From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Baazigar
Baazigar poster
Directed by	Abbas-Mustan
Produced by	Ganesh Jain
Written by	Robin Bhatt, Akash Khurana, Javed Siddiqui
Starring	Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Shilpa Shetty, Rakhee, Dalip Tahil, Anant Mahadevan, Siddharth, Dinyar Contractor
Music by	Anu Malik
Distributed by	Eros Labs
Release date(s)	November 12, 1993
Running time	175 min.
Language	Hindi, Urdu
IMDb profile

Baazigar (Devanagari: बाज़ीगर, Nastaliq: بازیگر, English: Gambler) is a 1993 Hindi film directed by Abbas-Mustan. It is a contemporary thriller about a young man who stops at nothing to get revenge. Apart from some exceptions, It is a scene by scene remake of the Hollywood thriller A Kiss Before Dying.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Sound Track 4 Awards 5 Trivia 6 External links

Ajay Sharma, played by Shahrukh Khan, is a man who seeks revenge. His father, Vishwanath Sharma, once owner of a great business empire, was defrauded. His father and the whole family had to live in one room bungalows after living in a huge mansion. Soon afterwards, his father and his sister died. His mother now is suffering from a mental illness.

All this drives Ajay to revenge. He will kill the man, and his family, who did this injustice to him. And to do this, he will go to any length.

The film opens with the image of a young street-kid, who washes plates and shines shoes at the edge of the road. He uses this to buy food and medicine for his sick mother (Rakhee), who appears to be mentally shattered and physically ill. The young boy vows revenge one those who destroyed his family. We see the boy, now a young man, Ajay Sharma. He and his mother are now living in a house, having been helped by the charity of their neighbours. His mother still appears to be shattered, some 15-20 years later. He hitches a lift to Bombay (now Mumbai), from his old school-friend, who notes that he has lost both parents in an air crash in Bangalore two years ago.

We meet Seema Chopra(Shilpa Shetty), the daughter of the owner of Chopra business empire, who gives instructions to the comic servant Babulal (Johnny Lever). She heads off to school, and then skips lessons when her friend Ravi, an admirer, promises to take lecture notes for her. Ravi then is broken when he sees Seema cavorting with Ajay Sharma in the school gardens. They meet secretly as her father would not approve of a poor son-in-law.

Meanwhile, the elder daughter Priya Chopra (Kajol) travels with her father Madan Chopra (Dalip Tahil) who have travelled to Madras (now Chennai), for Madan's final kart race. Madan has nver lost before, but comes across Vicky Malhotra (Ajay Sharma in a disguise of brown contact lenses), a rising star. Vicky allows Madan to win by slowing at the last corner and tells him that he couldn't beat his "guru". Vicky then immediately charms Priya and claims to be a sports-car dealer, and promises her a new car. Priya later tells Seema that she will introduce her to Vicky. Vicky becomes involved in a big fight against a number of bikeys after they have lecherous approaches to Priya, and the bikeys are brought to a police station, where they meet the police inspector, Karan (Siddharth), who is a fromer classmate of Priya.

Ajay is (incidentally) photographed lurking outside the birthday party of Anjali, one of Seema's friends. Later Madan Chopra arranges for Seema to be married off to another business family. Seema is heartbroken, and Ajay decides that they will write twin suicide notes and commit suicide. However he says that only cowards commit suicide and destroys his note, while keeping Seema's. They decide to marry secretly the next day. When they arrive, the registrar is closed, so they go up to the roof of the building for sightseeing. After declaring their love, Ajay takes Seema's mangalsutra (marriage necklace) and throws her to her death. He then posts the suicide note and leaves, but arrives later (as Vicky) with Priya. He helps the Chopra family with the funeral. Karan declares that Seema committed suicide, citing her letter, and closes the murder investigation. Priya disagrees, and the next day, a jeweller comes and invoices Priya for Seema's mangalsutra necklace. Priya asks Madan to re-open the investigation, but he disagrees, saying he doesn't want to lose his reputation due to Seema's affair. Priya meets Karan to begin an unofficial investigation, looking for suspects for Seema's lovers.

Priya goes to Seema's school and tracks down Ravi, who says that Seema already had a boyfriend, citing Ajay. He offers to look through his photo album for Ajay at Anjali's birthday party. However, Vicky stalks Ravi and forces him to sign a suicide note before hanging him. Karan thinks that Ravi must be the murderer. Vicky vows to destroy Madan Chopra. Chopra thanks Vicky for supporting Priya and engages them, allowing Vicky a stake in the company. Vicky has a flashback, and remembers Chopra being jailed many years ago for committing fraudulent transactions while an employee of his father Vishwanath. Vishwanath refuses to help Chopra, who is now homeless and widowed, but his wife agrees and changes her husband's mind. Vishwanath allows Chopra to climb the company rungs (by using unethical business techniques), until he has to go interstate on business. He gives Chopra the power of attorney to run the business in his absence. Chopra confiscates all of Vishwanath's assets and throws him out of his office and onto the street. Vishwanath and his baby daughter both become ill, and die, without medication, after his wife attempts to sell her mangalsutra to buy medicine. Chopra then offers to care for Mrs Sharma and Ajay, inferring that he wants her to be his mistress. Mrs Sharma slaps and curses him, with the brooding Ajay looking on. Vicky then vows to destroy Madan Chopra.

