Mrityudaata (1997) User Reviews

Bachchan deserves better, and so do his fans

[Peter_Young · 3/10 · 17 October 2021]

Farida Jalal was born in 1950, and when I see a film where Mrs. Jalal plays a mother to a visibly aging Amitabh Bachchan, eight years her senior, I know there's something wrong with this film. This kind of disrespect, not to say contempt for the Indian audiences is quite characteristic of many films of the times. It is especially disappointing coming from Mr. Bachchan, a great actor who happens to be an impressively intelligent man, who I can't believe was not aware of how pathetic everything here looks.

Bachchan gets another opportunity to play a hero, the problem is that being a hero in commercial Hindi films was only preserved for action films, preferably bad action films. And this one is indeed it. We see an aging star fighting with great energy dozens of goons, and it really wavers between funny and a little embarrassing. He reminds one of Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun. But this is not a comedy, not an intentional at least, and Bachchan is a great actor, which makes the entire thing the more unwatchable.

But Bachchan is really not bad. He does well in moments where he is required to act. He is just miscast, and it's not the same thing. He does play a man closer to his age, but he also gets to play the younger version of it, and that's where the problem. Cast opposite him is Dimple Kapadia, whose radiant energy early on is wonderful just as her outbursts later on are strangely overdone. What made an actor of her stature do this film is a mystery. I guess Mehul Kumar thought he'd recreate the success of Krantiveer. Obviously, he didn't.

Awesome start, becomes horrible after interval

[superindrajit · 4/10 · 23 November 2011]

After Bachan's delayed release Insaniyat(1994) flopped, Bachan took a break from movies and made a comeback with Mrityudaata(1997). Director Mehul Kumar also directed Mrityudaata after his two super hit films Tiranga and Krantiveer. I had great expectations from this movie and Amitabh Bachan is not a flopper like Akshay Kumar in 1997 who gave 7 flops in a single year. However, his only 2 hits being Bade Miya Chote Miya and Major Saab in 1998, he was crticized for picking some wrong films. The movie started off well, the introduction of the villains and their needs is shown well. The attempt to murder is also well shown and the introduction and current position of our hero Amitabh is well shown. The flashbacks of how Amitabh's family is killed is also well shown. Basically, everything before the interval is good and I really liked this movie before the interval. But, right after the interval, all the crying from the family about Arbaz's death and then when Karishma is getting married and Big B's brothers death things meet, Dimple Kapadia dies after doing some retarted shouting. But, I expected the movie to get better with some revenge and action. The following happened. However, the story was out of control and Pran's limited screen time is nothing good, he is just wasted. Big B running from the police and then Diler Mehendi's squeezed in song which was good. However, the plot is weak how they run into to Diler's show. Then they chase Amitabh to a brothel and Amitabh suddenly stops running and starts doing a Sunny Deol act beating everyone up. From here, they stop lengthing the movie and quickly finish it with Amitabh killing every villain. The ending is good, how they expose the villains. But, the prolonged ending of Amitabh and all the crowd chasing Paresh Rawal to the end is really prolonged and dragged. Amitabh kills the villains but is injured to such an extent, he dies. Its stupid how Amitabh kills all the villains but burning them and even in his last movie, he dies at the end. But, that was stupider. Mehul Kumar is a pathetic filmmaker who relied on actors to save his films but Amitabh doesn't save the movie for him. According to box office results, Mrityudaata was a flop, not as bad as Insaniyat but still a flop. Amitabh does his role in ease, he doesn't ham or mess his role up, Dimple Kapadia does good but her death scene is bad, she overacts, Karishma Kappoor is good but even she overacts, and Arbaaz Ali Khan doesn't known how to act, he's terrible. The villain inlcude Deepak Tijori who is wasted in his little screen time, Mukesh Rishi who can only get angry and overact, Ashish Vidhyarthi who is okay and Paresh Rawal who is good. Supporting Actors like Pran had only 20 minutes of screen time and is wasted. Overall, a movie which is just average. Could have been better if the second half was improved and then Big B would have saved the day.

