1942: A Love Story

1942: A Love Story is a 1994 Bollywood film starring Anil Kapoor, Manisha Koirala, Jackie Shroff, Anupam Kher, Danny Denzongpa, and Pran. The film was the first ever to be given a U/A rating while featuring a scene, previously considered inappropriate for young children, showing the actors kissing. The film was highly acclaimed for its music, songs, picturization, cinematography, lyrics and the portrayal of its leading lady Manisha Koirala, a turning point for her career.[1] The film was released some time after the death of the music director, Rahul Dev Burman. The film received five Filmfare Awards. This is the first Indian film to use Dolby Stereo.

Synopsis

The film is set in 1942, when the British Raj. It was a time when Indians were either working for the British or rallying in underground meetings and protests against them. In this atmosphere, Naren Singh (Anil Kapoor) falls in love with Rajeshwari "Rajjo" Pathak (Manisha Koirala), and their romance is shown developing in spite of the political and social unrest at the time.
Naren's father, Diwan Hari Singh (Manohar Singh), is a loyal British employee, while Rajjo's father Raghuvir Pathak (Anupam Kher) is a revolutionary fighting against British rule. When Naren asks Raghuvir for Rajjo's hand in marriage, Raghuvir gets expectedly livid, but Naren declares that he is willing to sacrifice everything for Rajjo and thus convinces Raghuvir of his love to her. Raghuvir relents and tells Naren to talk to his father. When Naren does so, Hari Singh is angry that his son has chosen Rajjo, the daughter of a revolutionary, but pretends that he will do anything for Naren's happiness.
Hari Singh then tricks Naren into revealing Raghuvir's secret location, and leaks the information to the British authorities. Soon, some police barge into Raghuvir's location and try to kill him, only to find him waiting for him light a bomb, completely killing them all. Rajjo, who was out at that time, realizes what has happened and runs away. She is taken into refuge by Shubhankar (Jackie Shroff), who was a compatriot of Raghuvir and had learned about his death. Under Shubhankar's tutelage, Rajjo too follows her father's path. Meanwhile, Naren is completely angry at Hari Singh for using him to kill Raghuvir and driving Raijo away from him. Promising to make up with Raijo and help her cause, he then pledges that he will even go on to become a protester or revolutionary, even if it means going against his father for it.
With that, Naren breaks off his relationship from his father and proves his point by standing against British General Douglas in front of the city, leaving him to be sentenced to hang for attempted murder. Realizing what Naren was trying to do for her, Rajjo tells Shubhankar about him. In light of Naren's devotion to the nation and his cause for its independence, Shubhankar saves him from being hanged and the two manage to finish off Hari Singh and many of the British loyalists with the help of Major Bisht (Danny Dengzongpa), who turns over a change of heart after tragically seeing his revolutionary daughter Chanda die by the British loyalists' gunfire ordered by General Douglas. With the loyalists dead, Shubankar hangs General Douglas on the same noose that was intended for Naren. The trio, along with Major Bisht and the citizens, are shown at the end to salute the Indian flag, as it is hoisted by Shubhankar.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by music director R.D. Burman. The music in the introduction of the film is from Gustav Holst's 'The Planets - Mars the bringer'

Box office

The film's adjusted gross amounts to Rs 89.62 crores and was declared "Average ''

Awards

Filmfare Awards

Best Supporting Actor - Jackie Shroff
Best Music Director - Rahul Dev Burman
Best Lyricist - Javed Akhtar for "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha"
Best Male Playback Singer - Kumar Sanu for "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha"
Best Female Playback Singer- Kavita Krishnamurthy for "Pyaar Hua Chupke Se"
Best Art Direction - Nitin Desai
Best Cinematographer - Binod Pradhan
Best Editing - Renu Saluja
Best Sound Design - Jitendra Chaudhary, Namita Nayak

Nominations

Best Film - Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Best Producer - Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Best Actor - Anil Kapoor
Best Actress - Manisha Koirala

Star Screen Awards

Best Supporting Actor - Anupam Kher
Best Music Director - R D Burman