Criminal (1995 film)
Criminal is a 1994 and 1995 Indian Telugu-Hindi bilingual action thriller film, produced by K. S. Rama Rao under the Creative Commercials banner in Telugu,[1] and by Mukesh Bhatt under the Vishesh Films banner in Hindi, directed by Mahesh Bhatt.[2] It stars Akkineni Nagarjuna, Ramya Krishna, Manisha Koirala in lead roles and music composed by M. M. Keeravani (also known as MM Kreem).[3] both versions were simultaneously shot in Telugu and Hindi and most of the scenes and artists are the same in both versions. The film was inspired by the English film, The Fugitive (1993).[4][5] This is the last film of the famous Bollywood actor Ajit Khan.
| Criminal | |
|---|---|
 Movie Poster | |
| Directed by | Mahesh Bhatt |
| Produced by | K. S. Rama Rao (Telugu) Mukesh Bhatt (Hindi) |
| Written by | Sainath Thotapalli (Telugu dialogues) Jay Dixit (Hindi dialogues) |
| Screenplay by | Mahesh Bhatt |
| Story by | David Twohy |
| Based on | The Fugitive by Roy Huggins |
| Starring | Akkineni Nagarjuna Ramya Krishna Manisha Koirala |
| Music by | M. M. Keeravani (credited as M. M. Kreem in Hindi) |
| Cinematography | S. Gopal Reddy |
| Edited by | G. G. Krishna Rao (Telugu) Sanjay Sankla (Hindi) |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | T-Series Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 142 mins |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu Hindi |
Plot
After witnessing the unfortunate death of a woman, who was unable to afford hospital treatment, Dr. Ajay Kumar (Akkineni Nagarjuna) cancels his planned immigration to the U.S. and instead sets out to develop a plan to open a hospital that will be accessible to people who cannot afford treatment in regular hospitals, called "Amma Hospital". This draws quite a lot of attention, and he becomes popular, especially with two young women, Dr. Swetha (Manisha Koirala) and ACP Ramya (Ramya Krishna). He falls in love with Swetha and both get married, breaking Ramya's heart in the process. Shortly thereafter, much to their delight, Swetha becomes pregnant.
When Swetha discovers a frightening organ-smuggling operation in her hospital while going through a friend's diagnostic report, she calls Ramya. Soon after, Swetha is attacked by a killer and rings the police. Ajay enters their home to find Swetha who soon succumbs to her injuries. The police arrive to find her dead body and arrest Ajay for murder. They deduce that Ajay's motive for killing Swetha was money, as Swetha was a wealthy heiress. Furthermore, she shouted Ajay's name as she was on the phone to the police. The court finds Ajay guilty and is sentenced to death. While being transported to the jail for the sentence to be carried out, the police bus meets with an accident as the other prisoners have staged a riot. Ajay escapes and changes his appearance. The police launch a manhunt for him but are unable to catch him. Ajay goes to Ramya's house to prove his innocence, meanwhile, he used to know Ramya had a crush on him. Ajay catches the real killer and discovers the man behind everything - including the smuggling - was Ajay's friend Dr. Pratap (Sarath Babu). Finally, he reopens the hospital and puts garland on Swetha's picture. He and Ramya remain as friends.
