Pardes (1997 film)

Produced bySubhash GhaiStarringCinematographyKabir LalEdited byRenu SalujaMusic byNadeem-ShravanDistributed byMukta Arts191 minsCountryIndiaLanguageHindiBudget₹10 crore^[1]Box office₹40.95 crore^[1]

Pardes (transl. Foreign land) is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language romantic musical film directed, produced, and co-written by Subhash Ghai. Distributed by Mukta Arts, it stars Shah Rukh Khan, and newcomers Mahima Chaudhry and Apurva Agnihotri in lead roles, with Alok Nath, Amrish Puri and Himani Shivpuri in supporting roles. The film was shot at various locations in the United States (Los Angeles, Las Vegas), Canada (British Columbia, including Vancouver) and India (Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, including Agra).

Pardes theatrically released in India on 8 August 1997. It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with praise for its soundtrack and Khan, Chaudhry, and Agnihotri's performances; however its story and screenplay received criticism. It grossed over ₹409 million (US$4.9 million) worldwide, emerging as a commercial success at the box-office, ranking as the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, behind Dil To Pagal Hai (also starring Khan), Border, and Ishq.

At the 43rd Filmfare Awards, Pardes received 12 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Ghai) and Best Actress (Chaudhry), and won 3 awards – Best Female Debut (Chaudhry), Best Female Playback Singer (Alka Yagnik for "Meri Mehbooba") and Best Screenplay (Ghai).

The film was remade in Telugu as Pelli Kanuka (1998) starring Jagapati Babu, Lakshmi & Banumathi Ramakrishna. It was released on the eve of celebration of 50th anniversary of the Indian independence.

On a trip to India, wealthy NRI Kishorilal, who harbours extreme affection for his home country, is impressed by his friend Suraj Dev's daughter, Ganga. Believing her to be the perfect match for his son, Rajiv, he arranges for them to marry. Rajiv will visit India to meet Ganga, and they are given time to accept or reject the match. Kishorilal tasks Arjun, his adopted foster son, to prepare Ganga's family to receive Rajiv.

Arjun sets about "westernizing" their household, and Rajiv arrives to India a few days later. Rajiv, who has had a western upbringing, is shocked by Indian customs and traditions. Nevertheless, he approves of Ganga after seeing past her outward conservativeness. Ganga agrees as well, though Arjun has helped paint a better picture of Rajiv than what he might be. Ganga is bid farewell by her family, and flies to the US to live at Kishorilal's house, a month before the actual wedding date.

Ganga tries her best to adjust to her new American life, but faces resistance from Rajiv's family, who find her backward and unsophisticated. Rajiv is frequently short-tempered as well, leaving Ganga to seek support from Arjun. When Rajiv's aunt notices their closeness, she sets about plotting against Arjun. He is made to relocate for work reasons, while Rajiv and Ganga take a trip together to Las Vegas. After spending the day sightseeing, they return to the hotel, where Rajiv insists they have sex before marriage. He ignores Ganga's stated wish to wait, then forces himself upon her in a drunken state. Ganga fights free of him and runs away. Arjun finds her in a distressed state at a train station, and flies her back to India.

Back in the village, Ganga's family kick Arjun out, believing he intends to elope with Ganga behind Rajiv's back. Ganga is locked up inside a room for having brought shame upon her family. A fight breaks out when Rajiv shows up in the village. He wishes to exact revenge on Arjun for siding with Ganga, and the two seemingly resolve to fight unto death. Kishorilal intervenes and demands an explanation from Arjun. Arjun claims to be in love with Ganga himself, but clarifies he only tried to protect, and not steal her, from Rajiv. Ganga exposes Rajiv for his actions in Vegas, leaving Kishorilal shocked and embarrassed. He orders Rajiv back home, then announces that Ganga can return as well, but as Arjun's bride this time. Ganga and her family are overjoyed. She marries Arjun and lives happily with him in the US.

