# Baaghi: A Rebel for Love
**Baaghi: A Rebel for Love** is a 1990 Hindi-language action romance drama directed by Deepak S. Shivdasani, starring [Salman Khan](https://www.edgepedia.org/salman-khan) and [Nagma](https://www.edgepedia.org/nagma), in which a colonel's son defies his family to rescue the woman he loves from a Bombay brothel[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_a_rebel_for_love/). It was produced by Nitin Manmohan under the Neha Arts banner, written by [Javed Siddiqui](https://www.edgepedia.org/javed-siddiqui) from an idea by Salman Khan, and released in India in December 1990[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_a_rebel_for_love/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099080/fullcredits/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action, romance, drama; original language Hindi[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_a_rebel_for_love/) |
| Release | 11 December 1990 (India), though other databases list 21 or 28 December[3](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-details/baaghi-a-rebel-for-love/movieshow/62472877.cms) • [4](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/baaghi/) • [5](https://www.indiaforums.com/movie/baaghi-1990_5457) |
| Runtime | 2 hours 36 to 37 minutes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_a_rebel_for_love/) • [3](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-details/baaghi-a-rebel-for-love/movieshow/62472877.cms) |
| Lead cast | Salman Khan as Saajan Sood, Nagma as Kaajal "Paro", Shakti Kapoor as Dhanraj, Kiran Kumar as Colonel D.N. Sood[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099080/fullcredits/) |
| Crew | Director Deepak S. Shivdasani; producer Nitin Manmohan; writer Javed Siddiqui with an idea credited to Salman Khan; music by Anand-Milind[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099080/fullcredits/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_2016/cast-and-crew) |
| Reception | IMDb rating 5.9/10 from about 2.1K users; Rotten Tomatoes 33% Tomatometer from 9 reviews[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099080/ratings/) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_a_rebel_for_love/) |
| Availability | Streaming on Amazon Prime Video and free with ads on Zee5 and other services in India[8](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/baaghi-a-rebel-for-love) |
## Spoilers
### Story
Saajan Sood is the aimless son of Colonel D.N. Sood, an army officer who wants him to join the Indian army. The film opens with Saajan catching a glimpse of Kaajal on another bus, and they are both smitten; they do not formally meet, and Saajan starts college assuming he will never see her again[9](https://www.moviebuff.com/baaghi-a-rebel-for-love).
When his college friends Buddha, Tempo, and Refill insist on visiting a brothel in a seedier part of Bombay, Saajan reluctantly goes along but refuses to select a prostitute, until he hears a new girl being beaten by her pimp and steps in to protect her. To his surprise, she is Kaajal, called Paro at the brothel, who was kidnapped by a pimp after she was tricked by a job offer in Bombay[9](https://www.moviebuff.com/baaghi-a-rebel-for-love).
With help from Leelabai, the madame who helps run the brothel, Saajan spends time with Kaajal and the two fall in love. When he introduces her to his parents, they reject the idea of his marrying a girl from a brothel, even though she was taken there against her will from a respectable family. Because Saajan had already angered his father by refusing to follow family tradition and join the army, he is thrown out of the house and declares himself a rebel. His friends help Kaajal escape the brothel, and the couple flees to Ooty, where her grandparents live. Police arrive and take them back to Bombay on a claim that Saajan has kidnapped "Paro". Kaajal meanwhile fears the brothel's operators, recalling that a girl who tried to escape was burned alive and that Dhanraj bribes the police[9](https://www.moviebuff.com/baaghi-a-rebel-for-love).
