Coolie No. 1
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid Dhawan
Written byRumi Jaffery
Kader Khan
(dialogues)
Story byAmma creations
P. Kalaimani (uncredited)
Based onChinna Mapillai
P. Kalaimani
Produced byVashu Bhagnani
StarringGovinda
Karisma Kapoor
Harish Kumar
Kanchan
Kader Khan
Mahesh Anand
Sadashiv Amrapurkar
Shakti Kapoor
CinematographyRajan Kinagi
Edited byA. Muthu
Music bySongs:
Anand–Milind
Score:
Shyam-Surinder
Production
company
Distributed byTips Industries Limited
Tips Music Films
S.K. Enterprises Ltd.
Release date
  • 30 June 1995 (1995-06-30) (India)
Running time
161 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹3.50 crore[1]
Box office₹21.22 crore (equivalent to ₹297 crore or US$36 million in 2024)[1]

Coolie No. 1 is a 1995 Indian Hindi-language comedy masala film, directed by David Dhawan, and written by Rumi Jaffery and Kader Khan. The film stars Govinda, Karisma Kapoor, Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Harish Kumar, Sadashiv Amrapurkar and Mahesh Anand, with music by Anand–Milind.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

This movie was one of the first successful movies of Kapoor.[9] Govinda received the Star Screen Award Special Jury Award for his role in this movie as 'performer of the decade'.[10][11] Over the years, the movie has become a classic in Hindi film history and is now considered a cult film.[12] The film is a remake of the 1993 Tamil film Chinna Mapillai.[13] In 2020, Dhawan remade the film with the same name with his son Varun Dhawan, Sara Ali Khan and Paresh Rawal.

Plot

Pandit Shadiram Gharjode (Sadashiv Amrapurkar) brings a prospective groom's family for Malti Choudhry (Karisma Kapoor). But when her father Choudhry Hoshiyar Chand (Kader Khan) learns that that family isn't filthy rich, he insults Gharjode. He vows to teach Hoshiyar Chand a lesson for his arrogance and pride.

On the way home, Shadiram Gharjode bumps into Raju Coolie (Govinda) a bus stand porter who proudly wears his badge - "Coolie No. 1". Raju is known among his fellow porters for being heroic, recently having gotten a drug dealer Mahesh (Mahesh Anand) arrested. When Raju is smitten by Malti's photo, Gharjode hatches a plan to get the poor porter married to Malti and exact his revenge. With Gharjode's guidance and the help of his best friend Deepak Mechanic (Harish Kumar), Raju poses as the prince of Singapore, Kunwar Mahendra Pratap Singh Mehta and wins Malti's heart. In the process, Malti's sister Shalini (Kaanchan) falls for Deepak.

Hoshiyar Chand gets Malti married to Raju, not knowing that he is just a poor porter. When Raju returns home with Malti after the wedding, he pretends that his "father" Gajendra Pratap Singh Mehta (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) has thrown him out of the house for getting married without his consent. Malti tries to make the best out of the given situation by cheering up Mahendra, which makes him feel guilty.

The trouble becomes double when Hoshiyar Chand comes to town to visit his daughter and son-in-law but spots Raju as a coolie at the bus stand. Hoshiyar Chand creates a ruckus, saying that Raju is a fraud who posed as a rich prince and married his daughter. Spontaneously, Raju pretends to not recognize Hoshiyar Chand and shoos him away. Raju comes home dressed as Mahendra and explains that Hoshiyar Chand must have seen his twin brother Raju who his father threw out due to his drinking and gambling addictions. Hoshiyar Chand buys this story and decides to get Shalini married to Raju, so that both his daughters will live filthy rich lives.

Raju keeps getting into trouble since he can be only at one place at one time. One such incident forces Raju, Malti and Hoshiyar Chand to file a missing complaint for Kunwar Mahendra Pratap Singh Mehta. Inspector Rakesh Pandey (Tiku Talsania) gets skeptical of the situation and starts to believe that Raju and his twin brother Mahendra are the same person.

