''Ajooba'' () is a 1990

superhero film A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature Action film, ac ...

, produced and directed by

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...

and co-directed by

Soviet film The cinema of the Soviet Union includes films produced by the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history, albeit they were all regulated by the central government in Moscow. M ...

maker Gennadi Vasilyev. An Indian-

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

co-production, it is loosely based on Arabic folklore such as ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

''. The film had a

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

version released in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, ''Черный принц Аджуба'' (''Black Prince Ajuba''), in 1990, before its Indian release in 1991.

Plot

The

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

kingdom of Baharistan is ruled by a kind

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

(

Shammi Kapoor Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; (pronounced �ʌmːi kʌpuːɾ 21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards, winning in the categories of Best Actor f ...

). All is well in the land, except that Sultan seemingly can't have any child. An evil devil-worshipping Vazir (

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 Indian cinema and Theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himself as one of the most popular actors ...

) seeks to usurp the throne, reviving his ''"Fauladi Shaitan"'' (a huge demon-like figure made of stone) and take over the world. Vazir instructs his maids to strangle every child born to Sultan. Finally, however, a spark of divine intervention (presented literally as a spark which descends from the heavens and enters the womb) renders the next newborn son immune to the poisons and strangulations administered by the maids. This Shehzada (''Prince'') eventually becomes ''Ajooba'' (Miracle). Sultan and his wife Malika (

Ariadna Shengelaya Ariadna Vsevolodovna Shengelaya (née Shprink) (russian: Ариа́дна Все́володовна Шенгела́я; born 13 January 1937) is a Soviet actress. She appeared in 33 films between 1957 and 1997. She was married to the Georgian ...

) kick off celebrations throughout the land. The good court magician Ameer Khan (

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 1990s he wa ...

), fondly called "Ameer Baba", the very much close friend of Sultan, recently returned from his travels to Hind (

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

), presents a magic sword to Sultan. Sultan thrusts it into a pillar (verifying its keenness) and Ameer Baba pronounces that it may be drawn out of the stone again only by a member of the royal family (rather like the

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

). Soon after, Sultan privately discusses about the traitors in the kingdom, with Ameer Baba. Vazir overhears their discussion, eventually tricks Ameer Baba, steals his Necklace of Immortality, throws him into the dungeon, attempts to murder Sultan and his family and take over the throne. Sultan escapes with his wife and child. After a pitched battle involving magic carpets, storms and ships, Sultan is missing. Malika is blinded and the young Shehzada is washed ashore by a dolphin (whom he eventually thinks of as his mother) to a blacksmith. This blacksmith adopts the kid, trains him in all the worldly and martial arts and thus creates ''Ajooba''. In the meantime, Vazir blames Ameer Baba for Sultan's murder, takes over the throne and begins ravaging the land, always uttering his slogan ''Shaitan Zindabad'' (Long live the Devil). ''Ajooba'' is a masked rider in black (rather like Zorro) who thwarts Vazir's lackeys as they pillage the lands and harass the citizens. His plain self is Ali, an ordinary restaurateur and his chum is Hassan (

Rishi Kapoor Rishi Raj Kapoor (4 September 1952 — 30 April 2020) was an Indian actor, film director and producer who worked in Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry base ...

). Together they foil Vazir's evil schemes, raid his caravans and woo their girls. Ali falls for Rukhsana (

Dimple Kapadia Dimple Kapadia (born 8 June 1957) is an Indian actress predominantly appearing in Hindi films. Born and raised in Mumbai by wealthy parents, she aspired to become an actress from a young age and received her first opportunity through her father ...

), the daughter of Ameer Baba, returned from Hind to rescue her imprisoned father), while Hassan's affections are for Vazir's Shehzadi Henna (

Sonam Sonam is a given name. It is a Tibetan name meaning "merit" (). Separately, it is also a name in various Indo-Aryan languages (Devanagari script: ). People with this name include: Buddhism * Sönam Choklang, 2nd Panchen Lama (1438–1505) * Son ...

). Ajooba inflicts constant pain upon Vazir. Vazir eventually raises his ''Fauladi Shaitan'' and plans an all-out attack. The King of Hind, Karan Singh (

Dara Singh Dara Singh Randhawa (born Deedar Singh Randhawa; 19 November 1928 – 12 July 2012) was an Indian professional wrestler, actor, director and politician. He started acting in 1952 and was the first sportsman to be nominated to the Rajya Sab ...

