Raja Hindustani

Plot synopsis:
Raja Hindustani (Aamir Khan) is a young man who works as a taxi-driver/tourist guide. He lives by his own simple code and is prone to violence when that code is violated. Aarti Sehgal (Karisma Kapoor) is a wealthy debutante who is seeking to connect with her past. Standing in the way of their love are a disapproving father and a stepmother bent on obtaining total control of the family assets.
Mr. Sehgal (Suresh Oberoi) lives with his daughter, Aarti, and her stepmother Shalini (Archana Puran Singh) in a grand palatial home. Aarti decides to go for a vacation to a small hill station town named Palankhet to discover the memories of her dead mother. Upon arrival, she finds out she has no transportation from the airport to Palankhet, and so she hires the services of the only available driver, Raja Hindustani. During her stay in Palankhet, Aarti and Raja bond and ultimately fall in love. One day, to Aarti's surprise, her father arrives in Palankhet and intends to take her home with him. Aarthi tells her father about Raja, but Mr Sehgal says that he will only accept the marriage on the condition that Raja goes to Mumbai and learns to become a respectable member of society. Raja refuses and forces Aarti to make a decision. Aarti chooses Raja, but begs for her father's blessings. Her father refuses to offer his blessings and leaves for Mumbai.
After some time, Mr. Sehgal forgives his daughter, and visits her in Palankhet. While there, he gifts his daughter and son-in-law a new house. Raja refuses to live in the house because he does not see the house as a gift, but rather as charity, since he is poor and Mr. Sehgal is rich. Shalini, her brother, Swaraj (Pramod Moutho), and her nephew Jai (Mohnish Behl) seek to exploit this conflict to gain total control of Mr. Sehgal's assets. Under the pretext of a birthday party, they bring Raja and Aarti to Mumbai and set in motion events which cause Aarti and Raja separate.
Aarti realises that she is pregnant but due to health problems, the doctor advises her not to travel, so instead her stepmother is asked to go to Palankhet to inform Raja about his baby and to request him to come to Mumbai. However, Aarti's stepmother chooses to tell Raja that Aarti wants to divorce him but, Raja refuses. After some time, Raja comes to know that Aarti has a had baby, and is under the impression that she indends to keep him away from the child. Fearing that he will never be allowed to see his baby, he decides to kidnap the child. Distraught, Aarthi goes to see Raja and begs him to let her have their child back. Ultimately, the lies and deception of Aarthi's step mother are all revealed and Aarthi and Raja reunite.

Tags: romantic

Review:
In my top 10 , my top ten most overrated Bollywood movies that is.
I saw Raja Hindustani way way back in 96 when it first came out.
It was a huge blockbuster and made Karisma Kapoor a major star.
In my opinion the songs are the only reason the movie became such a huge blockbuster because the story is pretty appalling and clichéd.
The story as it is involves Aamir Khan, a cab driver who falls in love with a rich girl who comes to stay with him.
They get married but then the rich girl's parents try to cause problems in their relationship and the couple eventually split.
The movie's main problem is that it can't decide whether it wants to be a remake of Jab Jab phool kile or Akele hum akele tum and it ends up as an uneasy mix of both.
The movie can't even be saved by the wonderful songs.
One of the greatest Bollywood films you will ever see..
Yes, some of the acting is over the top, the first 15 minutes of the film drag before the story kicks in and sure, some points are laboured for Western audiences.
However, petty criticisms aside, I keep coming back to this flick year after year as my all time favourite Hindi language film (after Khuda Gawah perhaps).
Karishma Kapoor in particular is a real treat to watch - beautiful and intelligent, and above all a very talented and convincing actress.
Perhaps the most outstanding feature of the movie is the fantastic music.
I can guarantee that even if you don't like the film that much the song & dance numbers will either enchant or entrance.
Forget the art house stuff and enjoy pure Bollywood at its best..
A pretty good Bollywood entertainer, I don't understand the criticism.
Raja Hindustani, released in 1996, was a huge blockbuster.
It swept nearly all the awards at Filmfare that year and the actors and songs became a sensation.But nowadays people look back and have begun to criticize the film, saying that it is cheesy, over the top, and stuff like that.
Sure, it has some faults, like a typical clichéd Bollywood love story that is up and down, cheesy dialogues, and some quality mistakes.
But honestly, it's a Bollywood film, so what do you expect.
