''Nagina'' is a 1986 Indian
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
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, ...
film, produced and directed by
Harmesh Malhotra
Harmesh Malhotra (14 June 1936 – 22 November 2005) was an Indian film director, producer, and screenplay writer.
Family
His daughter Payal Malhotra acted in films.
Filmography As Director
*''Beti'' (1969)
*'' Gaddaar'' (1973) Producer a ...
, with a screenplay written by Ravi Kapoor and story by Jagmohan Kapoor. The film stars
Sridevi as Rajni, a
Nāginī who marries a civilian to avenge the death of her spouse at the hands of an evil saint. It also 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 ...
,
Komal Mahuvakar Komal may refer to:
Given name
* Komal (actor), Indian actor in the Kannada film industry
* Komal Aziz Khan, Pakistani television actress and model
* Komal Jha, Indian movie actor
* Komal Kothari, Indian folklorist and ethnomusicologist
* Koma ...
,
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 actor ...
,
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'' in 1978. She is known ...
and
Prem Chopra
Prem Chopra (born 23 September 1935) is an Indian actor in Hindi and Punjabi films. He has acted in 380 films over a span of over 60 years. He has a soft-spoken diction despite being a villain in most films. His 19 films, with him as antagonist ...
. Then dubbed in
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
as Naagini.
''Nagina'' was theatrically released on 28 November 1986. Upon its release, it was a widespread success grossing over ₹13 crore at the box office, becoming the
second-highest-grossing Indian film of 1986. The success of the film proved to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the year. And major watershed moment in
Indian cinema
The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...
, as the film, despite being a woman-centric movie became a massive commercial success. A sequel to the film was released; ''
Nigahen: Nagina Part II'' (1989), but failed commercially. Today, ''Nagina'' is considered one of Sridevi's finest performances.
Plot
Rajiv comes from a wealthy land-owning family. He returns to India from London after studies and lives in a palatial home with his mother, who would like him to marry a beautiful young woman named Vijaya Singh, the only daughter of Thakur Ajay Singh. Rajiv, however, is in love with Rajni, who is an orphan without connections. When Rajiv informs his mother of his intent to marry Rajni, she refuses to give her blessings, but relents after a favourable meeting with Rajni. The marriage is arranged and they enjoy their marriage – until the arrival of Bhairo Nath, a
sadhu
''Sadhu'' ( sa, साधु, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female)), also spelled ''saddhu'', is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. ...
capable of controlling snakes. He informs Rajiv's mother that Rajni is an
Ichchadhari Naagin, a female shape-shifting venomous Cobra who has married Rajiv to avenge the death of her spouse during Rajiv's childhood.
To remove her from the household, Bhairo and his disciples perform a pooja, forcing Rajni to change herself to her snake form by the tunes of a snake charmer flute. However, when Rajiv comes into the house, Rajni escapes, only to be caught by Bhairo, who reveals his plot—to control the world with the Mani, a sacred jewel that only Rajni knows is hidden. Rajiv engages in a fight with Bhairo, who is bitten by two snakes and dies. Rajiv and Rajni live happily ever after.
Cast
Soundtrack
The film's music was provided by
Laxmikant–Pyarelal
Laxmikant–Pyarelal were an Indian composer duo, consisting of Laxmikant Shantaram Patil Kudalkar (1937–1998) and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born 1940). He is known by the nickname “Pyromaniac” due to his flaming style of music.
Laxmikan ...
. Lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. Sound track contained total five songs, one of which was duet and rest were all solo number.
Hindi version
Telugu version
Lyrics were written by
Rajasri
Rajasree (Rajasree Thota Panchajanyam, Kusuma Kumari, born 31 August 1945), also known as Rajasri or Rajashri, is an Indian actress active from 1956 to 1979. She is particularly famous for her portrayal as a princess in several folklore Telug ...
and Gona Vijayaratnam.
Release
Reception
According to
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media.
Career
Taran Adarsh started his journalism career at the age of 15 with ''Trade Gui ...
, ''Nagina'' turned out to be the biggest blockbuster of the year, with
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 ow ...
stating that
Sridevi remained "''the undisputed No.1"''.
The movie was appreciated for its screenplay, dialogues and direction. Named one of the best snake fantasy films by
Yahoo
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Manage ...
, ''
Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...
'' ranked ''Nagina'' as one of the 'Top 10 Snake Films of Hindi Cinema'. Sridevi's climax dance number "Main Teri Dushman" also remains one of the best snake dances in Bollywood with Desi Hits calling it "''one of Sridevi's most iconic dance numbers... that still gives fans goose bumps"'' and iDiva describing it as "''the stuff of movie legends"''.
In 2013, Sridevi was given the
Filmfare Special Award
The Filmfare Special Award or Special Performance Award or Special Mention or Special Jury Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.
It acknowledges a special and unique performance and encoura ...
for her performances in ''Nagina'' as well as ''
Mr. India'' (1987) to recognise her work at that time.
Box Office
The film was a commercial success, grossing approximately ₹4.75 cr.
Sequel
This movie was followed by a sequel in 1989 called ''
Nigahen: Nagina Part II''.
Technical Specifications
Legacy
According to the Bengali author Suman Sen, ''Nagina'' was the main inspiration to write his novel ''Sarpa Manav: Nagmoni Rohosyo''. The author also had mentioned the film's name in a small part.
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References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagina
1986 films
1980s Hindi-language films
Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal
Films about snakes
1980s romantic fantasy films
Indian romantic fantasy films
Films directed by Harmesh Malhotra
Films about shapeshifting