Kshatriya (film)

Kshatriya (transl. Warriors) is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language epic action film directed and written by J. P. Dutta. It stars an ensemble cast of Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Meenakshi Seshadri, Raveena Tandon, Divya Bharti, Rakhee Gulzar, Sumalatha, Kabir Bedi, Puneet Issar and Prem Chopra, with Sunil Dutt in a special appearance.

Released worldwide on March 26, 1993, it achieved a record-breaking box office opening and was lauded by critics and audiences alike.

This is a story about two warring royal Kshatriya Rajput families in Rajasthan, India, based in Surjangarh and Mirtagarh. The Mirtagarh family is headed by Maharaj Bhavani Singh, his wife Maheshwari Devi, their daughter Divya, and his younger brother Jaswant Singh. The Surjangarh family is headed by Maharaj Prithvi Singh, his wife Suman, his brother Devendra Pratap Singh, and Devendra's son Vijay Pratap Singh.

Vijay falls in love with Divya, but both families are against the marriage. The situation is made worse by Mirtagarh's diwan (bookkeeper), Ajay Singh, and his son, Shakti Singh. When Vijay comes to meet Divya, he is killed by Shakti, even though Bhavani never wanted him dead. On seeing Vijay's body, Divya commits suicide. Overwhelmed, Prithvi shoots and kills Bhavani in revenge, and is arrested by police officer Ganga Singh. While Prithvi is in prison, Jaswant returns from England with his newly wed English wife, Jenny. When he learns about the past events, he kills Devendra in revenge. Horrified by this bloodbath, Jenny, who is pregnant, leaves him for her native England, saying that she will give birth to their child at a place where there is love and peace. Both Prithvi and Jaswant vow to kill each other once Prithvi is released from prison. To get them away from the bloody feud, Prithvi's son, Vinay, and Bhavani's son, Vikram, are sent to England as children.

Twenty years later, Vinay and Vikram are the best of friends, living in London, England. Neelima, who is Vikram's cousin and Jaswant and late Jenny's daughter, also lives in London. Vinay and Neelima fall in love and want to marry, which could signal the end of the Surjangarh and Mirtagarh feud. Meanwhile, Ganga’s daughter, Tanvi falls in love with Vikram. After completing their education from Oxford, the three youngsters — Vinay, Vikram, and Neelima — return to their families in India, with Tanvi to arrive a few days later.

Just then, Prithvi is released from prison. Jaswant challenges him to a sword fight, which Prithvi eagerly accepts. DIG Ganga Singh intervenes and stops them from killing each other. As the truth behind the feud is revealed to them, Vinay and Neelima are forbidden from entering a relationship. Despite the threats, they continue their forbidden romance. Wrongly assuming Vikram already knew, Vinay tells him that his father had killed Vikram's father. Later, enraged and seeking revenge, Vikram bursts into the Surjangarh mansion and shoots Prithvi. In a fit of rage, Vinay shoots back at Vikram.

While both Prithvi and Vikram survive and are recovering in a hospital, Vinay and Jaswant get into a fight outside. When Vinay assaults Jaswant, Neelima intervenes and slaps Vinay for hitting her father. This prompts Vinay to break off his relationship with Neelima, realizing that the feud will never end. Saddened by this break-up, Neelima attempts suicide but is saved by Madhu, Jaswant's beloved. However, Neelima tells Vinay that she cannot live without him and will again attempt suicide if he doesn't take her with him.

Alarmed, Vinay visits Jaswant and pleads with him to let him marry Neelima and end the feud. Jaswant refuses and tells Vinay to leave. As Vinay leaves, he is ambushed by Shakti, Ajay, and their men. It's then revealed to Vinay that Shakti Singh had killed his cousin, Vijay, and wants to kill him too. As Shakti tries to attack Vinay, Vinay overpowers and kills him with his own sword. In the skirmish that follows, Madhu gets shot by Ajay. Saddened by this, Jaswant kills Ajay, and Madhu dies in his arms. As promised to Madhu, he lets Neelima go with Vinay. Vinay and Neelima decide to return to England, marry, and settle there.

Vikram recovers from the hospital and challenges Prithvi to a sword fight. Maheshwari prevents Prithvi from accepting Vikram's challenge, telling him she has forgiven him for killing her husband, Bhavani, and that he should remember that. Prithvi promises her he will not kill Vikram. Vinay decides to accept Vikram's challenge instead, to uphold his father's honour. As Vikram and Vinay are dueling, their mothers, Maheshwari (accompanied by Tanvi) and Suman (accompanied by Neelima), intervene. The mothers decide to hurt themselves to stop their sons from fighting. Vinay and Vikram eventually stop, and the feud finally ends, with friendship and a relationship blossoming between the two families.

The film’s music was composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal and the lyrics of the songs were penned by Anand Bakshi.

• Kshatriya at IMDb