Maazii () is an Indian

bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film, directed by

Jaideep Chopra Jaideep Chopra (born 1971) is an Indian film director, producer and writer. His first film, ''Maazii'', was released in September 2013. Filmography Career in telecommunication (1996-present) Jaideep Chopra completed his schooling in New Delh ...

and produced by

& Narendra Singh. The title Maazii is an Urdu word meaning "the past".

Cast

Sumeet Nijhawan Sumit Nijhawan (born 28 December 1978) is an Indian actor residing in Mumbai, India. Nijhawan has appeared in films such as ''Contract'', ''Sarkar Raj'' and ''Phas Gaye Re Obama''. He also played Sarfaraz, a prominent character in the movie ''Jan ...

as Tarun Singh *

Mona Wasu Mona Vasu (born 15 October 1985), sometimes spelled Mona Wasu, is an Indian television actress. She is best known for having played the role of the title character Miilee in the TV series ''Miilee'' on STAR Plus. Early life She completed her de ...

as Shrishti Singh * Manish Chaudhary as Gulab Singh *

Pankaj Tripathi Pankaj Tripathi (né Tiwari; born 5 September 1976) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema and has also appeared in Telugu and Tamil language films. Tripathi has established himself as one of the notable actors of Hindi cinema. He is the ...

as Satinder Rathi *

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub Khan is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is frequently cast in supporting roles, and has appeared in more than 25 films in a career which has spanned eight years. He has also worked in a Hindi serial "Kyunk ...

as Ashfaq * Manav Kaushik as Satinder Bhati * Zakir Hussain as Mahinder Singh * Mukesh Rishi as Malhaan Singh * Ashok Banthia as Satbeer Singh * Devender Chaudhary as Rajinder Chaudhary *

Mohit Chauhan Mohit Chauhan (born 11 March 1966) is an Indian playback singer, known for his work in Hindi films. He was a part of the Silk Route band. Chauhan has received two Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer and three Zee Cine Award For Bes ...

as Sushil Jain * Pooja Bisht as Shanno *

Saanvi Sharma Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). A ...

as Minal * Vansh Chopra as Young Tarun

Plot

Maazii is essentially a thriller that travels from the hills of Mussoorie to the plains of western UP. It is a story about a couple Tarun ( Sumit Nijhawan) and Shrishti (

) who have a near perfect relationship. However, by a twist of fate, an unfortunate accident occurs which brings Tarun's life into the limelight and turns him into a hero overnight. The events that follow not only shatter the peaceful life of the family but also put them in grave danger. But when his daughter, Minal (Saanvi Sharma) is kidnapped at the hands of an unknown assailant, Tarun will stop at nothing to get her back safely. He must now return to his roots and find out who is wreaking havoc in his life and what is the motive behind it.

Trivia

This movie is a remake of the English movie

A History of Violence ''A History of Violence'' is a 2005 action thriller film directed by David Cronenberg and written by Josh Olson. It is an adaptation of the 1997 graphic novel of the same title by John Wagner and Vince Locke. The film stars Viggo Mortensen, ...

(2005).

Filming

The first half of the film was shot in the scenic locations of Mussourie and Dehradun, and the second half was mostly shot in the rustic and raw locations of

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...

. The flashback portion of the film was filmed in Rao Raj Vilas fort of

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

Jagirdar of

Kuchesar Kuchesar was a Zamindari Estate of Dalal Jats during the British Raj. It is situated off the NH 24 in what is now of Bulandshahr district, Uttar Pradesh, India, from Delhi. Part of the Kuchesar Fort, built 1734, became a heritage hotel in 1998 ...

, near

. The shooting was completed within the pre-decided schedule of 31 days from 29 October to 2 November 2012. The production budget was around Rs. Four Crores.

Release

The film was released across the country on 27 September 2013. However, being a debutorial venture without any big names attached to it, despite great critical acclaim, ''Maazii'' failed to get many screens. It was re-released in cinemas on 11 October 2013. In 2019, Maazii was released on Prime Video.

Critical acclaim

Despite being Jaideep Chopra's debut directorial, ''Maazii'' received good critical acclaim and his work as a director was appreciated. Renowned critic Subhash K. Jha, called it "the shocking surprise of the season." He also stated that Maazii "takes us back to the stylish thrillers of B.R. Chopra like Dhund and Ittefaq. Debutant Jaideep Chopra's film is well-crafted and thoughtfully scripted. It's an original idea executed in a gripping language. Worth a dekko for its suspenseful aura." Rohit Vats from IBN7 gave ''Maazii'' a rating of 4/5 stars and was all praises for the film. He claimed that ''Maazii'' shows "a glimpse of the latent potential of the gangster genre" and was "not to be missed" India Today's Faheem Ruhani mentioned in his review that "Director Jaideep Chopra's debut directorial Maazii is that pleasant surprise which hits you once in a while." "Maazii" was also listed as one of the 10 "small films/non-star cast films that made it big" in 2013 in an article in DNA newspaper.

Controversies

Despite good critic reviews, the film was not given many screens. In an interview, the producers of the film reported that several multiplex chains had demanded money in return for giving them shows. This led to a wave of controversy with several other producers and directors coming forward to claim that they had faced similar extortion at the hands of multiplex chains.

Music

The music score of the film was composed by the duo Faizan Hussain-Agnel Roman, ''Maazii'' being their first commercial film album. Faizan Hussain is the nephew of tabla maestro

Ustad Zakir Hussain Ustad Zakir Hussain (born 9 March 1951) is an Indian tabla player, composer, percussionist, music producer and film actor. He is the eldest son of tabla player Alla Rakha. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1988, and the Padma Bhushan in 2002, ...

. Lyrics for the album were written by

Swanand Kirkire Swanand Kirkire ( Marathi: स्वानंद किरकिरे) (born 29 April 1972) is an Indian lyricist, playback singer, writer, assistant director, actor and dialogue writer, both in television with Marathi and Hindi films. Kirkire ...

and Arun Kumar. The preparation for the songs and selection of music started as early as May 2012. Recording of the songs began in October 2012. The music album was launched on 30 August 2013.

Nominations and awards

References

External links

* * {{Bollywood Hungama movie, 664584 2010s Hindi-language films 2013 films Indian remakes of American films Films shot in Mussoorie Films shot in Uttar Pradesh Films shot in Uttarakhand