Taal () is a 1999 Indian Hindi language musical romantic drama film co written, edited, produced and directed by Subhash Ghai. The film stars Aishwarya Rai, Akshaye Khanna and Anil Kapoor in lead roles, while Amrish Puri and Alok Nath feature in supporting roles. It was also dubbed in Tamil as Thaalam. Taal was premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival, the "official selection" at the 2005 Ebertfest: Roger Ebert's Film Festival, and retrospectively at the 45th IFFI in the Celebrating Dance in Indian cinema section.
Taal released on 13 August 1999, coinciding with the Indian Independence Day weekend, and proved to be a major commercial success at the domestic and overseas box office, becoming the first Indian film to reach the Top 20 on Variety'''s box office list. The film received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with major praise directed towards the direction, story, screenplay, dialogues, soundtrack, costumes, choreography and performances of the cast.
At the 45th Filmfare Awards, Taal received 12 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Ghai) and Best Actress (Rai), and won 6 awards, including Best Supporting Actor (Kapoor), Best Music Director (Rahman) and Best Lyricist ( for "Ishq Bina").
Synopsis
Jagmohan Mehta arrives in Chamba, India for a long vacation with his rich and affluent family, including his son, Manav. They meet Mansi, the beautiful daughter of an impoverished spiritual singer, Tara Shankar Manhuja. As the owner of the Mehta & Mehta Group of Companies, Jagmohan is looking to invest in Chamba with Manav. Over time, Jagmohan and Tara become friendly with each other.
Eventually, Mansi and Manav fall in love. Reluctant after knowing this, Jagmohan disapproves of Mansi due to her poor socio-economic background. After learning the same, Tara is initially angry but later reaches Mumbai to visit his journalist cousin, Prabha, and to meet the Mehta family for a marriage alliance. Unfortunately, they insult Tara. Deeply hurt, he leaves with Mansi, who breaks up with Manav.
Mansi soon meets the famous music producer and director, Vikrant Kapoor, who happens to be a huge fan of Tara's. She signs a 3-year contract with him, and performs dance numbers and remixes of his productions and Tara's songs. She begins to win awards and becomes a national sensation and celebrity. Slowly, Vikrant begins falling for Mansi. Meanwhile, Manav finds out that his family was in the wrong when they ill-treated Mansi and Tara.
Manav goes to Mumbai in the hopes of apologizing to Mansi for his family's behavior towards her and Tara. However, she rejects and refuses to see him, out of grief for how Tara was treated. Vikrant soon learns of Mansi's past with Manav. Ignoring it, he proposes to her. She eventually accepts it. After winning an award in Canada, Mansi returns to India to prepare for their marriage. Jagmohan and Tara patch things up after the former realises his mistake and apologises.
On the wedding day, Vikrant realises Mansi still loves Manav. He assures her they can still be friends, and urges her to honour her love to Manav. Jagmohan and Tara also give their blessings; Manav and Mansi finally get married. The Mehtas take a family picture after the wedding, as the film ends on a happy note.
Cast
Aishwarya Rai as Mansi Shankar Manhuja, Manav and Vikrant's love interest
Akshaye Khanna as Manav Kumar Mehta, Mansi's love interest
Anil Kapoor as Vikrant Kapoor, Mansi's love interest
Amrish Puri as Jagmohan Mehta, Manav's father
Alok Nath as Tara Shankar Manhuja / Tara Babu, Mansi's father
Jividha Sharma as Ilavati "Ila" Shankar Manhuja, Mansi's cousin
Sushma Seth as Nani, Manav's grandmother
Mita Vashisht as Prabha Shankar Manhuja, Tara's cousin
Saurabh Shukla as Surjoy Banerjee, Vikrant's assistant
Prithvi Zutshi as Deepmohan Mehta, Jagmohan's brother
Supriya Karnik as Shakuntala Deepmohan Mehta, Jagmohan's sister-in-law
Manoj Pahwa as Santram Singh
Rajesh Khera as Brijmohan Mehta
Ekta Jain as Mansi's first cousin
Puneet Vashisht as Shaukat
Akash Karnataki as Siddu
Bobby Darling as Dress Designer Narwendra Khanna
Asha Bachani as Dolly Brijmohan Mehta
Sunil Nagar as Police Commissioner
Anita Hassanandani in the song "Ishq Bina" Subhash Ghai as man with walkman at market (Cameo appearance)