Rajiv Rai helmed Mohra, a 1994 Bollywood Hindi-language action drama film. It stars Naseeruddin Shah (in his 100th film), Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and Raveena Tandon, with Paresh Rawal, Gulshan Grover, Raza Murad, and Sadashiv Amrapurkar rounding out the cast. The movie went to become the second-highest-grossing Motion picture of the year, earning it the title of Blockbuster. It has now established itself as a cult classic.
In 1995, the movie garnered nine Filmfare nominations. It was also the first time the trio of Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, and Suniel Shetty worked together, as they would subsequently cooperate on numerous occasions.
Divya Bharti was supposed to play the female protagonist, but she died after only five days of filming. She was replaced by Raveena Tandon.
The movie is also famous for its hit tunes from that year. Raveena Tandon was dubbed “The Mast Mast Girl” because of the success of the song “Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast,” which has been picturized on her. The track was a remake of Pakistani artist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s renowned Qawwali tune “Dam Mast Qalandar Mast Mast.” The soundtrack for the movie sold over 8 million copies, currently the second best-selling Bollywood music record of 1994, trailing only Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!
Viju Shah created the movie’s soundtrack, with lyrics by Indeevar and Anand Bakshi. Mohra, particularly the tune “Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast,” was among the most popular soundtrack albums of 1994. The tune is inspired by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s renowned Qawwali ballad “Dam Mast Qalandar Mast Mast.” Viju Shah had hoped for Sapna Mukherjee to perform “Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast,” but Rajiv Rai insisted on Kavita Krishnamurthy instead. Kalyanji-Anandji created the song “Na Kajare Ki Dhar,” however it was never released because the film was cancelled in 1980. Mukesh sang the song at the beginning.
The soundtrack album for the movie sold over 8 million copies, currently the second best-selling Bollywood soundtrack record of 1994 following Hum Aapke Hain Koun. Again for the 2017 movie Machine, the track “Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast” was reworked as “Cheez Badi.”
Also Read: Mard: All you should know about this Classic Bollywood Movie
