Tridev (1989) User Reviews

A nostalgic action flick with wonderful music.

[Peter_Young · 7/10 · 15 September 2015]

I watched this film many times as a kid, and it always kept me on the edge of my seat. This of course is not an example of great filmmaking or storytelling, but it still works as a masala flick, and is actually quite slick for a movie of its sort. The action scenes are typical for the times but are quite fun to watch. There are three heroes in this film, and all three are very good: Jackie Shroff doing the nonchalant guy in search of himself, Sunny Deol playing the angry-young-man, while obviously Naseeruddhin Shah steals the show in a ceaselessly amusing role, played with a great deal of humour by an actor who seems to have no qualms about ridiculing himself. Then there are the three hot ladies - the pretty Sonam, the impossibly stunning Madhuri Dixit, while actually it is the beautiful Sangeeta Bijlani who gets the meatiest part in what is possibly her best role, and does the most of it in addition to having a very nice chemistry with Shroff.

And then there's the music, and what an amazing soundtrack it is. Each song is a gem and holds such great nostalgic value for me. "Tirchi Topiwale" and "Main Teri Mohabbat Main" are great numbers, but it is "Gali Gali" which is one of my all-time favourite songs. A true gem of a song - soulful, melodious, and wonderfully written, composed and arranged with a rare touch of psychedelia. This number was one of the first that shot the phenomenal Alka Yagnik to fame, and her rendition is flawless. Other than that, Tridev works as a nice thriller which doesn't have much depth and is ridden with stereotypical heroes and villains, but it should not be taken too seriously - it should be enjoyed, and there's plenty to enjoy here.

Tridev- An explosive saga

[Ibuk · 7/10 · 27 October 2007]

I have extremely fond memories of this classic. Out of Naseer Udin Shah, Sunny Deol and Jackie Shroff it was Sunny Deol that stood out as the angry cop Karan Saxena. Amrish Puri was superb as Bhujang in one of my favourite roles of his. There was also so many other characters, including Anupum Kher as the devoted Pollice commissioner. The music is so good it deserves a special mention. My personal Favourite is Oye Oye.

The director Rajiv Rai went on to make other great movie including the superb follow up Vishwatamma, Mohra and the suspense thriller Gupt. Unfortunately he has hit a rough patch with this recent releases Pyar Ishq and Mohabbat and Asambhav flopping. Rajiv Rai has a reputation for repeating his cast, Sunny Deol came in Tridev and its follow up whilst Naseer Uddin Shah starred in Tridev, Vishwatamma and Mohra.Character actors like Tej Sapru have appeared in almost all of his movies. Tremendous fun.

A masala film of the 80's

[varghesejunior · 7/10 · 7 July 2012]

Tridev , as my title suggests, is a typical masala flick of the 80s - top heroes with lady loves, great songs and dances, action, dialogues...it's a 3 hour entertainer. But perhaps nowadays nobody will have the patience to go through it all.

Story is about 3 frustrated young men fed up of the inefficient law system in the country and set out to bring justice on their own.

The good - Dialogues, catchy songs,action sequences, plot of the movie The bad - Weak background score (quite silly at times), jobless ladies.

It you are a fan of Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff or Naseeruddin Shah, then watch this.

Tridev indeed A volcanic saga of three Angry men

[gavin_coolhgr · 22 November 2007]

Karan Saxena who is a very honest and dedicated inspector is being transferred to Madhupur when he sets out to investigate about corruption, murder and idealism in his community. The police suspect is that a criminal called Bhujang/Bhairav Singh (Amrish Puri) is involved in every crime of the country. While in Madhupur, Karan befriends Jai Singh another victim of Bhujang's terror. While Ravi who is Divya's (Madhuri Dixit) brother has doubt for Bhujang in his mind too. He, however, ends up and fall in love with a cabaret dancer Natasha (Sangeeta Bijlani). All three men decided to form a gang called Tridev and destroy Bhujang and his gang.