Amitabh's comeback

[silvan-desouza · 1/10 · 28 September 2009]

Amitabh after INSANIYAT(1994) returned with this film

Lot of expectations were from this film because it was Bachchan's comeback after 3 years

Sadly it became one of his worst films

First and Foremost: Bachchan looks so aged and out of shape that he doesn't look like the hero of the film and the angry young man doesn't suit Arbaaz Ali Khan is terrible and can't act for anything The film has a story which could've worked in 70's not in 1990's

In Short the film is another Bachchan masala which went outdated by late 80's

The story is done to death

Coming to the execution Director Mehul kumar was never a great director, his films like KRANTIVEER and TIRANGAA relied on the actors to save it and their powerful scenes, in 1997 he had 2 disasters, LAHU KE DO RANG which had Naseeruddin and Akshay and this film both were similarly crap, because in this too the director thought Amitabh will save his day

This film is the last film of Amitabh and Pran together after their memorable work in the past like AAA, ZANJEER, MAJBOOR, NASEEB, SHARAABI and their last before this JAADUGAR which also was horrible

This is also one film starring Bachchan and Dimple who were seen last in a crap AJOOBA(1991) and recently in HUM KAUN HAI(2004)

This is one film starring Bachchan and Karisma, another film of theirs ZAMAANAT started perhaps at the same time and never released till date

Wondering why im giving so much trivia instead of a review? Well the film is not worth a mention at all

The film as I said has the same formula done to death it has the same villains Mukesh Rishi, Paresh Rawal

The mandatory romance, songs, fights.etc Suddenly in the middle of the chase of Bachchan being chased by some goons we break to a last minute planned song NA NA NA NA RE which comes all of a sudden perhaps to save the film

The climax has Bachchan dieing another time after killing all the villains Surprisingly he died in his last film before retirement in INSANIYAT and also his comeback and both the films crashed too

Direction is bad Music is bad Amongst actors Bachchan looks too aged and out of shape and just goes through his motions Dimple is alright karisma irritates, Arbaaz Ali Khan is a non actor Amongst rest Mukesh Rishi, Paresh Rawal, Ashish Vidhyarthi are as usual

Horrible but hilarious

[gurdeepmann59 · 5/10 · 13 July 2012]

This was Amitabh Bachchan's comeback after INSANIYAT (1994)

Sadly this film bombed at the box office

The film has a storyline that may have worked in the 70s but this is the 90s which was full of college campus, justice and a revenge-seeking hero This film just had to release in the 90s

Amitabh and Pran had some memorable work like AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY, NASEEB, NASTIK, SHARAABI and the last to be JAADUGAR which was horrible and also crashed

Amitabh Bachchan can't get his emotions right Dimple Kapadia is alright Karisma Kapoor's voice sounds different Arbaaz Ali Khan cannot act Deepak Tijori is a loser Mukesh Rishi is typecast Ashish Vidyarthi is funny

Disaster for Big B

[pop-16 · 23 August 2003]

After almost 4 years of break, Amitabh came back with this movie and as it released, it became the biggest flop of the year, perhaps Amitabh's biggest since Ganga Jamuna Saraswati. By then people declared Amitabh as the villain of the year. As far as the movie was concerned, it was the typical ingredients of an Indian movie, fighting against corruption and revenge for murder. Amitabh played a doctor in this movie, who had a happy life with a wife and a young brother. Who knew that fate had something tragic in store. Amitabh's young brother, an engineer, gets framed for murder and in jail, he dies. The police claim it was suicide. After the brother died, Amitabh's wife died. Now Amitabh had to save a patient, but another doctor killed him despite a successful operation and therefore was framed for a patient's murder. Another twist, another prisoner tells him that his brother was actually murdered by the police. Amitabh soon gets out of jail and then kills all the culprit who were responsible for his brother's death. On top of that, he also kills the corrupt politician before he dies. There are many possible reasons for this movie to be a flop, perhaps Big B, or Amitabh Bachchan, was playing a character that he should have played a decade ago. Another reason could be that Amitabh was featured with a different actor Arbaaz Ali Khan and 90s leading ladies Karishma Kapoor, who briefly appeared. Maybe the audience did not like Amitabh to play a fighter for justice. At least now he is recovered, thanks to his fronting of India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and some further hits.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

