32 Years of Mr. India (29/05/1987)

32 Years of Mr. India (29/05/1987)

Mr. India is a 1987 superhero film directed by Shekhar Kapur, based on a screenplay written by Salim-Javed. It stars Sridevi and Anil Kapoor in the lead roles. Amrish Puri, Ashok Kumar, Satish Kaushik, Ajit Vachani and Sharat Saxena are featured in supporting roles.

The film was the second highest-grossing Indian film of 1987 after Dharmendra’s Hukumat and remains a cult classic in India. The film was known for several of its lines and songs, including Sridevi’s “Miss Hawa Hawaii” performance, and Amrish Puri’s quote “Mogambo khush hua” (“Mogambo is pleased”), which is one of the most famous quotes of Bollywood and became synonymous with Puri. The Mogambo character is also considered to be one of the best villains in Bollywood history.

Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s music performed well too, especially the song “Hawa Hawaii”, which is very popular till today. The film has often been featured in different lists of top Bollywood films. Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films. This was the last film that the writing duo Salim-Javed wrote together. They had split up earlier in 1982, but came back for one last film.

On the centenary of Indian Cinema, Mr. India was included amongst one of the 100 Greatest Indian Films of All Time. Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan were offered the lead role, but they turned it down as they could not relate with the invisible hero.