Jeete Hain Shaan Se

Super surprised to see such a low rating for what I consider a classic 80s potboiler that does the one job it's supposed to do with no hiccups - entertain you!

You don't need any other reason to watch it than the fact that it has Mithun and Govinda coming together for probably the first and only time and boy, are they fun or what?

The character of Johnny (Mithun) is a blast - Mithun at the peak of his powers, playing the Anthony Gonsalvez version of the 80s, makes an entry that should ideally start the trailer of JHSS. This is a long winded self-introduction to a bunch of goons, providing synonyms of his name in different languages ending with a punch, literally at one of the bad guys faces. That music in the background is as 80s Bollywood as one can get.

I can't summarize the movie even if I wanted to because that's not why you would want to see JHSS.

Piece of trivia to end this: Govinda's famous "chinytukle-pintukle" rap dialogue from Deewana Mastana was first used here. Tells you how much of the movie making business was improvised back then.

Enjoy the embodiment of 80s multistarer Bollywood secret sauce here. They don't make it like this any more.

Jeete Hain Shaan Se Directed By Kawal Sharma is An Action Drama. It Works On Lost And Found Theme. Direction is Very Average. Script Has Nothing New To Offer. Screenplay is Predictable. Action & Dialogues Are Fine.

Johnny (Mithun Chakraborty), Govinda (Sanjay Dutt) And Iqbal Ali (Govinda) Are Close Friends. Johnny Loves Julie(Manadakini). Govinda is Unemployed And Lives With Mother. He Meets Geeta(Vijeta Pandit) And Gets A Job in Her Company. Geeta is Daughter Of D.K(Danny Denzongpa) An Industrialist & Underworld Gangster.

Meanwhile Tragedy Strikes Govinda When His Mom Passes Away. At The Time Of The Funeral, Govinda is Reunited With His Dad, Advocate Verma(Satyen Kapoo). Someone Informs Johnny That Due To Advocate Verma His Mother Was Proved Guilty, And Sentenced Life in Prison. A Police Inspector Gets Johny To Meet His Mother Mary(Gita Siddhart). Advocate Verma Justifies Himself, The Man Responsible For Their Condition is Balwant Alias D.K.

Acting By Mithun is Soul Of The Movie. Govinda is Added For No Reason. Sanjay Dutt & Danny Denzongpa Both Look Weak. Mandakini & Vijeyta Are Just OK.

Music By Annu Malik is Average. "Julie Julie" By Annu Malik & Kavita And Title Track By Amit Kumar, Shabbir Kumar, Shailendra Singh, Anuradha Paudwal & Kavita Are Catchy.

This film had a good star cast of Actors. Mithun, Sanjay Dutt and Govinda who were the best actors of the 80s not including the great Amitabh Bachchan and other actors like Anil Kapoor etc. What i liked best about this film is the villain. Danny in one of his greatest roles as the venomous villain. The storyline is a typical 80s off repeated storyline. Mithun's Father gets killed by Danny, where Sanjay Dutt's Father is forced to frame Mithun's mother. Both actors grow up without their parents. They get older, romance the heroine and re-unite with their long lost parents. It was fun to see the three actors together. Great acting by all the leads of the film. It's nice to see 80s wonder actress Mandakini. Worth watching

Jeete Hain Shaan Se review :

The legendary Manmohan Desai's lost and found multistarrer formula was given a deserving tribute by his one time assistant Kawal Sharma in Jeete Hain Shaan Se - a film which draws deep influence from Desai's Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) and Naseeb (1981). Mithun Chakraborty played Johny, the lovable tapori inspired from Bachchan's Anthony. Amusingly, Govinda was cast as Iqbal while Sanjay Dutt was called Govinda.

Though the lost and found plot was a decade too old, it was fun to see the three stars together (their only film till date). Mithun da, in fact, has a double role of the street smart Johny as well as actual Mithun Chakraborty who joins the heroes in their basti celebrations. Dont know if there was a budget constraint to get another star in this cameo but this is probably the only time Mithun played himself as well as the character in a lead role. Tee hee!

Anu Malik's music was another positive factor of this multistarrer and the 'Julie Julie' song became so popular that some folks still call this Julie Julie wala picture. Mithun Chakraborty and Mandakini really make this number special and I simply loved the chemistry between the two. In fact, Manda looks like a baby doll here and interestingly, one of her suitors in the movie (Monty Nath) is named Dawood!!

As a '80s kid, I caught Jeete Hain Shaan Se with my parents at Matunga's Badal Bijlee cinema on its first Sunday. The audience response was so euphoric that we didnt get to hear some of the dialogues and so went there again in the second week. The film was a bonafide hit and ran for multiple weeks at Badal Bijlee. Those were the days when multistarrers invariably worked and the lost and found formula provided the added tadka to box office success!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.