Criminal (1994 film)

Criminal
Film poster (Telugu Version)
Directed by	Mahesh Bhatt
Screenplay by	Mahesh Bhatt
Produced by	K. S. Rama Rao (Telugu) Mukesh Bhatt (Hindi)
Starring	Nagarjuna Manisha Koirala Ramya Krishna
Cinematography	S. Gopal Reddy
Edited by	G. G. Krishna Rao (Telugu) Sanjay Sankla (Hindi)
Music by	M. M. Keeravani (credited as M. M. Kreem in Hindi)
Production companies	Creative Commercials (Telugu) Vishesh Films (Hindi)
Distributed by	T-Series Films
Release dates	14 October 1994 (1994-10-14) (Telugu) 4 August 1995 (1995-08-04) (Hindi)
Running time	142 mins
Country	India
Languages	Telugu Hindi

Criminal is a 1994 Indian action thriller film directed by Mahesh Bhatt, starring Nagarjuna, Manisha Koirala, Ramya Krishna. Shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi languages.

Produced by K. S. Rama Rao under the Creative Commercials banner in Telugu, and by Mukesh Bhatt under the Vishesh Films banner in Hindi with the music composed by M. M. Keeravani (credited as MM Kreem in Hindi). Criminal was and Indian adaptation to the 1993 American film The Fugitive.^[1][2]

The Telugu version released on 14 October 1994, while the Hindi version released on 4 August 1995. Criminal was the last film of the renowned Hindi film actor Ajit.^[3]

Plot

After witnessing the unfortunate death of a woman, who was unable to afford hospital treatment, Dr. Ajay Kumar cancels his planned immigration to the U.S. and instead sets out to develop a plan to open a hospital that will be accessible to people who cannot afford treatment in regular hospitals, called "Amma Hospital". This draws quite a lot of attention, and he becomes popular, especially with two young women, Dr. Swetha and ACP Ramya. He falls in love with Swetha, and both get married, breaking Ramya's heart in the process. Shortly thereafter, much to their delight, Swetha becomes pregnant.

When Swetha discovers a frightening organ-smuggling operation in her hospital while going through a friend's diagnostic report, she calls Ramya. Soon after, Swetha is attacked by a killer and rings the police. Ajay enters their home to find Swetha, who soon succumbs to her injuries. The police arrive to find her dead body and arrest Ajay for murder. They deduce that Ajay's motive for killing Swetha was money, as Swetha was a wealthy heiress. Furthermore, she shouted Ajay's name as she was on the phone with the police. The court finds Ajay guilty, and he is sentenced to death. While being transported to the jail for the sentence to be carried out, the police bus meets with an accident as the other prisoners have staged a riot. Ajay escapes and changes his appearance. The police launch a manhunt for him but are unable to catch him. Ajay goes to Ramya's house to prove his innocence. Meanwhile, he used to know Ramya had a crush on him. Ajay catches the real killer and discovers the man behind everything - including the smuggling - was Ajay's friend Dr. Pratap. Finally, he reopens the hospital and puts garland on Swetha's picture.

Cast

Cast (Telugu)	Cast (Hindi)	Role (Telugu)	Role (Hindi)
Nagarjuna		Dr. Ajay Kumar
Manisha Koirala		Dr. Swetha
Ramya Krishna		ACP Ramya
Gulshan Grover		Rakesh Kumar / Robert
Kota Srinivasa Rao	Ajit	Srinivasa Rao	Jagdish Prasad
Satyanarayana	S M Zaheer	Chandrashekhar	Verma
Nassar		SP Teja
Sarath Babu		Dr. Pratap
Sudha	Beena Banerjee	Yashoda
Brahmanandam	Johnny Lever	Chitti Babu	Changu
Gundu Hanumantha Rao	Laxmikant Berde	Tinku	Mangu
—	Shrivallabh Vyas	—	Advocate
Dharmavarapu Subramanyam		Inspector
Devadas Kanakala	—	Commissioner	—
Kota Shankar Rao	—	Lawyer	—
Visweswara Rao		Servant
Husain		Prisoner
Jenny		Inspector Nanda Gopal
Johnny Lever	—	Himself	—
Trishna		item number

Soundtrack

All the music is composed by M. M. Keeravani. The song "Paapki Paapki/Keemti Keemti" is inspired by "Lonely Monday Morning" from 12 Inches of Snow (1993) by the Canadian musician Snow. The track "Thelusa Manasa" (only the humming portion) was inspired from the English album The Cross of Changes (1993) and the song Age of Loneliness (1994) both composed by the German band Enigma. K. S. Chithra took 4 days to practice and replicate the same humming in her style. The song was set in the abheri/bhimpalasi ragas, and became a popular cult song.

