Kachche Dhaage

Kachche Dhaage
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Milan Luthria
Produced by	Ramesh Taurani; Kamal S. Taurani
Story by	Anjum Rajabali (Story & Screenplay); Sanjay Chhel; Ramesh S Taurani
Starring	Ajay Devgn; Saif Ali Khan; Manisha Koirala; Namrata Shirodkar
Music by	Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Cinematography	Gopal S. Reddy
Distributed by	Tips Music Films
Release date	25 December 1998; ; ; ; ;
Running time	148 mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	?100 million
Box office	?288 million

Kachche Dhaage (English:The Fragile Bond) is a Bollywood films of 1998 Indian action thriller film directed by Milan Luthria and starring Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan and Manisha Koirala. The film features Devgan as a smuggler, delivering goods across the Rajasthan-Pakistan border, was filmed in the deserts of Rajasthan and in Switzerland. It premiered on 10 February 1999 in Mumbai.

A film under the same title, Kuchhe Dhaage was originally released in 1973, directed by Raj Khosla and starred Vinod Khanna, Moushumi Chatterjee and Kabir Bedi. The film also has similarities with Jackie Chan's 1987 film Armour of God.

Plot

Aaftab (Ajay Devgn) and Dhananjay (Saif Ali Khan) are two step brothers who meet for the first time. Each one has a selfish approach to life; Aaftab is a petty smuggler, specializing in smuggling goods across the Rajasthan border into Pakistan whilst Dhananjay is a corporate yuppy from the city, with a high-flying lifestyle. Aaftab is in love with Rukshana (Manisha Koirala), but is rejected by her family because he is illegitimate. Dhananjay is dating Ragini (Namrata Shirodkar) and has his father's death to contend with.

When the brothers meet for the first time, they instantly loathe each other, having nothing in common. One night, Aaftab blows up a loaded truck while trying to steal from it and attracts a mass of unwanted enforcers. Soon, Aaftab is forced to send Dhananjay into a trap, but ends up with them both being handcuffed and escaping from the Border Security Force, the Central Bureau of Investigation, and the border mafia who are attempting to incriminate the brothers for anti-national activities and a murder. They escape on foot, in motorbikes, cars, stolen trucks and Aaftab is tied to the undercarriage of a moving goods train. They run into difficult circumstances on the run, not in the least made better by their hatred for each other. Despite their initial differences, the two gradually learn to like and understand each other, eventually proving their innocence.

The climax of this film was shot around Jaisalmer, especially in Kuldhara, the deserted village of Paliwal Brahmins.

Cast

Ajay Devgn as Aftab
Saif Ali Khan as Dhananjay Pandit 'Jai'
Manisha Koirala as Rukhsana
Namrata Shirodkar as Ragini Pandit
Sadashiv Amrapurkar as CBI Officer Jadeja
Govind Namdeo as Vaikunth
Maya Alagh as Mariam
Anupam Shyam as Ramakant Pandit
Ishrat Ali as Maulvi
Vineet Kumar as bhagta
Anu Kapoor
Parmeet Sethi (Cameo appearance)
Simran (Cameo appearance)
Mahavir Shah as Dhananjay's Lawyer
Rajeev Verma as Justice Nariman Sorabji
Rajesh Vivek as Main Terrorist

Reception

Critical response

The film received a mediocre reception. The film was described as having a weaker climax than some of the earlier action sequences although was praised for its scenery in Switzerland and northwestern India. Suparn Verma of Rediff.com described Devgan as "effective" but disapproved of Koirala's performance, believing it was wasted. Verma noted a similarity with that of Soldier in that there is a troubled hero, a great many red herrings and a mysterious villain who pulls all the strings but believed that Kachche Dhaage was a weaker film because it lacked the pace and focus.

Box office

The film was a box office success grossing ?277 million at the domestic box office.^[1]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack, which featured a number of Punjabi folk tunes, proved popular amongst non Hindi audiences of the film.^[4]^[5] The music was composed by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Lyrics by Anand Bakshi ^[6]