''Sadak'' () is a 1991 Indian

Hindi 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 ...

-language

romantic thriller A romantic thriller is a narrative that involves elements of the romance and thriller genres. A good thriller provides entertainment by making viewers uncomfortable with moments of suspense, the heightened feeling of anxiety and fright. A thril ...

film directed by

Mahesh Bhatt Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. A stand-out film from his earlier period is ''Saaransh'' (1984), screened at the 14th Moscow International Film F ...

. It stars

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though u ...

and

Pooja Bhatt Pooja Bhatt (born 24 February 1972) is an Indian film director, actress, voice over artist and film maker. Born into the Bhatt family, she is the daughter of Indian filmmaker, Mahesh Bhatt. Bhatt played her first leading role in Mahesh Bhatt's ...

. The film is one of the highest-grossing movies of the year 1991. The film is also fondly remembered for the late

Sadashiv Amrapurkar Sadashiv Dattaray Amrapurkar (11 May 1950 – 3 November 2014) was an Indian actor, best known for his performances in Marathi language, Marathi and Hindi films from 1983 to 1999. He acted in more than 300 movies in Hindi, Marathi, and other r ...

's award-winning performance as the film's villain, Maharani. The film was inspired by the 1976 American movie ''

Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying and ...

''. This film was remade in Tamil as '' Appu'' (2000). A sequel, ''

Sadak 2 ''Sadak 2'' () is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film, action thriller road film directed by Mahesh Bhatt and produced by Fox Star Studios and Mukesh Bhatt under their banner Vishesh Films. A sequel to the 1991 film ''Sadak'', it ...

'', was released on 28 August 2020 in

Disney+ Hotstar The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Plot

Maharani (

) is an evil transgender pimp that runs a brothel. She employs many girls such as Pooja (

) and Chanda (

Neelima Azeem Neelima Azeem (born 2 December 1958) is an Indian actress, classical dancer, writer and the mother of actors Shahid Kapoor, Ishaan Khatter. She is known in India for her roles in television shows. Early life Neelima Azeem's father was Anwar ...

). Ravi Kishore Verma (

), a taxi driver, meets Pooja before she is bought by Maharani, and his friend Gotya (

Deepak Tijori Deepak Tijori (born 28 August 1961) is an Indian film director and actor who works in Bollywood and Gujarati films and is well known for his supporting roles in ''Aashiqui'' (1990), '' Khiladi'' (1992), ''Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar'' (1992), ''Kab ...

) is in love with Chanda. Ravi previously witnessed his sister Roopa (

Soni Razdan Soni Razdan (born 25 October 1956) is a British actress and film director who works in Hindi films. She is married to film director Mahesh Bhatt and is the mother of Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt. Early life Razdan was born in Small Heath Birmi ...

) plunge to death after being diagnosed with STD. She had eloped with her lover who sold her off at a brothel and forced her to become a prostitute. This violent incident left Ravi traumatized and scared. He becomes an insomniac who keeps having disturbing visions of his sister's death and is restless and violent on occasions. On one of his taxi-plying days, he meets Inspector Irani (

Pankaj Dheer Pankaj Dheer is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films and TV series. He is known for his role of Karna in TV series ''Mahabharat and'' other roles in '' Chandrakanta'', ''The Great Maratha'', '' Yug'' and '' Badho Bahu''. He appeared in se ...

), who Ravi recognizes from an article published about the cop when he had won a medal. Ravi drops him off at his destination, refuses to take any money from him, and the cop tells him to come to him if he ever needs the help of any kind. Ravi meets Pooja again as she tries to flee the brothel of Maharani and tries to help her in vain. He procures his life's savings, a meager sum of thirty thousand rupees from Salim Bhai (

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) * '' ...

), his taxi's owner and takes out Pooja for one night, posing as her customer. He does so with the help of his friend Gotya, and a pimp Gullu (

Mushtaq Khan Mushtaq Khan is an Indian film and television actor and comedian who has worked in several Hindi films in a career spanning three decades. He is best known for his roles in films like ''Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke'' (1993), '' Jodi No.1'' (2001) an ...

