Mohabbat (मोहब्बत)
Mohabbat (मोहब्बत; translation: Love/Romance) is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language romance-drama film directed and written by Reema Rakesh Nath, starring Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Kapoor, and Akshaye Khanna in a love triangle with a suspense element.1 • 2 • 3 It was released on 19 September 1997 and was a box-office failure.4 • 5
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release date | 19 September 19974 |
| Director and writer | Reema Rakesh Nath (story, screenplay, dialogue)1 • 4 |
| Principal cast | Madhuri Dixit (Shweta Sharma), Sanjay Kapoor (Gaurav), Akshaye Khanna (Rohit Malhotra/Tony Braganza)6 |
| Music | Nadeem–Shravan; lyrics by Sameer and Reema Rakeshnath4 |
| India box office | 52.1 million (5.21 crore) nett (Bollywood Hungama); 89,900,000 gross (Box Office India)7 • 8 |
| Verdict | Flop (both Bollywood Hungama and Box Office India)5 • 9 |
| IMDb rating | 5.0/10 from 635 votes1 |
Spoilers
Plot
The wealthy Kapoor family consists of Madanlal (Saeed Jaffrey), his wife Geeta (Farida Jalal), daughter Roshni, and son Gaurav (Sanjay Kapoor). Gaurav is attacked by men led by Shiva (Shiva Rindani) while returning home from a bank, and a young man named Rohit Malhotra (Akshaye Khanna) comes to his rescue. Gaurav hires Rohit in his firm, and the two become close friends. Both unknowingly fall in love with the same woman, Shweta Sharma (Madhuri Dixit); Gaurav finds out and steps aside, and Shweta and Rohit plan to marry. Shiva then attacks Rohit and throws him off a cliff, and a devastated Shweta loses her voice. Believing Rohit dead, the Kapoors arrange Gaurav's engagement to Shweta through her brother Shekhar (Farooq Sheikh), and Gaurav finds a lookalike of Rohit named Tony Braganza, not knowing whether Tony is Rohit.10
Contemporary trade coverage described the film as a love triangle with an element of suspense, in which a girl and boy fall in love with the guardian brother's approval while the boy's young boss also loves her silently, followed by tragedy and the eventual union of one couple.3
Production and music
The film was produced under the banner Dashaka Films Pvt. Ltd. by Rakesh Nath, with Reema Rakesh Nath credited with the story, screenplay, and dialogues as well as direction.4 The score was composed by the Nadeem–Shravan duo, with lyrics by Sameer and Reema Rakeshnath.4 Song picturisations were choreographed by Saroj Khan, with foreign locations used for the songs.3
The supporting cast included Farida Jalal as Geetarani Kapoor, Saeed Jaffrey as Madan Kapoor, Tej Sapru as Dr. R.C. Goyal, Sulabha Arya as Rohit's mother, and Farooq Shaikh as Shekhar Sharma.4 • 6
Release and reception
Mohabbat opened on 19 September 1997 at the Liberty cinema and 20 other cinemas of Bombay through Metro Films, with an average opening in Bombay and very good openings in Delhi-U.P. and C.I., though not up to the mark in C.P. and Rajasthan.3 A trade review in Film Information called the film a confident directorial debut for Reema Rakesh Nath, praising the narration, the Saroj Khan song picturisations, and Rajan Kinagi's camerawork, while noting that the script was not too novel and the dialogues should have been more fiery; it identified "Don't break my heart" as the hit number.3 A Rediff retrospective noted that Madhuri Dixit had great expectations from the film, which was produced by her secretary Rikku.11
On IMDb the film holds a rating of 5.0/10 from 635 users.1 Rotten Tomatoes records no critic reviews and a 44% audience score from more than 100 ratings.12
Box office
The two main trade trackers give different figures. Bollywood Hungama reports an opening day of 4.6 million (0.46 crore), an opening weekend of 13.5 million (1.35 crore), a first week of 24.2 million (2.42 crore), and a lifetime India nett of 52.1 million (5.21 crore), with 72.4 million (7.24 crore) India gross, 8 million (0.8 crore) overseas gross, and 80.4 million (8.04 crore) worldwide gross.7 Box Office India instead lists India gross of 8,99,00,000, overseas of 77,93,750, and worldwide of 9,76,93,750, ranking the film 26th among 1997's worldwide grossers.8 Both sources agree on the verdict: Flop.5 • 9 Box Office India's inflation-adjusted nett gross is 48,04,65,320, ranking it 34th among the year's flops.9
Availability
The film is not available for streaming in India, but in the United States it can be rented or bought on Amazon Video and streamed free with ads on Plex and Fawesome.6 • 13
References
- Mohabbat (1997), IMDb
- Mohabbat (मोहब्बत) Hindi Romantic Full Love Story Movie, YouTube
- FLASHBACK: From our issue dated 20th September 1997, Film Information
- Mohabbat, Movie, Box Office India
- Bollywood Box Office Collection India and Verdicts 1997, Bollywood Hungama
- Mohabbat streaming: where to watch movie online? (India), JustWatch
- Mohabbat Box Office Collection, Bollywood Hungama
- Top Worldwide Grossers 1997, Box Office India
- Top Hits 1997, Box Office India
- MOHABBAT, Movies on Google Play
- The hits and misses of 1997, Rediff
- Mohabbat, Rotten Tomatoes
- Mohabbat streaming: where to watch movie online? (US), JustWatch
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 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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