''Ram Lakhan'' is a 1989 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 ...

-language masala film directed by Subhash Ghai and written by Anwar Khan with screenplay by Ram Kelkar. ''Ram Lakhan'' stars an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast t ...

Raakhee Raakhee Gulzar (born Rakhee Majumdar on 15 August 1947 and known as Raakhee) is an Indian actress who has appeared in many Hindi films and Bengali films as well. In four decades of acting, she has won three Filmfare Awards and one National Fil ...

Jackie Shroff Jaikishan Kakubhai Shroff (born 1 February 1957), popularly known as Jackie Shroff, is an Indian actor and former model. He has been in the Bollywood industry for over four decades, and , has appeared in over 220 films in 13 languages namely Hi ...

Anil Kapoor Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, besides television and international films and television. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kapo ...

Dimple Kapadia Dimple Kapadia (born 8 June 1957) is an Indian actress predominantly appearing in Hindi films. Born and raised in Mumbai by wealthy parents, she aspired to become an actress from a young age and received her first opportunity through her fathe ...

, Madhuri Dixit and Amrish Puri in lead roles. The supporting cast includes

Paresh Rawal Paresh Rawal (born 30 May 1955) is an Indian actor, comedian, film producer and politician known for his works notably in Hindi films, and Telugu, and a few Gujarati and a few Tamil films. He has appeared in over 240 films and is the recipien ...

, Anupam Kher,

Gulshan Grover Gulshan Grover (born 21 September 1955) is an Indian actor and producer who has appeared in over 100 films. He is popularly known as the "Bad Man" of Bollywood because of his ability to create an impact with his negative roles in films. Early ...

, Saeed Jaffrey and

Satish Kaushik Satish Chandra Kaushik (born 13 April 1956) is an Indian actor, director, producer, comedian and screenwriter. Early life Satish was born on 13 April 1956 in Mahendragarh, Haryana. He graduated from Kirori Mal College, Delhi in 1972. He is ...

. Music of the film was initially supposed to be composed by R. D. Burman, but later after recording 2 songs, he was replaced 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 ...

, while

Anand Bakshi Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March 2002) was an Indian poet and lyricist. He was nominated for the Filmfare award for Best lyricist a total of 40 times, resulting in 4 wins. Early life Anand Bakshi (Bakshi Anand Prakash Vaid) was bor ...

penned the lyrics. Ghai also did a special appearance in the song "Tera Naam Liya Tujhe Yaad Kiya". Made on a budget of including production and marketing costs, ''Ram Lakhan'' was released theatrically on 27 January 1989 on the Republic Day weekend. The film emerged as a major critical and commercial success and earned worldwide, becoming the second highest grossing Bollywood film of 1989. Considered as Ghai's best work till date, ''Ram Lakhan'' has attained a

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

status over the years and is still remembered for its cast, direction and soundtrack. Kapoor's performance as Lakhan was much loved and is regarded as one of his best roles; the song "My Name Is Lakhan" filmed on him has become his trademark and signature song. At the

35th Filmfare Awards The 35th Filmfare Awards were held in 1990. ''Maine Pyaar Kiya'' led the ceremony with 12 nominations, followed by '' Chandni'' with 10 nominations, and '' Ram Lakhan'' with 9 nominations. Sooraj Barjatya's ''Maine Pyaar Kiya'' won 6 awards, ...

, ''Ram Lakhan'' received 9 nominations, including

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, Best Director (Ghai) and Best Music Director (Laxmikant–Pyarelal), and won 2 awards – Best Supporting Actress (Raakhee) and Best Comedian (for both Kher and Kaushik).

Plot

Sharda is happily married in a rich household to Thakur Pratap Singh and they have two young sons, Ram and Lakhan. Pratap's father Veer shows mercy to his nephews Bhishambar and Bhanu after they serve jail time for siphoning the family wealth. Veer is tricked into signing a will that deprives Pratap, Sharda, Ram, and Lakhan of the ok wealth and right to even live in the manor's premises. Veer is then killed in a car bomb. Pratap refuses to bow down to cruel Bhishambar after finding out their master plan; he is later severely beaten up, stabbed brutally, and left on a nearby railway track to be cut to pieces by the next passing train, leaving behind Sharda, Ram, and Lakhan. Sharda vows to avenge Pratap’s death and hopes will get it by visiting the temple every day, praying for justice. She talks about when her sons grow up and ultimately destroy Pratap’s assailants, and it is then and then only that she will disperse Pratap's ashes.

20 years later

Ram is now the police inspector, being the major obstacle in Bhishambar's illegal activities. He is also in love with Geeta, the daughter of commissioner Arun Kashyap. Lakhan is the fun-loving millionaire, precocious young man, still living in Ram's shadow and Sharda's love. When Lakhan finds out there is a big reward for the arrest of notorious gangster Kesariya Vilayti, he single-handedly captures him and claims the reward. Thinking police work is quite easy, Lakhan applies for the job, begins training, and eventually becomes an inspector also. He too seeks to use this to woo his childhood sweetheart Radha and deal with her stingy, eccentric but easily fooled father, Deodhar Shastri. Sharda heads on a religious pilgrimage. When she returns, she finds that Ram and Lakhan have quarreled and no longer speak with each other based on their ideological differences. Lakhan uses his power to make extra money in an attempt to raise his clout so he can take revenge against Bhishambar and Bhanu. While Ram creates obstacles for Bhishambar, Lakhan joins his gang and is on their payroll. However, after he is tricked by Bhishamber and the ruthless, womanizing, and dastardly Sir John, Ram has to come to terms and save him and finish what was once started.