• Shah Rukh Khan as Arjun Saagar, Kishorilal's foster son
• Mahima Chaudhry as Kusum Ganga
• Apurva Agnihotri as Rajiv, Kishorilal's biological son
• Amrish Puri as Kishorilal, Arjun's foster and Rajiv's biological father
• Alok Nath as Suraj Dev, Ganga's father.
• Padmavati Rao as Narmada
• Dina Pathak as Dadi Maa
• Himani Shivpuri as Kulwanti
• Madhuri Bhatia as Neeta Sandiplal, Arjun's foster aunt.
• Smita Jaykar as Padma
• Pawan Malhotra as Sharafat Ali
• Prachi Save as Daksha
• Aditya Narayan as Potla
• Ajay Nagrath as Dabboo
• Samta Sagar as Sonali Shahi
• Subhash Ghai as singer in a boat
• Remo D'Souza as Dancer
• Rakesh Thareja as Shekhar Paul, Rajiv's friend.
• Ruhshad Nariman Daruwalla as Vikrant Pathak, Potla's friend.
• Akash as Karnataki
• Richa Anderson as Kelly, Rajiv's ex girlfriend.
• Sukhwinder Singh Chahal as Ramu
• Deepak Qazir as Amirchand
• Vinod Raut as Garibchand
• Anand Balraj as Manuchand

Pardes
Soundtrack album
Released	1997
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	58:18
Language	Hindi and English
Label	Tips Zee Music Company

The soundtrack was composed by Nadeem-Shravan and the lyrics were penned by Anand Bakshi. For their work, Nadeem-Shravan received a Filmfare Award for Best Music Director nomination and won a Screen Award for Best Music Director. This was the only album where K.S. Chithra sung a Hindi song for Nadeem-Shravan. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 6 million units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's second highest-selling. Pardes soundtrack was released, the tracks had different varieties of songs; songs ("I Love My India" and "Meri Mehbooba"), Love songs ("Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain") and Qawwali ("Nahin Hona Tha)" Pop ("My first Day In America"), Pain ("Ye Dil Deewana"). Planet Bollywood started the review by saying, "The music for Pardes is Nadeem-Shravan's best ever.

Track list

#	Title	Singer(s)
1	"Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain"	Kumar Sanu
2	"Meri Mehbooba"	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik
3	"Yeh Dil Deewana"	Sonu Nigam, Hema Sardesai & Shankar Mahadevan
4	"I Love My India"	Kavita Krishnamurthy, Hariharan, Aditya Narayan & Shankar Mahadevan
5	"Jahan Piya Wahan Main"	K. S. Chithra, Shankar Mahadevan
6	"Nahin Hona Tha"	Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Hema Sardesai & Sabri Brothers
7	"My First Day In U.S.A"	Hema Sardesai
8	"I Love My India" (Female)	Kavita Krishnamurthy
9	"Title Music"	Sapna Awasthi

Planet Bollywood started their review by saying, "The music of Pardes is one of Nadeem-Shravan's best ever."^{[citation needed]}

Pardes grossed ₹34.83 crore in India and $1.7 million (₹6.12 crore) overseas, for a worldwide total of ₹40.95 crore ($11.4 million), against its ₹10 crore budget. It had a worldwide opening weekend of ₹3.4 crore, and grossed ₹6.19 crore in its first week.^[2] It is the 4th-highest-grossing film of 1997 in India.^[3]

It opened on Friday, August 8, 1997, across 210 screens, and earned ₹61 lakh nett on its opening day. It grossed ₹2 crore nett in its opening weekend, and had a first week of ₹3.64 crore nett. The film earned a total of ₹22.83 crore nett, and was declared a "super-hit" by Box Office India.^[2] It is the 4th highest-grossing film of 1997 in India.^[4]

It earned $1.7 million (₹6.12 crore in 1997) outside India.^[2] Overseas, it is the 2nd highest-grossing film of 1997 after Dil To Pagal Hai, which grossed $3.3 million (₹12.04 crore in 1997).^[5]

