A Disappointing Continuation

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Vishal (Sunil Shetty), a murder convict, is released on compassionate grounds before his sentence is up. Once out of prison, he's enlisted by media tycoon Jindal (Nasseruddin Shah) to eliminate drug traffickers who are destroying the very fabric of the society. The big bosses of the drug mafia are assassinated one after the other in rapid succession. Amar (Akshay Kumar), an honest and committed policeman in charge of the case is convinced that Vishal is responsible for bumping them off. Will Amar succeed in nailing Vishal? Will Vishal's mission succeed? Is everything as simple as it appears on the surface?Mohra was a movie with a pretty good plot, given that it was made in the 90s, when the quality of Hindi movies was terrible. Viewed today, the treatment would appear too unrealistic and the characters caricature like. There is a wholly superfluous romantic angle which is frankly inconsequential in a thriller. But given the quality of Hindi movies made in the 1990s and the formulaic treatment typical in that era, Mohra was an excellent movie.The songs in the movie were incredibly popular in the 90s and it must be said that they have aged well. The 'tu cheez badi hai' song was one of the biggest chart busters of that era. Akshay Kumar's costume in that song was a rage in the mid 90s.As for the acting, the leads (Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Raveena Tandon) were just about adequate. Its the supporting cast that really stands out in this movie. Nasseruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal and Sadashiv Amrapurkar were magnificent despite their limited role and the limited scope that the script afforded them- I have given 2 stars only for their performance (especially Paresh Rawal).At this distance in time, Mohra is best viewed as a product of its time. If you haven't watched too many Hindi movies from the 90s, keep your expectation low- you won't be disappointed.

The 1990s was filled with action thrillers; most of these films were either average or poor in terms of content. However, there were a few which were memorable. Mohra(1994) is one of the few memorable action thrillers which clicked well at the box office; it was also decently received. The director, Rajiv Rai, was known for his action films. He directed typical action films like Yudh(1985), Tridev(1989) which were box office hits. After an average Vishwatma(1992), he returned with this film, Mohra(1994).Mohra(1994)showcases an important message at the beginning of the film. It is important to "love life and hate drugs". This movie is based around drug related crimes. It has Vishal Agnihotri, a man who ends up being a murderer after his loved ones become unfortunate victims of some criminals. He ends up rotting in prison but a beautiful journalist, Roma Singh, befriends him and gets him released with the help of Jindal, her boss. Roma falls in love with an honest and diligent inspector, Amar Saxena. Amar is hot on the trail of several drug related criminals. He nabs criminals but many end up getting killed. Amar finds Vishal near the crime scenes but cannot arrest him due to the lack of evidence linking him to the murders. Is Vishal murdering the drug related criminals? Is Amar wrong about Vishal? Why was Jindal so eager to get Vishal out of prison? To find out, watch Mohra.Rajiv Rai handles the film well. He has put special attention to the action sequences. He has utilized his action heroes, Akshay and Sunil, really well. For once, the heroine has more to do than just sing and dance. He has handled the twist well because when it happens in the film, it is like a complete shocker. The small doses of humour are funny. The climax is good for its time but the very end is terribly overdone. There was no need to stretch it any further and getting Sunil's character badly wounded was unnecessary. There were a few flaws. For example, How is it possible for our two action heroes to stay in the closed trunk of a car? They were hidden but it is not possible to hide in there for long to surprise attack the enemies. However, such illogical scenes are few and far between. Therefore, the impact of the film is not too reduced.Sunil Shetty has a meaty role here and he does a decent job. He was no great actor but he was always superb at stunts. He is not good with shouting scenes and he does ham occasionally. However, he is earnest and he does well for the most part. Akshay Kumar was not a big star back then. He did not have content driven films like Baby(2015) and Special 26(2013) back then. If he had something, it was his martial arts and the reflex action of martial arts which caused him to dance well. He makes great use of these skills. On top of this, he does not ham too much. He was still a little raw those days but he does well. Raveena Tandon is good. She is good looking and she acts well by doing her scenes sincerely instead of being a mere prop. Naseeruddin Shah is great, he had not done a role like this before. He was a great art film actor but he showed that he could do well in commercial films as well. Sadashiv Amrapukar is funny, he brings in some good moments. Poonam Jhawar has a very small role and she does a decent job. Paresh Rawal is good, his role is more on the comic side and he entertains. The rest provide good support.Viju Shah's music is good. Tip Tip Barsa Paani is a sensuous track; it is well shot. Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast was the superhit song from the film and it is great. Subah Se Lekar Sham Tak is melodious. The female version of Tu Cheez is good but it was not needed in the film. Na Kajre Ki Dhar is a good song. It is beautifully shot.Action is well directed. The stunts seem pretty real with very few overdone shots. The stunts are entertaining; these are the most entertaining bits of the movie. It is a pleasure watching Akshay use his martial art style action moves and Sunil use his round punches.On the whole, Mohra is an action thriller which succeeds from many aspects. It has good action, good songs, nice performances, and good direction. This clearly explains the reason why this film did very well at the box office.

This movie is considered to be one of the greatest Hindi action movies so far. I actually have watched it several times, it has many twists and a lot of action and believe me, you will be at the edge of your seat all through the movie.The story is about Vishal Agnihotri (Sunil Shetty) who is sentenced to life imprisonment for killing four college students who raped and killed his wife and were responsible for the death of his sister-in-law. Roma Sing (Raveena Tandon) is a journalist who meets Vishal in jail where he comes to her rescue. Roma learns of Vishal's predicament and decides to help him by taking his case to Mr. Jindal (Naseeruddin Shah), a blind media tycoon. Mr. Jindal through his connections and media forces a special jury to review Vishal's case which later pardons Vishal.Vishal is indebted to Mr. Jindal and undertakes a risky mission which is killing all the drug dealers around who were responsible for the death of Mr. Jindal's wife. Vishal finds inspector Amar Saxena (Akshay Kumar), Roma's boyfriend, at the crossroads of his every mission. Ironically, Amar is also on the same mission as Vishal, but less successful as Amar has to work within the framework of law.At one point Mr. Jindal, Inspector Amr, Roma and Vishal find each other at crossroads realizing that each is being used as mere pawns by someone. But who is the manipulator and who is the conspirator? Watch Mohra to see how the game of life is played? The story, the songs, the soundtrack and the acting, especially Naseeruddin Shah and Sunil Shetty, are all great. Recommended for every Hindi movie fans. 8.5 out of 10.

....is the main reason I saw the movie, and recently too.....nostalgic for that super-hit song which I haven't heard in a while. The movie overrall was "eh". I don't know Hindi, but I can tell the acting wasn't all there based on other Hindi movies I have watched. The songs were amazing albeit having nothing to do with the movie itself. The plot was decent but could have been strengthened with better acting especially from the big Bollywood names that were in this movie. Anyway, classic because of the songs, not much the movie itself.