Yeh Hai Jalwa

About the film

Yeh Hai Jalwa (transl. This Is Magic) is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by David Dhawan. It stars an ensemble cast, including Salman Khan, Rishi Kapoor, Ameesha Patel, Sanjay Dutt and Shammi Kapoor, with Kader Khan, Rati Agnihotri, Anupam Kher, Kiran Kumar, Rinke Khanna and Sharad Kapoor in supporting roles. It is inspired by the American film Carbon Copy. Ameesha Patel later claimed the film was a failure at the box office due to the hit-and-run case that Salman Khan was involved in around the time of its release.

Plot

An orphan named Raj Saxena/Mittal, also known as Raju, works as a businessman in India. His mother died when he was very young, and his father had already left the family. One day, Raju sees Rajesh Mittal receiving an award on television and realises that Rajesh is his father. He immediately travels to London. At the airport, he meets Sonia Singh, who tries to trick him into carrying her luggage. Raju sees through her scheme, which backfires on Sonia, and the two soon fall in love.

Raju finds Rajesh and tells him the truth. He then discovers that Rajesh is already married to Smitha and has two children, Rinkie and Bunty. Rinkie is engaged to Vicky, unaware that he is involved in drug dealing. Raju gives Rajesh seven days to tell his family the truth and acknowledge him as his son, or he will do it himself. Fearing exposure, Rajesh hires gangsters to attack Raju, but Raju is beaten and later rescued by Shera, another Indian living in London. Shera advises Raju to enter Rajesh’s house as a family friend and win over the household.

When Raju asks for accommodation, Rajesh arranges for him to stay at his friend Robin Singh’s mansion, where Raju meets Sonia again and learns that she is Robin’s daughter. They gradually fall in love. On the seventh day, Raju goes to Rajesh’s bungalow, only to discover that the family is on holiday. He returns to India, but then overhears Robin inviting Rajesh to his house. Raju hides in the boot of Robin’s car and travels with them. Rajesh is horrified to see him, but Raju remains with the family at the resort.

Soundtrack

The album features seven songs composed by Himesh Reshammiya and the lyrics penned by Sudhakar Sharma, apart from the song "London Mein India" which was composed by Anand Raj Anand and the lyrics were penned by Dev Kohli.

Critical response

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5, writing, ″On the whole, YEH HAI JALWA is an ordinary entertainer with nothing much to rave about.″ Chitra Mahesh of The Hindu wrote, "Usually these days, even if the film lacks credibility it is made up by good cinematography, special effects or sometimes even the music – in this case, however, none of these elements help in salvaging either the story or the proceedings. At best it's a film you can watch if you are terribly jobless!." Priya Ganapati of Rediff.com wrote, "While there was some method in the madness of Dhawan's earlier flicks, Aankhen, Saajan Chale Sasural and Coolie No 1, Dhawan's recent films have been insipid. His last two releases – Kyunkii Main Jhooth Nahi Bolta and Hum Kisise Se Kum Nahin -- slipped out of the theatres in a jiffy. Yeh Hai Jalwa will only complete the trilogy of disasters for Dhawan."

Key details