Soldier (Indian film)
Encyclopedia
Soldier is a 1998
Bollywood
film starring Raakhee, Bobby Deol
and Preity Zinta
. The film was released in 1998 and went on to do well at the box office. Although Soldier was Preity Zinta's first film, Mani Ratnam
's Dil Se
ended up being released before Soldier and was thus Zinta's film debut.
) attempts to defend himself when corrupt army officials, Pratap Singh (Suresh Oberoi
), Virender Sinha (Dalip Tahil
), and Jaswant Dalal (Salim Ghouse
), intercept a truck-load of arms and ammunition, with the help of Virender's brother, Baldev (Sharat Saxena
) which they are about to sell illicitly to gangsters. Vijay Malhotra stops the trio of smugglers, but subsequently is shot to death by a mysterious man by the name of DK, who is the ringleader of the smugglers.
The movie shifts to 20 years later where the Mumbai Police gets a fax from the Australian interpol branch of one Jaswant Dalal, a wanted smuggler entering India. An operation to nab him alive is handed over to ACP Dinesh Kapoor (Ashish Vidyarthi
), an old friend of the slain Vijay Malhotra. Dinesh Kapoor sends a copy of the fax to a mysterious man named Vicky (Bobby Deol
) and tells him to "prevent" Jaswant from being nabbed by the police. Vicky helps Jaswant escape from the police at the docks, but when Jaswant tries to kill him to erase any witnesses, Vicky shoots him instead. Vicky then escapes to Australia despite the police preventing it.
In Sydney, Australia Vicky meets Preeti (Preity Zinta
), Pratap Singh's daughter, and woos her while getting into trouble with Jojo, Baldev Sinha's son and beats him up. Vicky and Preeti both fall in love. Pratap Singh and Virender Sinha (and his brother) are high-profile criminals in Australia. Once friends and partners in crime, they share a shaky relationship with one another. Vicky meets up with Pratap, who identifies him as Jaswant's killer. Vicky promises Pratap Singh that he'd make him more powerful than he'd ever imagine.
Jojo destroys Vicky's apartment for his being beaten up. Vicky storm's Baldev's household, kills many of his men, and makes him cough up the money for the damage Jojo did to his apartment. Baldev reports to brother who orders Vicky killed. Baldev and Jojo take a sniper to kill Vicky who's receiving his mother at the airport. They discover his mother is none other than Virender's estranged wife, Shanti (Farida Jalal
). Convinced that Vicky is none other than Virender's son, the assassination attempt is called off. Vicky is then welcomed into Virender's gang. At a party thrown in Vicky's honor, Pratap is stunned to learn Vicky among his rival's ranks.
Virender takes Vicky to a place where he keeps Pratap's, Jaswant's, and DK's secrets in files. Vicky shoots Virender dead and dumps him into the bay where a shark eats him. He then dumps Pratap's signature cigarette lighter at the crime scene. Vicky then goes through the stolen files and discovers who DK actually is. The police retrieve the lighter from Virender's crime scene and hand it over to Vicky who urges his brother, Baldev to rally his men and launch an attack on Pratap. The squad is gunned down at a checkpost by Pratap's men, save for Vicky, who was working with Pratap to get rid of Virender's gang. Vicky then reveals to Pratap that he is not Virender's son, and that he had fooled Shanti into believing he was her son, since she had lost her own. He also reveals that he was sent by DK to kill Jaswant, Virender, and Pratap, and that they should leave for India to kill DK to make Pratap the undisputed crime king.
Meanwhile Preeti overhears Vicky's conversation with her father and reveals it to Shanti. Shanti calmly acknowledges that she knows Vicky is not her son and that she helped him kill her husband, whose weapons had helped kill her own son, unbeknownst to him. She reveals that Vicky is Vijay Malhotra's son, Raju and that it was Vijay Malhotra who was convicted of arms smuggling based on testimonies from Jaswant, Pratap, and Virender. His dead body was stripped of all medals and his wife, Geeta (Raakhee) and son were ostracized by his community. The community even prevented his body from being cremated and leave it in a raging desert storm, where it's lost in the sands. Preeti, upon hearing this story, agrees to assist Raju/Vicky. Raju then calls ACP Dinesh Kapoor and reveals his plan of bringing Pratap to India and his knowledge of DK's true identity. The ACP then sets Jaswant, who is revealed to be alive and have been helping provide Raju the information to finish off Virender's gang, free.
Raju arrives in India with Pratap and takes him to his village where his mother sits desolately in a temple at the village outskirts. He reveals to Pratap who he really is and proceeds to beat him. DK comes to rescue Pratap, and he is revealed to be none other than Jaswant. Soon Jaswant/DK's men arrive and in the raging battle, Raju kills the men and maims Pratap and DK, makes them confess the truth, and then leaves them for the vultures to feed upon.
His name cleared, Vijay Malhotra is given an honorable military burial, and his son and widowed wife watch.
Bollywood films of 1998
A list of films produced by the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai in 1998:-Highest grossing:The top ten grossing films at the Indian Box Office in 1998:-1998:-External links:* at the Internet Movie Database...
Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
film starring Raakhee, Bobby Deol
Bobby Deol
Bobby Deol is a Bollywood actor. Deol is the son of the acclaimed Bollywood actor Dharmendra and the brother of Sunny Deol, also a successful actor in the Mumbai based Indian film industry....
and Preity Zinta
Preity Zinta
Preity Zinta is an Indian film actress. She has appeared in Hindi films of Bollywood, as well as Telugu, Punjabi and English language films. After graduating with a degree in criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in Dil Se in 1998 followed by a role in Soldier the same year...
. The film was released in 1998 and went on to do well at the box office. Although Soldier was Preity Zinta's first film, Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...
's Dil Se
Dil Se
Dil Se is a 1998 Hindi film directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala, and Preity Zinta. Mani Ratnam also co-wrote the screenplay for the film...
ended up being released before Soldier and was thus Zinta's film debut.
Plot
Captain Vijay Malhotra (Pankaj DheerPankaj Dheer
Pankaj Dheer is an Indian television and film actor originally from Punjab. His best known role was as Karna in epic TV series, Mahabharata , which became a famous Indian television series, and as Shivdutt in Chandrakanta...
) attempts to defend himself when corrupt army officials, Pratap Singh (Suresh Oberoi
Suresh Oberoi
Suresh Oberoi is an Indian actor who is also father of Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi. He was born in Quetta, now Pakistan and is a recipient of 1987 National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor...
), Virender Sinha (Dalip Tahil
Dalip Tahil
Dalip Tahil is an Indian film, television and theatre actor. He did his schooling from the elite Sherwood College in Nainital, India and later graduated from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.-Films:...
), and Jaswant Dalal (Salim Ghouse
Salim Ghouse
Salim Ghouse is a film, television and theater actor, theater director and martial artist. He has acted in several Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam....
), intercept a truck-load of arms and ammunition, with the help of Virender's brother, Baldev (Sharat Saxena
Sharat Saxena
Sharat Saxena is an Indian actor working in Bollywood films. He has acted in nearly 160 Bollywood films.Saxena started his career in the early 70s and has mainly played either supporting roles of a father, uncle or villainous roles....
) which they are about to sell illicitly to gangsters. Vijay Malhotra stops the trio of smugglers, but subsequently is shot to death by a mysterious man by the name of DK, who is the ringleader of the smugglers.
The movie shifts to 20 years later where the Mumbai Police gets a fax from the Australian interpol branch of one Jaswant Dalal, a wanted smuggler entering India. An operation to nab him alive is handed over to ACP Dinesh Kapoor (Ashish Vidyarthi
Ashish Vidyarthi
Ashish Vidyarthi is an Indian actor who worked predominantly in Hindi films and lately in South Indian films. He has won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for film Drohkaal in 1995....
), an old friend of the slain Vijay Malhotra. Dinesh Kapoor sends a copy of the fax to a mysterious man named Vicky (Bobby Deol
Bobby Deol
Bobby Deol is a Bollywood actor. Deol is the son of the acclaimed Bollywood actor Dharmendra and the brother of Sunny Deol, also a successful actor in the Mumbai based Indian film industry....
) and tells him to "prevent" Jaswant from being nabbed by the police. Vicky helps Jaswant escape from the police at the docks, but when Jaswant tries to kill him to erase any witnesses, Vicky shoots him instead. Vicky then escapes to Australia despite the police preventing it.
