Rajiv Rai on 32 Years of Mohra: From Tip Tip Barsa Paani to Naseeruddin Shah’s Blind Jindal, Revisiting the ’90s Blockbuster
Rajiv Rai doesn’t burst crackers either. Diwali for him is Lord Ram’s homecoming, and being an avid film buff, when not travelling or shooting, he heads to the theatres every Friday to catch the new releases, watching two, sometimes even three films a day. He’s looking forward to his friend Namit Malhotra’s Ramayana: Part 1. The epic extravaganza opens this Friday, along with Rai’s Mohra, which…
Writer-director-editor Rajiv Rai is re-releasing his 1994 blockbuster Mohra, after a 32-year hiatus, on Diwali this year. The film will be screened in select theatres across the country, as part of a limited release. Rai recalls that the original Mohra opened with a 4 am show in a 400-seater theatre in Bihar, with ticket prices capped at Rs 8 and many ticketless viewers sitting on the floor. The film was the second-highest grossing movie of that year.
The soundtrack of Mohra, composed by Viju Shah, included two popular songs, 'Tip tip barsa paani' and 'Tu cheez badi hai mast mast', which sparked controversies at the time. Despite this, the songs have remained popular over the years and were included in the '100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks of All Time'.
Mohra was originally intended to be a story about a grandfather and grandson, written by Anees Bazmee. However, when Amitabh Bachchan refused the role, Rai decided to make Mohra instead, basing the character of media baron Sandeep Jindal on his friend Naseeruddin Shah. Naseer, who had previously played a blind man in Sai Paranjpye's 1980 film Sparsh, insisted on researching the role by interacting with visually challenged individuals and walking around his house blindfolded.
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