I mean many of Shah Rukh Khan's films have all these things as well, but you don't really see people criticizing those.There were two reasons why I liked this film, and why it entertained me.
Karisma Kapoor did pretty good, she danced well, and looked good overall throughout the film.
Raja Hindustani also contains one of Aamir Khan's finest performances.
Who can forget Raja Hindustani's songs?
Nadeem-Shravan and singers Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan did great by singing songs such as Pardesi Padres and Aaye Ho Meri Zindagi Mein.
There was also some good comedy throughout the film.
Overall, I think Raja Hindustani is a pretty good entertainer, I don't understand why people don't like it anymore..
90's Bollywood was abysmal fare and Raja Hindustani typifies how bad it was.
Low budget, amateur, formulaic, melodramatic, artless, badly directed, loud, badly acted, bad writing, slapstick.
It pains me to admit but RH is Best film material of 90's Bollywood, having won 9 awards for god awful acting.
Johnny liver won for acting in a comic role playing the parody of a Punjabi sardar, supported by two jokers playing the parody of a gay man and a tomboy who pass of cheap slapstick as comedy.
Karisma Kapoor won best actress for an extremely loud performance and awful acting.
Her melodramatic scenes are loud and her attempts at looking beautiful and cute are borderline porn movie standard.
The only respites are Aamir Khan who is able to give life to an otherwise stupid character and the songs are melodious and iconic.The standards of contemporary 21st century Bollywood cinema compared to 90's Bollywood is literally a quantum jump..
Best film???
Just to make it clear, this is definitely a nice film, and has some very nice songs.
But it is just one of those ordinary B-grade films with good-looking actors and great costumes, which lack real story lines.
Shocking, and simultaneously laughable!Aamir and Karisma did pretty well and Karisma's flashy outfits added some value, but these two did not deserve the Best Actor/Actress awards for this film by any means whatsoever, especially considering the brilliant Nana Patekar and Manisha Koirala, who gave sterling performances in that same year's gem Khamoshi: The Musical, which was the most deserving film to win the Best Film award.
This was possibly the most pathetic year in the history of Filmfare and any Bollywood award.
It's so sad.The film disappoints big time.
It's not even close, and the biggest proof to that is that today nobody really remembers Raja Hindustani as such.
We remember Dilwale, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, but this film sucks in comparison.Watch it if you want to have some nice time, but don't expect to see an unforgettable, amazingly special film, or even a particularly good film, because your expectations will be disproved..
I liked this movie a lot.I know i made an another but i want to restart.I want to start with negative ones.The comedy was annoying.Veeru,Navneet,Johnny,The kid,Aamir(In a few scenes)were irritating and could have been cut.before the scenes where Karishma scolds Aamir for beating up those guys for criticizing her till that scenes the movie dragged.The very handsome Mohnish Behl is hardly there and could have been deleted.Karishma is less annoying than usual(Meaning she acted immature 2 scenes).Now the good points.Karishma is an actress who i don't appreciate(Except for sexy looks).I say she is overrated.In this movie she gives an amazing performance.The only good performance of her.She sucks big time.Aamir gives an amazing performance too.Archana who has a lot of negative shades in her role does a great job.Others are great too except Veeru,Navneet and Johnny and the kid.Direction is brilliant in a lot of parts.The music ,I LOVED IT.A fabulous musical score.Cinematography is excellent but it gets sloppy in a few scenes.Script is excellent.Pardesi song was a key part in the movie i\which showed the feelings very well."Kitna Pyaara","Aye Ho Mera Zindagi""Pucho Zara Pucho "brings in the feel good mood of the movie.THE MOVIE IS A WATCH.But make sure do fast forward the comedy ones they are annoying and unfunny.
Raja Hindustani.
I really enjoyed it weather the story, the music and the performance of the actors.
Songs like Pardesi pardesi, kinta Sona, ayoho Meri zindagi, also pucho Zara pucho were very popular.
Aamir Khan and Karishma Kapoor won their first best actor and best actress awards for this film.
Along side HAHK, DDLJ and this film Raja Hindustani were 3 of the all time blockbusters of the 90s.
A stupid movie i ever seen.
A weird same old stories.
Same old type story a rich girl loves the poor chap.
Or they will switch rich boy falls in love with poor girl.
Rich girl played by Karisma Kapoor and poor chap played by Aamir Khan.