). Gotya, however, is held as collateral under Maharani's orders in case Pooja is not safely returned. They roam around Bombay, spend some romantic time with each other, during which Ravi tells Pooja that he loves her and would keep on coming back to the brothel for her every night (presumably—so that she is not sold to other customers). The next night, Ravi mortgages the taxi and goes back to the brothel. He is, however, chided by Maharani who suspects he's either mad or in love with Pooja for offering high sums of money for her on consecutive nights. She also tells Ravi that since he has been running this business for the past thirty years, he knew when Pooja came back in the morning that Ravi did not sleep with her. After much argument, and requests from Ravi and Gotya, Maharani agrees to let him spend the night with Pooja under the condition that he have sex with her in front of her. Ravi agrees, but stabs Maharani, escaping with Pooja in the ensuing chaos. Gotya also grabs his girlfriend Chanda and escapes. They run away to a distant location where Gotya and Chanda get married in a temple with the blessings of Ravi and Pooja. All four come back and take refuge with Salim Bhai. In the meantime, Maharani's henchmen find the pimp and break his legs. Salim Bhai advises Ravi and Gotya to enlist police protection and Ravi decides to approach Inspector Irani. He assures them of his help and asks them to meet him in the parking lot of an apartment complex at a scheduled time. However, when the four reach there, Maharani and her henchmen are already waiting and attack them with firearms. As the four try to escape, Gotya and Chanda are both shot and Ravi manages to escape with Pooja in Irani's police jeep. Once they reach safety, he calls up Irani and warns him that he will have to pay heavily for his betrayal. Pooja is, however, captured again by Maharani, after Ravi is tortured and left for dead. Ravi, remembering that the fate of his sister and Pooja are the same, regains his lost strength. He fights his way back to Maharani by killing Inspector Irani and setting ablaze to Maharani's brothel finally killing Maharani and rescuing Pooja. Ravi is jailed for taking law in hands. After his release from jail, Pooja and Ravi are united again forever.

Cast

as Ravi Kishore Verma *

as Pooja *

as Gotya *

as Maharani, the 'eunuch' brothel madam *

as Chanda *

as Salim Bhai *

as Police Inspector Irani *

Gavin Packard Gavin Packard (9 June 1964 – 18 May 2012) was an Indian actor of Irish American, Irish American descent, noted for the villainous roles he portrayed in many Bollywood films of the 1990s like Sadak, ''Mohra'', ''Tadipaar'' and ''Chamatkar''. He ...

as Maharani's Henchman *

as Gullu *

Javed Khan Amrohi Javed Khan Amrohi is an Indian film and television actor who has acted in various films, amounting to approx. 150 Hindi films. He is best known for his role in Academy Award-nominated '' Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India'' (2001), ''Andaz Apna ...

as Pakya *

as Roopa

Crew

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

–

Music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

Nadeem Shravan Nadeem (also spelled Nadim or Nedim; ar, نديم) is an Arabic masculine given name. It means "best friend of the drinker" "companion", "confidant" or "friend". Originates from the plural word "Nadama""نَدامَى" which means, drink to forg ...

Story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

–

Robin Bhatt Robin Bhatt is a writer in Bollywood. He is the half-brother of Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt and son of Nanabhai Bhatt. He has written many films and was nominated thrice and won an award for ''Baazigar''. He is honoured with Lifetime Achie ...

Cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

–

Praveen Bhatt Pravin Bhatt (Praveen Bhatt) is an Indian film cinematographer, director and screenwriter, who has worked in Hindi cinema from 1970s to 2010s and shot most of the films directed by Mahesh Bhatt, like ''Arth (film), Arth'' (1982) and ''Aashiqui'' ...

* Producer –

Mukesh Bhatt Mukesh Bhatt (born 5 June 1952) is an Indian people, Indian film producer and actor who has produced several Bollywood films. He is the younger brother of Mahesh Bhatt, and also the co-owner of the production company Vishesh Films, set up in 19 ...

Editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

– A Muthu *

Art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

– M.S.Shinde *

Costume design Costume design is the creation of clothing for the overall appearance of a character or performer. Costume may refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a class, or a period. In many cases, it may contribute to the fullness of the arti ...