Mahesh Pratap Mehta is disowned by his father Gajendra Pratap Singh Mehta due to his criminal activities. To get back at him and Raju, Mahesh stabs Gajendra and frames Raju for the same. Inspector Pandey arrives to arrest him, but Raju informs him that Gajendra is still alive and needs critical medical care, following which he escapes police custody. Raju runs to Deepak and both of them hatch a plan to pretend to be nurses from Singapore to save Gajendra's life, as that is Raju's only proof of innocence. At the hospital, Inspector Pandey tells Hoshiyar Chand, Malti and Shalini that Raju is just a poor porter who pretended to be Kunwar Mahendra Pratap Singh Mehta.

While trying to save Gajendra, Raju and Deepak bump into Malti, Hoshiyar Chand and Shalini, who comes to abort Shalini's unborn child who came because of Deepak. Raju confesses his fraud to Malti, and she forgives him. Hoshiyar Chand and Malti help Raju and Deepak to stop Mahesh from killing Gajendra. Once he gains consciousness, Gajendra announces that since Raju saved his life, he is like a son to him. Shalini also announces her love for Deepak. When Hoshiyar Chand cries about his sons-in-law being a porter and a mechanic, Shaadiram Gharjode arrives and tells Hoshiyar Chand that it was bound to happen to someone so arrogant and proud of his wealth. Gharjode explains that for a happy marriage, wealth isn't needed - love is.

Cast

Music

The film's soundtrack album sold around 3.5 million units,[14] making it one of the best-selling Bollywood soundtracks of the year.[15]

All songs lyrics are written by Sameer; all music is composed by Anand–Milind.

Track listing

# Title Singer(s) Length
1 "Aa Jaana Aa Jaana" Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik 06:22
2 "Jeth Ki Dopahri Mein" Kumar Sanu, Poornima 05:00
3 "Coolie No. 1" Kumar Sanu 05:24
4 "Husn Hai Suhana" Abhijeet, Chandana Dixit 06:00
5 "Tere Pyar Mein Dil Deewana" Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik 05:00
6 "Kya Majnu Kya Ranjha" Kumar Sanu, Sadhna Sargam 06:31
7 "Main To Raste Se Jaa Raha Tha" Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik 05:18

Remake

Main article: Coolie No. 1 (2020 film)

On 8 March 2019, it was announced that the film will be remade, with David Dhawan as director again and with his son Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan playing the roles of Raju Coolie and Malti Choudhry. The first look poster of the remake Coolie No. 1 was released on 12 August 2019 on Khan's birthday. The film was originally scheduled to release on 1 May 2020 but was shifted to 25 December 2020 because of COVID-19 pandemic. This film started streaming on 25th December on Amazon Prime Video.[16][17]

References

  1. ^ a b "Coolie No. 1 – Movie". Box Office India.
  2. ^ "I'm very lucky for Govinda: David Dhawan". The Hindu. India. 18 July 2009. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  3. ^ "David Dhawan has acting dreams, and Govinda's in them!". Sify. 19 September 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Govinda, the actor or the politician? – Bollywood Movie News". IndiaGlitz. Archived from the original on 14 December 2006. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  5. ^ "David-Govinda duo returns with Do Knot Disturb". Screenindia.com. 29 June 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  6. ^ "Govinda teams up with David". The Times of India. 2 October 2009. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  7. ^ "Journey to Destination Cool". The Hindu. India. 2 May 2003. Archived from the original on 14 October 2003. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  8. ^ "Govinda Wapas Aala Re". Bollywood Hungama. 31 October 2006. Retrieved 21 October 2011.[dead link]
  9. ^ "The blue-eyed baby". The Indian Express. India. 6 February 1998. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  10. ^ "8th Annual Asian Paints STAR SCREEN Weekly Awards". Screenindia.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  11. ^ "Bollywood Star Govinda – Film Actor Govinda – Govinda Biography – Chichi Govinda Profile". Iloveindia.com. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  12. ^ Gulazāra; Govind Nihalani; Saibal Chatterjee (2003). Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Popular Prakashan. p. 572. ISBN 978-81-7991-066-5.
  13. ^ "Remake of Coolie No. 1 a new film: David Dhawan". Outlook. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Making Music Like Ne'er Before". Outlook. 13 March 1996.
  15. ^ "Music Hits 1990–1999 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. 2 January 2010. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010.
  16. ^ "Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan's Coolie No 1 to hit screens on May 1, 2020". The Indian Express. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  17. ^ "Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan's Coolie No 1 to hit screens on May 1, 2020". DNA. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.

External links

Films directed by David Dhawan
List of films by Tips Industries Limited
Categories