1942: A Love Story (1994)

Director:

Vidhu Vinod Chopra

Writers:

Vidhu Vinod Chopra (screenplay)
Vidhu Vinod Chopra (story)
(more)

Release Date:

15 April 1994 (India)

Genre:

Romance | Action | Drama | Musical

Plot:

A young Indian couple, both from wealthy backgrounds, find themselves caught up in the 1940's Indian revolutionary movement against their families whom are under the thumb a sadistic British general.

Plot Keywords:

British | Revolutionary | Love | India | 1940s

Awards:

6 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Anil Kapoor	...	Narendra Singh
Jackie Shroff	...	Shubhankar
Manisha Koirala	...	Rajeshwari Pathak
Anupam Kher	...	Raghuvir Pathak
Danny Denzongpa	...	Major Hisht (as Danny Dengzongpa)
Pran	...	Abidali Baig
Chandni	...	Chanda
Raghuvir Yadav	...	Munna
Sushma Seth	...	Gayatridevi Singh
Manohar Singh	...	Diwan Hari Singh
Brian Glover	...	General Douglas
Gopi Desai	...	Chachi
Pramod Muthu	...	Govind Pathak (as Pramod Moutho)
Uday Chandra	...	Shankar
Shakti Singh	...	Captain Digantu
Ashish Vidyarthi	...	Ashutosh
Kamal Chopra	...	Raj Singh
Shivkumar Subramaniam	...	Bishti Baba (as Shiv Subrahmanyam)
Tarakesh Chauhan	...	Sergeant
Ilyas Sheikh	...	Tyagi
Shashank Dabral	...	Rajan
Kees Van De Klundert	...	Colonel Simpson
Amar	...	Revolutionary
Hashim	...	Revolutionary
Yusuf	...	Revolutionary
Daljit	...	Revolutionary
Bhakta	...	Revolutionary
Atmadev	...	Revolutionary
Durga	...	Revolutionary
Ishwar	...	Revolutionary
Janardhan	...	Revolutionary
Rohit	...	Revolutionary
Sanjay	...	Revolutionary
Rupera	...	Revolutionary
Billa	...	Revolutionary
Ravi	...	Revolutionary

Directed by
Vidhu Vinod Chopra

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sanjay Leela Bhansali		screenplay
Kamna Chandra		dialogue
Kamna Chandra		story
Vidhu Vinod Chopra		screenplay
Vidhu Vinod Chopra		story
Shivkumar Subramaniam		screenplay (as Shiv Subrahmanyam)
Shivkumar Subramaniam		story (as Shiv Subrahmanyam)

Produced by
Vidhu Vinod Chopra	....	producer
H.L. Saluja	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Rahul Dev Burman
Babloo Chakravorty		(as Babloo Chakrabarty)
Manohari Singh

Cinematography by
Binod Pradhan

Film Editing by
Renu Saluja

Art Direction by
Nitin Chandrakant Desai		(as Nitin Desai)

Costume Design by
Bhanu Athaiya

Makeup Department
Bela Agha	....	hair stylist: Sushma Seth (as Bela)
Bela Agha	....	makeup artist: Sushma Seth (as Bela)
Anand	....	hair stylist: Anil Kapoor
Anil	....	makeup artist
Mili Berato	....	hair stylist: Manisha Koirala (as Madan-Raju-Milli)
Mili Berato	....	makeup artist: Manisha Koirala (as Madan-Raju-Milli)
Deepak Chauhan	....	makeup artist: Anil Kapoor
James	....	makeup artist
Madan	....	hair stylist: Manisha Koirala (as Madan-Raju-Milli)
Madan	....	makeup artist: Manisha Koirala (as Madan-Raju-Milli)
Radheshyam	....	makeup artist: Danny Dengzongpa
Raju	....	hair stylist: Manisha Koirala (as Madan-Raju-Milli)
Raju	....	makeup artist: Manisha Koirala (as Madan-Raju-Milli)
Shashi Satam	....	makeup artist: Jackie Shroff (as Shashi Satham)
S. Bahadur Singh	....	makeup artist: Anupam Kher (as Bahadur)
Vidya	....	hair stylist: Chandnie (as Vishnu-Vidya)
Vidya	....	makeup artist: Chandnie (as Vishnu-Vidya)
Vishnu	....	hair stylist: Chandnie (as Vishnu-Vidya)
Vishnu	....	makeup artist: Chandnie (as Vishnu-Vidya)

