Taal (transl. Rhythm) is a 1999 Indian Hindi language musical romantic drama film co written, edited, produced and directed by Subhash Ghai. The film stars Aishwarya Rai, Akshaye Khanna and Anil Kapoor in lead roles, while Amrish Puri and Alok Nath feature in supporting roles. It was also dubbed in Tamil as Thaalam. Taal was premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival, the "official selection" at the 2005 Ebertfest: Roger Ebert's Film Festival, and retrospectively at the 45th IFFI in the Celebrating Dance in Indian cinema section.[2]
| Taal | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Subhash Ghai |
| Written by | Subhash Ghai Javed Siddiqui (Dialogue) |
| Screenplay by | Sachin Bhowmick Subhash Ghai |
| Story by | Subhash Ghai |
| Produced by | Subhash Ghai |
| Starring | Aishwarya Rai Akshaye Khanna Anil Kapoor |
| Narrated by | Akshaye Khanna |
| Cinematography | Kabir Lal |
| Edited by | Subhash Ghai |
| Music by | A. R. Rahman |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Mukta Arts Tips Internationals |
Release date |
|
Running time | 181 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Box office | ₹51.16 crore[1] |
Taal released on 13 August 1999, coinciding with the Indian Independence Day weekend, and proved to be a major commercial success at the domestic and overseas box-office, becoming the first Indian film to reach the Top 20 on Variety's box-office list.[3][4] The film received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with major praise directed towards the direction, story, screenplay, dialogues, soundtrack, costumes, choreography and performances of the cast.
At the 45th Filmfare Awards, Taal received 12 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Ghai) and Best Actress (Rai), and won 6 awards, including Best Supporting Actor (Kapoor), Best Music Director (Rahman) and Best Lyricist (Anand Bakshi for "Ishq Bina").
Plot
Tycoon Jagmohan Mehta arrives in Chamba, India for a long vacation with his extended family, including his son, Manav. He meets Mansi, the beautiful daughter of an impoverished folk singer, Tara Shankar Manhuja. As the owner of the Mehta & Mehta Group of Companies, Jagmohan is looking to invest in Chamba. Over time, Jagmohan and Tara Shankar become friendly with each other.
Eventually, Mansi and Manav fall in love. Jagmohan is against their relationship due to Mansi's poor socio-economic status. Tara Shankar is initially angry but later reaches Mumbai to visit his journalist cousin, Prabha, and to meet the Mehta family for a marriage alliance. Unfortunately, they insult Tara. Deeply hurt, he leaves with Mansi, who breaks up with Manav.
Mansi soon meets the famous music producer and director, Vikrant Kapoor, who happens to be a huge fan of Tara's. She signs a three year contract with him, and performs dance numbers and remixes of his productions and Tara's songs. She begins to win awards and becomes a national sensation and celebrity. Slowly, Vikrant begins falling for Mansi. Meanwhile, Manav finds out that his family ill-treated Mansi and Tara.
Manav goes to Mumbai in the hopes of apologizing to Mansi for his family's behavior towards her and Tara. However, she rejects and refuses to see him, out of her pain for how her father was treated. Vikrant soon learns of Mansi's past with Manav. Ignoring it, he proposes to her. She eventually accepts it. After winning an award in Canada, Mansi returns to India to prepare for their wedding. Jagmohan and Tara patch things up after the former realises his mistake and apologises.
On the wedding day, Vikrant realises Mansi still loves Manav. He assures her they can still be friends, and urges her to honour her love to Manav. Jagmohan and Tara also give their blessings; Manav and Mansi finally get married. The Mehtas take a family picture after the wedding.