Pardes worldwide collections breakdown

Territory	Territory wise Collections break-up
India	Nett income: ₹31.83 crore
	Entertainment tax: ₹12 crore
	Total gross: ₹43.83 crore
International (outside India)	$1.7 million (₹6.12 crore in 1997)
Worldwide	₹49.95 crore ($11.4 million)[2]

Pardes received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Praise was given to the music and the cast's performances; however the story and screenplay of the film received criticism.^[6][7][8]

India Today cites it as one of the first major Bollywood pictures to succeed in the United States.^[9]

In their book, New Cosmopolitanisms: South Asians in the US, Gita Rajan and Shailja Sharma view the film as a dichotomous depiction of the good NRI versus bad NRI, with Khan depicting the good immigrant, who assists the rowdy Indian American playboy Rajiv (Apurva Agnihotri), the bad. Khan's character of Arjun is perceived as a metaphor for cosmopolitanism or Indian cultural nationalism in the wider sense, in direct contrast to Rajiv who represents wealthy Westernization and all its negative vices and connotations.^[10]

Award[a]	Date of ceremony[b]	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Filmfare Awards	31 January 1998	Best Film	Subhash Ghai	Nominated	[11] [12]
		Best Director		Nominated
		Best Screenplay		Won
		Best Actress	Mahima Chaudhry	Nominated
		Best Female Debut		Won
		Best Music Director	Nadeem–Shravan	Nominated
		Best Lyricist	Anand Bakshi for "I Love My India"	Nominated
			Anand Bakshi for "Meri Mehbooba"	Nominated
		Best Male Playback Singer	Hariharan for "I Love My India"	Nominated
			Kumar Sanu for "Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain"	Nominated
		Best Female Playback Singer	Alka Yagnik for "Meri Mehbooba"	Won
			Kavita Krishnamurthy for "I Love My India"	Nominated
Screen Awards	17 January 1998	Best Film	Pardes	Nominated	[13] [14] [15] [16]
		Best Director	Subhash Ghai	Nominated
		Most Promising Newcomer – Male	Apurva Agnihotri	Nominated
		Most Promising Newcomer – Female	Mahima Chaudhry	Nominated
		Best Music Director	Nadeem–Shravan	Won
		Best Lyricist	Anand Bakshi for "Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain"	Nominated
			Anand Bakshi for "I Love My India"	Nominated
		Best Male Playback Singer	Kumar Sanu for "Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain"	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Kabir Lal	Won
Zee Cine Awards	14 March 1998	Best Film	Subhash Ghai	Nominated	[17] [18] [19] [20]
		Best Director		Nominated
		Best Story		Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Kabir Lal	Nominated
		Best Actor – Male	Shah Rukh Khan	Nominated
		Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Male	Apurva Agnihotri	Nominated
		Best Male Debut		Nominated
		Best Female Debut	Mahima Chaudhry	Won
		Best Music Director	Nadeem–Shravan	Nominated
		Best Background Score	Vanraj Bhatia	Won
		Best Lyricist	Anand Bakshi for "I Love My India"	Nominated
		Best Playback Singer – Male	Kumar Sanu for "Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain"	Nominated
		Best Playback Singer – Female	Kavita Krishnamurthy for "I Love My India"	Nominated
		Best Editing	Renu Saluja	Nominated
		Best Make Up Artist	Kiran R. Naik	Nominated
		Best Sound Recording	Rakesh Ranjan	Won
		Best Re-Recording	Anup Dev	Nominated
		Best Song Recording	Hassan Sheikh	Nominated
		Best Special Effects (Visual)	Ramesh Meer	Nominated

Bibliography

• Sharma, Edited by Gita Rajan and Shailja; Rajan, Gita (2006). New Cosmopolitanisms: South Asians in the US. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-6784-2. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)

• Pardes at IMDb