A violent love story- screamed the caption of the film. Tezaab had love and violence interwoven in equal proportions to keep the viewers engrossed.
It was N. Chandra's first big movie with big budget, big set-up and big stars. Released in 1988, Tezaab went on to break many box office records and emerge as a super hit movie. The music was hit even before the release of the film .
Tezaab focussed on the love story of Munna and Mohini and how it gets embroiled with corrupt people and environment around them. Starting from the college campus and ending with the reformation of a criminal, Tezaab had lots to offer in between these 18 reels.
Mahesh Deshmukh aka Munna (Anil Kapoor) is a tadipaar who is summoned by his sister urgently. Munna rushes off to Bombay even though he still has not completed his term. On reaching there, his sister Jyoti (Suparna Anand) informs him that Mohini (Madhuri Dixit) has been kidnapped by Lotia Pathan (Kiran Kumar).
During two separate flashbacks, the audience gets to know that Munna was once an honest, obedient and hard working student who had aspirations to become a captain in Indian Navy. However after the death of his parents during a bank robbery in Nasik, he moved to Bombay along with his sister and both joined the same college. Munna also took up a part-time job of swimming instructor.
Once to win a bet with his friends, Munna showers his attention on the college queen Nikita (Mandakini) who is Jyoti's classmate. He wanted to prove to his friends that he could make any girl fall in love with him with his formula. His trick was to make Mohini jealous of Nikita and he succeeds. After a showdown with Mohini in the college canteen, Nikita decides to leave the college and move to a different city. However, Mohini learns the truth later and stops speaking with Munna.
But Munna realises that he was now seriously in love with Mohini. He makes amends by jumping from the college terrace to profess his love for Mohini. The love story is established.
However, Mohini's drunkard father Shyamlal(Anupam Kher) wants her to dance and earn money so that his debts are paid off. Mohini always has conflicts with her father who was also responsible for her mother's death. When Shyamlal learns about Mohini's affair with Munna, he joins hands with Lotia who had to settle a score with Munna.
Munna accidentally kills Lotia's brother while saving Jyoti and is imprisoned for one year. When he comes out, Shyamlal along with a corrupt inspector (Mahavir Shah) frames him in a robbery case. Munna is then sentenced one year of tadipaar wherein he is to stay out from the limits of the city.
After the flasback ends, Munna, who is now a local dada, with the help of his college friends Babban (Chunkey Pandey) & party, manage to free Mohini from Lotia's captivity and also destroy his empire of illegal activities.
Lotia is only too eager to take revenge. Munna, with the label of criminal does not want to spoil Mohini's life ands tries to be indifferent to her so that she marries Saxena (Tej Sapru) who was eager to marry her.
However, with the help of inspector Gagan Singh (Suresh Oberoi), Munna proves his innocence and decides to leave for Goa to start life afresh. But Lotia is still waiting for his revenge. Shyamlal is eager to marry off Mohini to Saxena who promises monetary benefits. Does Mohini and Munna unite? Yes, they do. The true love triumphs in the end after a long drawn battle.
Tezaab was a hard hitting film with many twists and turns. How the aspirations of youth are sacrificed due to corrupt incidents is depicted quite nicely.
Highlights
Tezaab was Madhuri's ticket to fame. After 8 consecutive flops, Tezaab was
Madhuri's first hit film. And what a big hit ! It went on to establish Madhuri's career and making her the undisputed No. 1 heroine for next one decade.
Anil Kapoor's introduction scene , where he is collecting hafta from everyone, was simply superb.
Ek do teen.. became a national anthem for school going kids. It's popularity was unmatched by any other song during that period.
The scene in the railway yard, where Munna single handedly bashes up Mukut Bihari and his goons is also good.
A touch of comedy- How can one forget the scene when Chunkey Pandey and his gang fool the parsi (Dinesh Hingoo) in a restaruant and make him pay their bill. It is simply hilarious.
The scene where Mandakini meets Anil for the last time and says they won't meet even by coincidence in future. It is very touching.
The entire campus portion is fun and brings back memories of our college days.
One also gets a rare opportunity to see two beauties, Madhuri and Mandakini appear in swimming costumes during a scene. However, as it is an integral part of the film, it does not look forced. Both look quite glamorous in it.
The scene where Munna and his friends destroys Lotia's empire and leave it in shambles, is brilliantly executed and looks effective on screen.
The songs of the film were hit. Apart from Ek do teen, which had two separate versions pictures on Madhuri and Anil, the romantic 'Keh do ke tum ho meri varna' and emotional 'So gaya yeh jahan' were also superb.
To cash on the movie's success, N. Chandra went and picturised a new song 'Hum tumko dilbar kyon mane' on Anil and Madhuri after the film was in it's fifteenth week ! It was indeed a first time experiment in history of hindi cinema.
The magic of Anil Kapoor- Madhuri Dixit pair was at it's best. The intensity and the chemistry between the two was simply superb. They definitely make a wonderful pair. No wonder after the success of Tezaab, many producers signed them opposite each other and they made one of most the successful star pairs. In all Anil-Madhuri featured together in 13 movies and people loved their pairing.
Anil Kapoor walked away with the Filmfare best actor award for his role as Munna. He got the opportunity to portray a variety of shades in one single film. Anger, romance, comedy, emotional - Anil was at his best and deservedly won the award. It is one of his best performance and a milestone movie of his career.
Madhuri was not far behind. She looked sensational and performed brilliantly. This is one of the two films where you will find Madhuri in a swimming costume. She looked cute in these costumes and it also enhanced her sex appeal. Even in the ek do teen song, she is mesmerizing . Her dancing talents came to the fore after this movie. The dances and her overall performance was great.
Kiran Kumar as Lotia was frightening. Anupam Kher, Suresh Oberoi and Chunkey Pandey provided good support. Johnny Lever and Vijay Patkar as Anil's friends manage to raise laughter and get noticed. Annu Kapoor as Guldasta was funny and unforgettable. Mandakini impressed in a brief role.
N. Chandra's direction was top-class. Unfortunately he could not recreate the magic of Tezaab in any of his subsequent movies. Music by Laxmikant Pyarelal scaled the charts of popularity. Action was top class and other technical aspects were up to the mark.
Tezaab will remain a personal favorite of mine. It is a brilliant film and was instrumental in making Madhuri a big star. A must-see movie for all die-hard Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit fans. The magic of their pair is simply brilliant.
