Mela
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDharmesh Darshan
Screenplay by
Story bySuneel Darshan
Produced byGanesh Jain
Starring
CinematographyRajan Kinagi
Edited byBharat
Music bySongs:
Anu Malik
Rajesh Roshan
Lesle Lewis
Background Score:
Surinder Sodhi
Production
company
Release date
  • 7 January 2000 (2000-01-07)
Running time
172 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budgetest.₹18 crore (US$2.3 million)[1]
Box officeest.₹25 crore (US$3.1 million)[1]

Mela (transl. Carnival) is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language masala film directed by Dharmesh Darshan and produced by Ganesh Jain. The film stars Aamir Khan, Twinkle Khanna and Faisal Khan in the lead roles.[2]

Mela was released on 7 January 2000 where it received negative reviews from critics and bombed at the box office.

Plot

Roopa Singh is the only sister of her soldier brother named Ram Singh who returns to her village in Chandanpur to arrange her marriage in the form of a carnival. However, Roopa's happiness is short-lived as the village is raided by a group of terrorists led by Gujjar Singh, who murders a visiting politician and is attracted to Roopa. As Gujjar attempts to escape with the terrified Roopa, Ram and Roopa's young friend Gopal com to her rescue only to be killed by Gujjar who threatens Roopa that she will only be his mistress without the love of a brother or lover. Enraged and heartbroken, Roopa attempts to commit suicide by jumping into a waterfall, but she survives and upon vowing to confront and destroy Gujjar, steals the clothes of a theatre actor named Kishan, who works with his best friend Shankar.

While finding his clothes, Kishan meets Roopa and falls in love with her, where he also decides to make Roopa as the heroine of their dance show. With no option, Roopa travels with them and tries to escape, but returns when chased by the gang and a drunken cop named Surendra Pratap Singh, who was her rejected fiancée. Roopa is saved by Shankar and Kishan, where she feigns love for Kishan and the two men agree to help her return to Chandanpur. Learning that Kishan is going to marry her, Roopa feels guilty over her betrayal and reveals her past. Shankar becomes her brother while Kishan is heartbroken and leaves in disgust.

Roopa and Shankar return to Chandanpur, where Shankar mobilises the village and attempts to set a trap for Gujjar, who has learnt of Roopa's survival and terrorizes the village to find out her whereabouts. The trap backfires horribly until Kishan returns with a suspended cop named Pakkad Singh. The trap is re-set with another carnival and the terrorists are attack as planned. Roopa is kidnapped and Kishan and Shankar while giving chase are kidnapped taken to Gujjar's hideout where they are forced to fight him and his men. With the arrival of Chandanpur's villagers, Gujjar's men are finished while Kishan kills Gujjar with Shankar and Roopa's help. While driving along with Kishan and Roopa one day, Shankar meets Champakali where Kishan and Roopa watch them.

Cast

Production

Kajol was initially offered the female lead in the film. However, she refused, as she was concerned about Aamir Khan's habit of doing multiple takes.[3] The role ultimately went to Twinkle Khanna.[4] Darshan told in an interview that the 1971 film Caravan was an inspiration for Mela.[5]

Aditya Pancholi was signed for villain's role but opted out as he did not want to be bare chested throughout the film.[6]

Soundtrack

Mela
Soundtrack album by
Anu Malik
Rajesh Roshan
Lesle Lewis
Released20 January 1999
GenreFeature film soundtrack
LabelVenus Records & Tapes

Aamir Khan, approached and persuaded A. R. Rahman to do compose music for the film, but due to time constraints, Rahman declined the offer.[7] The music was then composed by 4 composers, with Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan, and Lesle Lewis composing the songs and Surinder Sodhi composing the film score.

The song placements in this movie were heavily criticised, particularly the excessive usage of the title track ‘Mela Dilon Ka’. The lyrics were also perceived to be inappropriate as they were paradoxical and contradictory in nature.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Dev Kohli, Dharmesh Darshan, Sameer

No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Mela Dilon Ka" (Theme)Dharmesh DarshanAnu MalikAlka Yagnik, Aamir Khan03:36
2."Dekho 2000 Zamana Aa Gaya"Dharmesh DarshanLesle LewisLesle Lewis, Hariharan, Aamir Khan04:54
3."Dhadkan Mein Tum"SameerAnu MalikAlka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu06:23
4."Durga Hai Meri Maa"TraditionalAnu MalikKavita Krishnamurthy, Mohammed Aziz05:03
5."Kamariya Lachke Re"SameerRajesh RoshanAnuradha Paudwal, Udit Narayan, Abhijeet Bhattacharya06:02
6."Chori Chori Gori Se"SameerRajesh RoshanJai Rathod, Abhijeet Bhattacharya& UditNarayan06:26
7."Mela Dilon Ka" (Celebration)Dev KohliAnu MalikSonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik, Roop Kumar Rathod, Shankar Mahadevan, Nitin Mukesh, Hema Sardesai, Jaspinder Narula and Anmol10:37
8."Mela Dilon Ka"Dev Kohli, Dharmesh DarshanAnu MalikAbhijeet Bhattacharya, Shankar Mahadevan, Alka Yagnik, Sadhana Sargam, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Poonam07:28
9."Tujhe Rab Ne Banaya"SameerAnu MalikUdit Narayan, Anuradha Paudwal04:47

Sify gave the album a 3/5 rating.[8]

Reception

Sharmila Taliculam of Rediff called Aamir Khan as the "saving grace" of the film and the "only one who does complete justice to his role". She found the film a mix of The Seven Samurai, Caravan and Sholay and also praised Tinu Verma's performance labeling his portrayal of the antagonist as "convincingly menancing". She noted that dubbing Khanna's voice was a "gamble that ... misfired" and "[added] unnecessary drama and aggression to her role".[9] Sify gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Mela is not the best film to start the millennium with, but if you are an Aamir Khan fan you can tolerate it, but for his sakealone."[10]

References

  1. 1 2 "Mela". Box Office India. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  2. ↑ Iyer, Meena (23 September 2015). "Faissal Khan goes mental". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "Mela director wept as Aamir Khan insisted on doing a 'vulgar' scene, Kajol refused film as she had 'reservations' about actor".
  4. ↑ Verma, Sukanya (6 January 2000). "Make way for another Mela". Rediff.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  5. ↑ Saha, Aparajita (6 January 2000). "'Mela is a calculated effort on my part'". Rediff.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  6. ↑ "Kajol says yes to Karan". Rediff.com. 13 January 2000. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "i n t e r v i e w - a r rahman netservice".
  8. ↑ "Music : Mela". Sify. 17 April 2003. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  9. ↑ Taliculam, Sharmila (8 January 2000). "Aamir is the star attraction". Rediff.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  10. ↑ "Mela". Sify. 17 April 2003. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
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