Production Management
Pramod Singh	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arghya Basu	....	second assistant director
Ratna Bhat	....	first assistant director
Shabnam Chopra	....	second assistant director
Sandhya Gokhale	....	second assistant director
Manav Kaushik	....	first assistant director
Ilham Khan	....	second assistant director
Anish Koirala	....	second assistant director
Roy Rosario	....	second assistant director
Adeep Singh	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Parag Ghalsasi	....	assistant art director
Vithal Ghate	....	assistant art director
Baba Hirlekar	....	logo creator: concept & layout
Ravi Joshi	....	assistant art director
Ashok Kadam	....	assistant art director
Nitin Kulkarni	....	assistant art director
Chandrakant Mahatre	....	logo creator: sculptor
Pramod Mohalle	....	assistant art director
Narayan	....	backdrops
Santosh Raut	....	assistant art director
Mangesh Salvi	....	assistant art director
Sunil Samjiskar	....	assistant art director (as Sunil Samjatkar)
Murlidhar Shinde	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Akhilesh	....	assistant audiographer
Sanjay Leela Bhansali	....	associate director for dubbing
Jitendra Chaudhary	....	audiographer (as Jeetendra Chaudhary)
Sajjan Choudhary	....	sound effects supervisor (as Sajjan)
John Falcini	....	dolby mixer: Cinelingual Studios, London
Ghulam	....	audiographer shooting assistant
Rajendra Gupta	....	sound effects supervisor
Manish	....	assistant audiographer
Namita Nayak	....	sound effects recordist
Harikumar Pillai	....	sound
Karnail Singh	....	sound effects supervisor
Kuldip Sood	....	sound re-recordist

Special Effects by
Vijay Bhalekar	....	opticals
Nandu Chaudhari	....	opticals: B.R. Special Effects
Deven S. Kotak	....	main titles
Arun Patil	....	special effects
Ashok Patil	....	associate special effects
Raju Patil	....	associate special effects
Manoj Rathod	....	associate special effects

Visual Effects by
Sujata Narula	....	effects editor

Stunts
Ravi Dewan	....	stunt coordinator
Suresh Rao	....	stunt coordinator associate
Ilyas Sheikh	....	stunt coordinator associate

Camera and Electrical Department
Aseem Bajaj	....	first assistant camera: additional filming unit
A.R. Basha	....	lighting assistant (as Basha Bhai)
Sanjeev Chandrapal	....	lighting assistant
Pramod Gaikwad	....	assistant camera
Nirmal Jani	....	camera operator: second unit
Rajesh Joshi	....	camera operator: second unit
Nadeem Khan	....	camera operator: second unit
Rajan Kothari	....	camera operator: second unit
Sean Mahoney	....	still photographer
Ashok Mehta	....	camera operator: additional shooting and crowd sequences
Sudhir Mishra	....	camera operator: additional shooting and crowd sequences
Vali Mohammad	....	lighting assistant
Govind Nihalani	....	camera operator: additional shooting and crowd sequences
Devi Patel	....	assistant camera
Jaywant Pathare	....	camera operator: second unit
Promod Pradhan	....	camera operator: second unit
Manoj Rajput	....	lighting assistant
Patabi Reddy	....	lighting assistant
Harish Chandra Roy	....	assistant camera
Shekhar Samla	....	still photographer
Sujit Sen	....	Steadicam operator
Akbar Ali Sheikh	....	assistant camera (as Akbar Ali)
Madhusudan Shi	....	assistant camera
Rakesh Shrestha	....	still photographer (as Rakesh Shreshtha)
Sundereshan	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ratna Bhat	....	costumes in charge
Maruti Dhawan	....	dress assistant
Vilas Dhawan	....	assistant dressman
Sandhya Gokhale	....	costumes in charge
Dolly Padhan	....	costumes in charge
Prem Singh	....	assistant dressman
Vinoda	....	costume design assistant

