Wanted is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Prabhu Deva and produced by Boney Kapoor. The film, a remake of Telugu film Pokiri, stars Salman Khan, alongside Prakash Raj, Ayesha Takia, Vinod Khanna, Mahesh Manjrekar with Prabhu Deva, Govinda and Anil Kapoor make special appearances. The soundtrack was composed by Sajid–Wajid, while the musical score was handled by Salim–Sulaiman. The cinematography and editing were handled by Nirav Shah & Sethu Sriram and Dilip Deo.
| Wanted | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Prabhu Deva |
| Written by | Shiraz Ahmed |
| Story by | Puri Jagannadh |
| Based on | Pokiri (Telugu) |
| Produced by | Boney Kapoor |
| Starring | Salman Khan Ayesha Takia Prakash Raj |
| Cinematography | Nirav Shah Sethu Sriram |
| Edited by | Dilip Deo |
| Music by | Songs: Sajid–Wajid Score: Salim–Sulaiman |
Production companies | Eros International BSK Network & Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Sahara One Motion Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 154 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹35 crore[1] |
| Box office | ₹ 90.21 crore[1] |
The film was shot primarily in Mumbai, with songs filmed in Australia and other foreign countries.
Wanted was released on 18 September 2009 to positive reviews from critics with praise for its cast performances, music and action sequences. The film grossed around ₹93 crore (US$11 million) and it was a 'Hit'
Plot
editIn Mumbai, two rival gangs headed by Gani Bhai, a Dubai-based crime boss, and Datta Pawle commits extortion, contract and coercion to take control of the city's land mafia. The newly-appointed DCP Ashraf Khan starts busting down crimes in the city.
Radhe, a money-minded rogue living with his friends in Mumbai, thrash Gani Bhai's henchmen Genghis as Pawle assigned Radhe a contract to thrash Genghis. Later, Radhe joins Gani Bhai's gang for monetory reasons. Radhe falls in love with Jahnvi, an aerobics teacher who lives with her widowed mother Lakshmi and younger brother Ballu. Sonu Gates, a software engineer, lives above Jahnvi's house and frequently, albeit tries to convince Shruti to marry him. Daulat Talpade, a corrupt senior inspector and Gani Bhai's informer, lusts for Jahnvi and is determined to make her as his mistress despite Jahnvi's objections.
Radhe's first assignment with Gani Bhai's gang is to eliminate Pawle's gang member, but the police arrive at the spot. Radhe engages the cops long enough for the others to finish the task and flee, where he also helps Jahnvi escape from Talpade. Jahnvi is impressed and befriends Radhe, where soon love blossoms between the two. When Jahnvi tries to express her feelings to Radhe, they are attacked by members of Pawle's gang, whom Radhe finishes off. Jahnvi is shocked to learn that Radhe is a gangster with no qualms about killing people. Later, Talpade arranges for some thugs to pretend to assault Jahnvi in order to force Jahnvi to accept Talpade's demands as no family would accept her as their daughter-in-law. Radhe learns about this and thrashes Talpade secretly. Gani Bhai arrives from Dubai, kills Pawle and meets Radhe to discuss the killing of a minister by blowing up a school. Radhe disagrees with the plan as it would involve killing innocents.
In the middle of their argument, the police raid the club, arrests Gani Bhai and tortures him. Gani Bhai's gang members retaliate by kidnapping Ashraf's daughter, drugging her and creating a gang rape video of her, which they threaten to release to the media if Gani Bhai is not released, forcing Ashraf to release Gani Bhai. Ashraf's daughter, in her drugged state, reveals that her father had placed an undercover cop as a mole in Gani Bhai's gang. The gang members learn that Rajveer Shekhawat, the son of retired Inspector Shrikant Shekhawat, has gone undercover to eliminate mafia gangs and is now a part of their gang. Gani Bhai kills Ajay, believing that he is Rajveer. However, it is revealed that Ajay was actually Shrikant's adopted son. Gani Bhai kills Shrikant to lure the real Rajveer. When Rajveer actually turns up, everyone, especially Jahnvi and Talpade, are shocked to see that Rajveer is actually Radhe.
