''Bichhoo'' () is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language

action thriller Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include lif ...

film starring

Bobby Deol Vijay Singh Deol (born 27 January 1967) popularly known as Bobby Deol, is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema and web series. A member of the List of Hindi film families#Deol family, Deol family, he is the younger son of veteran actor Dhar ...

and

Rani Mukerji Rani Mukerji (pronounced ; born 21 March 1978) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. Noted for her versatility, she is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Rani Mukerji, multiple accolades, including seven Filmf ...

. ''Bichhoo'' is a remake of the 1994 English-language French action thriller film '' Léon: The Professional''.

Synopsis

Jeeva (Bobby Deol) is from a struggling family. He falls in love with Kiran (Malaika Arora Khan). Due to their differences in social class, Kiran's father does not approve of their relationship. To punish Jeeva, Kiran's father frames his mother (Farida Jalal) and two sisters for prostitution and bribes the police into arresting them, which leads to the three of them committing suicide. Kiran also kills herself, ashamed of what her father has done. Jeeva seeks revenge by killing Kiran's father. He later becomes one of India's most dangerous assassins. He lives in a small apartment next to the Bali family. The father (Ishrat ali) works for a corrupt police officer named Devraj Khatri (Ashish Vidyarthi), who works in the drug trade. Kiran Bali (Rani Mukherji) is the youngest daughter of the family and strongly dislikes them. She tries to befriend Jeeva many times, but he is too engrossed in his killing to have any time for her. One day, Kiran is in Jeeva's apartment delivering milk to him. Whilst she is there, Devraj Khatri comes to Bali's apartment and brutally kills them all — Kiran is the only one to survive as she was in Jeeva's apartment. Jeeva soon finds himself taking Kiran under his wing, and so he trains her in handling weapons to get revenge against the men who had brutally murdered her family.

Relationship to ''Léon: The Professional''

''Bichoo'' is similar to the 1994 English-language French action thriller film '' Léon: The Professional'', written and directed by

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), ''The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

. ''Léon: The Professional'' stars

Jean Reno Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian movie productions; Reno appeared in films such as ''Crimson Rivers'', ''Godzilla'', ''The Da Vinci Code'', '' Mission: ...

as the titular

mob Mob or MOB may refer to: Behavioral phenomena * Crowd * Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication Crime and law enforcement * American Mafia, also known as the Mob * Irish Mob, a US crimin ...

hitman Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

;

Gary Oldman Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Fi ...

as corrupt and unhinged

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

agent

Norman Stansfield Norman Stansfield (billed as Stansfield) is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of Luc Besson's 1994 film '' Léon: The Professional''. Portrayed by Gary Oldman, the corrupt and mentally unhinged Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA ...

; a young

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

, in her feature film debut, as Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl who is reluctantly taken in by Léon after her family is murdered; and

Danny Aiello Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. () (June 20, 1933 – December 12, 2019) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous motion pictures, including ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974), ''The Front'' (1976), ''Once Upon a Time in America'' (1984), ''Hide in ...

as Tony, the mobster who gives the hitman his assignments. Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she becomes his

protégée Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

and learns the hitman's trade. A notable difference is that Mathilda is 12 years old and Kiran about 10 years older.

Cast

as Jeeva *

Rani Mukherji Rani Mukerji (pronounced ; born 21 March 1978) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. Noted for her versatility, she is the recipient of multiple accolades, including seven Filmfare Awards. Mukerji has featured in listings of the high ...

as Kiran Bali *

Malaika Arora Malaika Arora (born 23 October 1973) is an Indian actress, dancer, model, VJ and a television personality who appears in Hindi-language films. She made her debut as a film producer in 2008, with her former husband Arbaaz Khan, founding the co ...

as Kiran *

Farida Jalal Farida Jalal (born Farida Sami; 18 May 1950) is an Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi films. In a film career spanning almost fifty years, Jalal appeared in over 200 films. Best known for her character-driven roles in independent cin ...

as Jeeva's mother *

Ashish Vidyarthi Ashish Vidyarthi (born 19 June 1962) is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Odia, Marathi and Bengali films. He is noted for his antagonist and character roles. In 1995, he received t ...

as Devraj Khatri (ACP in Narcotics Department) *

Sachin Khedekar Sachin Khedekar (born 14 May 1965) is an Indian actor and director known for his work in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Gujarati language films. His well-known films include '' Kaksparsh'', '' Astitva'' and Shyam Benegal's '' Neta ...

as Kiran (Rani Mukherji's brother) *

Suresh Chatwal Suresh Chatwal was an Indian film actor who has performed in films as well as television serials. He has acted in Hindi films. mainly as supporting actor. He has worked in movies like '' Mili'', ''Phool Aur Kaante'', ''Kaya Palat'','' Uphaar' ...

