Happy New Year! This is the first post of 2026 and it is dedicated to R.D. Burman, who passed away on 04 January 1994. 1942: A Love Story was one of his last films as a composer.

R D was passing through the worst phase of his career by the late 80s and was not a sought after composer during that period. But the producer and director Vidhu Vinod Chopra insisted on his name for the music of 1942. The decision was justified. R. D. delivered one of the best scores of his distinguished career. Unfortunately, he passed away before the film’s release and was unable to bask in the success of his efforts. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director in spite of tough competition from films like Mohra, Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun.

As a film, 1942 is an audio and visual treat. Binod Pradhan’s cinematography was widely appreciated. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is credited as the song director and leaves a lasting impact. The sets by Nitin Desai are impressive.

The Plot

As its name implies, the plot is set in 1942 when the Quit India movement was launched against the British with the famous “Do or Die” (karenge ya marenge) slogan. There are 2 parallel tracks in the movie. One of the freedom movement and one of romance.

In the very first scene, Anil Kapoor’s character is being led to the scaffold. Apparently,  he has been supporting the krantikaris (revolutionaries or freedom fighters) and is set to be hanged for this crime. The flashback begins.

Raghuvir Pathak (Anupam Kher) is a krantikari. He is talking to his colleagues Ashutosh (Ashish Vidyarthi) and Raj Singh (Kamal Chopra). Ashutosh is reading the newspaper describing the atrocities performed by General Douglas (Brian Glover). Douglas is a savage character. Its normal for him to hang or kill a revolutionary as per his will. Ashutosh is itching to teach him a lesson. The news report mentions that Douglas is being promoted and he will be leaving for England on the 25th. Before that, he will be attending a farewell parade in Kasauni from his regiment on the 22nd.

Raghuvir realises this can be an opportunity to assassinate Douglas. His associates Govind (Pramod Moutho) and Abid Ali Baig (Pran) live in Kasauni and will help in this cause. Such an opportunity cannot be missed. Ashutosh volunteers to kill Douglas but Pathak stops him. He has identified Shubhankar for the job. Ashutosh is to start for Kasauni and help with the preparations. Pathak will also go to Kasauni posing as a TB patient undergoing treatment and oversee the planning which includes building of the bomb that will kill Douglas.

The scene shifts to Kasauni. Preparations are in full swing to welcome General Douglas and so are the protests by the opposition. Diwan Hari Singh (Manohar Singh) is a respected and wealthy man sympathetic to the British Government and totally against the Indian freedom movement. He is desperately trying for the Rai Bahadur title which has been his lifelong ambition. His wife is Gayatri Singh (Sushma Seth). They have a son Naren Singh (Anil Kapoor). Diwan Hari Singh is fed up with all the talk about the Quit India movement. The Commanding Officer Major Bisht (Danny Denzongpa) assures him that no revolutionary can enter Kasauni as long as he is the CO.

In the very next scene, Raghuvir Pathak arrives in Kasauni with his daughter Rajeshwari (Manisha Koirala) in a bus. The driver is Raj Singh. The bus enters the town square where a group of people have gathered to protest against General Douglas’s visit. Major Bisht notices the Indian revolutionary flag on the bus and orders his men to remove it immediately. The crowd starts protesting and the British soldiers start beating them to crush the protest.

Naren is sitting in his car nearby with his driver Manohar/Munna (Raghubir Yadav). Naren notices a boy picking up the fallen flag and getting attacked by the soldiers. Naren rushes to rescue the boy. Someone throws a stone on the soldiers which hits the bus and breaks the window. Rajeshwari’s face appears at the window and she finds Naren staring at her. A very poetic scene. For Naren, this is love at first sight. The face disappears and Munna pulls Naren inside the car. Naren finds his father Diwan Hari Singh sitting there. His father has witnessed his “rescue” act and scolds him for getting involved with the protestors. They head towards their house called Kasauni Palace.

Diwan Hari Singh tells his wife Gayatri about the incident involving Naren and the boy. Gayatri rushes outside to check if Naren is fine but sees him leaving on his horse. Naren goes back to the bus stand to look for the girl. The driver tells him she has already left. But she has dropped her earring in the bus. Naren takes the earring and shares what has happened with Munna. They behave like close friends rather than master and servant. Naren can’t get Rajeshwari out of his mind. Its time for one of the best songs of the movie Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga.

Next morning, Naren goes to Munna’s house. Their mission for the day is to find the girl in the bus on priority. By coincidence, Naren sees the girl on a swing in the neighbouring house. This is the house of Govind, who works for Hari Singh. He doesn’t know yet but Rajeshwari is staying in Govind’s house where her father Raghuvir is secretly working on the assassination of Douglas.

So, Naren finally meets Rajeshwari. For the next hour, we see him wooing her and they get closer, assisted by some lovely songs. There is the teasing song Rooth na jaana. Rajeshwari’s realisation of love is reflected in Pyar hua chupke se. This is followed by a rainy duet Rimjhim rimjhim and the evergreen Kuch na kaho. Some more characters are introduced like Major Bisht’s daughter Chanda (Chandni) who fancies Naren.

Naren and Chanda are acting in a play Romeo and Juliet, which will be performed in front of Douglas. (Interestingly, it is in Hindi and Douglas doesn’t understand a word of that language!). Rajeshwari joins the play rehearsals as a prompter. Naren is more than happy to have her close by.