Cast
- Aishwarya Rai as Mansi Shankar Manhuja
- Akshaye Khanna as Manav Kumar Mehta
- Anil Kapoor as Vikrant Kapoor
- Amrish Puri as Jagmohan Mehta, Manav's father
- Alok Nath as Tara Shankar Manhuja / Tara Babu
- Jividha Sharma as Ilavati "Ila" Shankar Manhuja,
- Sushma Seth as Nani, Manav's grandmother
- Mita Vashisht as Prabha Shankar Manhuja
- Saurabh Shukla as Surjoy Banerjee
- Prithvi Zutshi as Deepmohan Mehta
- Supriya Karnik as Shakuntala Deepmohan Mehta
- Manoj Pahwa as Santram Singh
- Rajesh Khera as Brijmohan Mehta
- Ekta Jain as Mansi's first cousin
- Puneet Vashisht as Shaukat
- Akash Karnataki as Siddu
- Bobby Darling as Dress Designer Narwendra Khanna
- Asha Bachani as Dolly Brijmohan Mehta
- Sunil Nagar as Police Commissioner
- Anita Hassanandani in the song "Ishq Bina"
- Subhash Ghai as man with walkman at market (Cameo appearance)
Music
| Taal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 12 June 1999 (Digital Release) 13 August 1999 (Film Release) | |||
| Recorded | Mehboob Studio | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 64:28 | |||
| Label | TIPS | |||
| Producer | A. R. Rahman | |||
| A. R. Rahman chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Planet Bollywood |  link |
The soundtrack of the film was composed by A. R. Rahman with lyrics penned by Anand Bakshi. The soundtrack was released on 12 June 1999 and it became a major critical and commercial success.[5] At a press conference, Ghai remarked, "I credit the name of the movie to composer A. R. Rahman. This film is a romance and I could have called it any thing – Dil, Pyaar, Hum Bhaag Gaye, but it was Rahman's presence in the movie that gave me the confidence to call it Taal. Taal means music and music means Taal. The whole credit goes to A. R. Rahman and Anand Bakshi. Rahman kept me awake many nights, but after listening to the songs, I felt it was worth all the trouble."[6]
The soundtrack became a tremendous commercial success, and was sold more than 1.85 million units within a month of its release.[7] It went on to sell 4 million units, becoming the best-selling album of the year.[8] The soundtrack made the list of "Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks of All Time", as compiled by Planet Bollywood.[9]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Beat of Passion" | Anand Bakshi | A. R. Rahman | 2:51 |
| 2. | "Ishq Bina" | Anand Bakshi | Anuradha Sriram, Sujatha Mohan, A. R. Rahman, Sonu Nigam | 7:45 |
| 3. | "Ishq Bina Ishq Bina" | Anand Bakshi | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sukhwinder Singh | 8:13 |
| 4. | "Kahin Aag Lage" | Anand Bakshi | Asha Bhosle, Richa Sharma, Aditya Narayan | 7:15 |
| 5. | "Kariye Naa" | Anand Bakshi | Sukhwinder Singh, Alka Yagnik | 7:15 |
| 6. | "Kya Dekh Rahe Ho Tum" | Anand Bakshi | Vaishali Samant, Shoma | 2:31 |
| 7. | "Nahin Saamne Tu" | Anand Bakshi | Hariharan, Sukhwinder Singh | 6:03 |
| 8. | "Ni Main Samajhh Gayi" | Anand Bakshi | Richa Sharma, Sukhwinder Singh | 4:33 |
| 9. | "Raga Dance" | Anand Bakshi | A. R. Rahman | 2:53 |
| 10. | "Ramta Jogi" | Anand Bakshi | Sukhwinder Singh, Alka Yagnik | 6:17 |
| 11. | "Taal Se Taal" | Anand Bakshi | Sukhwinder Singh, Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan | 6:18 |
| 12. | "Taal Se Taal – Western Version" | Anand Bakshi | Sukhwinder Singh | 2:34 |
| Total length: | 64:28 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kaadhal Yogi" | Vairamuthu | T. L. Maharajan, Swarnalatha, Chorus | 6:30 |
| 2. | "Beat of Passion" | Vairamuthu | Srinivas | 2:51 |
| 3. | "Kaadhal Illamale" | Vairamuthu | Srinivas, Sujatha Mohan, Anuradha Sriram, Palakkad Sreeram | 7:45 |
| 4. | "Kalai Maane" | Vairamuthu | Hariharan | 6:09 |
| 5. | "Saridhaana" | Vairamuthu | Sukhwinder Singh, Mano, K. S. Chithra | 6:44 |
| 6. | "Thaalathil" | Vairamuthu | Sukhwinder Singh, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Shoba Shankar | 6:21 |
| 7. | "Vaa Mannava" | Vairamuthu | Sujatha Mohan, Deepika, Richa Sharma | 7:15 |
| 8. | "Raaga Music" | Vairamuthu | Shoba | 2:55 |
| 9. | "Thaalathil – Western Version" | Vairamuthu | Sukhwinder Singh, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Chorus | 2:34 |
| 10. | "Kaadhal Illamale" | Vairamuthu | Kavita Krishnamurthy, Chorus | 8:13 |
| Total length: | 57:18 | |||
Reception
Critical reception
Taal received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with major praise directed towards its direction, story, screenplay, dialogues, soundtrack, costumes, choreography and performances of the cast.
Commercial performance
Taal emerged as a major commercial success in India, netting ₹22 crore in India on a budget of ₹11.50 crore, and also performed well internationally.[3] In the United States, it became the first Indian film to reach the top 20 on Variety's box-office list.[3] The final worldwide gross collection of the film stands at ₹51.16 crore, making it the fourth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year.[4]
Taal was premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival, and was screened as the "official selection" at the 2005 Ebertfest: Roger Ebert's Film Festival, and retrospectively at the 45th IFFI in the Celebrating Dance in Indian cinema section.[2][12]
Accolades
At the 45th Filmfare Awards, Taal received 12 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Ghai) and Best Actress (Rai, who won the award for her performance in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam), and won 6 awards, including Best Supporting Actor (Kapoor) and Best Music Director (Rahman).[13][14]