) brings his forces to aid Ajooba. The resulting war brings all the central characters together. Several questions are essentially resolved in the ensuing war. The climax is a panorama of demons, magical horses and donkeys, a full-scale combat between Vazir's army and the Hind army, enchanted swords and a final revelation about the true identity of Ajooba.

Cast

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

as Shehzada Ali / Ajooba *

as Hassan *

as Rukhsana Khan *

as Shehzadi Henna *

as Sultan / Peer Baba *

as Magician Ameer Khan / Baba *

Sushma Seth Sushma Seth (born 20 June 1936) is an Indian stage, film and television actress. She started her career in the 1950s, and was a founder member of the Delhi-based theatre group Yatrik. Her first movie was ''Junoon (1978 film), Junoon'' in ...

as Zarina Khan *

as Malika *

as Maharaja Karan Singh *

Tej Sapru Tej Sapru (born 5 January 1955) is an Indian actor. He is the son of D. K. Sapru and Hemvati, both of whom were actors in the Hindi film industry. He has appeared in a number of Bollywood films of between the 1980s and 2010s, including ''Gupt'' ...

as Prince Udham Singh *

Tinu Anand Tinu Anand (born Virender Raj Anand, 12 October 1945) is an Indian actor, director, writer and producer in Hindi cinema and a few Telugu and Tamil films. Early life He is the son of veteran writer Inder Raj Anand, brother of producer Bittu ...

as Anwar Khan *

Dalip Tahil Dalip Tahil (born as Dalip Tahilramani; 30 October 1952) is an Indian film, television and theatre actor. He studied at Sherwood College in Nainital, India. After attending Aligarh Muslim University for a year, he graduated from St. Xavier's Co ...

as Shah Rukh *

as Vazir *Georgi Darchiashvili as Altaf * Narendranath as Sharafat Khan *

Mac Mohan Mohan Makijany (24 April 1938 – 10 May 2010), popularly known as Mac Mohan, was an Indian actor, who worked in Hindi cinema. He was known for his villainous roles in films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He appeared in over 200 films, in ...

as Bandit * Sudhir as Bandit *

Yunus Parvez Yunus Parvez (1931/1932 – 11 February 2007) was an Indian actor who played supporting roles in over 200 films from the late 1960s to the 2000s. He is best known for his roles in films like ''Garm Hava'' (1974), ''Deewaar'' (1975), '' Trishul' ...

as Bandit *

C. S. Dubey Chandrashekhar Dubey (4 September 1924 – 28 September 1993) commonly referred to as C. S. Dubey was an Indian actor and radio personality. He was born in Kannod and appeared in over 150 Hindi films as a character actor starting in 1950s, wit ...

as Bandit *

Praveen Kumar Sobti Praveen Kumar Sobti (6 December 1947 – 7 February 2022) was an Indian hammer and discus thrower, film actor, politician, and soldier with Border Security Force. As a 20 year old he joined then newly raised Border Security Force from whe ...

as Vazir's Soldier * Manik Irani as Vazir's Soldier *

Bob Christo Robert John Christo, was an Australian-Indian civil engineer and actor in Hindi films. Starting with Sanjay Khan's ''Abdullah'' (1980), he went on to act in over 200 Hindi films in the 1980s and 1990s, including '' Qurbani'' (1980), ''Kaalia'' ( ...

as Vazir's Soldier

Production

The film was made in the wake of '' Alibaba Aur 40 Chor'' (1980), an earlier '' Arabian Nights'' themed Indian-Soviet production (based on the story of

Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard ...

) that became a success in both India and the Soviet Union. The film had a budget of , which was amongst the highest at the time. This film was produced in association with

Gorky Film Studio Gorky Film Studio (russian: Киностудия имени Горького) is a film studio in Moscow, Russian Federation. By the end of the Soviet Union, Gorky Film Studio had produced more than 1,000 films. Many film classics were filmed at ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. There are several

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n stars whose speech is not in sync with Hindi dialogues. Supposedly,

worked in this film gratis, as a favor to his longtime collaborator and friend

Soundtrack

Box office

The film was a financial success in the Soviet Union, where it was released as ''Черный принц Аджуба'' (''Black Prince Ajuba'') in July 1990. It was the last successful collaboration between the Indian and Soviet film industries. In India, the film was commercially unsuccessful at the box office.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0101283, Ajooba 1990 films 1990 directorial debut films 1991 films 1991 directorial debut films 1990s multilingual films 1990s Hindi-language films 1990s Indian superhero films Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal Fictional Afghan people Indian fantasy action films Indian multilingual films 1990s Russian-language films Soviet fantasy films Soviet multilingual films Soviet superhero films 1990s Urdu-language films Indian superhero films