Josh (2000 film)

Josh ( Zeal; ) is a 2000 Indian action romance film directed and co-written by Mansoor Khan. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Chandrachur Singh and Sharad Kapoor in the lead roles. The Hindi language film, with occasional Konkani,  was set and filmed in Goa. The film is set in the year 1980, amidst the backdrop of real estate deals in Goa.

The film marks the comeback of director Mansoor Khan after a hiatus of five years. It is written by Neeraj Vora and Aatish Kapadia based on the story by Mansoor Khan, with a screenplay by Neeraj Vora, Mansoor Khan, and dialogues by Nidhi Tuli. The film was produced by Ganesh Jain, Ratan Jain and Balwant Singh. The film was released on 9 June 2000 and was distributed by United Seven Creations. The film earned a total of Rs 35 crore (US$2.6 million) net, was the fifth highest-grossing film of 2000 in India. The movie had few plot points inspired by the 1961 movie West Side Story.

Plot
In the town of Vasco in Goa, there exist two rival street gangs -  the Bichhoos (Scorpions), who are Hindu migrants and the Eagles, who are local Christians. The Bichhoos leader is Prakash Sharma (Sharad Kapoor), while the Eagles are led by Max Dias (Shah Rukh Khan).
Prakash is a local enforcer, who uses his gang to engage in underhanded activities within the Vasco real estate market. Max along with his educated twin sister Shirley (Aishwarya Rai) are orphans who belong to a rowdy motorcycle crew, together with the other members of the Eagles.
The gangs are sworn enemies and have demarcated the town in order to avoid altercations. They are usually stopped from fights by Father Jacob or the town Police Inspector (Sharat Saxena).

Prakash's brother Rahul (Chandrachur Singh) is a well-educated master-chef working in Mumbai. He comes to visit Vasco after two years, intending to take his family back to Mumbai with him. Rahul decides to tour Vasco and rediscovers his love for the city. While in the Eagles territory, he spots Shirley and becomes fascinated by her heavenly beauty and elegance at first sight. He eventually develops a deep attraction for Shirley and decides to settle in Vasco and opens a pastry shop. Meanwhile, he unknowingly becomes part of the Eagles - Bichchoo rivalry and gets closer to Shirley.

Prakash, in desperate need of money, plans to take over the village grounds. The grounds historically belong to Alberto Vasco, the landlord of the entire village and the man after whom the town is named. Rahul finds out that the ground was passed from Alberto to a woman named Mary Anne Louise. Unaware of his brother's schemes, Rahul visits the address listed for Mr. Vasco, and it is revealed that Mary was a renter in the villa which belonged to Lady D'Costa (Nadira), twenty-two years ago. Rahul learns that Mary is Max and Shirley's mother and the twins are the illegitimate children of Alberto Vasco, born in 1958.

Having developed a close relationship with Shirley, Rahul plans to reveal this information to her in the form of a letter, however, it falls into the hands of Prakash. Prakash plots to murder Max in order to receive Alberto Vasco's valuable land. A bloody fight breaks out between the Bichhoos and the Eagles, and Max accidentally shoots Prakash while defending himself. Max is arrested by the police and his trial puts a rift between Shirley and Rahul. Max is about to go to the gallows, but the truth is finally revealed by Rahul and he acknowledges Prakash's mistake. 

Finally, Rahul and Shirley are married, Max too marries his longtime crush Rosanne (Priya Gill).

Cast
 Shah Rukh Khan as Max "Maxie" Dias
 Aishwarya Rai as Shirley Dias
 Sharad Kapoor as Prakash Sharma
 Chandrachur Singh as Rahul Sharma (Prakash Sharma's brother)
 Priya Gill as Rosanne 
 Raymond Alberquerque as Alberto Vasco (a rich Portuguese who owned most of the land in the town during the Portuguese colonial era pre-1971. The town is named after Vasco. )
 Vivek Vaswani as Savio (Rosanne's boyfriend)
 Ruhshad Nariman Daruwalla as Child Artist
 Sharat Saxena as Police Inspector
 Puneet Vasishtha as Michael
 Sushant Singh as Gotiya
 Nadira as Lady D'Costa (The lady who used to give bad words to Alberto Vasco)
 Suhas Joshi as Rahul Sharma's mother
 Ali Asgar as Deven
 Rajesh Khera as Matwyn
 Manav Gohil as Ganpat
 Shraddha Nigam as Prakash Sharma's Girlfriend
 Manoj Pahwa

Production 
Director Mansoor Khan was initially considering Salman Khan for the role of Max Dias, but things didn't work out as he was dating the actress and he signed on Shah Rukh Khan to avoid any fights and career destruction in future. Mansoor Khan has revealed he was keen on bringing Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan together for his film "Josh", but the latter rejected the film. Aamir Khan was apparently offered the role of Rahul Sharma. "Aamir Khan wanted to change the image and he no longer wanted to play the lover boy or romantic hero Rahul Sharma," Mansoor Khan told reporters. Mansoor Khan initially wanted Kajol to play Shirley Dias but the actress rejected the offer.

Music
A. R. Rahman was signed in as the music composer first, but he opted out, due to time constraints and other commitments. After Rahman opted out, Mansoor Khan roped in Anu Malik to complete the music fast, and release the film on time. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 18,00,000 units sold, the film's soundtrack album was the year's (2000) one of the highest-selling.

Reception

Box office
Josh grossed  in India and $1.127 million (5.01 crore) in other countries, for a worldwide total of , against its  budget. It had a worldwide opening weekend of , and grossed  in its first week. It is the 6th-highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2000 worldwide.

In India, the film opened on Friday, 9 June 2000, across 300 screens, and earned  nett on its opening day. It grossed  nett in its opening weekend, and had a first week of  nett. The film earned a total of  nett, and was declared "Hit" by Box Office India. It is the 5th-highest-grossing film of 2000 in India.

Among overseas territories, Josh had an opening weekend of $575,000 (2.55 crore) and went on to gross $800,000 (3.56 crore) in its first week. The film earned a total of $1.127 million (5.01 crore) at the end of its theatrical run. Overseas, It is the 9th-highest-grossing film of 2000.

Critical reception
The film received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. Planet Bollywood gave the film 7.5/10 and wrote "Mansoor [Khan] succeeds as a director in keeping the movie fast and interesting, though it is the characters who come out much stronger than the movie". Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama noted "On the whole, Josh is a well made film with great performances and a hit musical score. But the Goan ambiance will restrict its prospects in some states due to lack of identification. Also, an average second half and a weak climax are major limitations".

References

External links
 
 
 

Category:2000s Hindi-language films
Category:2000 films
Category:Indian films
Category:Films shot in Goa
Category:Films scored by Anu Malik
Category:Films set in Goa
Category:Indian action films
Category:Indian action drama films