Rajveer had gone undercover by posing himself as Radhe and had killed all the gangsters under Ashraf's orders. After Shrikant and Ajay's funerals, Radhe forces Talpade to call Gani Bhai and learn about Gani Bhai is in Binny Mills. Radhe arrives at Binny Mills and starts eliminating Gani Bhai's gang members, rescuing Ashraf's daughter in the process. In a final confrontation, Radhe kills Gani Bhai by slashing his throat with a broken glass window. Radhe shoots Talpade and tells the following words: Ek bar joh maine commitment kar di uske baad toh main khud ki bhi nahi sunta (transl. Once I get committed, I won't listen even to my own words).
Cast
edit- Salman Khan as ACP Rajveer Shekhawat IPS / Radhe
- Prakash Raj as Shamshuddin Asgar Gani Bhai
- Ayesha Takia as Jahnvi Verma
- Mahesh Manjrekar as Inspector Daulat R. Talpade
- Sarfaraz Khan as Aslam Khan
- Inder Kumar as Ajay Shekhawat
- Vinod Khanna as Shrikant Shekhawat
- Mahek Chahal as Shaina
- Govind Namdev as DCP Ashraf Taufiq Khan
- Aseem Merchant as Golden Bhai
- Harry Josh as Genghis Khan, Golden Bhai's henchman
- Manoj Pahwa as Sonu Gates
- Sajid Ali as Radhe's friend
- Raju Mavani as Datta Pawle
- G. V. Sudhakar Naidu as Shiva, Datta Pawle's henchman
- Prateeksha Lonkar as Lakshmi Verma
- Anupam Shyam as Dilip Topi
- Vijay Patkar as Ganesh
- Manesha Chatarji as Ashraf's daughter
Cameo appearance
edit- Anil Kapoor in the song "Jalwa"
- Govinda in the song "Jalwa"
- Prabhu Deva in the song "Most Wanted Track"
- Salman Yusuff Khan in the song "Most Wanted Track"
Production
editAsin and Ileana D'Cruz were approached for the role of Janhvi, but they rejected the offer and the role went to Ayesha Takia. Nana Patekar was offered the role of Gani Bhai, but due to his busy schedule, the role went to Prakash Raj, who was seen in the original remake.[2] In a recent 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 11' episode, Boney Kapoor revealed how his third pitch convinced Salman Khan to do Wanted. After two failed attempts, Boney urged Salman to watch the film, leading to its iconic success.[3] The parts of the film was shot in Greek Islands of Rodos, Santorini and Paros.[4]
Music
edit| Wanted | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 10 August 2009 (India) | |||
| Recorded | 2008–09 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Label | T-Series | |||
| Producer | Sajid–Wajid | |||
| Sajid–Wajid chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Bollywood Hungama |    [5] |
The music of the film was given by Sajid–Wajid. The album received mixed to negative reviews from critics, with some songs seeing positive response. The songs "Jalwa", "Love Me Love Me" and "Le Le Maza Le" became a huge hit among the audiences.[6]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ishq Vishk (Main Yahan Tu Bhi Yahan)" | Sameer | Kamaal Khan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Suzanne D'Mello, Aastha Gill | 04:48 |
| 2. | "Dil Leke" | Arun Bhairav | Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal, Suzanne D'Mello (English Vocals) | 04:35 |
| 3. | "Le Le Mazaa Le" | Wajid Ali, Shabbir Ahmed | Suzanne D'Mello, Sowmya Raoh, Hrishikesh Kamerkar, Nikita Nigam, Carlyta Mouhini | 04:11 |
| 4. | "Jalwa" | Jalees Sherwani | Wajid Ali, Earl D'Souza | 04:31 |
| 5. | "Tose Pyaar Karte Hai" | Shabbir Ahmed | Wajid Ali, Sunidhi Chauhan | 03:47 |
| 6. | "Most Wanted Track" | Salman Khan | Salman Khan | 04:26 |
| 7. | "Love Me Love Me" | Jalees Sherwani | Wajid Ali, Amrita Kak | 04:06 |
| 8. | "Dil Leke" (Remix) | Arun Bhairav | Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal | 03:15 |
| 9. | "Main Yahan Tu Bhi Yahan" (Remix) | Sameer | Kamaal Khan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Suzanne D'Mello, Aastha Gill | 04:04 |
| 10. | "Jalwa On The House" (Remix) | Jalees Sherwani | Wajid Ali, Earl D'Souza | 04:15 |
| 11. | "Tose Pyar Karte Hai" (Bhojpuri Makhan Mix) | Shabbir Ahmed | Wajid Ali, Earl D'Souza, Sunidhi Chauhan | 04:53 |
| 12. | "Love Me Love Me" (Mama Papa Mix) | Jalees Sherwani | Wajid Ali, Amrita Kak | 04:43 |
Reception
editCritical response
editWanted received positive reviews from critics.
Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India gave 4/5 stars and wrote "With this film, the knuckle-crushing action flick roars back in an improved avtaar."[7] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Wanted is a full on masala film, which takes you back to those days when popular cinema reigned supreme, when the sole motive of the film-maker was to entertain."[8] Indicine gave 3/5 stars, calling it "watchable for Salman Khan" and the "best out and out action flick of Bollywood."[9] Raja Sen of Rediff gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Wanted is a modern-day rarity, a B-grade actioner that really doesn't spend any time trying to class up its tackiness or pretend to make sense. Khan might be having fun, but the fact a film like Wanted underscores is how badly Bollywood needs a breed of younger leading men."[10]
Accolades
edit- Nominated: IIFA Award for Best Movie – Boney Kapoor
- Nominated: IIFA Award for Best Actor – Salman Khan
- Nominated: IIFA Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role – Prakash Raj
- Best Film of the Year – Action / Thriller – Boney Kapoor[13]
- Best Action – Vijayan Master[14]
Legacy
editWanted's success kick-started Salman Khan's career as an action hero and boosted his super-stardom. This film started Salman Khan's tradition of releasing his films on the occasion of Eid. Salman Khan's dialogue from the film "Ek bar joh maine commitment kar di uske baad toh main khud ki bhi nahi sunta" became one of his most iconic dialogues. This film also started the trend of Salman Khan going shirtless in his climax fight scenes.[15]
References
edit- ^ a b "Wanted – Movie". Box Office India.
- ^ "Wanted: Trivia and Bloopers". Gomolo.in. Retrieved 29 October 2009.
- ^ "How Boney Kapoor Convinced Salman Khan to Star in 'Wanted' and Revive His Career". starbiopic.com. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
- ^ Wanted (2009 – Hindi film), ELINEPA, 2003
- ^ "Wanted : Music Review by Joginder Tuteja". Bollywood Hungama. 18 September 2009. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
- ^ Joginder Tuteja (15 August 2009). "Music Reviews". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008.
- ^ "Wanted Movie Review {4/5}: Critic Review of Wanted by Times of India". The Times of India.
- ^ "Wanted: Movie Review by Taran Adarsh". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
- ^ Review: Wanted Hindi Movie Review. Indicine.com (19 September 2009). Retrieved on 2015-09-19.
- ^ "Wanted is watchable... casually". Rediff.
- ^ "3 Idiots, Dev D top winners at Filmfare Awards". The Times of India. 28 February 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- ^ "Nominations for IIFA 2010". IIFA.com. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- ^ "Winners of Max Stardust Awards 2010". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- ^ "Winners of Nokia 16th Annual Star Screen Awards 2009". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- ^ "11 Years of Wanted: The Rise And Resurgence of Salman Khan". Mid-day. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
External links
edit- Wanted at IMDb
- Wanted at Box Office Mojo