Editorial Department
Sanjib Datta	....	associate editor
Jolly	....	negative cutter
Irene Dhar Malik	....	assistant editor (as Irene Dhar)
Ibrahim Sheikh	....	editing room attendant

Music Department
Sanjay Leela Bhansali	....	associate director: songs
Babloo Chakravorty	....	music arranger (as Babloo Chakrabarty)
Shibaji Chatterjee	....	playback singer (as Shivaji Chattopadhayay)
Vijay Chavta	....	music recordist (as Vijay Chavda)
Rajat Dholakia	....	music associate
Ranjeet Gazmer	....	chief associate music
Avinash Khan	....	music recordist: Wester Outdoor
Kavita Krishnamurthy	....	playback singer (as Kavita Krishnamurti)
Lata Mangeshkar	....	playback singer
G. Prasad	....	music recordist: Film Centre
Kumar Sanu	....	playback singer
Manohari Singh	....	music arranger (as Manohri Singh)

Other crew
Amar Agarwal	....	production assistant
Giri Anchan	....	cricket dolly operator
Babban	....	crew attendant
Chokas Bharadwaj	....	location chief
Avtar Bhat	....	administrator: Delhi coordination
Vikram Chandra	....	script associate
Kirti Chopra	....	administrator: Delhi coordination
Vicky Chopra	....	financial advisor
Vir Chopra	....	presenter
Anil Davda	....	production controller
Ramakant Dubey	....	assistant accountant: Dalhousie
Rajkumar Hirani	....	promos and tailors
Yogesh Ishwar	....	associate director
Armendra Jha	....	production assistant
Farah Khan	....	choreographer (as Farha Khan)
Amit Khanna	....	script consultant
Baldev Khosa	....	production assistant
Vikas Mathur	....	script associate
Vishwanath Mathur	....	script consultant
Sudhir Mishra	....	script associate
Gopal Pandey	....	public relations officer (as Gopal Panday)
Kirit Parekh	....	chief accountant
Kenneth Phillips	....	script associate
Manoj Prabhakaran	....	assistant accountant: Bombay
Binod Pradhan	....	associate director
Raj Purohit	....	production assistant
Raghavan	....	promos and tailors
Mazhar Sadikot	....	production associate
G.L. Sahu	....	crew attendant
Renu Saluja	....	associate director
Yogesh Sampat	....	production assistant
Vinay Shukla	....	additional script associate
Raju Singh	....	crew attendant
Sachida Singh	....	production assistant
Vikram Singh	....	script consultant (as Bikram Singh)
Dilip Sood	....	production assistant
Sailesh Thakkar	....	production assistant (as Shailesh Thakkar)
Rajendra Tyagi	....	gun master
Mani Waghela	....	cricket dolly operator

