Ghulam-E-Musthafa

Ghulam-E-Musthafa review :

Coming after the super success of Agnisakshi (1996), director Parto Ghosh and Nana Patekar teamed up for Ghulam-E-Musthafa, an underworld thriller with a family touch. Nana was outstanding as the kind hearted Muslim goon who protects a Hindu family of Shivaji Satam and Aruna Irani. Even the charming Raveena Tandon impressed in a small role of a bar dancer who falls in love with Nana. Their chemistry was quite crackling despite the age gap.

The film was titled Musthafa first after Nana Patekar's character but certain Muslim groups raised objections to it after which the makers added "Ghulam-E" to the title and made everyone happy!!

Though the movie revolves around the underworld nexus with politicians, it is essentially a family drama at its core and the scenes where Nana Patekar stays and interacts with the Hindu Brahmin family are truly endearing. Nana refusing the non-vegetarian food sent for him in order to respect the sentiments of the Brahmin family is another striking moment. "Yeh meetha danda hai. Isse khaa sakte ho aur khaa bhi sakte ho. Kaise khana hai soch lo!" was a solid punchline.

Despite being a watch-worthy film, Ghulam-E-Musthafa turned a box office flop as the audience preferred Yash Chopra's candy floss Dil To Pagal Hai and Sunil Shetty's surprise success Bhai which released on same day. In my opinion, Ghulam-E-Musthafa would've worked well as a solo release instead of clashing with these two movies. Sometimes going solo is the best plan of action!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.