Cast
Telugu version
- Akkineni Nagarjuna as Dr. Ajay Kumar
- Ramya Krishna as A.C.P. Ramya
- Manisha Koirala as Dr. Swetha
- Satyanarayana as Advocate Chandra Shekar
- Kota Srinivasa Rao as Srinivasa Rao
- Nassar as S. P. Teja
- Sarath Babu as Dr. Pratap
- Sudha as Yashoda
- Gulshan Grover as Robert Rakesh Kumar
- Brahmanandam as Compounder Chitti Babu
- Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Inspector
- Johnny Lever as himself
- Gundu Hanumantha Rao as Compounder Tinku
- Devdasu Kanakala as Commissioner
- Kota Shankar Rao as Lawyer
- Garimalla Visweswara Rao as Servant
- Husain as Prisoner
- Jenny as Inspector Nanda Gopal
- Trishna as item number
Hindi version
The lead cast and the characters portrayed by Grover, Nassar, Babu, Subramanyam, Kanakala, Visweswara Rao, Husain and Jenny were retained from the Telugu version in the Hindi version. Trishna permormed an item number in both versions
- Johnny Lever as Changu
- Laxmikant Berde as Mangu
- Ajit Khan as Jagdish Prasad
- Palav Vyas as Advocate
- Gurbachan
- Mukesh Pandey
- Zaheer as Advocate Varma (Ajay's father)
- Beena as Ajay's mother
Soundtrack
Telugu Version
| Criminal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Film score by | ||||
| Released | 1994 | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 25:50 | |||
| Label | AKASH Audio | |||
| Producer | M. M. Keeravani | |||
| M. M. Keeravani chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music was composed by M. M. Keeravani. Music was released on AKASH Audio Company. All songs were blockbusters. The track "Telusa Manasa", sung by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam & K. S. Chitra gained much popularity and proved to be an instant chart buster and remained as one of the evergreen songs in Telugu. It was known that Chitra took 4 days to learn that German styled humming in the beginning of the song. Music composer Howard Shore is the original composer of this song. This song's music is a copy from the movie Sliver, which was released in the year 1993.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hello Guru" | Vennelakanti | SP Balu, Chitra | 4:48 |
| 2. | "Papiki Papiki" | Sirivennela | SP Balu, M. M. Keeravani, Chitra | 4:48 |
| 3. | "Mudante Vadante" | Vennelakanti | SP Balu, Chitra | 4:57 |
| 4. | "Jama Jama Jama" | Sirivennela | SP Balu, Sujatha, Chitra | 5:04 |
| 5. | "Thelusa Manasa" | Sirivennela | SP Balu, Chitra | 6:13 |
| Total length: | 25:50 | |||
Hindi Version
| Criminal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Film score by | ||||
| Released | 1995 | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 38:16 | |||
| Label | HMV Audio | |||
| Producer | M. M. Kreem | |||
| M. M. Kreem chronology | ||||
| ||||
Hindi lyrics were written by Indeevar. All songs are blockbusters. Music released on HMV Audio Company. The song "Tu Mile Dil Khile" was originally sung by K. S. Chitra, Alka Yagnik dubbed Chitra's song. Original audio was released on HMV audio. The humming sung by Chitra in the Telugu version of "Telusa Manasa" was retained as it is in all Hindi versions. "Tu Mile Dil Khile (Telusa Manasa)" was made into different versions one by male, female and other one was a duet & all the versions turned into blockbusters.
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tu Mile Dil Khile" | Kumar Sanu, Chitra (in movie) | 6:03 |
| 2. | "Tu Mile Dil Khile" | Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik (audio), Chitra (Humming) | 6:03 |
| 3. | "Janu Janu Janu" | Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik | 5:10 |
| 4. | "Tu Mile Dil Khile (Male)" | Kumar Sanu, Chitra (Humming) | 6:13 |
| 5. | "Mujhko Chhupa Le" | Kumar Sanu, Alisha Chinai | 4:49 |
| 6. | "Kisi Ka Tu Hoja" | Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Chitra | 5:00 |
| 7. | "Keemti Keemti Keemti Hai Zindagi" | SP Balu, Chitra, Alka Yagnik | 5:01 |
| 8. | "Tu Mile Dil Khile (Female)" | Alka Yagnik, Chitra (Humming), Sonu Nigam | 5:57 |
| Total length: | 38:16 | ||
Release
After the film's success in both Telugu and Hindi ticket windows, it was later dubbed and released in Tamil as Ellame En Kadhali.[6]
References
- "Criminal (Banner)". IQLIK.com.
- "Criminal (Direction)". Know Your Films.
- "Criminal (Cast & Crew)". gomolo.com.
- "No ripoffs, please". www.telegraphindia.com.
- "Criminal (Review)". The Cine Bay.
- Vijiyin, K. (3 July 1995). "Indian version of 'The Fugitive'". New Straits Times. p. 26.