[NpMoviez · 1/10 · 27 April 2021]

This is a type of movie which would make question the reason for my existence in the world. Why is this so hilarious, when it clearly isn't? That's my biggest question. We have this pseudo political thriller which is a masala movie. Amitabh's character (at least the initial part) was an over the top surgeon who lost his family due to some stupid political conspiracies and it just felt boring. I don't know what the director and writers were thinking. If nothing, Bachchan should've been the saving grace. Bachchan is the one who looks awkwardly shoehorned in a movie where he is a lead actor. What world do I live in? The rest of the storylines are written lazily and are purely clichéd. Amitabh's performance is quite below the mark, to be honest. Just like in parts of "Insaniyat" (1994), he looks incredibly awkward in this movie, except, it wasn't just in parts but in entirety of the movie. It seems as if he knew this movie would fail incredibly and miserably. Also, Farida Jalaal (who played his younger sister in "Majboor" released in 1974) plays his mother. That is just a cheap, cringe-worthy and blant way to make him look young. THE PROTAGONIST DOESN'T NEED TO BE YOUNG ALL THE TIME!! And rest of the storyline. Oh my God! Even a 5 year old can point out the plotholes and obvious plot devices. The deaths in this movie are just awfully hilarious. Someone at his or her 100% health will die out of a shock which doesn't really kill someone. Karishma marries her lover's killer willingly and it literally happens just for the sake of killing Dimple's character. It has no build up or storyline to back it up. It just happens all of a sudden Bachchan is framed for killing her husband, and Bachchan proves that he is innocent. The husband's brother knows it and still doesn't show any sympathy for Bachchan. I know he is also responsible for Bachchan's brother's death, but Bachchan didn't kill HIS brother! And the shock of all shocks - Paresh Rawal is the villain. God!! We are shown that he is the villain, but Bachchan does little to nothing to know it, except towards the end he knows everything for the reason that the movie should continue. Him being the villain comes as one of the most cringe-worthy decisions of the movie. And the ending takes it to some another level. Bachchan was a surgeon who could heal any person, and would keep his profession above anything. He wasn't a trained army man, a police officer or a terrorist. How can he even fire a gun at the first instance better than the trained officers? Oh ... he was a cop in Zanjeer, Parvarish, Ram Balram, Inquilaab, Aakhree Raasta, Indrajeet, Insaniyat, etc. Sorry. I completely forgot that. That's why he could. Aren't these mere descriptions of the story enough to show the fact that it sucked? Aren't they enough show how cringe-worthy this movie is? If not, there are some forced and unfunny jokes and some "turn off your brain" humor during the last battle between Amitabh and Paresh, which just proves that the writers and the director were ultimately braindead. The movie featured a song "Nana Nana Na Re" by Daler Mehndi. It got popular due to this movie. But everyone forgot that it was this movie that popularized it. People just remember it as a popular song. Dimple Kapadiya does nothing in this film. The villains are terrible with the respective actors giving some of the worst performances of their career. Karishma Kapoor has never been so unlikable. Arbaaz Ali Khan ..... even a clown with no acting skills can be a better actor than that idiot.

Rating : 0/10, Grade : F.

Revenge of The Aggrieved.. Who Aggrieved us, so Himself !

[elshikh4 · 6/10 · 11 February 2009]

(Amitabh Bachchan) is a superstar, an icon, and a big part of the Indian pop culture. But after more than 75 movies in 2 decades, between the mid-70s and the mid-90s, I suppose he has had it. He became so tired of too many movies, massive fame, and bad career in politics. True that (Francois Truffaut) called him once "A one-man industry", but he is a "man" before being an industry. So the man had to rest a while. And that's why he took the decision of "the break" in 1994.

However, after 3 years, he returned to movies, and through a production company of his own (ABCL) or (Amitabh Bachchan Cooperation Limited). Big move. So, where did exist the big fault that made this movie a big flop?!!

It's mainly in the repetitive formula, which is simple: The revenge story + a political satire + a great speech at the end about the lost justice with (Bachchan)'s distinct baritone voice. Cool stuff.. However in the 1980s! As we got this whole merchandise before, from the same star, and more than once, yet better and smarter. (Aakhree Raasta), produced 11 years earlier, was a perfect example for that.

