Andaaz (transl. Style) is a 2003 Indian romantic musical film directed by Raj Kanwar and produced by Suneel Darshan. It stars Akshay Kumar, Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta and Miss World 2000 Priyanka Chopra. Written by Robin Bhatt, Shyam Goel and Jainendra Jain, the film revolves around an Air Force officer Raj (Kumar) whose reluctance to confess his love to his best friend Kajal (Dutta) affects both their lives and Raj’s relationship with his girlfriend Jiya (Chopra). It features Dutta and Chopra[a] in their debut Bollywood film roles.
Shot extensively in Cape Town, South Africa, Andaaz’s promotion centered around it being the acting debut of two beauty queens together for the first time, which Darshan considered was the film’s main selling point. Its music was composed by Nadeem–Shravan, with lyrics written by Sameer. The soundtrack was a huge success, selling 2.5 million units and was the second best-selling Bollywood soundtrack of the year.
Andaaz was released in cinemas on 23 May 2003. The film was a box-office success, grossing ₹288 million at the box-office against a budget of ₹80 million. It was the ninth-highest-grossing Indian film of the year. At the 49th Filmfare Awards, it received five nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Chopra, and won the Best Female Debut for Dutta and Chopra. Both actresses were also nominated for the Screen Award for Best Female Debut, which Dutta won.
Plot
Raj Malhotra lives with his elder brother Rohit, his sister-in-law Kiran, and his niece. After an accident fractures his leg, he is unable to walk for some time, and for psychological reasons, he cannot walk even after the fracture heals. When the Malhotras move to Dehradun, Raj befriends his family’s new neighbour, the tomboy Kajal, as both share a common passion for aeroplanes. With Kajal’s encouragement, Raj regains the ability to walk. Years later, the two continue to be close friends, and everyone expects them to marry soon. Raj secretly loves Kajal and is waiting for the right time to propose to her, but she sees him only as her best friend.
Raj is recruited by the Indian Air Force and spends a year and a half in training. After this is over, he rushes to Kajal to propose to her, only to discover that she is in love with multimillionaire businessman, Karan Singhania. Raj still does not reveal his true feelings to Kajal, telling her that Karan is the best life partner for her. Kajal and Karan marry; during the reception party, Kajal learns of Raj’s feelings for her. Hurt by the fact that she did not recognise Raj’s feelings for her despite being his best friend, Kajal asks him to move on with his life. The Malhotras move to Nainital, and Raj relocates to Cape Town, South Africa for further training.
During a visit to a club, Raj meets the vivacious and fun-loving Jiya. She falls in love with Raj because of his clean personality, but he is unable to forget Kajal. After completing his training, Raj returns to India where he finds that Jiya has already arrived and is living as a paying guest with his family. Jiya makes several attempts to impress Raj, but he still does not fall for her. During Karva Chauth, Jiya performs the rituals that a wife typically does for a husband, but Raj becomes angry and asks Jiya to leave. After Raj’s family reveals that they had hoped Raj would marry Jiya, he finally gives in and decides to marry her and move on with his life.
While visiting Jiya’s family, Raj learns that Kajal is Jiya’s sister-in-law. It is revealed that Kajal has been widowed by a helicopter crash which killed Karan, but which she survived. Kajal blames herself for Karan’s death and even attempts suicide. Raj helps Kajal recover from her depression, which enables her to face life again. Jiya notices their increasing closeness and suggests to her father that Kajal is married off. At Raj and Jiya’s engagement, Kajal learns that her family has arranged an engagement for her as well. Raj asks Kajal not to allow her to be married off against her will. An angry Jiya says that Raj and Kajal will never be able to forget their past love for each other, even though Raj is supposed to be marrying her. An irate Raj places the wedding sindoor on Kajal’s head, indicating he has now married Kajal and no-one has the right to question their relationship. An emotional Jiya reveals that she wanted Raj and Kajal to accept their feelings for each other in front of the world. The film ends with Jiya participating in Raj and Kajal’s wedding ceremony.
Cast
The cast is listed below:
Akshay Kumar as Raj Malhotra
Lara Dutta as Kajal Singhania
Priyanka Chopra as Jiya Singhania
Aman Verma as Karan Singhania
Pankaj Dheer as Prof. Rohit Malhotra, Raj’s brother
Navni Parihar as Kiran Malhotra
Johnny Lever as G. I. Joe
Rajeev Verma as Eeshwar Singhania, Karan and Jiya’s father
Gajendra Chauhan as Mr. Sahay
Vivek Shauq as Raunak
Prithvi Zutshi
Vishwajeet Pradhan
Kushal Punjabi as Monty
Asha Sharma as Kajal’s grandmother
Maya Alagh as Malti Singhania
Beena Banerjee as Beena Sahay
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