Meri Jung
Poster
Directed by	Subhash Ghai
Written by	Javed Akhtar
Produced by	N. N. Sippy
Starring	Nutan Anil Kapoor Meenakshi Seshadri Amrish Puri Javed Jaffrey
Music by	Laxmikant–Pyarelal
Production company	N. N. Sippy Productions
Release date	11 August 1985 (1985-08-11)
Running time	167 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Meri Jung (transl. My Battle) is a 1985 Indian Hindi-language legal drama film produced by N. N. Sippy and directed by Subhash Ghai. The film stars Nutan, Anil Kapoor, Meenakshi Seshadri, Amrish Puri, Javed Jaffrey (in his debut film), A. K. Hangal, Iftekhar, Khushbu and Parikshit Sahni. The film's music was by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and lyrics were by Anand Bakshi. The film was a huge box office success and was critically acclaimed. It was a breakthrough performance for Anil Kapoor and put him into the big league.^[1][2] Kapoor and Puri's performance in the film are considered to be one of their best and he received his first Filmfare Award nomination; under the Best Actor Category as well as Puri also won Best Supporting Actor.^[3]

Plot

The story begins with a happy lower-middle-class family – Arun Verma (Anil Kapoor) an 8-year-old boy, his sister Komal Verma (Khushbu) a 5-year-old girl, his mother (Nutan) and his father (Girish Karnad) – living a peaceful life. Arun's parents teach their children a song "Zindagi Har Kadam Ek Nayi Jung Hai, Jeet Jayenge Hum, Jeet Jayenge Hum Tu Agar Sang Hai" which means that life is full of challenges at every step and still we will overcome all these if we are together.

Arun's father is trapped in a murder case. A famous criminal lawyer G. D. Thakral (Amrish Puri) proves him guilty, and he is sentenced to be hanged by the court. Pleas by Arun's mother fail to convince Thakral to be truthful and spare her husband. Thakral asks her to give evidence for his innocence, to which she sadly quotes, "Jiske paas koi sabut, koi gavanh nahi hote kya wo nirdosh nahin hote" ("one who does not have any proof or witness of innocence, are they not innocent?"). Thakral was determined to let her husband hang. He is hanged as per the court's decision. His mother becomes mentally unstable from this shock and is sent to a mental institution. Later Advocate Gupta (A. K. Hangal), the lawyer who defended Arun's father, finds out that Thakral had known all along that he was innocent, but still wanted him to be hanged. Arun concludes that Thakral abused the law.

Arun's house and all his property are auctioned off by the court. Arun and his sister are not offered any help. He grows up with the seeds of revenge in his heart. He becomes a successful defence lawyer and keenly follows every case of Thakral so that some day he can stand up in court against the undefeated Thakral and win against him.

One day Geeta Srivatsav (Meenakshi) comes to him and asks him to fight the case of her sister, Dr. Asha Mathur (Bina), who is accused of killing a patient on duty with her medicine, which she gave from her purse. Arun refuses saying that if she can produce even a piece of evidence of her sister being innocent he will fight for her. Geeta replies coincidentally the same sentence "Jiske paas koi sabut, koi gavanh nahi hote kya wo nirdosh nahin hote." Arun is instantly reminded of his mother's pleadings before Thakral. Geeta storms out of his office, but Arun is convinced to take the case. He meets Asha Mathur in police custody. He learns from her that on that fateful night she got a call from her ward assistant that her patient is in the ICU and needs her. She stops on the way (due to a traffic jam), and she impatiently moves out of her car to ask the reason. Meanwhile, somebody replaces the medicine bottle from her purse with a look-alike bottle of poison. On arrival in the hospital, she gives the liquid from that bottle to stabilize the patient. This resulted in the patient's death.

It is shown that Asha Mathur's husband, Dr. Dinesh Mathur (Parikshit Sahni), had gone to meet Thakral and had asked him to fight his wife's case. Thakral refused, claiming he is very busy at the moment, but later tells his assistant that there is no way that this case could be won. Arun meets Dinesh Mathur and informs him that he will fight the case. He asked him about the nature of poison and for how long a person can sustain the poison; he learns that poison might result in death within 2 to 15 minutes depending on the body's resistance.

The case begins with the prosecution lawyer recounting the events of that fateful day and telling that the medicine given to the patient was actually poison. Arun defends the case arguing that the patient did not die of this medicine. To prove himself right, he drinks the medicine in court and refutes the claim. The court declares Geeta's sister not guilty. Just after the judgement, Dr. Mathur rushes Arun to hospital. It is revealed that the medicine contained poison, and Arun is saved in the nick of time.

Geeta calls him on a beach to appreciate his efforts and kindness at the canteen. They fall in love. Thakral's son Vikram Thakral (Javed Jaffrey), a spoiled brat, not knowing anything about Arun, teases Geeta, which irritates the couple. Soon things take an ugly turn and Arun and Vikram end up fighting.

Dr. Mathur wants to appreciate and compensate Arun for the risky effort he took to save his wife. He calls him for a get-together in his mansion. Dr. Mathur gives Arun a blank cheque. Arun rejects the offers politely, he then finds the same piano with the sticker of Krishna of Bhagavad Gita which his father used to play and was auctioned off. His memories are refreshed again and with an emotional request he tells Dr. Mathur that this piano is very significant to him and asks for it. Dr. Mathur happily gives him the piano.

One day at Arun's home, Mr. Mathur sees a photo of the former's mother hanging on the wall. He immediately recognises the face as that of a patient he was treating for mental disorders. Arun and his sister request him to take them to her. In the mental hospital they see their mother. Her memories had stopped on the day of the incident; she feels that her children are still eight and five, staying with their father. Arun brings her mother to his house and tries to make her come back to normal; she regains her memory on hearing the song "Zindagi Har Kadam..."

Meanwhile, Vikram wants to exact revenge on Arun and devises a plan to trap Komal who studies in the same college. He tries to impress her by his charms, dancing skills, and ways of flattering people. The plan works. Komal falls for him and he convinces her to run away with him (so that he can publicly defame Arun by leaving his sister). At the planned moment, one of Vikram's ex-girlfriends shows up and tells Komal of Vikram's evil intentions. In the ensuing argument, Vikram murders his ex-girlfriend which is witnessed by Dr. Mathur's family.

Arun had been waiting for this moment to take revenge on Thakral. He steps in as the prosecutor against Thakral who is defending his son. The case moves to and fro and, in the end, Arun has the upper hand. Thakral kidnaps Arun's mother and attempts to blackmail him. Arun goes to save his mother and is beaten up by Thakral's goons. Even though injured, Arun fights back. In an attempt to shoot Arun, Thakral shoots his friend's son and is jailed. He is unsuccessful in saving his son, who is given the death penalty. Thakral becomes a mentally unstable person. Arun and his family are reunited.

Cast

Soundtrack

Music was composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal and lyrics were penned by Anand Bakshi.

Remakes

Awards

33rd Filmfare Awards:

Won

• Best Supporting Actor – Amrish Puri
• Best Supporting Actress – Nutan

Nominated

• Best Film – N. N. Sippy
• Best Director – Subhash Ghai
• Best Actor – Anil Kapoor
• Best Music Director – Laxmikant–Pyarelal
• Best Lyricist – Anand Bakshi for "Zindagi Har Kadam"

References

External links

• Meri Jung at IMDb