Cast

as Inspector Ram Pratap Singh: Sharda and Thakur Pratap’s elder son; Lakhan's elder brother; Geeta's lover *

as Sub-Inspector Lakhan Pratap Singh: Sharda and Thakur Pratap’s younger son; Ram's younger brother; Radha's lover *

as Sharda Pratap Singh: Thakur Pratap’s wife; Ram and Lakhan's mother *

as Geeta Kashyap: Arun's daughter; Ram's lover * Madhuri Dixit as Radha Shastri: Deodhar's daughter; Lakhan's lover * Amrish Puri as Bhishambar Nath: Thakur Pratap’s cousin; Bhanu's elder brother; Nirmala's husband *

as Kesariya Vilayati / Badman *

as Bhanu Nath: Thakur Pratap’s cousin; Bhishambar's younger brother * Anupam Kher as Deodhar Shastri: Radha's father * Saeed Jaffrey as Arun Kashyap: Geeta's father *

Raza Murad Raza Murad (born 23 November 1950) is an Indian actor who appears primarily in Hindi films. He has over 250 Bollywood film credits. Murad has also appeared in Bhojpuri and other regional-language films and on Hindi television. Early life He ...

as Sir John * Dalip Tahil as Thakur Pratap Singh: Veer's son; Bhishambar and Bhanu's cousin; Sharda's husband; Ram and Lakhan's father *

Annu Kapoor Annu Kapoor (born Anil Kapoor; 20 February 1956) is an Indian actor, singer, director, radio disc jockey, and television presenter who has appeared in over a hundred films, as well as television series. His career has spanned over 40 years as a ...

as Shivcharan Mathur *

Anirudh Agarwal Anirudh "Ajay" Agarwal (born 20 December 1949) is a retired Indian actor. He is known for his appearances in horror films such as ''Purana Mandir'', '' Bandh Darwaza'', and '' Saamri'' as well as starring in episodes of '' Zee Horror Show''. E ...

as Jeeva *Sonika Gill as Vivia *Anand Balraj as Debrath Nath / Debu *

Mukri Mohammed Umar Mukri (5 January 1922 – 4 September 2000), popularly known as Mukri, was an Indian actor, who worked as a comedian in Hindi films. Born as Muhammad Umar Mukri in Uran, in Kokani Muslim Family. He started his film career with th ...

as Dhondu Nai *Lalita Kumari as Nirmala Bhishambar Nath: Bhishambar's wife *

Subhash Ghai Subhash may refer to: People * Subhash Agarwal, Indian professional player and coach of English billiards and snooker * Subhash Awchat (born 1960), Indian artist and author based in Mumbai * Subhash Bapurao Wankhede (born 1963), Indian politician ...

as Manmohan Mhatre (special appearance in song "Tera Naam Liya Tujhe Yaad Kiya") *

as Kanshiram Dey *Lahiri Singh as Veer Pratap Singh: Thakur Pratap’s father; Sharda's father-in-law; Bhishambar and Bhanu's uncle; Ram and Lakhan's grandfather *

Mukesh Rawal Mukesh Rawal (1951 – 15 November 2016) was an Indian actor. He worked in Hindi and Gujarati films and television shows. He was well known for playing Vibhishana in Ramanand Sagar's 1987 epic TV series '' Ramayan''. Personal life Mukesh Ra ...

as Mukund Trivedi: Lakhan's friend

Track list

The soundtrack was composed by

and the lyrics written by

. The songs were extremely popular and remain popular even today. The cathy numbers like "My Name Is Lakhan" and "tera naam liya, tujhe yaad kiya" were playing almost in every street in Northern India, the album also includes melodious and soulful tracks like "O Ram ji! bada dukh deena" with mythological cannotations and the title track "mere do Anmol Ratan" .

Awards

;

: Won * Best Supporting Actress –

* Best Comedian – Anupam Kher and

(tie) Nominated *

– Ashok Ghai * Best Director –

* Best Music Director – Laxmikant Pyarelal * Best Male Playback Singer – Mohammed Aziz – "My Name is Lakhan" * Best Female Playback Singer –

Anuradha Paudwal Anuradha Paudwal (born 27 October 1954) is an Indian playback singer who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. She has been described in media as one of the most prominent Bhajan singer and also as one of the most successful playback singers ...

for "Bekhabar Bewafa" * Best Female Playback Singer –

for "Tera Naam Liya"

References

External links

* {{Subhash Ghai 1980s Hindi-language films 1980s masala films 1989 films Fictional portrayals of the Maharashtra Police Films directed by Subhash Ghai Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal