Maiden and married names, née Dixit, ; born 15 May 1967) is an Indian actress and television personality. She has appeared in Madhuri Dixit filmography, over 70 Hindi films. Praised by critics for her performances and danc ...

and

Amrish Puri Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Cinema of India, Indian cinema and Theatre of India, theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himsel ...

in lead roles. The supporting cast includes

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 ...

Anupam Kher Anupam Kher (born 7 March 1955) is an Indian actor, director and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, he has acted in more than 540 films. A veteran of Indian cinema, Kher is recipient of two Na ...

Gulshan Grover Gulshan Grover (born 21 September 1955) is an Indian actor and film producer who has appeared in over 100 films. He is popularly known as the "Bad Man" of Hindi cinema because of his ability to create an impact with his negative roles in films. ...

Saeed Jaffrey Saeed Jaffrey (8 January 1929 – 15 November 2015) was a British-Indian actor. His career covered film, radio, stage and television roles over six decades and more than 150 British, American, and Indian movies. During the 1980s and '90s, he was ...

and

Satish Kaushik Satish Chandra Kaushik (13 April 1956 – 9 March 2023) was an Indian actor, director, producer, comedian, editor and screenwriter. He found his fame in Hindi cinema, Bollywood with ''Mr. India (1987 film), Mr. India'' starring Anil Kapoor, Sri ...

. Music of the film was by Laxmikant–Pyarelal, while

Anand Bakshi Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March 2002) was an Indian poet and lyricist. He won Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist 4 times during his career. He wrote over 6000 film songs in more than 300 films. Early life Anand Bakshi (Bakshi Anand Pr ...

penned the lyrics. Ghai also did a special appearance in the song "Tera Naam Liya Tujhe Yaad Kiya". Made on a budget of including production and marketing costs, ''Ram Lakhan'' was released theatrically on 27 January 1989 on the

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially calle ...

weekend. The film emerged as a major critical and commercial success and earned worldwide, becoming the second highest grossing Bollywood film of 1989. Considered as Ghai's best work till date, ''Ram Lakhan'' has attained a

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

status over the years and is still remembered for its cast, direction and soundtrack. Kapoor's performance as Lakhan was much loved and is regarded as one of his best roles; the song "My Name Is Lakhan" filmed on him has become his trademark and signature song. At the

35th Filmfare Awards The 35th Filmfare Awards were held in 1990. '' Maine Pyaar Kiya'' led the ceremony with 12 nominations, followed by '' Chandni'' with 10 nominations, '' Ram Lakhan'' with 9 nominations, and '' Parinda'' and '' Tridev'' with 6 nominations each. ...

, ''Ram Lakhan'' received 9 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Ghai) and Best Music Director (Laxmikant–Pyarelal), and won 2 awards – Best Supporting Actress (Raakhee) and Best Comedian (for both Kher and Kaushik).

Plot

Sharda is happily married to the rich and benevolent Thakur Pratap Singh. The couple have two young sons, Ram and Lakhan. Pratap's father, Veer Singh, shows mercy to his nephews, Bhishambar and Bhanu after they serve jail time for siphoning the family wealth. Veer Singh is tricked into signing a will that deprives Pratap, Sharda, Ram, and Lakhan of the family wealth and right to live in their ancestral manor. Veer Singh is then killed by a car explosion. Pratap refuses to bow down to the cruel Bhishambar after finding out their master plan. He is later severely beaten up, brutally stabbed, and left on a nearby railway track to be cut into pieces by the next passing train, leaving behind Sharda, Ram, and Lakhan. Sharda vows to avenge Pratap’s death and hopes to get it by visiting the temple every day, and praying for justice. She talks about when her sons grow up and ultimately destroy Pratap’s assailants, and it is then and only then that she will disperse Pratap's ashes.

20 years later

Ram, now a police inspector, becomes a major obstacle in Bhishambar's illegal activities. He is in love with Geeta, the daughter of Police Commissioner Arun Kashyap. Lakhan is the fun-loving, precocious young man, still living under Ram's shadow and Sharda's love. When Lakhan finds out there is a big reward for the arrest of notorious gangster Kesariya Vilayti, he single-handedly captures him and claims the reward. Thinking police work is quite easy, Lakhan applies for the job, begins training, and eventually becomes an inspector also. He too seeks to use his new job to woo his childhood sweetheart Radha and deal with her stingy, eccentric but easily fooled father, Deodhar Shastri. Sharda heads on a religious pilgrimage and when she returns, she finds that Ram and Lakhan have quarreled and no longer speak with each other based on their ideological differences. Lakhan uses his power to make extra money in an attempt to raise his clout so he can take revenge against Bishamber and Bhanu. While Ram creates obstacles for Bhishambar, Lakhan joins his gang and is on their payroll. However, after he is tricked by Bhishamber and the ruthless gangster, Sir John, Ram has to come to terms and save his brother and finish what was once started. As the duo fight their enemies, Bishamber is pushed down by Lakhan and the coming train cuts him as Thakur was pushed down and killed in the same way, and Bhanu is shot down.

