Taal () is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama co-written, edited, produced and directed by Subhash Ghai. The film stars Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai and Akshaye Khanna in lead roles, while Amrish Puri and Alok Nath feature in supporting roles.
Taal was released on 13 August 1999, coinciding with the Indian Independence Day weekend, and proved to be a major commercial success at the domestic and overseas box-office, becoming the first Indian film to reach the Top 20 on Varietys box-office list.
At the 45th Filmfare Awards, Taal received 12 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Ghai) and Best Actress (Rai), and won 6 awards, including Best Supporting Actor (Kapoor), Best Music Director (Rahman) and Best Lyricist ( for "Ishq Bina").
Plot
Tycoon Jagmohan Mehta arrives in Chamba, India for a long vacation with his extended family, including his son, Manav. He meets Mansi, the beautiful daughter of an impoverished folk singer, Tara Shankar Manhuja. As the owner of the Mehta & Mehta Group of Companies, Jagmohan is looking to invest in Chamba. Over time, Jagmohan and Tara Shankar become friendly with each other.
Eventually, Manav is besotted with Mansi and they keep meeting. One day while doing Yoga together Manav tells her that he is in love with her, and asks her if she is also in love. She denies and says they cannot be together because of the difference in their status and that she will not meet him again. After running into each other once again and more encounters Mansi also falls in love with Manav. Jagmohan is against their relationship due to Mansi's poor socio-economic status. Tara Shankar is initially angry but later reaches Mumbai to visit his journalist cousin, Prabha, and to meet the Mehta family for a marriage alliance. Unfortunately, they insult Tara who has been waiting outside their house for 9 hours with Mansi. Instead of standing-up for Mansi, Manav who just arrives to the house takes his Father's side and insults Tara. Deeply hurt, Mansi leaves with her father, breaking up with Manav.
Mansi soon meets a famous music producer and director, Vikrant Kapoor while in Mumbai, who happens to be a huge fan of Tara's music. She starts working with him and performs dance numbers and remixes of his productions and Tara's songs. She begins to win awards and becomes a national sensation and celebrity. Slowly, Vikrant begins falling for Mansi. Meanwhile, Manav finds out that his family ill-treated Mansi and Tara.
Manav goes to Mumbai in the hopes of apologizing to Mansi for his family's behavior towards her and Tara. He tries to talk to Mansi who is doing a test shoot, and she tells Vikrant to reject him on her behalf and that she refuses to see him. He approaches her again in her tent; Mansi is upset; Manav apologises and asks her to marry him; Mansi lets out her pain for how her father was treated saying that she does not want his apology but rather his father to apologise to her father; they get into a disagreement. Vikrants team happy with the shoot offer her a contract for three years and she signs it as he watches. Manav tells Mansi that he will wait for her to come back and that she will be his wife and leaves. Vikrant soon learns of Mansi's past with Manav. Ignoring it, he proposes to her. She eventually accepts it and they get engaged. After winning an award in Canada, Mansi returns to India to prepare for their wedding. Manav gets burned while saving Mansi's memories in his house. Jagmohan realises Manav's true love for Mansi and goes to Tara's House with the proposal for Mansi marrying Manav, Tara tells him that he was hurt by how he was treated and that it was too late now, Mansi is engaged. Jagmohan and Tara eventually patch things up after the former realizes his mistake and apologizes.
On the wedding day, Vikrant realises Mansi still loves Manav. He assures her they can still be friends, and urges her to honor her love for Manav. Soon after, she runs to Manav and they reunite. Jagmohan and Tara give their blessings and apologize for separating them. The couple embrace accepting their love for each other. ; Manav and Mansi finally get married. The Mehtas take a family picture to celebrate the wedding.
Cast
Music
The soundtrack of the film was composed by A. R. Rahman with lyrics penned by Anand Bakshi. The soundtrack was released on 12 June 1999 and it became a major critical and commercial success. At a press conference, Ghai remarked, "I credit the name of the movie to composer A. R. Rahman. This film is a romance and I could have called it any thing – Dil, Pyaar, Hum Bhaag Gaye, but it was Rahman's presence in the movie that gave me the confidence to call it Taal. Taal means music and music means Taal. The whole credit goes to A. R. Rahman and Anand Bakshi. Rahman kept me awake many nights, but after listening to the songs, I felt it was worth all the trouble."
