After KAALIA, Tinnu Anand returned with Big B with Shaheenshah(1988) which was his comeback since his brief exit for politics. Shaheenshah is however very overrated. The film starts off well with Amrish Puri staging a bank robbery with Prem Chopra being along with him(who is the manager in the bank) and Innocent Inspector Kader Khan who catches one of them in a bar is arrested in a case of bribe. He commits suicide leaving behind a son, predictabily Amitabh Bachchan who first is shown as a buffoon raving about his fake encounters but he has a disguise of Shaheenshah who kills people. The handling however is very corny, much akin to cinema in 80s It's very heartening to see Amitabh in the Paan Banaras waala style especially because he was past his prime, overweight and wrinkles but yet some scenes are good especially Shaheenshah beating Muqtar Singh.An ode is given to DON where Amitabh too ate paan and spoke in the dialect There are several stupid scenes like the entire climatic court scene which is too stupid

Direction is okay Music is decent

Amitabh Bachchan does show good comic timing and his role of Paan Speaking Cop(looks similar to DON)but as I said he was past his prime by then(late 40s) and he looks old and overweight.He is good as Shaheenshah though. Meenaxi is okay in her role, To see a talent of her calibre in such roles is odd, but anywayz bollywood had not yet seen her perform in Damini that time. Amongst rest Aruna Irani is good, Rohini Hattangudy(though younger to Bachchan) is good, Pran is good too, Kader Khan leaves a mark in a cameo Aftab is decent as the child artist of Amitabh, Amrish Puri, Prem Chopra are as usual, rest are okay

Shahenshah review :

The films title became synonymous with Amitabh Bachchan and he is still referred as the Shahenshah of Bollywood. There are kings and stars in Hindi cinema but Shahenshah is only one!! Directed by Tinnu Anand who had worked with Bachchan earlier in the super hit Kaalia (1981),Shahenshah went through its share of delays and got involved in bit of controversy as a certain political party threatened to ban it in wake of Big B's alleged involvement in the Bofors scam.

Coming nearly two years after his Aakhree Raasta (1986),Shahenshah was highly anticipated by Bachchan's fans and in one of the many such incidences, police had to be called in to control the rampaging crowd for advance booking at Badal Bijlee cinema, Matunga.

The film itself was total paisa vasool with Amitabh playing a seemingly corrupt pan chewing cop Vijay Srivastava as well as his alter ego Shahenshah who is a separate kanoon in himself!! "Rishte mein toh hum tumhare baap lagte hai. Naam hai Shahenshah!!" is still mimicked by all and sundry..

Amrish Puri was outstanding as JK, the baddie who frames Vijays police wala dad (Kader Khan in a memorable cameo) and later, emerges wet out of a pool in his short trunks to burn down the neighborhood gareebon ki basti. The whisky guzzler occassionally changes his brand from Chivas Regal to Black dog whenever he spots a gori titli in his regular bar. Haha!!

This is one of the few films where I liked Meenakshi Seshadri, playing a street smart chorni in a complete departure from her bholi bhaali kamzor aurat image!! She looked great here opposite Big B as well.

Tinnu Anand's direction was super competent with focus on Bachchan's mass appeal. Not many may know that the story concept was by Jaya Bachchan. Amar Utpal's dashing musical score - "Jaane do mujhe jaana hai", "Hey you!" and ofcourse the evergreen title song sung by Kishore Kumar - is another positive factor.

Shahenshah remains a favorite of all Amitabh Bachchan fans. The film defines his aura, his style and his super stardom in more ways than one. Unmissable!!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Few days back i saw recently released super hero movie RA.One. And today i got opportunity to look at 80's Masala action movie Shahenshah, whose lead protagonist has shades of super hero. Movie engaged the viewer to glue on screen from start to finish. At the end of show, i simply mesmerized by movie.Today even with great level of technology, how movies are failing big time in execution and story telling. Even though 80's is not known for great movies, but Shahenshah was one of exceptional movies of 80's.

Masala entertainment and Manmohan desai cinema are two sides of one coin, but this movie forced me to think that Masala is not necessarily the cinema which defies logic, even with logical consequences, a great action masala thriller can be made. This movie worked vastly in three departments : 1.Performance by Amitabh 2. Awesome dialogues 3. Commendable direction.

Story is not new, but told in highly entertaining manner with some twists and turns. Story is about revenge drama, with a difference that protagonist is super hero. Vijay is police officer who double crossed the anti social elements by taking bribe from them while on duty, and demolish their nefarious designs in form of Shahenshah. No one knows real identity of Shahenshah. Vijay(Shahenshah) has one agenda in life, to clear the accusations against his father of taking bribe and take revenge from the man(J.K.) who forced him to commit suicide. Amitabh plays both roles as inspector Vijay (with funny bones) and Heart thumping Giant Shahenshah with utmost perfection.Leave alone stars of 80's, even if i think of all bollywood actors till today, i don't see if any one match the magic, perfection and persona of both characters played by Amitabh.

Movie spell binds the audience from start to finish, story though same old revenge drama, still captivate due to brilliant script and awesome dialogues.Whenever Shahenshah comes on screen, magic is seen to believe. All those moments should be written in bold letters in cinema history. Never ever in my life i spell bind with presence and performance, in simple words, no one can turn the eyes from screen whenever Shahenshah comes to rescue. Amrish puri as villain is giant as well and complemented Amitabh equally. Minakshi Sheshadri looks hot and did fine job. Movie reached to pinnacle in climax. I never saw any climax as enthralling as this one. If i have to write top 10 climaxes in cinema history, Shahenshah would probably be in top. What a finale sir, great job. The entire scene from the point when inspector Vijay arrest Amrish puri and put him behind bar to the final court room drama, J.K set free by court and finally J.K. taken back to court by Shahenshah and brilliant turn of events there .. no one can keep eyes off screen in those last 20 minutes. Such a gripping moments and such a energetic performance by Amitabh.

Finally, if any one want to see edge of seat masala genre blended brilliantly with Superhero concept, not going overboard for even a second, Please check this one. I promise you, you will feel sorry for contemporary filmmakers, they can't even come close with this school of film making. Superb entertainer .. 10/10 By me.