A truly volcanic saga

[gurdeepmann59 · 7/10 · 14 July 2012]

Before Rajiv Rai's VISHWATMA (1992), this film came out in 1989

The two movies bear a lot of similarities with the cast, the same trio with a hatred for the villain (Amrish Puri being the villain in both the films), lavish locations and at least 1 chart buster song

The film is done-to-death

The film starts off quite nicely and has some over-the-top scenes but this was 80s masala The film gets more interesting when Sunny Deol is posted to Madhavpur and where he meets the savior Naseeruddin Shah Eventually Sunny Deol discovers his hatred for the terrorists and discovers that Jackie Shroff is part of them Or is he?

Sunny Deol makes an angry cop and this type of roles suit him Naseeruddin Shah is a pleasure to watch and does make a good innocent villager Jackie Shroff has a small role Amrish Puri is menacing and makes a balancing villain Anupam Kher is good Sharat Saxsena is usual

truly is a volcanic saga best movie of 1989

[SAFIE_CHAN_4 · 10/10 · 15 September 2006]

Tridev is one of my favourite movie of all time, Its one of those films that you cannot get over it, at the end of the film you feel as though reaching for the rewind button, anyway this movie is absolutely awesome, I watched it on Max television in 2005, I am really out of words, basically all the stars played there part very specifically and very well done, Rajiv rai created a situation, where all the audience would get hyped up to see what happens in the next scene, honestly this movie is the best, after tridev became superhit in the 1989, Rajiv rai delivered another action packed movie "Vishwatma" in the year 1992, Rajiv thought of bring the starcast from tridev into Vishwatma, but unfortunelty Jackie became a Father and his fortuneteller told him not to go abroad, because the majority of the shooting were involved in kenya, so they replaced Chunky Pandey, nevertheless I would recommend you guys to watch Tridev, seriously at the end of the film you guys will reach for the rewind button.

Very Good movie and family entertainment.

[prashant_dhama200 · 8/10 · 29 September 2011]

Master piece of late 80's. I watched this movie on TV but I must say that this is true thriller, suspense and spell bounding movie. Acting is average by Sunny Deol(Karan) but Naseeruddin Shah(Jay Singh) and Jackie Shroff(Ravi Mathur) rocked this movie. Other actors including Amrish Puri (Bhujang) is true villain. He knew about the moods and balance of acting. Bassy voice and deep personality suits for this character and he plays it off nicely. Anupam Kher(Mumbai Police Commissioner) did a great job and he was looking a real life police commissioner. Renu(Sonam) was looking hot. Now this movie tells that if you want to show hot actresses then there is no need to remove clothes unnecessarily. A movie can be good if it has content and the spice for audience.

I liked the work of Ravi Rai(Director). He had control over film and no overacting. That is what we call a disciplined movie which has "only" everything to please viewers. Hats off to this Masterpiece. I think Bollywood should take lessons from earlier movies rather than redoing the Hollywood flicks which only worsen the charm and viewers abuse them when they leave theaters in running movies...

Oye Oye Masala!

[nadkarnisumeet · 8/10 · 9 August 2020]

Paap se dharti phati Adharm se aasmaan Atyachaar se kaanpi insaaniyat Raj kar rahe haivaan ... Jinki hogi taqat apoorv Jinka hoga nishana abhed Joh karenge inka sarvanaash ... Woh kehlayenge Tridev Tridev Tridev!!

Most of the 80s kids would recite this prologue of this film. School ho ya picnic. It was a huge hit. Haha! So was the film.

Being a Gen X kiddo, I love multi star entertainers of those times. Tridev, for me, was a complete film in that aspect ticking all the right boxes in terms of stellar cast, hit songs, pulsating action, a formidable villain and above all, guaranteed entertainment. Infact, it is a film I have seen more than 100 times...yes, you read that right, 100 times on VHS. No other film comes close to this personal record.

Those days, any new movie used to be released simultaneously in theatres as well as video (and I mean original, not pirated camera prints!!) and I saw Tridev on VHS the very first day of its release. For the next few months, I watched it practically every day sometimes rewinding my favorite songs and scenes. One scene I love in the film is where Jackie Shroff helps jailbreak Rajesh Vivek in a helicopter. Another one is just before the interval where the villains visit Sunny Deol in village and set his home on fire.