The soundtrack became a tremendous commercial success, and was sold more than 1.85million units within a month of its release. It went on to sell 4million units, becoming the best-selling album of the year. The soundtrack made the list of "Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks of All Time", as compiled by Planet Bollywood.
Track listing
Reception
Critical reception
Commercial performance
Taal emerged as a major commercial success in India, netting 23 crore in India on a budget of 11.50 crore, and also performed well internationally.
Accolades
At the 45th Filmfare Awards, Taal received 12 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Ghai) and Best Actress (Rai, who won the award for her performance in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam), and won 6 awards, including Best Supporting Actor (Kapoor) and Best Music Director (Rahman).
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! scope="col"| Award
! scope="col"| Date of ceremony
! scope="col"| Category
! scope="col"| Recipient(s)
! scope="col"| Result
! scope="col" class="unsortable"|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="7"| Bollywood Movie Awards
| rowspan="7"| 8 June 2000
| Best Film
| Taal
|
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="7"|
|-
| Best Actress
| rowspan="2"|
|
|-
| Most Sensational Actress
|
|-
| Best Actor (Critics)
|
|
|-
| Best Music Director
|
|
|-
| Best Lyricist
| for "Taal Se Taal"
|
|-
| Best Editing
|
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="12"| Filmfare Awards
| rowspan="12"| 13 February 2000
| Best Film
| Taal
|
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="12"| <br /><br />
|-
| Best Director
|
|
|-
| Best Actress
|
|
|-
| Best Supporting Actor
|
|
|-
| Best Music Director
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Lyricist
| for "Ishq Bina"
|
|-
| for "Taal Se Taal"
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Male Playback Singer
| for "Ishq Bina"
|
|-
| for "Ramta Jogi"
|
|-
| Best Female Playback Singer
| for "Taal Se Taal"
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
|
|
|-
| Best Sound Design
|
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="12"| International Indian Film Academy Awards
| rowspan="12"| 24 June 2000
| Best Film
| Taal
|
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="12"| <br /><br />
|-
| Best Director
|
|
|-
| Best Actress
|
|
|-
| Best Supporting Actor
|
|
|-
| Best Music Director
|
|
|-
| Best Lyricist
| for "Ishq Bina"
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Male Playback Singer
| for "Ishq Bina"
|
|-
| for "Ramta Jogi"
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| Best Female Playback Singer
| for "Taal Se Taal"
|
|-
| for "Ishq Bina"
|
|-
| for "Kya Dekh Rahe Ho Tum"
|
|-
| Best Costume Design
|
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="11"| Screen Awards
| rowspan="11"| 23 January 2000
| Best Film
| Taal
|
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="11"| <br />
|-
| Best Director
|
|
|-
| Best Supporting Actor
|
|
|-
| Best Music Director
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Lyricist
| for "Ramta Jogi"
|
|-
| for "Taal Se Taal"
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Male Playback Singer
| for "Ishq Bina"
|
|-
| for "Ramta Jogi"
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Female Playback Singer
| for "Taal Se Taal"
|
|-
| for "Kahin Aag Lage"
|
|-
| Best Costume Design
|
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="25"| Zee Cine Awards
| rowspan="25"| 11 March 2000
| Best Actor – Female
| rowspan="2"|
|
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="25"| <br /><br /><br /><br />
|-
| Lux Face of the Year
|
|-
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Male
|
|
|-
| Best Performance in a Negative Role
|
|
|-
| Best Music Director
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| Best Lyricist
| for "Ishq Bina"
|
|-
| for "Taal Se Taal"
|
|-
| Best Choreography
| for "Kahin Aag Lage"
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
|
|
|-
| Best Art Direction
|
|
|-
| Best Make Up Artist
|
|
|-
|}
See also
- Asai Man Piyabanna, a 2007 Sri Lankan remake
References
External links
- Roger Ebert on Taal