As always they create situations how a rich girl meets the poor guy and always opposite attracts.
The situations are created and they will fall in love and then the parent of rich girl doesn't agree.
Suneel Darshan probably had earned money from that film but its a stupid movie.
As far as performance its brilliant by Amir, Karisma and Archana.
I watched the film just for its hit music.
Same old stories retold but they just make different situations and at end happy climax as always.
All movie is just waste of time and if you are fan of Aamir then watch him in Andaz apna apna and sweet karishma in that film.
Watch it if you like bollywood music and dances that sit.
darshans makes movies so people can dance only..
Aamir khan who is one of the better actors and Karishma who is easy on the eyes unlike her sister, also happens to be a good actress.
The Story is a typical Bollywood, where the girl meets a poor boy whose habitation almost always happens to be tourist spot that good looking Rich girls happen to visit.
They are invariably are snobbish or the Script writers make them that way till the 23rd reel of the movie to make way for the musical numbers-which just happens to be pure treat..
Only to remember for the music and performances.......
Considering the story and its treatment, "Raja Hindustani" doesn't rise above the average romantic movies from Bollywood.
The same plot of a poor hero falling for a rich girl, the opposition from the rich heroine's family, heroine's step mother's play to embezzle the property and create misunderstandings has been repeated in this one without much of novelty in the script.
The character of the hero, heroine, the misunderstandings created between them, and the climax all look pretty jaded.
If there is anything that you can praise of the film, it's the good music from the music duo Nadeem-Shravan and good performances from Aamir Khan and Karishma Kapoor who were awarded the coveted Filmfare Awards for their performances.
Anyway, the film became the most successful Hindi Movie of the year out-casting Sanjay Leela Bhansali's heart touching family drama "Khamoshi" taking the audience by surprise showing still the demand of old escapist dramas against good heart warming stories like "Khamoshi".Rating: 1 star out of 4.
All over good movie...
Raja Hindustani is one of the best film that Aamir Khan has played in.
The film offers very good music, acting and good chemistry.
The film has good plot but that could be better and some of the scene needs to be improved.
I liked Uddit Narayan's voice on the film (well done for that).
The film is like old 80s - 90s romance film.
And the film was some good jokes filled in.But the film is worth of while with Aaamir Kahn and Karisma Kapoor chemistry.
My favorite masala film of all time....
Some may find Raja Hindustani as the same tired and worn out 90's plot...
Aamir lights up the screen with a great character, Raja Hindustani, a poor villager who drives a taxi who falls in love with a rich girl from Mumbai.The rest of the story, I'm sure you can guess, as it is very predictable and nothing new.
However, songs are really great, and story is captivating.I will say the ending is stupid and Johnny Lever is as annoying as ever this time as Raja's annoying sardar friend.
Most of the film I wanted him to drop dead of heart attack.
But he never does...But either way this is just a fun masala film with Aamir in the lead.
It's not too serious, it's a great time pass and a good love story.
This film has all the usual masala elements of Bollywood - the fight scenes, the comedy etc - that we know and love AND one of the great erotic moments of Bollywood.
Karisma Kapoor plays the sophisticated bombayite rich girl and Amir Khan the poor man, a taxi driver, besotted with her.
They make a great pairing, Kapoor adorably cute and highly attractive (if not classically beautiful in an Aishwaira Rai sense).
Khan a fresh-faced young guy and the ideal lead.Most Bollywood movies avoid kisses or they're 'blink and you missed it'.
I have watched dozens of Bollywood movies and have never seen a kiss like it...it goes on...and on.The first 45 or so minutes of the movie is a slow burn buildup to the kiss.By the time the kiss comes Karisma Kapoor has teased Amir Khan almost beyond endurance with her coquettrey, in a variety of sexy outfits, like the time she goes shopping in town and changes into a red micro-mini dress and, seeing his embarrassment at not knowing where to put his eyes, teases him saying "You don't like my dress, my dress is very nice".The kiss when it comes is incredibly long ...
For my money it's one of the great erotic moments in all of Bollywood..
Some good and some bad points.
I remember watching this film in the theatres and coming out confused whether I liked the film or not.There were good points and bad points in the film.Good: Finally Karishma Kapoor has transformed from a childish and annoying girl from prem qaidi (debut film) to Sapoot (last film before Raja Hindustani) to a very beautiful and mature women.
