''Henna'' is a 1991 Indian

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

, written by

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and journalist in Urdu, Hindi and English. He won four National Film Awards in India. Internationally, his films won the Palme d'Or ( Gold ...

, produced and directed by

Randhir Kapoor Randhir Raj Kapoor (born 15 February 1947) is an Indian actor, film producer and director who worked in Hindi cinema. He was an established actor of the 1970s and received two Filmfare Award nominations. However, his career declined in the ea ...

. It stars

Rishi Kapoor Rishi Raj Kapoor (4 September 1952 — 30 April 2020) was an Indian actor, film director and producer who worked in Hindi films. He was the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards and a National Film Award. Born into t ...

, along with Pakistani actress Zeba Bakhtiyar in the title role and

Ashwini Bhave Ashwini Bhave (also spelled Ashvini Bhave) is an Indian model and actress known for her work in both Hindi and Marathi-language films and television serials. Born and raised in India, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Career Bhave was ...

. This film was planned and started by director

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of t ...

, but due to his death during the filming, the remaining portions were directed by his eldest son Randhir. It is considered as the last film of Raj Kapoor. The dialogues of the film were written by the Pakistani writer

Haseena Moin Haseena Moin (20 November 1941 – 26 March 2021) was a Pakistani dramatist, playwright and scriptwriter. She wrote several plays for stage, radio, and television. She was the recipient of the Pride of Performance award for her services to the ...

. The film was a critical and a commercial success and was also India's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Plot

Chandar Prakash (

), who lives in

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its na ...

, is about to get engaged to Chandni Kaul (

), whom he calls Chand. On the day of his engagement, he meets with an accident and mistakenly strays into the Pakistani side of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. A native girl, Henna ( Zeba Bakhtiar), falls in love with him, amidst the controversial Indian-Pakistani tension on

, which leads him to be suspected by the Pakistani police of being an Indian spy. Beautiful Henna Khan lives the life of a gypsy near the river

Jhelum Jhelum ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city on the east bank of the Jhelum River, which is located in the district of Jhelum in the north of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 44th largest city of Pakistan by population. Jhelum is known for p ...

, in Pakistan with her widowed dad, Khan Baba and three brothers Ashraf, Razzak and Zaman. One day she comes across an unconscious man who has been washed ashore. Khan Baba, Gul Bibi and Henna take this male in, nurse him back to health, only to find out that he has lost his memory. The man, in his sleep, cries out the name of "Chand" and everyone starts calling him by that name. Soon he is well enough to walk around and starts working for Gul Bibi and helping her make clay pots. Henna falls in love with him and would like to marry him, much to the chagrin of Daroga Shahbaaz Khan (

Raza Murad Raza Murad (born 23 November 1950) is an Indian actor who appears primarily in Hindi films. He has over 250 Bollywood film credits. Murad has also appeared in Bhojpuri and other regional-language films and on Hindi television. Early life He ...

), who has already been married twice, but according to Shariat law, he can marry twice more. Khan Baba arranges the marriage of Henna and Chand and a day is set for the marriage. On the day of marriage, Chand regains his memory. The trio finds out that Chand is neither a Muslim nor from Pakistan. He is from India and strayed over to Pakistan during a car accident. The tribe decides to create a safe passage for Chand to get back home. The first attempt is foiled due to one of the brothers colluding with Shahbaaz Khan. The second attempt succeeds, but Henna is killed in the climax. The film ends with Chander asking why war happens.

Cast

as Chandar Prakash * Zeba Bakhtiar as Henna Khan *

as Chandni Kaul *

Kulbhushan Kharbanda Kulbhushan Kharbanda (born 21 October 1944) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi films. He is best known for his role as the antagonist Shakaal in '' Shaan'' (1980), Starting off with the Delhi-based theatre group 'Yatrik' in the 1 ...

as Devraj Kaul *

Reema Lagoo Reema Lagoo (born Nayan Bhadbhade; 21 June 1958 – 18 May 2017) was an Indian theatre and screen actress known for her work in Hindi and Marathi cinema. She began her acting career in the Marathi theatre, after which she became a household n ...

as Anuradha Kaul *

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 ...

as Khan Baba *

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 Gul Bibi *

Mohnish Behl Mohnish Bahl (born 14 August 1961) is an Indian actor working in the Indian film industry and on Indian television. Career Mohnish Bahl debuted with the film ''Bekarar'' in a supporting role opposite Padmini Kolhapure and co Starring Sanjay Dutt ...

as Captain Surendra *

Kiran Kumar Kiran Kumar (born as Deepak Dhar; 20 October 1953) is an Indian screen and theatre actor. He has worked in numerous Hindi, Bhojpuri and Gujarati television and film productions. His latest work in drama is ''Charlie 2''. Personal life Kumar c ...

