Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love

About the film

Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love (transl. A Relationship: The Bond of Love) is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Suneel Darshan. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Rakhee Gulzar, Juhi Chawla, Karishma Kapoor, and Mohnish Bahl. It was the first film where Bachchan and Kumar worked together. The film is a family drama where a big family encounters a crisis when disputes take place between the father (Bachchan) and the son (Kumar). The film earned over ₹365 million (US$3.8 million) at the worldwide box office.

Plot

Vijay Kapoor is a successful businessman who lives happily with his wife Pratima and four children. His only son, Ajay, has come back home after graduating from university abroad with a Masters in Information Technology. Vijay's eldest daughter Priti is charmed by Rajesh Purohit, a recent graduate in business who idolizes Vijay. Rajesh's capabilities likewise impress Vijay, and he gives his consent for Rajesh to marry Priti. However, the devious Rajesh plans to ingratiate himself with the Kapoor family with the aim of stealing Vijay's fortune for himself. Meanwhile, Ajay falls in love with and plans to marry Nisha Thapar.

Ajay tells his father that he would like to start his own business, but Vijay tries to dissuade him, saying that Ajay should first get experience working in the family business before striking out on his own. However, ideological differences result in disputes between them. Ajay consequently stands firm in his decision to start his own business. Later, he takes out a loan for this. Vijay gets furious and kicks Ajay out of the house. Ajay marries and moves with Nisha into their new house. Rajesh makes Vijay sign a power of attorney empowering him, and is forced to pay the court a huge sum, which he cannot afford. Thus, he goes bankrupt, and all his fortune goes to Rajesh.

Ajay learns that Rajesh incited arguments between him and Vijay. He tries to get close to Vijay again, causing a crisis in his marriage with Nisha, who isn't pleased with Ajay's reunion with his family. They get separated due to consistent arguments between them. She finds out that she is pregnant, and Ajay returns home. Now, his mission is to return his family fortune and Vijay's faith, as the latter still cannot forgive him. Eventually, Ajay and Vijay unite, although he is yet to return the fortune.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Nadeem–Shravan while lyrics were by Sameer. The album was a chartbuster when released, According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 18,00,000 units sold the soundtrack became the tenth highest-selling album of the year.

Release

Dharmesh Rajput of BBCi-Films gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars, praising the performance of Amitabh Bachchan stating, "the real pleasure of this film is Amitabh's performance — is it any wonder he was voted best actor at the BBC Online Millennium Polls? This man is good value for money on the big screen". N.K Deoshi of Apunkachoice.com also gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars but said "Suneel Darshan had all the ingredients to make a blockbuster, a celluloid virtuoso like Big B, a bevy of willowy beauties Karisma, Juhi and Simone Singh and, last but not the least, the khiladi Akshay Kumar. But despite such an impressive ensemble Ek Rishta turns out to be quite a disappointing fare". Savera R Someshwar of Rediff.com gave the a negative review calling the screenplay terrible but praised the performances of Amitabh, Akshay, Karishma, Rakhee Gulzar, Juhi Chawla and Mohnish Behl.

It was the seventh highest-grossing Hindi film of 2001.

Key details