General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Gopi Kishan (गोपी किशन)

Gopi Kishan (गोपी किशन) is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Mukesh Duggal, starring Suniel Shetty in a dual role as twin brothers, supported by Shilpa Shirodkar and Karisma Kapoor.¹ It is a remake of K. Bhagyaraj's hit Tamil film Avasara Police 100, and it was one of the commercially successful Hindi films of 1994.¹

Key fact	Detail
Release	2 December 1994 (India)²
Director / producer	Mukesh Duggal, for Prince & Prince International³
Writer	Anees Bazmee³
Music	Anand Chitragupt and Milind Chitragupt (Anand–Milind); lyricist Sameer⁴
Runtime	161 minutes (2h 41m)⁵
India net gross	₹48,125,000; verdict: Semi Hit⁶
IMDb rating	5.8/10 from about 1.2K votes⁷

Spoilers

Plot

The story follows two men with the same face. Gopinath, called Gopi, is a timid, honest police constable who has worked for years without a promotion and prays daily to Lord Hanuman for advancement.⁸ His look-alike Kishan is a good-hearted gangster searching for his father; when he learns of Gopi, he uses the resemblance to his advantage and begins arresting criminals while impersonating the constable.⁹ Gopi receives the credit, is promoted, and believes Lord Hanuman is performing miracles on his behalf.⁹

The situation turns serious when the gangster Sawant (Mohan Joshi) kidnaps Tinku, the child, after mistaking him for Gopi's son, forcing the two men to work together for the rescue.⁸ A romantic thread runs through the film: Barkha (Karisma Kapoor), the Police Commissioner's daughter, falls for Gopi after he arrests her and refuses to back down to her father.⁸ Chanda (Shilpa Shirodkar) is Kishan's wife, and Suresh Oberoi plays Rajeshwar Choudhary, the criminal father whose identity the brothers' mother Geeta (Aruna Irani) has kept secret.⁸

Cast and crew

Suniel Shetty plays both Gopinath "Gopi" and Kishan R. Choudhary. The supporting cast includes Karisma Kapoor as Barkha, Shilpa Shirodkar as Chanda, Suresh Oberoi as Rajeshwar Choudhary, Aruna Irani as Geeta R. Choudhary, Mohan Joshi as the villain Sawant, Arun Bakshi as a corrupt minister, Satyendra Kapoor as the Police Commissioner, Mushtaq Khan as Inspector Mishra, and Shammi as Janki.¹⁰ The child role of Tinku is played by Master Imran, whose confusion about who his father is became one of the film's noted comic threads.¹¹

Behind the camera, Anees Bazmee wrote the film, Anand–Milind composed the music with lyrics by Sameer, and Akram Khan and Rajiv Mukherjee handled cinematography.⁴^•¹² Playback singers included Kumar Sanu, Poornima, Alka Yagnik, and Arun Bakshi.⁴

Direction change

According to trivia recorded on IMDb, the film's original director was Deepak Shivdasani, who was asked to leave the production after about 80 percent of it was complete because of differences with producer Mukesh Duggal; Duggal then completed the film and credited himself as director.⁵ A Hindi-language film listing also names Shivdasani in connection with the direction, reflecting the same attribution question.¹³

Music

The soundtrack by Anand–Milind produced several popular songs. "Hai hukku" was already a hit at the time of release, and "Batti na bujha" and "Chhatri na khol" were also well-tuned numbers with eye-catching picturisations, according to the contemporary trade review in Film Information.¹¹ The full song list includes "Batti Na Bujha" (Poornima), "Chatri Na Khol Barsaat Mein" (Kumar Sanu, Poornima), "Hai Hukku Hai Hukku Hai Hai" (Kumar Sanu, Poornima), "I Love You" (Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik), "Mera Mehboob Aayega" (Arun Bakshi, Poornima), and "Yeh Ishq Hai Kya" (Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik).¹⁴

Reception and box office

The contemporary trade review called the film an entertaining masala picture (Hindi film mixing action, comedy, romance, and music), praising Sunil Shetty's work in both roles, Shilpa Shirodkar's performance, and the witty dialogues, while noting that the editing should have been sharper and that several sub-plots made the ending somewhat confusing.¹¹ The review highlighted the climax, in which the timid Gopi comes to the rescue of the brave Kishan, as a standout scene.¹¹

At the Indian box office the film opened to ₹4.3 million (₹0.43 crore) on its first day, reached ₹12.4 million (₹1.24 crore) by the end of the opening weekend and ₹21.4 million (₹2.14 crore) after week one, and finished with a total India net collection of ₹48.1 million (₹4.81 crore).¹⁵ Box Office India lists the same ₹48,125,000 net gross and classifies the film as a Semi Hit, ranking it 16th among the top Hindi earners of 1994 on an adjusted basis.⁶^•¹⁶ On IMDb the film holds a 5.8/10 rating from about 1.2K users.⁷

Availability

The film has been released on home digital platforms and streams on ZEE5; in the United States it has been available on fuboTV, and it can be rented or purchased through services such as Google Play and Apple TV.⁹^•¹

References

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 1990 to 1995

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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