## Cast and crew
Salman Khan and Nagma, a newcomer at the time, head the cast; the supporting players include [Mohnish Bahl](https://www.edgepedia.org/mohnish-bahl) as Jaggu, Asha Sachdev as Leelabai, Beena Banerjee as Mrs. Vandana Sood, Pradeep Ram Singh Rawat as "Buddha", Raju Shrestha as Raju/Refill, Dinesh Hingoo as the college principal, and [Bharat Bhushan](https://www.edgepedia.org/bharat-bhushan) and [Asha Sharma](https://www.edgepedia.org/asha-sharma) as Kaajal's parents[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099080/fullcredits/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_2016/cast-and-crew). Behind the camera, Arvind Laad was the director of photography and the Anand-Milind duo composed the music[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_2016/cast-and-crew). A 2024 Hindi-language report describes how Salman Khan, in a media interview, said he regretted a bikini scene in the film, which he had agreed to after seeing a similar scene in a Hollywood movie[10](https://www.jagran.com/entertainment/bollywood-salman-khan-wore-a-bikini-in-baaghi-film-in-1990-know-the-inside-story-here-23733490.html).
## Reception and commercial performance
The film carries an IMDb weighted rating of 5.9/10 from about 2,100 users, with an unweighted mean of 7.0; users from India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and Bangladesh account for the most ratings[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099080/ratings/). On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 33% Tomatometer from 9 reviews and a 52% Popcornmeter score from 250+ ratings[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_a_rebel_for_love/). A user review on Bollywood Hungama describes the 1990 film as a box-office bomb[11](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/baaghi-3/user-reviews/baaghi-movie-review-by-ippysingh/).
Financial figures differ between sources. The TV9 Hindi report says the makers spent 20 million rupees (2 crore rupees) on the film[12](https://www.tv9hindi.com/entertainment/bollywood-news/salman-khan-nagma-starrer-1990-baaghi-budget-and-box-office-collection-3334827.html/amp), while the Cinetown catalog lists revenue of ₹55 million[13](https://cinetown.org/mv/bollywood/1138).
## Later life of the film
The title stayed alive long enough for later franchise builders to reuse it. The 2016 [Tiger Shroff](https://www.edgepedia.org/tiger-shroff) film *Baaghi* carries the English subtitle "A Rebel for Love" on several listings even though its story, credited to Sanjeev Dutta and others, has no narrative relation to the 1990 film[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_a_rebel_for_love/) • [14](https://filminformation.com/reviews/baaghi/). The 1990 film itself remains in circulation: as of the latest availability check it streams in India on Amazon Prime Video and free with ads on Zee5 and Amazon MX Player[8](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/baaghi-a-rebel-for-love).
## References
1. [Baaghi: A Rebel for Love, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_a_rebel_for_love/)
2. [Baaghi: A Rebel for Love (1990), Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099080/fullcredits/)
3. [Baaghi: A Rebel For Love, eTimes (The Times of India)](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-details/baaghi-a-rebel-for-love/movieshow/62472877.cms)
4. [Baaghi Movie (1990), Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/baaghi/)
5. [Baaghi (1990), India Forums](https://www.indiaforums.com/movie/baaghi-1990_5457)
6. [Baaghi: A Rebel for Love, Cast and Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/baaghi_2016/cast-and-crew)
7. [Baaghi: A Rebel for Love, Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099080/ratings/)
8. [Baaghi: A Rebel for Love streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/baaghi-a-rebel-for-love)
9. [Baaghi: A Rebel for Love, Moviebuff](https://www.moviebuff.com/baaghi-a-rebel-for-love)
10. [Salman Khan wore a bikini in the 1990 film Baaghi, Jagran (Hindi)](https://www.jagran.com/entertainment/bollywood-salman-khan-wore-a-bikini-in-baaghi-film-in-1990-know-the-inside-story-here-23733490.html)
11. [Baaghi user review by ippysingh, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/baaghi-3/user-reviews/baaghi-movie-review-by-ippysingh/)
12. [Salman Khan and Nagma's 1990 Baaghi, budget and box office, TV9 Hindi (Hindi)](https://www.tv9hindi.com/entertainment/bollywood-news/salman-khan-nagma-starrer-1990-baaghi-budget-and-box-office-collection-3334827.html/amp)
13. [Baaghi: A Rebel For Love, Cinetown](https://cinetown.org/mv/bollywood/1138)
14. [Baaghi (2016) review, Film Information](https://filminformation.com/reviews/baaghi/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 1990s › Romance and drama films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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