Raghuvir and his team are planning to kill Douglas by throwing a bomb at him when he is sitting in the audience watching the play. Baig is supplying the raw materials for the bomb to Raghuvir. Then Shubhankar will execute the task.

The first 90 minutes are spent on the romantic track and the assassination planning. Interestingly, Major Bisht and the police are aware that something is being planned against Douglas. How they know about it is not revealed properly. They track Ashutosh and shoot him. Ashutosh manages to reach Raghuvir’s (i.e. Govind’s house) before he dies. The police come searching and Raghuvir and Rajeshwari act swiftly and bury the body before their involvement is discovered.

Rajeshwari shares her father’s background with Naren. But Naren is only concerned about his love life. He tells his mother about Rajeshwari and his intention to marry her. She is supportive and gives him “sindoor” and asks him to go ahead. He rushes to meet Raghuvir and Rajeshwari and make it official. But his pro British father Diwan Hari Singh calls the police to inform them about Raghuvir. Raghuvir is the traitor they are looking for.

The police rush to arrest Raghuvir immediately. The police and Naren arrive at almost the same time. Raghuvir and Rajeshwari feel that Naren has betrayed them by bringing the police with him. Raghuvir asks Rajeshwari to flee and hide in the mountains.

Raghuvir goes to his room, ready to detonate the bomb before the police can arrest him. The bomb explodes killing Raghuvir and some policemen. Rajeshwari witnesses the blast from her hiding place and rushes towards the house but a man stops her. This is Shubhankar (Jackie Shroff), the man assigned to kill Douglas. He comforts her and asks her to remain strong to face the situation. Apparently, he loves her but hasn’t told her about it.

Shubhankar and Rajeshwari hide in the forest as he plans the next steps. It is assumed that both father and daughter died in the blast. Naren refuses to believe that Rajeshwari is no more. He has an altercation with his father and leaves the house. He searches for Rajeshwari and finds she is alive. Baig seems to be involved in hiding and protecting her. Baig accuses Naren of being just like his father and siding with the British. Naren does his best to convince them of his innocence. He is ready to go against his father and help in making the mission successful.

But is it so easy? General Douglas arrives in Kasauni and unleashes his cruelty. After a series of events including the deaths of some key characters, Naren is accused by the British of helping the revolutionaries. Douglas orders his execution by hanging in public. Diwan Hari Singh is torn to choose between his son and the British but is not ready to bend before his son. (Incidentally, he has finally received the Rai Bahadur title (his life’s achievement) by staying loyal to the British.) He pleads with Naren to tell the names of the real culprits and he can go free. Naren retorts that he only knows one traitor and that is Diwan Hari Singh.

Will Naren be executed? What happens to Douglas? And what is Rajeshwari’s future? What is Shubhankar’s role? The questions are answered in the long climax.

The Music

The music is easily the best thing about 1942. R. D. Burman shows his class. Javed Akhtar has penned the songs. It sounds different from the music prevalent in the 90s era. Rarely do you see a combination of great lyrics, music and a satisfying picturization. Ek ladki ko dekha which does not follow the standard pattern of a song (mukhada and antara) and is more of a free flowing poetry. Javed Akhtar won his first Filmfare award for best lyricist. And Kumar Sanu won the Best Playback (Male) award for the same song. Kavita Krishnamurthy won her first Filmfare award for Best Playback (Female) for Pyar hua chupke se. Kuch Na Kaho appears twice in the film. Kumar Sanu had sung the male version while Kavita K the female. But the female version was later recorded in Lata Mangeshkar’s voice, which was retained in the movie. Rooth na jaana carries the flavour of the 1950s and 60s songs with a distinct Bengali touch. Rimjhim rimjhim is easily one of the best rain duets. One song Yeh safar bahut hai kathin magar, picturised on Jackie Shroff is sung by Shivaji Chattopadhyay.

My Thoughts

1942 is a “good looking” film. Binod Pradhan’s cinematography captures the beauty of Dalhousie and other locations making the scenes look like a painting. Add to it the good looking actors! The directorial treatment is poetic which works well in the romantic track. The  evergreen music and poetry enrich the film. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is credited as the song director and makes his presence felt. Nitin Desai was the art director (this was only his second film). The sets of the movie were appreciated and brought him recognition.

But the story and its treatment falters. The film is slow and nothing worthwhile happens for a long time. In one scene, Raghuvir Pathak talks about letting the whole of Kasauni know that he has arrived in the town. Isn’t that a foolish step if he is on a secret mission? Why advertise your presence unnecessarily? What could have been a gripping track involving the freedom movement turns out to be disappointing until the character of Shubhankar arrives.

The romantic track works well. Anil Kapoor and Manisha Koirala are convincing. Anil Kapoor is good in the romantic scenes and later as the angry young man who defies his father and supports the freedom fighters in their mission. Jackie Shroff’s dashing entry finally brings some spunk and liveliness to the plot. His presence makes it worth watching. He won the Filmfare award for Best Supporting Actor. Other actors like Anupam Kher, Danny Denzongpa and Pran are fine in their limited roles.

Overall, 1942 is one of those films which did not perform well at the box office but is fondly remembered today, the main reason being its timeless musical score. Hats off to Pancham Da!