as Shopkeeper *

Veerendra Saxena Virendra Saxena (born 23 November 1951) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi theatre, film, and television. He is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. Saxena is known for his character roles as well as his unique voice. He has acted in ...

as Madan Bhai Jeeva's Friend *

Pramod Moutho Pramod Moutho (born 7 May 1955) is an Indian film and television actor. He has appeared as a villain in number of noted Bollywood films, like ''Khalnayak'' (1993), '' Dilwale'' (1994), ''Raja Hindustani'' (1996), ''Mehndi'' (1998), Gadar'' (2 ...

as Pankaj Kharbanda *

Mohan Joshi Mohan Joshi is an Indian film, television and theater actor. He has worked in Hindi, Marathi and Bhojpuri films. Early life Joshi was born in Bangalore, Karnataka. He made his acting debut in Pune, Maharashtra. For better career prospects, ...

as Kiran 's Father *

Avtar Gill Avtar Gill is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi and Punjabi language films and television serials. He has done many plays with Indian People's Theatre Association Mumbai. Selected filmography Films * ''Noorie'' (1979) * '' ...

as S.K. Puri (Police Commissioner) *

Mahavir Shah Mahavir Shah (5 April 1960 – 31 August 2000) was a noted Indian television and stage actor who worked in Hindi and Gujarati movies. He is remembered for portraying several villainous roles. He died in a car crash in 2000, when he was in the U ...

as Inspector Khan *

Bhakti Barve Bhakti Barve (10 September 1948 – 12 February 2001) was an Indian film, theatre and television actress in Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati. She is best known for her role in Kundan Shah's comedy ''Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro'' (1983), where she acted alo ...

as TV Interviewer on television who takes interview of Police Commissioner *

Ishrat Ali ''Sarkar'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language political crime thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan in the title role alongside Abhishek Bachchan as his younger son, along with Kay Kay Menon, Katrina Kaif, Ta ...

as Vikas Bali as Kiran Bali Father *

Dolly Bindra Dolly Bindra is an Indian actress, known for her participation, assertive and confrontational behaviour in the reality TV series, '' Bigg Boss 4'' in 2010. Career Bindra started working in Bollywood when she was 18 years old. Bindra has done ro ...

as Mrs Bali as Kiran Bali Step Mother *

Shweta Shetty Shweta Shetty (also known as Shwetaa in nickname) is an Indian pop singer known for her albums and for her contributions to Bollywood film soundtracks. Her most remix hit song is "Q-Funk" from the album ''Oorja'' in 1995. Life and career Shett ...

as Guest Role (Totte Totte Song) *

Hans Raj Hans Hans Raj Hans is an Indian singer who later became a politician. He is a member of Bharatiya Janata Party and a recipient of the civilian honour of Padma Shri. He sings Punjabi folk and Sufi music as well as in movies and has also released hi ...

as Himself * Janardhan Parab as Security Guard of Society * Santosh Gupta(actor) as Mumbai Local Train passenger

Soundtrack

All songs written composed by

Anand Raj Anand Anand Raaj Anand is an Indian composer, lyricist and playback singer in the Hindi film industry. He was nominated for the Best Music Director Filmfare Award for ''Kaante'' (2003). Early life Anand Raj was born on 8 November 1961 in Delhi in ...

and lyrics written by

Sameer Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...

. The album consists of 8 songs, including two instrumental tracks. Harry Anand, one of the first musicians to start the trend of bringing out remix music videos in India, singing two songs from the tracks. According to the Indian trade website

Box Office India Box Office India is an Indian film website. Its traffic ranking in India is 83,665 . A new Box Office India website went live on 20 January 2014. About Box Office India was launched on 10 June 2003. Its uses Whois privacy to anonymize its owne ...

, with around 16,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's eleventh highest-selling.

Track listing

Reception

The reviews for ''Bichhoo'' were mostly positive. Much praise was given to Deol and Mukherjee's performances.

Sequel

Director Guddu Dhanoa has announced that he would make ''Bichhoo 2'', a sequel with

in the central role. The production of the movie is in its preliminary phase; selection of the lead actress is to be done, among other pivotal tasks. In retrospect of the success of ''Bichhoo'', Dhanoa has said that the new venture is special for him. Though he is tentative about the cut and dried date of release of the movie, the director is certain of the movie hitting the screens in the near future.

References

External links

* {{Portal, India, Film, Bollywood 2000 films 2000s Hindi-language films 2000 action thriller films Films scored by Harry Anand Indian films about revenge Indian action thriller films Indian gangster films Films scored by Anand Raj Anand Indian remakes of French films Hindi remakes of English films Films about contract killing in India Films directed by Guddu Dhanoa