Criminal (1994 film)

Criminal
File:Criminal 1994 poster.jpg Film poster (Telugu Version)
Directed by	Mahesh Bhatt
Produced by	K. S. Rama Rao (Telugu) Mukesh Bhatt (Hindi)
Screenplay by	Mahesh Bhatt
Story by	David Twohy
Dialogue by	Sainath Thotapalli (Telugu) Jay Dixit (Hindi)
Based on	The Fugitive by Roy Huggins
Starring	Akkineni Nagarjuna Ramya Krishna Manisha Koirala
Music by	M. M. Keeravani (credited as M. M. Kreem in Hindi)
Cinematography	S. Gopal Reddy
Edited by	G. G. Krishna Rao (Telugu) Sanjay Sankla (Hindi)
Production company	Creative Commercials (Telugu) Vishesh Films (Hindi)
Distributed by	T-Series Films
Release date	14 October 1994 (1994-10-14) (Telugu) 21 July 1995 (1995-07-21) (Hindi)
Running time	142 mins
Country	India
Language	Telugu Hindi

Criminal is a 1994 Indian action thriller film directed by Mahesh Bhatt, starring Akkineni Nagarjuna, Ramya Krishna and Manisha Koirala. Shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi languages, the film is 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). The film is inspired by the American film, The Fugitive (1993). Telugu version is released in 1994, while the Hindi version is released in 1995. This is the last film of the Hindi film actor Ajit Khan.

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. He and Ramya remain as friends.

Cast

Telugu version

• Akkineni Nagarjuna as Dr. Ajay Kumar
• Ramya Krishna as A.C.P. Ramya
• Manisha Koirala as Dr. Swetha Kumar
• Satyanarayana as Advocate Chandra Shekar
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Srinivasa Rao
• Nassar as S. P. Teja
• Sarath Babu as Dr. Pratap
• Sudha as Yashoda
• Gulshan Grover as Robert Rakesh Kumar
• Brahmanandam as Compounder Chitti Babu
• Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Inspector
• Johnny Lever as himself
• Gundu Hanumantha Rao as Compounder Tinku
• Devadas Kanakala as Commissioner
• Kota Shankar Rao as Lawyer
• Garimalla Visweswara Rao as Servant
• Husain as Prisoner
• Jenny as Inspector Nanda Gopal
• Trishna as item number

Hindi version

The lead cast and the characters portrayed by Grover, Nassar, Babu, Subramanyam, Kanakala, Visweswara Rao, Husain, and Jenny were retained from the Telugu version in the Hindi version. Trishna performed an item number in both versions.

• Akkineni Nagarjuna as Dr. Ajay Kumar Varma
• Manisha Koirala as Dr. Shweta Varma
• Johnny Lever as Changu
• Laxmikant Berde as Mangu
• Ajit Khan as Jagdish Prasad
• Palav Vyas as Advocate
• Gurbachan
• Mukesh Pandey
• Zaheer as Advocate Varma (Ajay's father)
• Beena as Ajay's mother

Soundtrack

All the music is composed by M. M. Keeravani. The track Telusaa Manasa/Tum Mile is inspired from a Engima album (German Band)- "Age Of Lonliness". K. S. Chithra recreated the same humming for all the versions, for which she practised 4 days to sing it perfectly & making the song an evergreen hit.

Telugu Version

Criminal
Film score by M. M. Keeravani
Released	1994
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	25:50
Label	AKASH Audio
Producer	M. M. Keeravani
M. M. Keeravani chronology
Major Chandrakanth (1993) Criminal (1994) Allari Premikudu (1994)

All music is composed by M. M. Keeravani.

Track list

No.	Title	Lyrics	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Mudante Vadante"	Vennelakanti	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra	4:57
2.	"Papiki Papiki"	Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra, M. M. Keeravani	4:58
3.	"Hello Guru"	Vennelakanti	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra	4:48
4.	"Thelusa Manasa"	Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra	6:13
5.	"Jama Jama Jama"	Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sujatha	5:04
6.	"Thelusa Manasa - 1"	Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry	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	HMV Audio
Producer	M. M. Kreem
M. M. Kreem chronology
Lady Boss (1995) Criminal (1995) Mounam (1995)

Hindi lyrics were written by Indeevar. Original audio was released on HMV audio.

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Tu Mile Dil Khile (Included in the film)"	Kumar Sanu, Chitra	6:03
2.	"Tu Mile Dil Khile (Only Cassette version)"	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik Chitra (Humming)	6:03
3.	"Janu Janu Janu"	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik	5:10
4.	"Tu Mile Dil Khile (Male)"	Kumar Sanu, Chitra (Humming)	6:13
5.	"Mujhko Chhupa Le"	Kumar Sanu, Alisha Chinai	4:49
6.	"Kisi Ka Tu Hoja"	Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Chitra	5:00
7.	"Keemti Keemti Keemti Hai Zindagi"	SP Balu, Chitra, Alka Yagnik	5:01
8.	"Tu Mile Dil Khile (Female)"	Alka Yagnik, Chitra (Humming), Sonu Nigam	5:57
Total length:			38:16

Release and reception

Alluru Rahim of Zamin Riot, 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.

After the film's success, it was later dubbed and released in Tamil as Ellame En Kadhali. K. Vijayan reviewing the Tamil dubbed version for New Straits Times on 3 July 1995, opined that Bhatt had made a faithful remake of The Fugitive (1993).

External links

• Criminal on IMDb