as Ashraf *

Shafi Inamdar Shafi Inamdar (23 October 1945 – 13 March 1996) was an Indian actor. He started his film career with the film '' Vijeta'' and continued it in '' Ardh Satya''. He acted in a number of television serials including '' Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi''. His ...

as Pak Police Superintendent Iqbal *

Dilip Dhawan Dilip Dhawan (1955 – 15 February 2000) was an Indian film and television actor. He started his career as a child in '' Sangharsh'' (1968), featuring Dilip Kumar, Dhawan acted in over 50 films. Career He acted as the hero in the movie '' Arvi ...

as Razzaq * Arun Verma as Zaman *

Arun Bakshi Arun Bakshi is an Indian film and television actor and also a singer. He has acted as a character actor in over 100 Hindi films, and as a playback singer has also sung 298 songs. He has also worked in Punjabi and Bhojpuri cinema. He also played ...

as Pak Police Constable Nawabdin *

as Pak Police Daroga Shahbaaz Khan

Production

The

part of the film was shot in Manali,

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peak ...

. Some parts were shot in Pakistan (

Murree Murree ( Punjabi, Urdu: مری) is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Muree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is ab ...

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

), Switzerland and Austria.

Soundtrack

Lyrics by

Ravindra Jain Ravindra Jain (28 February 1944 – 9 October 2015) was an Indian music composer, lyricist and playback singer. He started his career in the early 1970s by composing for several hit movies. His notable works include '' Chor Machaye Shor'' (1 ...

Naqsh Lyallpuri Jaswant Rai Sharma (24 February 1928 – 22 January 2017), popularly known by his pen name Naqsh Lyallpuri, was an Indian ghazal and Bollywood film lyricist. He is best known for the songs "Rasm-e-Ulfat Ko Nibhayen" ('' Dil Ki Rahen'', 1973), "T ...

and Maulana Qudsi.

Reception

The film was a hit, especially for the locations it was shot in and the excellent musical score by

that included hit songs like "Main Hoon Khush Rang", "Anaaradana" and "Der Na Ho Jaaye Kahin". Zeba Bakhtiar's performance in the title role was much acclaimed and fetched her a nomination under the Best Actress category at the Filmfare Awards. She alongside

Salma Agha Salma Agha ( ur, ; born 25 October 1956) is a British singer and actress who worked in Pakistani and Indian films in the 1980s and the early 1990s. She was born in Karachi and raised in London, where she received several film offers from India ...

and Saba Qamar; is one of the only Pakistani actresses to be nominated at the Filmfare Awards. Farida Jalal's performance as Bibi Gul was also much appreciated; she won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film also picked up several other nominations including Best Film and Best Director. The film marked the Hindi film debut of Actress Ashwini Bhave; who played a prominent role in the film and she gained much popularity from the success of the film.

Awards

;

37th Filmfare Awards The 37th Filmfare Awards were held in 1992. '' Lamhe'' led the ceremony with 13 nominations, followed by ''Saajan'' with 11 nominations, ''Saudagar'' with 9 nominations, ''Henna'' with 8 nominations and ''Hum'' with 7 nominations. ''Lamhe'' ...

Won * Best Supporting Actress –

* Best Cinematography –

Radhu Karmakar Radhu Karmakar ( bn, রাধু কর্মকার; 1919 - 5 October 1993) was a noted Indian cinematographer and director in Hindi cinema from the 1940s to 1990s. He worked extensively with director-actor Raj Kapoor's film and his R. K. St ...

Nominated * Best Film –

Rajiv Kapoor Rajiv Raj Kapoor (25 August 1962 9 February 2021) was an Indian actor, film producer, film director and a member of the Kapoor family, best known for his lead role in '' Ram Teri Ganga Maili''. He was the youngest son of Raj Kapoor, the legen ...

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BAF ...

– Randhir Kapoor *

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

– Zeba Bakhtiar * Best Supporting Actor –

* Best Female Debut – Zeba Bakhtiar * Best Lyricist –

for "Main Hoon Khushrang"

References

External links

* {{Indian submission for Academy Awards 1991 films 1990s Hindi-language films 1990s Urdu-language films Films scored by Ravindra Jain Films set in India Films set in Islamabad Films set in Jammu and Kashmir Films set in Lahore Films set in Pakistan Films set in Punjab, Pakistan Films shot in Austria Films shot in India Films shot in Islamabad Films shot in Manali, Himachal Pradesh Films shot in Punjab, Pakistan Films shot in Pakistan Films shot in Switzerland Indian romantic drama films India–Pakistan relations in popular culture Kashmir conflict in films R. K. Films films Urdu-language Indian films