Cast

as Inspector Ram Pratap Singh: Sharda and Thakur Pratap’s elder son; Lakhan's elder brother; Geeta's lover *

as Sub-Inspector Lakhan Pratap Singh: Sharda and Thakur Pratap’s younger son; Ram's younger brother; Radha's lover *

as Sharda Pratap Singh: Thakur Pratap’s wife; Ram and Lakhan's mother * Dimple Kapadia as Geeta Kashyap: Arun's daughter; Ram's lover *

as Radha Shastri: Devdhar's daughter; Lakhan's lover *

as Bhishambar Nath: Thakur Pratap’s cousin; Bhanu's elder brother; Nirmala's husband *

as Kesariya Vilayati / Badman *

as Bhanu Nath: Thakur Pratap’s cousin; Bhishambar's younger brother *

as Devdhar Shastri: Radha's father *

as Arun Kashyap: Geeta's father *

Raza Murad Raza Murad (born 23 November 1950) is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Hindi films. He has acted in over 250 Hindi films and has also appeared in Bhojpuri, Punjabi and other languages and on Hindi television. Early life He is the so ...

as Sir John *

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 ' ...

as Thakur Pratap Singh: Veer's son; Bhishambar and Bhanu's cousin; Sharda's husband; Ram and Lakhan's father * Annu Kapoor as Shivcharan Mathur *

Anirudh Agarwal Aniruddh "Ajay" Agarwal (born 20 December 1949) is a retired Indian actor. He is known for his appearances in horror films such as '' Purana Mandir'', '' Bandh Darwaza'', and '' Saamri'' as well as starring in episodes of '' Zee Horror Show''. ...

as Jeeva *Sonika Gill as Vivia *Anand Balraj as Debrath Nath / Debu *

Mukri Mohammed Umar Mukri (5 January 1922 – 4 September 2000), popularly known as Mukri, was an Indian actor, who worked as a comedian in Hindi films. Born as Muhammad Umar Mukri in Uran. He started his film career with the film ''Pratima'' along ...

as Dhondu Nai *Lalita Kumari as Parmeshwari Bhishambar Nath: Bhishambar's wife *

Subhash Ghai Subhash Ghai (born 24 January 1945) is an Indian film director, producer, actor, lyricist, music director and screenwriter, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema. He was one of the most prominent Hindi filmmakers in the 1980s and 1990s. ...

as Manmohan Mhatre (special appearance in song "Tera Naam Liya Tujhe Yaad Kiya") *

as Kanshiram Dey *Lahiri Singh as Veer Pratap Singh: Thakur Pratap’s father; Sharda's father-in-law; Bhishambar and Bhanu's uncle; Ram and Lakhan's grandfather * Mukesh Rawal as Mukund Trivedi: Lakhan's friend

Track list

The soundtrack was composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal and the lyrics written by

. The songs were extremely popular and remain popular even today. The cathy numbers like "My Name Is Lakhan" and "tera naam liya, tujhe yaad kiya" were playing almost in every street in Northern India, the album also includes melodious and soulful tracks like "O Ram ji! bada dukh deena" with mythological connotations and the title track "mere do Anmol Ratan" .

Awards

;

: Won * Best Supporting Actress –

* Best Comedian –

and

(tie) Nominated * Best Film – Ashok Ghai * Best Director –

* Best Music Director – Laxmikant Pyarelal * Best Male Playback Singer –

Mohammed Aziz Mohammed Aziz (born as Syed Mohammed Aziz-Un-Nabi; 2 July 1954 – 27 November 2018), also known as Munna, was an Indian multilingual playback singer who primarily sang for the Bollywood, Odia films, Bengali. He sang about twenty thousand son ...

– "My Name is Lakhan" * Best Female Playback Singer –

Anuradha Paudwal Anuradha Paudwal (born 27 October 1954) is an Indian playback singer and politician who works predominantly in Hindi cinema and Odia cinema. She has been described in media as one of the most prominent Bhajan singers and also as one of the m ...

for "Bekhabar Bewafa" * Best Female Playback Singer –

for "Tera Naam Liya"

References

External links

* {{Subhash Ghai 1980s Hindi-language films 1980s masala films 1989 films Fictional portrayals of the Maharashtra Police Films directed by Subhash Ghai Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal