Major Saab

{{Infobox film

| name = Major Saab

| image = Major Saab.jpg

| caption = Poster

| director = Tinnu Anand

| producer = Amitabh Bachchan

| writer = Robin Bhatt
Santhosh Saroj

| starring = Amitabh Bachchan
Ajay Devgn
Sonali Bendre
Nafisa Ali

| music = Songs:
Anand Raaj Anand
Aadesh Shrivastava (Sona Sona)
Score:
Aadesh Shrivastava

| cinematography = Ravi K. Chandran

| editing = Prashant Khedekar
Vinod Nayak

| studio = Amitabh Bachchan Film Corporation

| released = {{film date|1998|06|26|df=y}}

| runtime = 165 minutes

| gross = ₹18 crore

| country = India

| language = Hindi

}}

Major Saab ({{translation}}: Respected Major) is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Tinnu Anand, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Sonali Bendre, Ashish Vidhyarthi, and Nafisa Ali.{{Cite web|title=Major Saab (1998) Cast - Actor, Actress, Director, Producer, Music Director|url=https://www.cinestaan.com/movies/major-saab-8331/cast-crew|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214110916/https://www.cinestaan.com/movies/major-saab-8331/cast-crew|url-status=live|archive-date=14 December 2021|access-date=2021-12-14|website=Cinestaan}}

Plot

The plot concerns playboy Virendra "Vir" Pratap Singh. A clause in the will of his wealthy father forces him to enter a military academy in order to inherit the wealth. Vir's repeated attempts to get himself discharged are foiled by Major Jasbir Singh Rana. Then Virendra falls in love with Nisha, the sister of a gangster named Shankar. Shankar wants Nisha to marry the son of his friend Parshuram Bihari and hatches a plot to separate the couple, by pretending to accept Vir, however soon beats him up badly and attempts to break both his arms and legs. After that, the Major then begins training Vir to regain his strength and fight those who wronged him to win Nisha back. Finally, both are accepted by Shankar. However, Bihari kills Shankar and tries to force Nisha to marry his son, but is foiled by the Major and Vir.

Cast

Amitabh Bachchan as Major Jasbir Singh Rana
Ajay Devgn as Virendra "Vir" Pratap Singh
Sonali Bendre as Nisha
Nafisa Ali as Dr. Priya Rana
Ashish Vidhyarthi as Shankar
Mohan Joshi as Parshuram Bihari
Shahbaaz Khan as Vicky
Naveen Nischol as Brig. Satish Khurana
Mushtaq Khan as Hanuman Prasad
Avtar Gill as Commissioner of Police
Dinesh Hingoo as Jai Singhaniya (special appearance)
Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Raja Thakur (guest appearance)
Siddharth Ray
Jasbir Thandi as Cadet Amrik singh
Pradeep Rawat as Subeidar Singh

Production

The film was shot at National Defence Academy, Pune, Australia and Mumbai.{{cite web |author= |date=26 June 1998 |title=Of death and resurrection Steel and puff |url=https://rediff.com/entertai/1998/jun/26major.htm |website=Rediff.com |access-date=22 February 2025}}

Release

Before the release, Ministry of Defence objected to portrayal of armed forces and National Defence Academy.{{cite web |author= |date=16 June 1998 |title=Army objects to portrayal of NDA in Bachchan film |url=https://rediff.com/news/1998/jun/16major.htm |website=Rediff.com |access-date=22 February 2025 |archive-date=26 September 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050926205300/http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jun/16major.htm |url-status=live }} The makers made all the changes recommended by Ministry of Defence and the film was releassed on scheduled date of 26 June 1998.{{cite web |author= |date=16 June 1998 |title=Controversy over Bachchan's Major Saab resolved |url=https://rediff.com/news/1998/jun/19major.htm |website=Rediff.com |access-date=22 February 2025 |archive-date=18 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118130503/http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jun/19major.htm |url-status=live }}

Reception

India Today wrote, "The Indian army has been objecting to this set-in-NDA saga and Bachchan's been justifying factual errors saying it's only a movie. An army major and several cadets spend their time trying to unite two lovers. The script is full of loopholes. The Big B is angry - nothing new. Devgan is sincere and Bendre insipid. Waste of talent."{{cite magazine |author= |date=10 August 1998 |title=Movies |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/your-week/story/19980713-movie-reviews-major-saab-devils-advocate-mercury-rising-828092-1998-08-09 |magazine=India Today |location=New Delhi |publisher=Living Media |access-date=22 February 2025 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=1 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201023342/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/your-week/story/19980713-movie-reviews-major-saab-devils-advocate-mercury-rising-828092-1998-08-09 |url-status=live }}

= Box office =

The film was a moderate success at the box office, it earned 18 crore.{{cite web|url=http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=204&catName=MTk5OA==|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010125407/http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=204&catName=MTk5OA%3D%3D |date=10 October 2012|archive-date=10 October 2012|title=Box Office 1998|work=Box Office India}} It was also the 9th highest-grossing film of the year (Bollywood films of 1998).

Soundtrack

{{Infobox album

| name = Major Saab

| type = Soundtrack album

| artist = Anand Raaj Anand
Aadesh Shrivastava

| cover =

| alt =

| released = 20 May 1998

| recorded =

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| genre = Feature film soundtrack

| length =

| label = T-Series

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}}

The music is composed by Anand Raaj Anand and Aadesh Shrivastava. Lyrics are penned by Anand Raj Anand and Dev Kohli. Initially Anand Raj Anand wanted to sing the song 'Akeli Na Bazaar Jaya Karo' and 'Pyar Kiya toh Nibhana' by himself, but could not due to circumstances, about which he spoke in an interview.{{Citation|last=The Bollywood Dynasty|title=Exclusive Interview of Music Director Anand Raj Anand|date=2014-08-10|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dYpezjfEq4|accessdate=2017-11-20|archive-date=29 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229114944/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dYpezjfEq4|url-status=live}} However, the whole album gained hugh popularity and tracks like 'Akeli Na Bazaar jaya karo', 'Sona Sona' and 'Pyaar Kiya toh Nibhana' became hit. In 2017, the song 'Pyar kiya toh Nibhana' was recreated with Armaan Malik and Shruti Pathak as singers. Then in 2021 it was recreated by Jonita Gandhi, Millind Gaba and Abhijeet Vaghani on T-Series

Mixtape.{{Citation|last=T-Series|title=Kehta Hai Pal Pal Video {{!}} Sachiin J. Joshi, Alankrita Sahai {{!}} Armaan Malik, Shruti Pathak {{!}} Caesar|date=2017-02-23|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiPrqaIlCU4|accessdate=2017-11-20|archive-date=2 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302170226/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiPrqaIlCU4|url-status=live}}