# Dhaal (ढाल)
**Dhaal** (ढाल; also released as *Dhaal: The Battle of Law Against Law*) is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language action drama film directed by Sameer Malkan, starring [Vinod Khanna](https://www.edgepedia.org/vinod-khanna), Suniel Shetty, Amrish Puri, and [Danny Denzongpa](https://www.edgepedia.org/danny-denzongpa).[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135393/) • [2](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Dhaal?hl=en_US&id=B8F9BFC50F7FF3E4MV) It was released in India on 28 November 1997 with an adults-only (A) certificate.[3](https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=2626) • [4](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-details/dhaal-the-battle-of-law-against-law/movieshow/62520128.cms)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 28 November 1997, India; Hindi language; A certificate[3](https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=2626) • [4](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-details/dhaal-the-battle-of-law-against-law/movieshow/62520128.cms) |
| Director / producer | Sameer Malkan; produced by Suresh Grover under Rohitasha Movies (JVG Group)[5](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=2626) • [6](https://letterboxd.com/film/dhaal/) |
| Runtime | 148 minutes[3](https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=2626) |
| Lead cast | Vinod Khanna (Inspector Varun Saxena), Suniel Shetty (Suraj), Amrish Puri (Pilot Baba), Danny Denzongpa (the advocate), Gautami (Sneha Saxena)[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135393/) |
| Music | Anu Malik; lyrics by Dev Kohli, Manohar Iyer, Suresh Grover, and Anu Malik[5](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=2626) |
| Box office | Budget 25,000,000 rupees; total nett gross 26,850,000 rupees on 140 screens; judged a flop by Box Office India[3](https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=2626) |
| Writers | Story and screenplay by Rajeev Kaul and Praful Parekh; dialogue by Madan Joshi[5](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=2626) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The film centers on Inspector Varun Saxena (Vinod Khanna), an honest police officer, and his friend Suraj ([Suniel Shetty](https://www.edgepedia.org/suniel-shetty)), a garage mechanic. Varun apprehends the son of the gangster Pilot Baba ([Amrish Puri](https://www.edgepedia.org/amrish-puri)) for killing fellow inspector Deodhar ([Arun Govil](https://www.edgepedia.org/arun-govil)), but Pilot Baba's advocate gets the son proved innocent and set free.[7](https://www.indya101.com/c/movies/overview/id_1184/Dhaal) When Varun confides his frustrations, Suraj decides to study law to assist him; their friendship collapses when Varun arrests Suraj for attempting to rape Mrs. Deodhar, and Suraj is sentenced to prison.[7](https://www.indya101.com/c/movies/overview/id_1184/Dhaal) After Mrs. Deodhar is killed and the evidence points to Varun, he too is arrested and imprisoned in the same jail as Suraj.[7](https://www.indya101.com/c/movies/overview/id_1184/Dhaal)
The trade paper Film Information, reviewing the film at release, described the premise as a call for the police and lawyers to work in tandem: the criminal lawyer who frees every criminal Varun books is the inspector's brother-in-law, whose biggest client is the city's topmost underworld don, and the lawyer despises his brother-in-law because of his poverty. Suraj, originally studying to become a defense lawyer, switches to aiming at public prosecution, and both friends end up behind bars through the don's and lawyer's foul play before the lawyer-friend escapes from jail to engineer a public confession by the don.[8](https://filminformation.com/featured/flashback-25-november-2022-from-our-issue-dated-29th-november-1997/)
## Production and release
Production began in 1993 but the film faced several delays before its worldwide release on 28 November 1997.[2](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Dhaal?hl=en_US&id=B8F9BFC50F7FF3E4MV) Filming included locations at Central Jail, Bangalore, Karnataka.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135393/) It opened at Novelty and 22 other cinemas of Bombay through Tridev Movies, with dull publicity and a poor opening at most places, according to Film Information.[8](https://filminformation.com/featured/flashback-25-november-2022-from-our-issue-dated-29th-november-1997/)
The name of Danny Denzongpa's advocate character differs between databases: IMDb lists him as Advocate Vishwaraj Diwan,[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135393/) while Box Office India and Bollywood Hungama list him as Indrajit Diwan.[5](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=2626) • [9](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/dhaal/cast/)
## Reception and box office
Film Information's 1997 review called the film a dull fare with a routine screenplay and slow-moving drama, finding only one clapworthy scene before the interval and some thrilling action in the climax. It judged Vinod Khanna very good as the police inspector, Amrish Puri living the don's role, Danny Denzongpa good, and Sunil Shetty excelling in the climax action and a jail fight scene while being ill-at-ease in song-dances; Sameer Malkan's direction was called ordinary.[8](https://filminformation.com/featured/flashback-25-november-2022-from-our-issue-dated-29th-november-1997/) [Google Play](https://www.edgepedia.org/google-play)'s listing describes the film as receiving mainly mixed reviews from critics.[2](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Dhaal?hl=en_US&id=B8F9BFC50F7FF3E4MV)
Box office figures differ between sources. Box Office India records a budget of 25,000,000 rupees, a first day of 3,200,000 rupees on 140 screens, a first week of 14,300,000 rupees, and a total nett gross of 26,850,000 rupees, with a verdict of flop.[3](https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=2626) Bollywood Hungama's figures match these totals (opening day 3.2 million (0.32 crore), first week 14.3 million (1.43 crore), total 26.9 million (2.69 crore) nett, worldwide gross 37.8 million (3.78 crore)).[10](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/dhaal/box-office/) Google Play's description instead calls it an average grosser at the box office.[2](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Dhaal?hl=en_US&id=B8F9BFC50F7FF3E4MV) On IMDb the film holds a user rating of 5.2 out of 10 from 114 votes.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135393/)
A retrospective user review on IMDb highlights Amrish Puri's Pilot Baba and his punchline "Pilot Baba ki flight ka break kabhi fail nahi hota", and notes that [Anu Malik](https://www.edgepedia.org/anu-malik)'s "Dil maaka deena" echoed Los Del Rio's "Macarena".[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135393/)
## References
1. [Dhaal: The Battle of Law Against Law (1997), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135393/)
2. [Dhaal, Google Play Movies](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Dhaal?hl=en_US&id=B8F9BFC50F7FF3E4MV)
3. [Dhaal, Box Office India](https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=2626)
4. [Dhaal: The Battle of Law Against Law, eTimes (Times of India)](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-details/dhaal-the-battle-of-law-against-law/movieshow/62520128.cms)
5. [Dhaal cast and crew, Box Office India](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=2626)
6. [Dhaal (1997), Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/dhaal/)
7. [Dhaal (1997) synopsis, Indya101](https://www.indya101.com/c/movies/overview/id_1184/Dhaal)
8. [FLASHBACK, 25 November 2022 (from the issue dated 29 November 1997), Film Information](https://filminformation.com/featured/flashback-25-november-2022-from-our-issue-dated-29th-november-1997/)
9. [Dhaal cast list, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/dhaal/cast/)
10. [Dhaal box office collection, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/dhaal/box-office/)
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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 › Action and thriller films › Released 1996 to 1999*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license