Pardes (1997 film)
| Pardes | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Subhash Ghai |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by | Subhash Ghai |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Kabir Lal |
| Edited by | Renu Saluja |
| Music by | Songs: Nadeem–Shravan Background Score: Vanraj Bhatia |
| Distributed by | Mukta Arts |
Release date |
|
Running time | 191 mins |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹10 crore[1] |
| Box office | ₹40.95 crore[1] |
Pardes (transl. Foreign land) is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film directed, produced, and co-written by Subhash Ghai. Distributed by Mukta Arts, it stars Shah Rukh Khan, and newcomers Mahima Chaudhry and Apurva Agnihotri in lead roles, with Alok Nath, Amrish Puri and Himani Shivpuri in supporting roles. The film was shot at various locations in the United States (Los Angeles, Las Vegas), Canada (British Columbia, including Vancouver) and India (Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, including Agra).
Pardes theatrically released in India on 8 August 1997. It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with praise for its soundtrack and Khan, Chaudhry, and Agnihotri's performances; however its story and screenplay received criticism. It grossed over ₹409 million (US$4.9 million) worldwide, emerging as a commercial success at the box-office, ranking as the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, behind Dil To Pagal Hai (also starring Khan), Border, and Ishq.
At the 43rd Filmfare Awards, Pardes received 12 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Ghai) and Best Actress (Chaudhry), and won 3 awards – Best Female Debut (Chaudhry), Best Female Playback Singer (Alka Yagnik for "Meri Mehbooba") and Best Screenplay (Ghai).
The film was remade in Telugu as Pelli Kanuka (1998) starring Jagapati Babu, Lakshmi & Banumathi Ramakrishna. It was released on the eve of celebration of 50th anniversary of the Indian independence.
Plot
[edit]Surajdev greets his childhood friend, Kishorilal, who is an NRI visiting India after many years. Kishorilal spends time at Suraj's house in his village, and is impressed by the values of his daughter, Ganga. Seeking to marry her to his son Rajiv, he returns to the US and sends his adopted son, Arjun, to India.
Arjun sets about "westernizing" Ganga's household, and Rajiv arrives to India a few days later. Rajiv is initially shocked by Indian customs and traditions, though he approves of Ganga. Ganga turns to Arjun to understand Rajiv better, but he paints a perfect picture of Rajiv to her. Ganga agrees to the match as well, and departs for the US with Rajiv's family, after being engaged.
In the US, Rajiv's extended family are cold towards Ganga, whom they consider an implant into their Americanised household. Ganga starts relying on Arjun for emotional support, and the two become close. Rajiv's vices come to light, as Ganga realises he is an alcoholic and a womanizer. Things reach a head when Rajiv insists Ganga sleep with him before marriage, while on a trip to Las Vegas. Ganga states her wish to abstain until they marry, but Rajiv forces himself upon her in a drunken state, and he even says insulting things about India. Offended, Ganga slaps Rajiv and then cancels the relationship by discarding her ring. As a result, Rajiv slaps and rapes Ganga, who fights back and injures Rajiv and then runs away. Arjun finds her crying at a train station, and he safely flies her back to India.
Upon returning to the village in India, Ganga's father, thinking Arjun and Ganga have eloped, attempts to kill Arjun and Ganga for betraying them. Later, Rajiv and Kishorilal also reach the village in India, where Ganga has been reunited with her family. Arjun and Rajiv end up fighting, where Arjun is bleeding badly, but Kishorilal intervenes. He demands an explanation from Arjun, whom he raised as his own son but thinks he has seemingly betrayed him by 'eloping' with Ganga. Arjun clarifies he was only protecting Ganga from Rajiv and wasn't trying to elope with her though he does confess his love for her. After Arjun leaves, Ganga then corroborates his story by showing them the marks on her body from Rajiv's assault. Kishorilal is embarrassed and orders Rajiv back to the US. He calls off Ganga's wedding with Rajiv, and she ends up marrying Arjun instead. The two return to the US, where they live out a happy married life.
