Raja Hindustani

Raja Hindustani (English: Raja, the Indian) is a 1996 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Dharmesh Darshan. It tells the story of a cab driver from a small town who falls in love with a rich young woman. Aamir Khan and Karisma Kapoor play the lead roles. Released on 15 November 1996, this film's plot was inspired from the 1965 film Jab Jab Phool Khile, starring Shashi Kapoor and Nanda. The film's music was composed by Nadeem-Shravan, with lyrics by Sameer. It went on to win five Filmfare Awards, including the awards for Best film and Best Actors, and seven Screen Awards.

Raja Hindustani was the third most commercially successful Hindi film of the 1990s. Made on a budget of ₹57.5 million, the film went on to gross ₹763.4 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year, and the third highest-grossing film of the 1990s at the Indian box office. The film's music became popular and was successful, especially in the central and eastern states of India. Karisma Kapoor was complimented for her looks and performance as Aarti: a rich, beautiful, sensitive, young woman full of dreams and desires. It is Kapoor's biggest commercial success till date and is regarded as one of her best performances; it was a major turning point in her career. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her role. The chemistry between the lead pair of Aamir Khan and Karishma Kapoor was praised and there was a much talked about kissing scene. The film was remade in Kannada as Naanu Naane in 2002, starring Upendra and Sakshi Shivanand in lead roles and in Odia as Priya Mo Priya in 2005.

Plot
Aarti Sehgal (Karisma Kapoor) is a wealthy young girl who is the only child of her father, Mr. Sehgal (Suresh Oberoi) and stepmother Shalini (Archana Puran Singh), who wishes to acquire all the wealth of her husband.

Aarti decides to go for a vacation to Palankhet, to discover the memories of her deceased mother. Upon arrival, she finds out she has no transportation from the airport to Palankhet, and so she hires the services of the only available driver, Raja Hindustani (Aamir Khan)

During her stay in Palankhet, Aarti and Raja bond and ultimately fall in love after they accidentally kissed each other. One day, to Aarti's surprise, her father arrives in Palankhet and intends to take her home with him. Aarti tells her father about Raja, but Mr. Sehgal says that he will only accept the marriage on the condition that Raja goes to Mumbai and learns to become a respectable member of society. Raja refuses and forces Aarti to make a decision. Aarti chooses Raja but begs for her father's blessings. Her father refuses to offer his blessings and leaves for Mumbai.

After some time, Mr. Sehgal forgives his daughter and visits her in Palankhet. While there, he gives his daughter and son-in-law a new house. Raja refuses to live in the house because he does not see it as a gift, but rather as a charity since he is poor. Shalini, her brother, Swaraj (Pramod Moutho), and her nephew Jai (Mohnish Behl) seek to exploit this conflict to gain total control of Mr. Sehgal's assets. Under the pretext of a birthday party, they bring Raja and Aarti to Mumbai and set in motion events that cause Aarti and Raja to separate.

Aarti realizes that she is pregnant, but, due to health problems, the doctor advises her not to travel. Instead, her stepmother is asked to go to Palankhet to inform Raja about his baby and to request him to come to Mumbai. However, Aarti's stepmother tells Raja that Aarti wants to divorce him. Raja refuses. After some time, Raja learns that Aarti has had a baby and is under the impression that she intends to keep him away from the child. Fearing that he will never be allowed to see his baby, he decides to kidnap the child. Distraught, Aarti goes to see Raja and begs him to let her have their child back. Ultimately, the lies and deception of Aarti's stepmother are revealed, and Aarti and Raja reunite.

Cast

 * Aamir Khan as Raja Hindustani
 * Karisma Kapoor as Aarti Sehgal Hindustani
 * Suresh Oberoi as Mr. Sehgal (Aarti's father)
 * Archana Puran Singh as Shalini Mitra Sehgal/Shalu (Aarti's stepmother)
 * Tiku Talsania as Chacha (Raja's uncle)
 * Farida Jalal as Chachi (Raja's aunt)
 * Pramod Moutho as Swaraj (Shalu's brother)
 * Mohnish Behl as Jai (as Shalu's nephew)
 * Johnny Lever as Balvant Singh
 * Navneet Nishan as Kamal Singh/Kammo
 * Veeru Krishnan as Gulab Singh
 * Kunal Khemu as Rajnikant (as Master Kunal Khemu)
 * Razak Khan as taxi driver
 * Kalpana Iyer as guest appearance in the song "Pardesi Pardesi"
 * Pratibha Sinha as guest appearance in the song "Pardesi Pardesi"