''Itihaas'' () is a 1997 Indian

Hindi language Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

romantic

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 produced and directed by Raj Kanwar. The film stars

Ajay Devgn Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi cinema. Devgn has appeared in over a hundred films and has won numerous accolades, including four ...

and

Twinkle Khanna Twinkle Khanna (also known as Tina Jatin Khanna; born on 29 December) is an Indian author, columnist, interior designer, film producer and a former film actress. In 2015, she released her first non-fiction book, "Mrs Funnybones" which was decla ...

as the lead protagonists, and

Raj Babbar Raj Babbar (born 23 June 1952) is an Indian Hindi and Punjabi film actor and politician belonging to Indian National Congress. three-time member of the Lok Sabha and a two-time member of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. He was the Pr ...

as the antagonist.

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 ...

Shakti Kapoor Shakti Kapoor (born Sunil Kapoor; 3 September 1952) is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Bollywood films. Known for his villainous and comic roles in Hindi films, he has featured in over 600 films. In the 1980s and 1990s, Kapoor teame ...

and

Mohnish Bahl 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 ...

played supporting roles in the film. The film opened to negative reviews and failed to do well at the box office.

Plot

Wealthy, powerful, and influential Thakur Digvijay Singh (

) visits a village and falls in love with beautiful Naina (

). They are betrothed and are to be married soon. But Naina has fallen in love with the son, Karan (

), of Thakur's employee, Balwant (

). When Thakur finds out about this, he instructs his men to bring in Naina alive, and Karan dead. Karan and Naina run from this community all the way to Bombay. The Thakur announces a hefty reward, and soon bounty hunters are all over Bombay looking for the hapless couple. When Balwant hears about this, he too goes to Bombay and does locate Karan and Naina. Karan is relieved to see his dad, but his relief soon turns to disbelief, as Balwant instructs him to let go of Naina, as he himself has come as an agent of the Thakur, not as his father.

Cast

Ajay Devgan Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi cinema. Devgn has appeared in over a hundred films and has won numerous accolades, including four ...

as Karan Bakshi *

as Naina *

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 Inspector Ujagar Pandey *

as Balwant *

as Thakur Digvijay Singh *

as Navlakhi / Dholu *

Sapna Bedi Sapna is a town and municipality located in Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. History People have lived in the Sapna region since the earliest days. In the Middle Ages, Sapna was an i ...

as Anjali *

Aruna Irani Aruna Irani (born 3 May 1946) is an Indian actress, who has acted in over 500 films throughout Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati cinema, playing mostly supporting and character roles. She has won two Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Act ...

as Rukmani * Neelima Azim as Naveli

Production

''Itihaas'' was the first attempt of Kanwar at producing a film and was highly publicised. He repeated the pairing of Devgn and Khanna who had previously starred in his 1996 film '' Jaan''. ''

Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, an e-mail and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook.com, a web mail service from Microsoft * Outlook on the web, a suite of web applications ...

'' noted that the film had been "lavishly produced". Xavier Marquis also helped in the film's finances.

Soundtrack

Lyrics by

Sameer Anjaan Shitala Pandey, better known as Sameer Anjaan, is an Indian lyricist, writing songs such as "Mujhe Raat Din Bas", predominantly in Hindi language films. He is a Guinness World Record holder for writing the most songs. He was awarded this hono ...

, Music by Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen. The audio cassette of the film was released at the Sun & Sand Hotel in Juhu.

Reception

Reportedly made on the successful pairing of Devgn and Khanna in ''Jaan'',

Rediff.com Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

rated it #8 in its Ten Worst Films of Ajay Devgn list while calling it a "dreadful action romance". Supran Verma of

wrote that the film had "turned to be just a rehash of 'Jaan''and other Kanwar films" and Khanna and Devgn's pairing was the "film's biggest fault". A review in ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

'' called the film a "clichéd story" and "painfully regressive" "by Bollywood standards" before labelling it a "torturous experience". The film performed poorly at the box office, becoming the first flop of Raj Kanwar. Devgn took the Bombay territory as fees.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0286724 1990s Hindi-language films 1997 films Films scored by Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen Indian action drama films Films with screenplays by Robin Bhatt Films with screenplays by Akash Khurana Films directed by Raj Kanwar 1990s action drama films