The film's music is still memorable (Kalyanji Anandji were credited as music directors though most of the work including BGM was done by Kalyanji's son Viju Shah) and has lend itself to many remixes in recent times.

The Oye Oye song had become a national craze already and it was impossible to get the movie tickets for first few weeks. Expectedly, the film became a resounding hit at the box office. It played at Regal cinema (Colaba) and the Minerva, Mumbai for first couple of weeks before shifting to Roxy cinema where it completed 50 weeks.

More about the film, well, it was Naseeruddin Shah's first commercial outing and he got a meaty role. Sonam had more screen time than Madhuri Dixit while Sunny Deol got the best dialogues and fight sequences. Jackie Dada looked smashing opposite pretty Sangeeta Bijalani. And ofcourse, Amrish Puri was brilliant as Bhujang, the main antagonist to our three heroes.

A true classic of it's time and beyond

[aounhoilay2 · 8/10 · 24 July 2023]

I watched this movie when I was kid being born in the 80s. In 2023 today, I am still watching this movie over and over again.

It's one of those movies with amazing music which was also ahead of it's time. You cannot fault this movie unless you have a major itch and can't appreciate it for what it is. I love this movie and even got my 11 year kids to watch it and they love it too. Spread love and you'll see the appreciation for the film.

This is one of those movies with 3 big actors and unending villains. It has some good classic songs which are now being remixed.

I hope you enjoy the movie as much I have over the years.

It's like a riptide...not really.

[Chrysanthepop · 18 April 2010]

Rajiv Rai's 'Tridev' is very much the typical multistarrer flick on the 80s. With its over the top action sequences, songs appearing out of nowhere, heroines who are there for eye-candy, repetitive coincidences etcetera. Let's start with the good side. The catchy soundtrack is quite good, my favourite song being 'Gali Gali Mein Firta Hai'. The 'heroines' are quite pretty. While there is Sonam and Madhuri Dixit, they can easily be overlooked when a sizzling Sangeeta Bijlani appears on screen (however, she is an awful dancer). Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff and Naseeruddin Shah are cast as the action heroes and it is Shah who steals the show with his over the top performance by providing some excellent comic relief. The late Amrish Puri is a delight to watch when he plays the over the top villain. 'Tridev' is quite entertaining in parts. It's not as boring as for example, Feroz Khan's 'Janbaaz'. I fast forwarded most of the dishum dishum action sequences and maybe it's not such a bad movie to play on your DVD player while you're cooking or ironing your clothes. Campy.

Superhit movie becuase combination made its Superhit

[rajputshri · 10/10 · 14 November 2021]

Sunny , jackey and nasir all works better and acting wise we know these are unbeatable actors specially Sunny and jackey superstars at that moment generation.

Typical 80s action film

[silvan-desouza · 26 August 2011]

Rajiv Rai after YUDH in 1985 returned with TRIDEV(1989) which was a typical 80s action film The film moves at a decent pace with stunts, music and comedy

The story is done to death but handled well

The film starts off well and keeps your interest alive, there are several overdone scenes perhaps which 80s boasted of and several masala ingredients The film started the speciality of all RR films, long list of henchmen and goons Direction by Rajiv Rai was good, Music was a superhit by Kalyanji Ananji, with OYE OYE topping the charts sung well by Amit Kumar Other songs were good too especially GALI GALI Action scenes were as usual

Sunny Deol was going through a roughphase those days before GHAYAL though this film and CHAALBAAZ did well in 89 yet he was labelled a non actor and didn't shout how he did today In his role he is average but in one scene when he is tied to a bed he is expressionless Naseeruddin Shah excels and the role brought him fame showing his versatility Jackie Shroff in a smaller role did well Amrish Puri excels as Bhujang, though a done to death role for him Anupam Kher though looking young to play Jackie's dad still did a good job The heroines which include Madhuri, Sangeeta Bhijlani didn't get much scope Amongst rest Sharat Saxena is as usual, Shekhar Suman is okay