Priya and Vicky meet Anjali at the jeweller, and she becomes suspicious of him. Anjali finds the birthday party photo of Ajay/Vicky and phones the Chopra household during the engagement party. However, Vicky intercepts the phone and impersonates Chopra, saying he will come to her residence and discuss the issue. Vicky arrives and strangles Anjali, swallows the photos and dumps her body in a suitcase and into a river. Karan then discusses Anjali's disappearance with Priya, and then clashes with Vicky about his answering the phone during an engagement party. Vicky accuses Karan of stirring up trouble for Priya and bringing back bad memories.

Chopra needs to go on business, and gives Vicky the power of attorney. Vicky does a carbon copy of his previous montage of Chopra, and seizes everything. Priya hears about Anjali's death and then phones Karan. Vicky again becomes angry and then takes her to a nightclub to celebrate their engagement. Upon their exit, the friend that gave Ajay/Vicky the lift to Bombay, greets him as Ajay. Vicky tries to ignore him, pretending he is drunk, to his chagrin. Priya tells the man that he is mistaken, and that Ajay is Vicky Malhotra. The two men scuffle.

When Chopra returns, Vicky reveals himself as Vishwanath Sharma's son Ajay and gives him the exact sendoff that Chopra did 15-20 years ago. Priya tracks down the real Vicky Malhotra and then finds Ajay's address, and climbs through the window, where she finds the mangalsutra, with the pictures of Seema and Ajay inside. Ajay comes in and they argue about Seema's murder. Ajay wins her over by telling her the past history of their two families. Madan charges in with a group of thugs and shoots Ajay in the shoulder before he is severely beaten and wounded. Mrs Sharma is then knocked unconscious trying to defend Ajay. This prompts him to recover and then he engages in physics-defying fighting - sending Chopra flying many metres through a balcony fence with a double-fisted punch and then impaling two thugs with a mirror and fishtank, snapping necks, throwing people through car windows and stabbings. He chases after Chopra with a butcher's knife and is about to execute him, when Karan orders him to stop "in the name of your mother". When Ajay walks away, Chopra picks up a stake and mortally stabs him, laughing and taunting. However, Ajay manages to regain composure and laugh back, then hugging Chopra, and impaling him also. Chopra then dies first, and Ajay manages to stagger back to his mother that he has reclaimed what is rightfully hers. Mrs Sharma breaks down as Ajay dies in her arms.

• Shahrukh Khan as Ajay Sharma/Vicky Malhotra
• Kajol as Priya M. Chopra
• Shilpa Shetty as Seema Chopra
• Siddharth as Inspector Karan
• Dalip Tahil as Madan Chopra

Baazigar emerged out as one of the best musical hits of the year 1993. The music was composed by veteran Anu Malik. Songs are listed below.

• Ye Kaali kaali aankhein - Kumar Sanu
• Kitabein bahot si - Asha Bhonsle
• Chhupana bhi nahi aata - Vinod Rathode
• Baazigar mein baazigar - Sanu
• Ae mere humsafar

• Filmfare Award - Best Actor (Shahrukh Khan)
• Filmfare Award - Best Male Playback Singer (Kumar Sanu)
• Filmfare Award - Best Music Direction (Anu Malik)
• Filmfare Award - Best Screenplay Award

• The film shocked its Indian audience with an unexpected violation of the standard Bollywood formula: The hero murders the innocent heroine. However, this film with an ambiguous hero was a blockbuster at the box office.
• Johnny Lever plays a comic servant.
• This was Shahrukh Khan's first movie as a villain and also Shilpa Shetty's debut film.
• Akshay Kumar was initially offered the role of Baazigar, but turned it down because the hero was a murderer. Arbaaz Khan turned it down for the same reason. Arbaaz Khan later played a full-on villain in Abbas-Mustan's Daraar (1996). Ironically, Darrar also starred a woman named Priya.

• Baazigar at the Internet Movie Database
• See Baazigar at Jaman

v • d • e Films directed by Abbas Mustan
Sajan Tara Sambharna  (1985) • Moti Veerana Chowk  (1987) • Agneekal  (1989) • Khiladi  (1992) • Baazigar  (1993) • Daraar  (1996) • Soldier  (1998) • Baadshah  (1999) • Chori Chori Chupke Chupke  (2001) • Ajnabee  (2001) • Humraaz  (2002) • Taarzan: The Wonder Car  (2004) • Aitraaz  (2004) • 36 China Town  (2006) • Naqaab  (2007) • Race (2007)

v • d • e Bollywood
Hindi films A-Z • Films by year: 1930s • 1940s • 1950s • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 •1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 •1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 •1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 •

v • d • e Cinema of India
Industries: Assamese • Bengal • Bollywood • Karnataka • Kollywood • Malayalam • Marathi • Punjwood •Tollywood
	Indian films A–Z • Films: Assamese • Bengali • Bhojpuri • Gujarati • Hindi • Kannada • Malayalam • Marathi • Punjabi • Sindhi • Tamil • Telugu • Urdu Actors • Awards • Directors • Choreographers • Cinematographers • Composers • Editors • Festivals • Producers • Screenwriters