Telugu version

Criminal
Film score by M. M. Keeravani
Released	1994
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	25:50
Label	ANAND AUDIO
Producer	M. M. Keeravani
M. M. Keeravani chronology
Major Chandrakanth (1993) Criminal (1994) Bhairava (1994)

All music is composed by M. M. Keeravani.^[4]

Track list^[4]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Mudante Vadante"	Vennelakanti	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra	4:57
2.	"Paapki Paapki"	Sirivennela Sitaramasastri	K. S. Chithra, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, M. M. Keeravani	4:58
3.	"Hello Guru"	Vennelakanti	K. S. Chithra, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	4:48
4.	"Thelusa Manasa"	Sirivennela Sitaramasastri	K. S. Chithra, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	6:13
5.	"Jama Jama Jama"	Sirivennela Sitaramasastri	K. S. Chithra, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sujatha	5:04
6.	"Thelusa Manasa - 1"	Sirivennela Sitaramasastri	M. M. Keeravani, K. S. Chithra (Humming)	6:11
Total length:				32:11

Hindi version

Criminal
Film score by M. M. Kreem
Released	1995
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	38:16
Label	His Master's Voice
Producer	M. M. Kreem
M. M. Kreem chronology
Major Chandrakanth (1995) Criminal (1995) Bhairava (1995)

Hindi lyrics were written by Indeevar. Original audio was released on His Master's Voice. At first the tracks of "Tu Mile Dil Khile- All versions" were recorded in the voice of K. S. Chithra but due to some unforeseen reasons all the tracks sung by Chithra were replaced by Alka Yagnik, but still Keeravani managed to keep the humming portion sung by Chithra intact in all the tracks.

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Tu Mile Dil Khile (Duet)"	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik	6:03
2.	"Tu Mile Dil Khile (Male)"	Kumar Sanu	6:13
3.	"Tu Mile Dil Khile (Female)"	Alka Yagnik	5:57
4.	"Jaanu Jaanu Jaanu"	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik	5:10
5.	"Mujhko Chhupa Le"	Kumar Sanu, Alisha Chinai	4:49
6.	"Kisi Ka Tu Ho Ja"	Abhijeet, K. S. Chithra	5:00
7.	"Keemti Keemti Hai Zindagi"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra	5:01
Total length:			38:16

Tamil version

The soundtrack was released in Tamil as Ellame En Kadhali.^[5] The lyrics for songs were written by Piraisoodan.

All music is composed by Maragathamani.

Track list^[6]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Muthathin"	Piraisoodan	Mano, K. S. Chithra	4:57
2.	"Party Party"	Piraisoodan	K. S. Chithra, Mano	4:58
3.	"Anbe Thodu"	Piraisoodan	K. S. Chithra, Mano	4:48
4.	"Uyire Uyire"	Piraisoodan	K. S. Chithra, Mano	6:13
5.	"Jama Jama Jama"	Piraisoodan	K. S. Chithra, Mano	5:04
Total length:				32:11

Release and reception

Alluru Rahim of Zamin Ryot, reviewing the Telugu version of the film on 21 October 1994, described it as "the film which drives the audience out the theatres [sic]." While appreciating the Nagarjuna's performance and the soundtrack by Keeravani, Rahim opined that the film lacked good story and screenplay.^[7]

After the film's success, it was later dubbed and released in Tamil as Ellame En Kadhali. K. Vijiyan reviewing this version for New Straits Times on 3 July 1995, opined that Bhatt had made a faithful remake of The Fugitive.^[5]

See also

• Nirnayam (1995 film), another Indian remake of The Fugitive

References

1. "No ripoffs, please". The Telegraph. 24 May 2009. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
2. "Copycats in Tollywood". Deccan Chronicle. 30 January 2017. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
3. "TC Exclusive: K.S. Rama Rao - Interview". TeluguCinema.com. 12 January 2006. Archived from the original on 19 November 2006. Retrieved 14 September 2024. KSR: I liked the subject, and so we did that film. I still like that film though it was a flop.
4. "Criminal". JioSaavn. 8 April 1996. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
5. Vijiyan, K. (3 July 1995). "Indian version of 'The Fugitive'". New Straits Times. p. 26. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
6. "Ellame En Kadhali". Raaga. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
7. Alluru, Rahim (21 October 1994). "చిత్ర సమీక్ష: క్రిమినల్" [Film review: Criminal] (PDF). Zamin Ryot (in Telugu). p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.

External links

• Criminal at IMDb