# Tiranga (1993 film)
**Tirangaa** (तिरंगा; transl. Tricolour) is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language patriotic action drama directed and produced by Mehul Kumar, in which a brigadier and a renegade police officer join forces to stop a terrorist who threatens the country with rocket attacks.[1](https://in.bookmyshow.com/movies/tirangaa/ET00079646) The film was a commercial success and has remained a fixture of Indian television broadcasts on national holidays.[2](https://www.amarujala.com/photo-gallery/entertainment/bollywood/30-years-of-tirangaa-director-mehul-kumar-shares-interesting-anecdotes-raaj-kumar-nana-patekar-rajinikanth-2023-01-28)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 29 January 1993 (India, wide theatrical release)[3](https://d1f72a6kha0tf8.cloudfront.net/tiranga) |
| Director and producer | Mehul Kumar; writer K.K. Singh[4](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/tirangaa/cast/) |
| Lead roles | Raaj Kumar as Brigadier Suryadev Singh; Nana Patekar as Inspector Shivajirao Wagle[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/tirangaa) |
| Villain | Deepak Shirke as Pralaynath Gundaswamy[1](https://in.bookmyshow.com/movies/tirangaa/ET00079646) |
| Runtime | 168 minutes (2 h 48 min)[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/tirangaa) |
| IMDb rating | 6.9/10[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/tirangaa) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story centers on Pralaynath Gundaswamy (Deepak Shirke), an anti-national terrorist leader whose plan to make India "Ghulam" (enslaved) again rests on three missiles he has built, named Pralay 1, Pralay 2, and Pralay 3, which he threatens to unleash on the country.[6](https://aambar.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/tirangaa-1992/) To overthrow him, the government of India hires Brigadier Suryadev Singh ([Raaj Kumar](https://www.edgepedia.org/raaj-kumar)), giving him a secret commando hideout, secret access to the Prime Minister ([Alok Nath](https://www.edgepedia.org/alok-nath)), and legal carte blanche that includes staged measures to let Singh pose as a convict.[7](https://indiancine.ma/AHKO) Singh in turn hires the renegade cop Shivajirao Wagle ([Nana Patekar](https://www.edgepedia.org/nana-patekar)), and after various skirmishes the two men invade the villain's hideout and scuttle his plan to destabilize the nation with rocket attacks on Independence Day.[7](https://indiancine.ma/AHKO)
A parallel thread gives the heroes added motivation: the villain's son Rasiknath impregnates Radha, daughter of the corrupt Central Minister Jeevanlal Tandel (Manohar Singh), who in turn accuses Sanjiv, son of the fearless cop Rudrapratap Chouhan ([Suresh Oberoi](https://www.edgepedia.org/suresh-oberoi)), of rape.[7](https://indiancine.ma/AHKO) The film opens on Chouhan, a Deputy Commissioner of Police who lives with his wife and son Harish and, because he is on gangsters' hit lists, never travels unarmed.[8](https://www.primevideo.com/-/fil/detail/0FERY6C16GWPV5H4F6YXZSG7BW)
## Cast and crew
The principal cast pairs Raaj Kumar with Nana Patekar, supported by Suresh Oberoi as Rudrapratap Chouhan, Varsha Usgaonkar as Shanti Verma, Mamta Kulkarni as Sandhya Gupta, Harish Kumar as Sanjay Chauhan, Manohar Singh as Central Minister Jeevanlal Tandel, Sudhir Dalvi as Prof. Nasrul Hassan, and [Rakesh Bedi](https://www.edgepedia.org/rakesh-bedi) as the police informer Khabrilal.[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/tirangaa) • [4](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/tirangaa/cast/) K.K. Singh wrote the screenplay, Russi Billimoria was the cinematographer, and Yusuf Sheikh edited the film.[4](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/tirangaa/cast/)
## Production and casting
**Casting the two leads.** Both Nana Patekar and Raaj Kumar were known for difficult behavior on set, and many people warned Mehul Kumar against pairing them. According to Kumar, Patekar agreed to join only on the condition that if Raaj Kumar interfered with his work, he would leave the set and not return; Raaj Kumar in turn objected to Patekar's casting, asking why Kumar had signed an actor known for abusing and beating people on set. After Kumar shot the song "Peele peele" with both actors, they became friends.[9](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/raaj-kumar-nana-patekar-abuses-beats-up-people-will-leave-tirangaa-set-9848580/)
Kumar had first offered the police-officer role to [Rajinikanth](https://www.edgepedia.org/rajinikanth), traveling to Madras to narrate the script, and then to [Naseeruddin Shah](https://www.edgepedia.org/naseeruddin-shah); both declined, unwilling to work alongside Raaj Kumar. His publicity designer Atm Ram then suggested Nana Patekar.[2](https://www.amarujala.com/photo-gallery/entertainment/bollywood/30-years-of-tirangaa-director-mehul-kumar-shares-interesting-anecdotes-raaj-kumar-nana-patekar-rajinikanth-2023-01-28) Kumar later said he had no trouble directing the two stars, since he narrated the story properly and gave them a detailed outdoor-indoor shooting chart.[10](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/features/30-years-krantiveer-nana-patekar-performed-climatic-speech-admitted-heart-condition-reveals-mehul-kumar/) Tirangaa began Kumar's collaboration with Patekar, who went on to work with him in *Krantiveer* (1994) and *[Kohram](https://www.edgepedia.org/kohram)* (1999).[11](https://www.filmfare.com/interviews/dilip-kumar-told-me-nana-would-always-be-krantiveer-mehul-kumar-remembers-nana-patekar-86435.html)