In Sydney, Australia Vicky meets Preeti (Preity Zinta
Preity Zinta
Preity Zinta is an Indian film actress. She has appeared in Hindi films of Bollywood, as well as Telugu, Punjabi and English language films. After graduating with a degree in criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in Dil Se in 1998 followed by a role in Soldier the same year...
), Pratap Singh's daughter, and woos her while getting into trouble with Jojo, Baldev Sinha's son and beats him up. Vicky and Preeti both fall in love. Pratap Singh and Virender Sinha (and his brother) are high-profile criminals in Australia. Once friends and partners in crime, they share a shaky relationship with one another. Vicky meets up with Pratap, who identifies him as Jaswant's killer. Vicky promises Pratap Singh that he'd make him more powerful than he'd ever imagine.
Jojo destroys Vicky's apartment for his being beaten up. Vicky storm's Baldev's household, kills many of his men, and makes him cough up the money for the damage Jojo did to his apartment. Baldev reports to brother who orders Vicky killed. Baldev and Jojo take a sniper to kill Vicky who's receiving his mother at the airport. They discover his mother is none other than Virender's estranged wife, Shanti (Farida Jalal
Farida Jalal
- Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...
). Convinced that Vicky is none other than Virender's son, the assassination attempt is called off. Vicky is then welcomed into Virender's gang. At a party thrown in Vicky's honor, Pratap is stunned to learn Vicky among his rival's ranks.
Virender takes Vicky to a place where he keeps Pratap's, Jaswant's, and DK's secrets in files. Vicky shoots Virender dead and dumps him into the bay where a shark eats him. He then dumps Pratap's signature cigarette lighter at the crime scene. Vicky then goes through the stolen files and discovers who DK actually is. The police retrieve the lighter from Virender's crime scene and hand it over to Vicky who urges his brother, Baldev to rally his men and launch an attack on Pratap. The squad is gunned down at a checkpost by Pratap's men, save for Vicky, who was working with Pratap to get rid of Virender's gang. Vicky then reveals to Pratap that he is not Virender's son, and that he had fooled Shanti into believing he was her son, since she had lost her own. He also reveals that he was sent by DK to kill Jaswant, Virender, and Pratap, and that they should leave for India to kill DK to make Pratap the undisputed crime king.
Meanwhile Preeti overhears Vicky's conversation with her father and reveals it to Shanti. Shanti calmly acknowledges that she knows Vicky is not her son and that she helped him kill her husband, whose weapons had helped kill her own son, unbeknownst to him. She reveals that Vicky is Vijay Malhotra's son, Raju and that it was Vijay Malhotra who was convicted of arms smuggling based on testimonies from Jaswant, Pratap, and Virender. His dead body was stripped of all medals and his wife, Geeta (Raakhee) and son were ostracized by his community. The community even prevented his body from being cremated and leave it in a raging desert storm, where it's lost in the sands. Preeti, upon hearing this story, agrees to assist Raju/Vicky. Raju then calls ACP Dinesh Kapoor and reveals his plan of bringing Pratap to India and his knowledge of DK's true identity. The ACP then sets Jaswant, who is revealed to be alive and have been helping provide Raju the information to finish off Virender's gang, free.
Raju arrives in India with Pratap and takes him to his village where his mother sits desolately in a temple at the village outskirts. He reveals to Pratap who he really is and proceeds to beat him. DK comes to rescue Pratap, and he is revealed to be none other than Jaswant. Soon Jaswant/DK's men arrive and in the raging battle, Raju kills the men and maims Pratap and DK, makes them confess the truth, and then leaves them for the vultures to feed upon.
His name cleared, Vijay Malhotra is given an honorable military burial, and his son and widowed wife watch.
Cast
- Bobby DeolBobby DeolBobby Deol is a Bollywood actor. Deol is the son of the acclaimed Bollywood actor Dharmendra and the brother of Sunny Deol, also a successful actor in the Mumbai based Indian film industry....
as Vicky - Preity ZintaPreity ZintaPreity Zinta is an Indian film actress. She has appeared in Hindi films of Bollywood, as well as Telugu, Punjabi and English language films. After graduating with a degree in criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in Dil Se in 1998 followed by a role in Soldier the same year...
as Preity - Dalip TahilDalip TahilDalip Tahil is an Indian film, television and theatre actor. He did his schooling from the elite Sherwood College in Nainital, India and later graduated from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.-Films:...