–

Anna Singh Ana Singh is an Indian fashion designer, mainly working for the Indian movie industry Bollywood. She has designed costumes for more than 900 films and has been working since 1989. In 2002 she was the first fashion designer to introduce actress K ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the movie is composed by the music duo

. All songs were sung by Anuradha Paudwal along with

Kumar Sanu Kedarnath Bhattacharya (born 20 October 1957), better known as Kumar Sanu, is an Indian playback singer. He is known as the King of Melody in Bollywood. He is famous for singing thousands of Bollywood Hindi songs. Apart from Hindi, he has al ...

Abhijeet Bhattacharya Abhijeet Bhattacharya (born 30 October 1958), better known as Abhijeet, is a Bollywood playback singer. Abhijeet has sung 6034 songs in over 1000 films. Personal life Abhijeet was born to a Kanpur-based Bengali businessman turned editor Dhir ...

Manhar Udhas Manhar Udhas is a Hindi and Gujarati language singer and Bollywood playback singer. Early life Manhar Udhas is the eldest son of Keshubhai Udhas and Jituben Udhas, and the elder brother of singers Pankaj Udhas and Nirmal Udhas. He completed his ...

, Debashish Dasgupta, Junaid Akhtar &

Babla Mehta Babla Mehta is an Indian Hindi film playback singer as well as a composer and audio engineer from Delhi. Career As singer He had sung some songs with "Anuradha Paudwal". (Sadak. Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin .) And many bhajans with her. "Tere ...

. The film's

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

sold 5million units, becoming one of the top three best-selling

Bollywood soundtrack Hindi film songs, more formally known as Hindi Geet or filmi songs and informally known as Bollywood music, are songs featured in Hindi films. Derived from the song-and-dance routines common in Indian films, Bollywood songs, along with dance ...

s of the year. The song "Tumhein Apna Banaane Ki" is a popular number till date. However it was a remake of the famous song ''Chale To Kat Hi Jayega Safar'' by Pakistani singer

Musarrat Nazir Musarrat Nazir Khawaja ( ur, ; born 13 October 1937) is a Pakistani singer and film actress, who acted in many Urdu and Punjabi films. She, many years later, also sang solo, mostly wedding and folk songs. Early life Her parents were a Punja ...

. In turn, a remade version of the song was used for 2015 film ''

Hate Story 3 ''Hate Story 3'' is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language erotic thriller film directed by Vishal Pandya. Produced by T-Series, it stars Sharman Joshi, Karan Singh Grover, Zareen Khan and Daisy Shah, with Priyanshu Chatterjee in a pivotal role. Writte ...

''.

Awards

won Filmfare Award for

Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role The Filmfare Best Villain Award was given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise an actor who had delivered an outstanding performance in a negative role. Although the awards started in 1954, this ca ...

Sequel

A sequel, ''

'', was planned in September 2018. The principal photography of the film began on 18 May 2019, & was released on 28 August 2020 on

. The sequel starring

Alia Bhatt Alia Bhatt (; born 15 March 1993) is a British actress of Indian descent who predominantly works in Hindi films. She has received several accolades including four Filmfare Awards. One of India's highest-paid actresses, she has appeared in ''F ...

and

Aditya Roy Kapur Aditya Roy Kapur (born 16 November 1985) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in 2009 with the musical drama film '' London Dreams''. Kapur had his first commercial success came with the romantic ...

alongside

and

reprising their original roles is directed by Mahesh Bhatt. The film is produced by

and is presented by

and

Vishesh Films Vishesh Films is an Indian film company founded in 1986 and currently owned by Mukesh Bhatt. Vishesh Films is one of the most successful Indian film production houses. The production company is named after Vishesh Bhatt, the son of Mukesh Bhatt. ...

. The script will be penned by

Shagufta Rafique Shagufta Rafique is an Indian film screen-writer and film director. Biography Shagufta was an adopted child. Her parents are unknown. Her foster mother was in a relationship with a Kolkata based businessman, who left his second family u ...

and

References

External links

* {{Mahesh Bhatt 1991 films 1990s Hindi-language films Films scored by Nadeem–Shravan Cross-dressing in Indian films Transgender-related films Films directed by Mahesh Bhatt Indian crime drama films Films about prostitution in India Hindi films remade in other languages Films with screenplays by Robin Bhatt Indian action films Indian romantic thriller films Indian LGBT-related films 1991 LGBT-related films 1991 action films 1991 crime drama films 1990s romantic thriller films