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20 years ago today… Revisiting ‘Ishq’

28th November 2017 will make it 20 years since the 90’s film ‘Ishq’ released. The film was released in 1997 and went on to become one of the biggest hits of the year.

BizAsiaLive.com will look back at the film and remember why we loved this film so much.

Themes
If one looked closely there would be many themes but the three that stand out the most are love, status and friendship. Interestingly the three themes seem to mix together putting the characters through some difficult trials.

Ajay (Ajay Devgn) and Raja (Aamir Khan) have been the best of friends since their childhood. Something that has troubled Ajay’s (Devgn) father for a long time. He can’t stand to see the pair of them together as they’re always getting up to some sort of mischief and the fact that Raja (Khan) is poor bothers him a lot.

Likewise Madhu’s (Juhi Chawla) father doesn’t like it when she goes to visit her best friend Kajal (Kajol) in her neighbourhood because she is poor. The four friends never once care about each others backgrounds or whether they have money, for them their loyalty and friendship is more than enough.

The films title was ‘Ishq’ meaning love therefore one of the themes in this film had to be love. Kajal (Kajol) and Ajay (Devgn) were one of the couples and the second was Madhu (Chawla) and Raja (Khan). In each relationship one character belonged to a wealthy family which is something they disregard but the wealthy children’s parents don’t.

Madhu (Chawla) and Ajay’s (Devgn) fathers both were successful businessman and believed that to have money was to have power. Status is an important factor for them therefore they can’t help but meddle in their children’s lives when it comes to choosing friends and life partners.

Music
The soundtrack for this film was indeed a popular one giving the audience a taste of great music. There were love songs, party numbers as well as a heartbreak song. A lot of thought had been given to the songs so that they fit the situations perfectly.

Mr Lova Lova and Neend churai meri were considered the more upbeat party sort of numbers. With humko tumse pyar hai as the naughty track for the friends Ajay (Devgn) and Raja (Khan).

Dekho dekho janam hum and ishq hua were the melodious love songs created for the couples in love.

Anu Malik was the genius behind the spectacular music in the film. As for the lyrics there were a number of lyricists involved such as Malik himself, Javed Akhtar, Dev Kohli and Rahat Indori.

To bring the lyrics alive the best is required and in this case the best of the best were asked to sing. Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Jayshree Shivram, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Abhijeet, Sudesh Bhosle, Poornima, Vibha Sharma as well as Malik sang for the film.

Story
Ranjit Rai (Sadashiv Amrapurkar) and Harbans Lal (Dahil Tahil) are old friends who happen to bump into each other one day only to realise they both have the exact same problem. They despise the poor and fear that their children could end up marrying someone who doesn’t fit their standards and status. They decide that their children should marry one another unaware that they have already fallen in love with people who don’t meet their standards. How both fathers deal with this situation is the twist in the story.

A multi star cast
With a multi star cast many would feel that there wouldn’t be much of a role for each of the actors but that wasn’t the case with this film, as each star had an important role and they played them well.

Khan and Chawla were a loveable on screen pair from the late 80’s and 90’s. Sadly this was the last time they worked together in a film due to a misunderstanding between the two. However in this film the audience got to see many different sides to these actors.

Kajol and Devgn had worked together in a few films before this one but they failed to do well at the box office. With this film they not only saw success but they also became a popular couple on screen and off.

Each actor displayed their talent throughout the film. They did comedy, dramatic scenes even action and they excelled in their work.

Comedy
There were so many comical moments, in fact that many that it is difficult to mention them all. The die hard ‘Ishq’ fans will be able to remember the mall scene where the four characters end up bumping into each other causing mayhem for themselves and others there.

Chawla and Khan should be saluted for their comical timing in this film. In particular the toothpaste scene where they both fight over who will buy the last one.

Another hilarious scene is when Ajay (Devgn) spots Kajal (Kajol) and is so besotted by her that he doesn’t realise he is walking over a pipe in the air. When Raja (Khan) hears Ajay (Devgn) screaming he runs to rescue his friend even though he is scared of heights.

Special appearances were made by the late actors Deven Verma and Razak Khan who brought some light moments to the film.

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