She moved away from those pink flowery frocks to stylish dresses and sari's.The songs were fantastic and very catchy, especially "Pardesi, Pardesi".The kiss  Although the kiss has been tried before in Vardi (Madhuri and Jackie) and Dayavan (Madhuri and Vinod), this one is something special.Bad: The story is the same old rich boy/girl falls in love with poor girl/boy and rich family is against and conspire to separate them, etc, etc, etc.I didn't feel any chemistry between Raja and Aarti and the story moved quickly to them getting married.
It was obvious to see that Raja adored Aarti, but she thought of him as a very close friend and there was no indication that she loves him until they kiss.I'm a huge fan of Aamir Khan, however, I don't believe this film did anything for him, like his earlier films such as Baazi, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander and Rangeela.All in all I will have to say you watch this film for the music and Karishma Kapoor only, nothing else.5/10..
I watched this because of its status as a Bollywood nostalgia film.
However, there really is much more bad than good in this movie.
The last hour or so the plot gets more interesting as the family manipulation really kicks in and the climax and resolution arrive, the rest of the movie just kind of feels like slap-stick time-wasting nonsense.
There are a few good songs thrown in, the classic being "Pardesi Pardesi." Thats where the good ends.
The first thing is Karisma Kapoor's acting in the whole first half of the movie- its painful.
the same laugh is usually reserved for villains in cheesy American movies.
Most of the characters are painfully stupid and are really just there for slap-stick, like the servants and Raja's best friend.
However, the part of this movie that leaves me the most baffled is Raja and why everyone treats his behavior as not that far out of the ordinary...
He almost beats like 6 guys to death and has to be pulled off of a guy he's about to stab with a broken bottle...just because they catcalled the Karisma Kapoor's character (Aarti).
This is the point that the movie starts to get interesting, but Raja's behavior is still grotesquely out of line.
He creates a giant,drunken, violent scene at the birthday party because he believes his wife asked him to wear a suit because she's "ashamed of him" even though shes demonstrated a thousand times before throughout the rest of the movie that she doesn't see him being a "lowly cab driver" shameful at all and has defended him before at fairly high personal stakes.
Yet, his own insecurity gets in the way and he ruins everyones night and becomes a publicly embarrassing spectacle over a trivial matter that could have been easily resolved if the situation involved a man with a temper thats not like a pile of dynamite about to explode.
After that, most of their miscommunication and misfortune comes from Raja's pride and unfortunate circumstances on Aarti's end, as well as familial manipulation.
Raja's baffling behavior progresses to kidnapping as he steps over the unconscious body of his wife, whom he is supposedly heart broken over, to steal his baby and run all the way back to his village, which is 3 hours away by car, with no clothes, blankets, or food for the baby.
At this point, he really acts like a crazed animal more than a person, with wide crazy eyes, no speech, and roughly clutching the baby when his well-meaning family try to reason with him.
like I said- bizarre.
I have to say I feel very confused as to why this is a "classic." I would say if you're still dying to watch it, read a summary and then skip to an hour and ten minutes or so before the end.
a great film.
This is one of the best films I have ever seen.
I is plenty of good acting roles, music, dance; and the most important i think: "sense", "romance" and "dream".
It is true that the film remains to 90s, but yesterday i saw for the first time, and the history was not so far for me.
I fell in love Karisma Kapoor again, she is a tremendous actress, her eyes expresses all the history needs.
Aamir Khan is a classic actor, the serious and comic scenes are done perfectly by him.
This film, these actors and this music won the film fare awards in 1997.
Raja Hindustani is one of that films that will remain in my mind and memory, always coming to give me a good remember.
I can't believe the stupidity of this film.
So, the extremely rich heroine falls in love with and actually marries a taxi driver!!!
Karishma Kapoor hams through the film.
I couldn't believe that the ever lovable and chirpy girl had such an arrogant expression on her face throughout the film.
And the cheesy dialogs like "haye main mar gayi" made me want to run away.
One for the excellent acting by Aamir Khan and Suresh Oberoi.
Aamir deserved the filmfare for his earnestness, no matter what people say.
Suresh Oberoi is a lovable father, despite his 'eccentricities' (who would want their heiress daughter to marry a taxi driver?) as always.The other star is for the exceptional music that has stayed with me till date.
Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan really made the music come alive despite the bad presentation on screen.