''Wajood'' ('' en, Existence'') is a 1998 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 ...

action film 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 l ...

directed and produced by

N. Chandra Chandrashekhar Narvekar (born 4 April 1952) is an Indian producer, writer and director, known for gritty realism, in his early dark and loud films. His most successful commercial films are ''Ankush'', ''Pratighaat'', ''Tezaab'' and ''Narsimha (199 ...

. The film features

Nana Patekar Vishwanath Patekar (born 1 January 1951), better known as Nana Patekar, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, film maker, and a former Indian Territorial Army officer, mainly working in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He is regarded as one of the finest an ...

and

Madhuri Dixit Madhuri Dixit Nene (née Dixit; born 15 May 1967) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. A leading actress of Indian cinema, she has appeared in over 70 films. Noted by critics for her beauty, dancing skills, and characters ...

in lead roles.

Plot

Malhar (

), who is born to a poor typist clerk, is a versatile character who wins trophies in dramas but is never appreciated by his father. While writing and directing dramas in his college he meets Apoorva (

), a very rich girl and falls madly in love with her. When she wins the Best Actress Award, she calls upon Malhar on stage and gives all the credit to him. Malhar misunderstands this gesture as Apoorva's love for him. Meanwhile, Apoorva and Nihal (

Mukul Dev Mukul Dev (born 17 September 1970) is an Indian television and film actor. He is known for his work in Hindi films, Punjabi films, TV serials and music albums. He has also acted in few Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu films. He received t ...

) fall in love with each other. Nihal's father, who is a wealthy bureaucrat, decides to get them married. Malhar assumes that this marriage is against Apoorva's will and in his protest Nihal's father accidentally gets killed. Malhar is sent to jail. As Nihal loses his identity and status due to his father's death, Apoorva's father breaks off her engagement with Nihal. In jail, Malhar spends his days thinking of Apoorva, marrying her, having a child and living happily with his father; all in one family. Malhar escapes from jail and then starts making quick money out of wrong ways. He starts seducing rich women and then looting them. He finds an accomplice in Sofia ( Ramya Krishnan), who helps him in these crimes. She starts loving him madly but he continues to love Apoorva. Nihal, a police officer now, happens to meet Apoorva, a journalist now, to solve the mystery of the "stranger murderer" in the city. The Police Commissioner (

Shivaji Satam Shivaji Satam (born 21 April 1950), is an Indian television and film actor. He is best known for his role as ACP Pradyuman on the TV series '' C.I.D.'' on SET India. A former bank official and Inspection Officer, he has appeared in Hindi and ...

) is under great pressure from the local political leader and also the public to nab the culprit. When Sofia learns that Malhar does not love her, but loves Apoorva, she is deeply disturbed and kills herself. Finally, when Malhar comes face to face with Apoorva, she tells him that she'd never loved him. Heart-broken, Malhar is then caught and dies dramatically in the end.

Cast

as Malhar Gopaldas Agnihotri / Col. Rathi *

as Apurva Choudhury *

as Nihal Joshi * Ramya Krishnan as Shalini / Sofia / Amina Twins Triple Role *

Johnny Lever Johnny Lever (born John Prakash Rao Janumala; 14 August 1957) is an Indian actor and popular comedian who is known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is one of the first stand-up comedians in India. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, in ...

as Inspector Rahim Khan * Dr. Hemu Adhikari as Gopaldas Raghavdas Agnihotri, Malhar's father *

Suhas Joshi Suhasini Joshi (born 12 July 1947), popularly known by her screen name Suhas Joshi, is a Marathi theater, film and television actress. She is also seen in many Bollywood films. She was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2018 for Acting ...

as Mrs. Abhijeet Joshi *

Jagdeep Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jaffrey (29 March 1939 – 8 July 2020), better known by his stage name Jagdeep, was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in more than 400 films. He played Soorma Bhopali in ''Sholay'' (1975), Machchar in '' Purana Mandi ...

as Bagh Singh *

Kunika Kunika Sadanand Lal is an Indian TV actor, advocate, producer and social activist. She is known for her various characters in many Indian films as a villain and in comic roles. Also a singer, she has released three pop albums titled ''Lakhon Me ...

as Mrs. Chawla * Sanjay Mishra as Kanchan (camera operator) *

Parikshit Sahni Parikshit Sahni (born 1 January 1944) is an Indian actor who is known for playing the lead in TV series Barrister Vinod, ''Gul Gulshan Gulfaam'' (Doordarshan) and ''Gaatha'' (Star Plus). He has also appeared in three of Rajkumar Hirani's bloc ...

as Abhijeet Joshi, Nihal's father in a special role *

Tej Sapru Tej Sapru (born 5 January 1955) is an Indian actor. He is the son of D. K. Sapru and Hemvati, both of whom were actors in the Hindi film industry. He has appeared in a number of Bollywood films of between the 1980s and 2010s, including ''Gupt'', ...

as Apoorva's boss *

as Police Commissioner of Mumbai * Rajeev Verma as Mr. Choudhury, Apoorva's father *

Gulzar Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 18 August 1934), known professionally as Gulzar, is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this ...

as himself (presenting award) in a guest role The film also features Rajdutt, Gick Grewal, Pushpa Verma, Geeta Shankar, Rajesh Singh, Paploo, Bhargava, Dhananjay and Dilawar Khan.

Soundtrack

All songs are composed by Anu Malik and penned by Javed Akhtar.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0287111, Wajood 1998 films 1990s Hindi-language films Films directed by N. Chandra Films scored by Anu Malik