as Virender - Suresh OberoiSuresh OberoiSuresh Oberoi is an Indian actor who is also father of Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi. He was born in Quetta, now Pakistan and is a recipient of 1987 National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor...
as Pratap - Rakhee as Vijay's wife
- Farida JalalFarida Jalal- Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...
as Shanti Sinha - Johny Lever as Mohan/Sohan
- Sharat SaxenaSharat SaxenaSharat Saxena is an Indian actor working in Bollywood films. He has acted in nearly 160 Bollywood films.Saxena started his career in the early 70s and has mainly played either supporting roles of a father, uncle or villainous roles....
as Virender's brother - Aashish Vidyarthi as Kapoor
- Salim GhouseSalim GhouseSalim Ghouse is a film, television and theater actor, theater director and martial artist. He has acted in several Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam....
as Jaswant - Jeetu Verma
- Kulbhushan KharbandaKulbhushan KharbandaKulbhushan Kharbanda is an Indian actor, who worked in Hindi and Punjabi films, and is known as character Shakaal in Shaan inspired by the character of Blofeld from James Bond movies...
- Pankaj DheerPankaj DheerPankaj Dheer is an Indian television and film actor originally from Punjab. His best known role was as Karna in epic TV series, Mahabharata , which became a famous Indian television series, and as Shivdutt in Chandrakanta...
as Vijay Malhotra - Priyanka
- Amrit Patel
- Narendra Bedi
- Brijesh Tiwari
- Trilok Kapoor
- Viveck Vaswani as a College Principal
Soundtrack
| # | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Soldier Soldier" | Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik is an Indian singer who is ranked among the best Hindi playback singers of all time. She is a seven-time winner of the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award as well as a two-time recipient of the prestigious National Film Awards... , Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009.... |
06:13 |
| 2 | "Tera Rang Balle Balle" | Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam is an Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured in numerous Hindi movies, as well as films in Assamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi and Kannada language. He has also released numerous Indi-pop albums and acted in a few Hindi feature films... , Jaspinder Narula Jaspinder Narula Jaspinder Narula is a noted Punjabi singer and Bollywood playback singer, who shot to fame after the duet "Pyar to hona hi tha" with Remo Fernandes from the 1998 film Pyar To Hona Hi Tha for which she won the 1999 Filmfare Best Female Playback Award. Her other notable films are Mission Kashmir,... |
04:50 |
| 3 | "Mehfil Mein Baar Baar" | Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik is an Indian singer who is ranked among the best Hindi playback singers of all time. She is a seven-time winner of the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award as well as a two-time recipient of the prestigious National Film Awards... , Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009.... |
05:40 |
| 4 | "Mere Dil Jigar Se" | Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik is an Indian singer who is ranked among the best Hindi playback singers of all time. She is a seven-time winner of the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award as well as a two-time recipient of the prestigious National Film Awards... , Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009.... |
05:32 |
| 5 | "Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye" | Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik Alka Yagnik is an Indian singer who is ranked among the best Hindi playback singers of all time. She is a seven-time winner of the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award as well as a two-time recipient of the prestigious National Film Awards... |
04:23 |
| 6 | "Meri Saanson Mein Samaye" | Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam is an Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured in numerous Hindi movies, as well as films in Assamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi and Kannada language. He has also released numerous Indi-pop albums and acted in a few Hindi feature films... |
04:23 |
| 7 | "Hum To Dil Chahe" | Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu Kumar Sanu (alias Kedarnath Bhattacharya , born in Kolkata, is a leading Indian Bollywood playback singer. He was awarded the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award over five consecutive years. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009.... , Hema Sardesai Hema Sardesai Hema Sardesai also known as simply Hema, is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi songs.During her career, Sardesai has sung playback songs for over 60 Bollywood films, has released several successful Indipop albums, and has performed numerous live stage shows in almost all the states... |
05:18 |
| 8 | "Theme Of Soldier (Instrumental)" | 04:47 |
Awards
- Filmfare Best Female Debut AwardFilmfare Best Female Debut AwardThe Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films to recognise a performance by a female actor in a debut role....
- Preity Zinta - Filmfare Best Action AwardFilmfare Best Action AwardThe Filmfare Best Action Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.Although the awards started in 1953, the best action category did not start until 1996.-Superlatives:Most Awards*Allan Amin - 3...
- Tinnu Verma and Akbar Bakshi