Thanks
Dinesh Afzalpurkar	....	thanks
Sister Antonisia	....	thanks
Colonel Bajaj	....	thanks
Manjit Bawa	....	thanks
Arshad Bhai	....	thanks
Avtar Bhat	....	thanks
Nag Bhushan	....	thanks
B.S. Bisht	....	thanks (as Brigadier B.S. Bisht)
Ashok Chadha	....	thanks
Lala Amir Chand	....	thanks
Brigadier Datta	....	thanks
G.S. Dhillon	....	thanks
Ravi Gupta	....	thanks
D. James	....	thanks (as Father D. James)
Yashpal Kapoor	....	thanks (as Col Yashpal Kapoor)
Shekhar Kapur	....	thanks (as Shekhar Kapoor)
Shashikant Karnik	....	thanks (as Dr. Shashikant Karnik)
Sanjeev Kohli	....	thanks
Ravi Malik	....	thanks (as Ravi Mallick)
Vikram Mehrohtra	....	thanks
Arvind Mehta	....	thanks
Ashok Mehta	....	thanks
Raza Murad	....	thanks
Govind Nihalani	....	thanks
Capt. Padah	....	thanks
Raj Pius	....	thanks (as Raj Pias)
Manmohan Shetty	....	thanks
Shyam Shroff	....	thanks
Brijendra Singh	....	thanks
P.P. Singh	....	thanks (as Major General P.P. Singh)
Shatrughan Sinha	....	thanks
Govind Swaroop	....	thanks
Subhedar K.D. Thapa	....	thanks
Prof. Tikkekar	....	thanks
Maj.Gen. Verma	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Vinod Chopra Productions

Distributors

• Digital Entertainment (DEI) (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Eros Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

India:157 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | UK:12

Company:

Vinod Chopra Productions

Trivia:

Manisha Koirala failed her initial screen test, but achieved her second one.

Quotes:

Baig Saheb:All of a sudden, I am tired.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 3 Idiots (2009)

Soundtrack:

Pyar Hua Chupke Se

Sensationalist drama. Not much substance.

1942: A Love Story, stays unfaithful to its name. Its neither a love story, nor does it contain the factual underpinnings surrounding the events of 1942. But I digress. If those were the only two shortcomings (albeit major) of the movie, it would be bearable. Reality, however, sets in. After watching this sensationalist and inane film, I must confess: I've had more fun watching grass grow on my lawn. And my lawn is dead.

The film attempts to draw you in to its hero, Narendra Singh (played by Anil Kapoor), the son of a wealthy lord of the era, Diwan Hari Singh, who also happens to be an obtuse sycophant of the British Raj. True to fashion of Hindi cinema, there is (predictably) the anti-Raj, aka the freedom fighters. The daughter of one of these fighters, Rajeshwari (played by Manisha Koirala), catches the eye of Narendra, and he is smitten by her beauty. He immediately falls in love and begins his pursuit of her. Mind you, all of this happens in the first five minutes, and it only deteriorates from there.

The hero's propensity to bring calamities to those around him is befuddling (I affectionately started calling him Forrest Gump). In an attempt to portray the yearning and desire he has for his love, the film misses connecting with the audience. Instead, it portrays him as a bumbling idiot who, in a blind frenzied search for a girl he has met for only five minutes, has no hesitation in breaking promises (he states that he will not reveal the identity of the freedom fighters, yet immediately afterwords reveals their identities to his mother) and wreaking havoc (numerous times he foolishly pursues Narendra, only to further expose her identity) on those around him.

Furthermore, much like the hero, the other characters in the film lack dimension and also fail to connect with the audience. In a desperate attempt to draw the film together and make some coherent sense of the madness, sensationalism is thrown into the mixture. And not just any sensationalism, but "Jai Hind" at that. What better way to prey on the emotions of a stupefied audience than to bring in a revered chant of the freedom fighters of the era. The sum of its tattered pieces do not add up to a congruous and solid movie. The plot line is unbelievably predictable, and the acting sub par, sans for Manisha Koirala, who churns out a half-decent tear during the final scene. Sadly, the audience won't shed a drop when this waste of celluloid hits the can. In reality, this movie is more akin to the tripe you find at the butcher's block in Albertsons.

So, should you watch this film? If for some reason there is an extra three hours in your life that is expendable, by all means, go for it. But if you're looking for a movie that has coherency and can grip its audience, you'd be better off looking out your window and at the lawn.