Kohram

Plot

The story starts with the death of an army officer (Shroff) occurs and it is believed to be the act of a terrorist group headed by Changezi (Rishi). Colonel Balbir Singh Sodhi (Bachchan) is asked to investigate this matter and he ends up discovering that minister Veerbhadra Singh(Danny Denzongpa) is involved in this conspiracy. Colonel Sodhi stages his own death in an attempt to kill Changezi and starts living as Dadabhai/ Devraj Hathoda in Mumbai. Major Ajit Arya (Patekar) is sent in the guise of a Bengali journalist to find out the true identity of Dadabhai/Devraj Hathoda. Once Arya discovers the truth, he joins hands with Colonel Sodhi to bring the minister to justice and terminate the terrorist group. Tabu is shown to be a police officer in love with Major Ajit Arya and Jayapradha is shown as Colonel Sodhi's wife.

Cast

Songs

1. "Jay Mata Dee He Ambe Baliharee" - Sanjeevani
2. "Palakon Ko Kalam Banaa Ke, To Meraa Naam Nahin" - Alka Yagnik, Hariharan
3. "Satanaam Vaaheguru, Baabaa Naanak Dukhiyaan De Naath Ve" - Kishanpal Singh
4. "Janeman Janeman Ladakee Too Number One" - Udit Narayan, Kavita Krishnamurthy
5. "Pagal Huwa Huwa Huwa" - Shankar Mahadevan, Jaspinder Narula
6. "Ik Mashuka Hai Yeh Jindagee Tum Ho Isape Shaida" - Sudesh Bhosle, Amit Kumar
7. "Ladakee Ladakee Too Woh Ladakee" - Alka Yagnik, Abhijeet
8. "Hum Hai Banaras Ke Bhaya" - Sudesh Bhosle, Amit Kumar

Production

After his film Mrityudata (1997) flopped at the box office, director Mehul Kumar wanted to make another film with Amitabh Bachchan. Both these films were produced by Amitabh Bachchan Corporation. This is when he came up with the idea for Kohram. The original cast announced consisted of Dimple Kapadia, Arshad Warsi and Karisma Kapoor with the working title as "Aye Watan Tere Liye". However, later that was scrapped and this film was made. Initially Nana Patekar had declined Kumar's offer but later agreed to do the film. Initially the film was slated to release on 13 August but then Mehul Kumar advanced it to 6 August.

Critical reception

Kohram received mixed reviews but was received better than Mrityudaata, Kumar's previous film. While only 16% users liked it on Rotten Tomatoes, critic Ajay Chaturvedi called it an average film. He said that while the first half is good, the second half is jarringly edited but the film is a treat for Nana Patekar fans. He also appreciated Tabu's performance in the film.

Box office

Kohram grossed ₹133 million at the box office while its collections in U.S were $70,257. It was declared an average performer and performed well in interiors and satellite television.