Cast
[edit]- Shah Rukh Khan as Arjun Saagar, Kishorilal's foster son
- Mahima Chaudhry as Kusum Ganga
- Apurva Agnihotri as Rajiv, Kishorilal's biological son
- Amrish Puri as Kishorilal, Arjun's foster and Rajiv's biological father
- Alok Nath as Suraj Dev, Ganga's father.
- Padmavati Rao as Narmada
- Dina Pathak as Dadi Maa
- Himani Shivpuri as Kulwanti
- Madhuri Bhatia as Neeta Sandiplal, Arjun's foster aunt.
- Smita Jaykar as Padma
- Pawan Malhotra as Sharafat Ali
- Prachi Save as Daksha
- Aditya Narayan as Potla
- Ajay Nagrath as Dabboo
- Samta Sagar as Sonali Shahi
- Subhash Ghai as singer in a boat
- Remo D'Souza as Dancer
- Rakesh Thareja as Shekhar Paul, Rajiv's friend.
- Ruhshad Nariman Daruwalla as Vikrant Pathak, Potla's friend.
- Akash as Karnataki
- Richa Anderson as Kelly, Rajiv's ex girlfriend.
- Sukhwinder Singh Chahal as Ramu
- Deepak Qazir as Amirchand
- Vinod Raut as Garibchand
- Anand Balraj as Manuchand
Soundtrack
[edit]| Pardes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | June 1997 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Length | 58:18 |
| Language | Hindi and English |
| Label | Tips Zee Music Company |
| Producer | Nadeem–Shravan |
The soundtrack was composed by Nadeem–Shravan and the lyrics were penned by Anand Bakshi. For their work, Nadeem–Shravan received a Filmfare Award for Best Music Director nomination and won a Screen Award for Best Music Director. This was the only album where K.S. Chithra sung a Hindi song for Nadeem–Shravan. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 6 million units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's second highest-selling. Pardes soundtrack was released, the tracks had different varieties of songs; songs ("I Love My India" and "Meri Mehbooba"), Love songs ("Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain") and Qawwali ("Nahin Hona Tha)" Pop ("My first Day In America"), Pain ("Ye Dil Deewana"). Planet Bollywood started the review by saying, "The music for Pardes is Nadeem-Shravan's best ever.
Track list
| # | Title | Singer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain" | Kumar Sanu |
| 2 | "Meri Mehbooba" | Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik |
| 3 | "Yeh Dil Deewana" | Sonu Nigam, Hema Sardesai & Shankar Mahadevan |
| 4 | "I Love My India" | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Hariharan, Aditya Narayan & Shankar Mahadevan |
| 5 | "Jahan Piya Wahan Main" | K. S. Chithra, Shankar Mahadevan |
| 6 | "Nahin Hona Tha" | Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Hema Sardesai & Sabri Brothers |
| 7 | "My First Day In U.S.A" | Hema Sardesai |
| 8 | "I Love My India" (Female) | Kavita Krishnamurthy |
| 9 | "Title Music" | Sapna Awasthi |
Reception
[edit]Planet Bollywood started their review by saying, "The music of Pardes is one of Nadeem-Shravan's best ever."[citation needed]
Box office
[edit]Pardes grossed ₹34.83 crore in India and $1.7 million (₹6.12 crore) overseas, for a worldwide total of ₹40.95 crore ($11.4 million), against its ₹10 crore budget. It had a worldwide opening weekend of ₹3.4 crore, and grossed ₹6.19 crore in its first week.[2] It is the 4th-highest-grossing film of 1997 in India.[3]
India
[edit]It opened on Friday, August 8, 1997, across 210 screens, and earned ₹61 lakh nett on its opening day. It grossed ₹2 crore nett in its opening weekend, and had a first week of ₹3.64 crore nett. The film earned a total of ₹22.83 crore nett, and was declared a "super-hit" by Box Office India.[2] It is the 4th highest-grossing film of 1997 in India.[4]
Overseas
[edit]It earned $1.7 million (₹6.12 crore in 1997) outside India.[2] Overseas, it is the 2nd highest-grossing film of 1997 after Dil To Pagal Hai, which grossed $3.3 million (₹12.04 crore in 1997).[5]
| Territory | Territory wise Collections break-up |
|---|---|
| India | Nett income: ₹31.83 crore |
| Entertainment tax: ₹12 crore | |
| Total gross: ₹43.83 crore | |
| International (outside India) |
$1.7 million (₹6.12 crore in 1997) |
| Worldwide | ₹49.95 crore ($11.4 million)[2] |
Critical reception
[edit]Pardes received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Praise was given to the music and the cast's performances; however the story and screenplay of the film received criticism.[6][7][8]
