Tezaab (1988)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It's the movie which turned Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit into superstars of Hindi cinema. The song - Ek Do Teen Chaar Paanch Chhe Saat Aath Nau Dus Gyaarah Baarah Terah used to echo in the streets of India throughout the day when the movie was released. Madhuri Dixit became the dancing queen of Bollywood overnight and thereafter her on-screen magic lasted for over a decade.The tagline of the title of the movie is 'A Violent Love Story' which is quite apt because despite being a love story, it's full of violence and action and therefore, it was liked by the romantic movie audience and the action-lovers alike.Tezaab (acid) is a combination of two different stories of two protagonists of the movie - Mahesh or Munna (Anil Kapoor) and Mohini (Madhuri Dixit). Mahesh is a honest boy from a simple family having a genuine sympathizer in the world in the form of inspector Gagan Singh (Suresh Oberai) whereas Mohini is the daughter of an alcoholic father - Shyamlal (Anupam Kher) for whom nothing is more important than liquor. The love story of Mahesh and Mohini takes place in the college on the premise of heartbreak of Nikita (Mandakini). Once their love story takes off, love prevails everywhere for them but this blossoming of their love is marred by framing of Mahesh by a corrupt police inspector (Mahavir Shah) under a false charge and finally being termed as a known bad character (goon) is made TADIPAAR (debarred from entering the city) for one year. Now a straight boy who has been a patriot and wanted to serve his country become a criminal, known as Munna and he has his own gang with Babban (Chunkey Pandey) as his main sidekick.On the other hand, Mohini is all alone now with his alcoholic father - Shyamlal who is such a shameless person that he has no problem even if his daughter becomes a cabaret dancer or even a call-girl provided he gets his regular quota of liquor. The owner of the club where Mohini is forced to dance - Saxena (Tej Sapru) wants to marry her but she is still awaiting for the return of the love of his life - Mahesh amidst all the turmoil and loneliness in her life. A big gangster - Lotia Pathan (Kiran Kumar) abducts Mohini from the club itself for the sake of his money owed to him by those who are interested in the life of Mohini. Now it's time for Mahesh (or Munna) to come back from his city-debarredness and not only save the life of Mohini but also settle some old scores.The title of the movie refers to the anguish and stuffiness in Mahesh which make him feel like filled with acid in his personality. And the ending scene is not very very impressive but also justifies the title when the sympathetic police inspector Gagan Singh allows Mahesh to vent out all that acid from his personality by throwing it over on a criminal who is already going to be sentenced by the court of law.This is easily one of the best movies of N. Chandra who has now slipped into B grade movies. The direction is topnotch and the screenplay is aptly presented through flashbacks. Right from romance to glamour to action to sentiments, in every aspect of the story, the movie scores with distinction. Art direction and other technical aspects are very good. Editing is also pretty good except for the fact that the movie is too long with an overdose of violence. Dialogues are also very impressive.Laxmikant Pyarelal composed very good music using the lyrics of Javed Akhtar. Other than the female version of Ek Do Teen, its male version (sung by Amit Kumar), So Gaya Ye Jahaan (sung by Nitin Mukesh), Keh Do Ki Tum Ho Meri Varna (Amit Kumar-Anuradha Paudwal duet) and Hum Tumko Dilbar Kyun Maane (Anuradha Paudwal-Sudesh Bhonsle duet) are also very good. The last song was inserted in the movie after its release and box office success.Tezaab has a great repeat value and can be watched many times. I wholeheartedly recommend this movie to both the romantic movie audience as well as the action movie audience. It's wholesome entertainment. Just bear with the excessive violence.

A violent love story as the director promised. Action,emotion,drama,music,dance,comedy and what not? The songs are absolutely fantastic the dance number "ek do teen" was a smash hit in those days other songs were equally good. The comedy by Johny Lever and Chunky Pandey was very good. Especially the scene when Chunky poses as an Arab business man in a gambling den. All the casts were perfect fit in this film except Anil Kapoor. Although he was the lead roll he looked too old to pass as a collage student. Madhuri Dixit looks absolutely beautiful in this movie. This was the movie when she became a star overnight. This is a really good movie. I have seen it more than 10 times.

I had heard a lot about this movie. Its songs became the most popular, especially " One ,two, three..". "This world has slept" gave a break to legendary singer Mukesh's son -Nitin Mukesh. Laxmikant-Pyarelal's music was inspired by some tune they had heard a marriage band playing, so it is said. But the movie itself is a disappointment, for I expected cinema. It is a typical Hindi film with songs and dances. A rare thought provoking moment is when Suresh Oberoi's character questions Munna, about escaping responsibility. Having said this , Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit have given their best performances. Their performances lift the movie, give life to some exaggerated scenes. It is probably Chunky Pandey's only well acted movie.Suresh Oberoi also plays his cameo well. But the film didn't deserve all the accolades it got.

N. Chandra's Tezaab was given more than it's due. True the song "Ek Do Teen" is a foot-tabbing number & Madhuri Dixit shot to fame with this movie, yet what nobody seem to have noticed that it is a bad remake of Hollywood's action/ musical "Streets of Fire" (1984).Much publicity was given to the movie, which helped to make it a big success.Another flick used to make the movie a definite success, was adding a song number after the film's release.Nothing special about this movie if you're well acquainted with good movies & cinema.