It suffered from what made it look naive and be naive: the poor action; the explosion of the car was a farce! The pretty easy writing; the character of alcoholic surgeon as a lead was pure gold, it could've been great, but except this, nothing was gold! Or an older (Bachchan) doing the same again and again, being 55 year old at the time!

The worst, most dull, moment ever was when he had to hide from the bad guys as a singer on a stage. I was screaming: "Shoddy.. VERY shoddy!". Genius magicians like director (Manmohan Desai) would've made it convincing or acceptable, but never boring after endless similar tricks such as this. Not to mention that (Desai) already died in (1994), even singer (Kishore Kumar) - who gave his lovely voice to (Bachchan) in so memorable songs in previous movies - wasn't here to rescue either, since he died in 1987. So the player was missing his team, especially in a rematch like this!

Let alone what I see as the biggest sin at all: the matter of DEAD (Bachchan)! I believe that disappointed lots and lots of the audiences back then, and back then precisely, who went to watch their star, after 3 years of separation, to witness him simply die at the end!! Despite the message of it, I think that wasn't designed well commercially, as it sure stunned the craving viewers and depressed them while what turned out to be a sudden gloomy comeback!

I can't say that the performance of the bad guys was overdone, because to tell you the truth in other movies, and with lower efforts, it hit the mark though, but this time the people just hated it. (Bachchan) delivered such a strong performance, trying his best to be serious, satirical, and adding something else the empty entertainment to his behalf. Though, the dose was very intensive, the formula was trite, and the fans weren't utterly in the mood for their icon to get revived just to be killed!

So, was it a matter of vanity that pushed the star to present the same old stuff, confiding blindly that the people would love it as they loved it before? Or was it the fear of doing something new, presenting the unusual, not expecting the reaction? In fact, what I do know is that 3 years later, and after many lousy attempts to live the echoes of the past again, the big B would return to be big again after (Mohabbatein - 2000). I think it got something to do with his beginning boldly to accept roles for aged men, giving up finally being a "young" angry man anymore. Ahh.. Wise move eventually. And although choosing the wrong scripts, and the enthusiasm over bad projects, are still continuous habits in (Bachchan) unfortunately, but at least every now and then he gets himself into rare experiences like (Aks - 2001), (Black - 2005), and (Nishabd - 2007).

I believe (Mrityudaata) in Indian means (The Angel of Death). The commercial Arabic title of it in Egypt stood for (Revenge of The Aggrieved). But I named it (The Angel of Revenge). Anyhow, this angel maybe got a lot of demons inside of him to rely on old, seemingly assured, formulas. But he forgot the greatest fact: Time Changes, so you must as well. Otherwise, he would aggrieve himself and us.

The lesson here is: Don't try to copy your old success, every time has its own circumstances, and yes.. The career doesn't demand a flop like (Mrityudaata), but sure reforming it needs it.

Big B go back!

[AvinashPatalay · 1 November 2010]

ABCL's maiden production with Big B in the lead. Gave away expectations that the movie will showcase Big B in its glorious form and deliver a product that is nothing short of perfection. Add to that Mehul Kumar fresh out of success of "Tiranga" & "Krantiveer" which breathed a new lease of life for Rajkumar and showcased Nana Patekar in his best. The icing on the cake was the comeback movie of Big B after his sabbatical. You bet, it couldn't get any better.

Sadly even the hardcore Big B fans found it appalling. It seemed the stale 1980's script was served a decade later and fan-base questioned how could the star even approve of it. "Foul" they yelled. Surprisingly the audience cheered when Daler Mehendi's song was injected which gives an inkling how poorly the proceedings were. There was absolutely nothing that seemed positive about "Mrityudaata".

Later Big B accepted with humility that as an artist it was a bad decision to impose a self-exile which led to turning a blind eye to the real world. "Mrityudaata" will be remembered for first amongst the series of flops which sunk his "larger than life-size" image deeper than the reason.

Nonetheless he later returned as a true "phoenix".