India Today cites it as one of the first major Bollywood pictures to succeed in the United States.[9]
In their book, New Cosmopolitanisms: South Asians in the US, Gita Rajan and Shailja Sharma view the film as a dichotomous depiction of the good NRI versus bad NRI, with Khan depicting the good immigrant, who assists the rowdy Indian American playboy Rajiv (Apurva Agnihotri), the bad. Khan's character of Arjun is perceived as a metaphor for cosmopolitanism or Indian cultural nationalism in the wider sense, in direct contrast to Rajiv who represents wealthy Westernization and all its negative vices and connotations.[10]
Accolades
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Pardes - Movie - Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com.
- ^ a b c d "Pardes". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 7 August 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- ^ "Top Worldwide Grossers 1997". Box Office India. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- ^ "Top India Total Nett Gross 1997". Box Office India. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- ^ "Top Overseas Gross 1997". Box Office India. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- ^ "Planet Bollywood: Film Review: Pardes". planetbollywood.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011.
- ^ "Pardes". ApunKaChoice. Archived from the original on 26 March 2013.
- ^ Maheshwari, Laya (25 September 2017). "How Bollywood Stereotypes the West". BBC. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
- ^ "Pardes (1997)". India Today. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
- ^ Sharma & Rajan 2006, p. 126.
- ^ "43rd Filmfare Awards 1998 Nominations". Indian Times. The Times Group. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "43rd Filmfare Awards 1998 Winners". Indian Times. The Times Group. Archived from the original on 8 May 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "The 4th Screen Awards Nominations: Bollywood's best to vie for Screen-Videocon awards". The Indian Express. 9 January 1998. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ "The 4th Screen Awards: And the nominees for 1997 are…". The Indian Express. 9 January 1998. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ "Screen Award winners for the year 1997 are". Screen India. Indian Express Limited. Archived from the original on 7 January 2004. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "Star Screen Videocon Awards Winners". Screen India. Indian Express Limited. Archived from the original on 20 October 2002. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "1st Zee Cine Awards 1998 Popular Award Categories Nominations". Zee Television. Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Archived from the original on 19 February 1998. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "1st Zee Cine Awards 1998 Technical Award Categories Nominations". Zee Television. Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Archived from the original on 19 February 1998. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "1st Zee Cine Awards 1998 Popular Award Categories Winners". Zee Television. Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Archived from the original on 2 July 1998. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "1st Zee Cine Awards 1998 Technical Award Categories Winners". Zee Television. Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Archived from the original on 2 July 1998. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- Bibliography
- Sharma, Edited by Gita Rajan and Shailja; Rajan, Gita (2006). New Cosmopolitanisms: South Asians in the US. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-6784-2.
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External links
[edit]- 1997 films
- 1990s Hindi-language films
- 1990s Indian films
- Films directed by Subhash Ghai
- Films scored by Nadeem–Shravan
- 1997 romantic drama films
- Foreign films set in the United States
- Hindi films remade in other languages
- Indian romantic drama films
- Films shot in Vancouver
- Films shot in Uttarakhand
- Films shot in Uttar Pradesh
- Films shot in Los Angeles
- Films shot in Agra
- Films shot in the Las Vegas Valley
- Films shot in Nevada
- Films set in Uttar Pradesh
- Films set in the Las Vegas Valley
- Films set in Nevada
- Hindi-language romance films