## Style and reception
Contemporary commentary placed the film in the lineage of Manoj Kumar's patriotic cinema, noting that Mehul Kumar's *Krantiveer* and *Tiranga* played on patriotism in a more populist mode with rawer rancor. In *Tiranga*, Patekar plays the aggressive police officer who joins forces with the cool-headed military strategist (Raaj Kumar) to fight external forces of fission, and the film did extremely well at the box office.[12](https://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/journals/Journalarchives/Yojana/Yojana-English/1995/August/Yojana_1995_August_1611045932.pdf) A retrospective assessment on Indiancine.ma calls this commercial success among the many nationalist films made since the late 1980s arguably the most bizarre, describing a surreal comic-strip quality carried by Raaj Kumar's flashy dress and rhetorical dialogue style, the filmmaker's fascination with lethal gadgets with flashing lights, and intentional touches such as Khabrilal, an informer who speaks like a [Doordarshan](https://www.edgepedia.org/doordarshan) news reader and whose entrances are accompanied by the channel's news signature tune.[7](https://indiancine.ma/AHKO) A Letterboxd review calls it a classic 1990s patriotic action-drama that thrives on larger-than-life characters, powerful dialogues, and unapologetic nationalism, naming Patekar and Raaj Kumar as the film's biggest strengths.[13](https://letterboxd.com/pranabchowdhury/film/tirangaa/)
## The 1993 Bombay bombings
On 12 March 1993, during the Bombay bombings, Plaza cinema in Mumbai, where *Tirangaa* was playing to a houseful audience, was bombed, leaving 10 dead and 37 injured.[13](https://letterboxd.com/pranabchowdhury/film/tirangaa/) The reviewer Pranab Chowdhury observed that, given the film's patriotic messaging, it is striking that the attackers chose to target the theater showing it.[13](https://letterboxd.com/pranabchowdhury/film/tirangaa/)
## Legacy and availability
Thirty years after release, Mehul Kumar noted that the film still finds its way onto some television channel or another on national holidays.[2](https://www.amarujala.com/photo-gallery/entertainment/bollywood/30-years-of-tirangaa-director-mehul-kumar-shares-interesting-anecdotes-raaj-kumar-nana-patekar-rajinikanth-2023-01-28) The film has gained popularity through satellite reruns.[9](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/raaj-kumar-nana-patekar-abuses-beats-up-people-will-leave-tirangaa-set-9848580/) It is available for rent or purchase on Amazon Video and streams on ZEE5.[5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/tirangaa) • [14](https://www.digit.in/digit-binge/movies/tirangaa-9089.html)
## References
1. [Tirangaa (1993) – Movie, Reviews, Cast & Release Date, BookMyShow](https://in.bookmyshow.com/movies/tirangaa/ET00079646)
2. [30 Years of Tirangaa: Director Mehul Kumar shares anecdotes, Amar Ujala](https://www.amarujala.com/photo-gallery/entertainment/bollywood/30-years-of-tirangaa-director-mehul-kumar-shares-interesting-anecdotes-raaj-kumar-nana-patekar-rajinikanth-2023-01-28)
3. [Tiranga (1993), Moviebuff](https://d1f72a6kha0tf8.cloudfront.net/tiranga)
4. [Tirangaa Cast & Crew, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/tirangaa/cast/)
5. [Tirangaa streaming: where to watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/tirangaa)
6. [Tirangaa (1992) review, Ambar Chatterjee's Reviews](https://aambar.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/tirangaa-1992/)
7. [Tiranga (Mehul Kumar) 1993, Indiancine.ma](https://indiancine.ma/AHKO)
8. [Tiranga, Prime Video](https://www.primevideo.com/-/fil/detail/0FERY6C16GWPV5H4F6YXZSG7BW)
9. [Mehul Kumar recalls Tirangaa casting, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/raaj-kumar-nana-patekar-abuses-beats-up-people-will-leave-tirangaa-set-9848580/)
10. [30 years of Krantiveer: Mehul Kumar reveals anecdotes, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/features/30-years-krantiveer-nana-patekar-performed-climatic-speech-admitted-heart-condition-reveals-mehul-kumar/)
11. [Mehul Kumar remembers Nana Patekar, Filmfare](https://www.filmfare.com/interviews/dilip-kumar-told-me-nana-would-always-be-krantiveer-mehul-kumar-remembers-nana-patekar-86435.html)
12. [Yojana, Vol. 39, August 1995, Publications Division](https://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/journals/Journalarchives/Yojana/Yojana-English/1995/August/Yojana_1995_August_1611045932.pdf)
13. [Tirangaa review by Pranab Chowdhury, Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/pranabchowdhury/film/tirangaa/)
14. [Tirangaa Movie (1993), Digit Binge](https://www.digit.in/digit-binge/movies/tirangaa-9089.html)
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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 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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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license