| Wanted | |
| Director: | Prabhu Deva |
| Producer: | Boney Kapoor |
| Story: | Puri Jagannadh |
| Based On: | Pokiri (Telugu) |
| Starring: | Sallu Prakash Raj Ayesha Takia Mahesh Manjrekar Vinod Khanna |
| Music: | Songs: Sajid–Wajid Background Score: Salim–Sulaiman |
| Cinematography: | Nirav Shah Sethu Sriram |
| Editing: | Dilip Deo |
| Studio: | Eros International BSK Network & Entertainment |
| Distributor: | Sahara One Motion Pictures |
| Runtime: | 154 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Hindi |
| Budget: | 35 crore[1] |
| Gross: | 128.23 crore |
Wanted is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Prabhu Deva and produced by Boney Kapoor. It is a remake of the 2006 Telugu film Pokiri. The film stars Salman Khan in the lead role with Prakash Raj, Ayesha Takia, Vinod Khanna, Mahesh Manjrekar and Inder Kumar while Prabhu Deva, Govinda and Anil Kapoor make special appearances.
Set in Mumbai, the plot revolves around an undercover IPS officer disguised as thug whose killer instincts earn him not only his girlfriend's disapproval and a corrupt cop's enmity but also the attention of a wanted don. Nirav Shah and Sethu Sriram handled the cinematography while Dilip Deo edited the film. The soundtracks were composed by Sajid–Wajid, while Salim–Sulaiman handled the background music score. The film was shot primarily in Mumbai with songs filmed in Australia and other foreign countries.
The film was released theatrically on 18 September 2009 to generally mixed-to-positive reviews with critics and audience praising the performances (particularly Khan, Raj, and Manjrekar), music, humor, and mass moments but criticizing the direction and use of cliches. The movie became a commercial success, grossing around and thus, it emerged as one of the biggest successful films of 2009. The film received 3 IIFA nominations and 1 Filmfare Award.
The city of Mumbai is rife with the nefarious activities of land mafia. There are two rival gangs: one under Gani Bhai, who resides in Dubai, and another operated by a local goon named Datta Pawle. They threaten builders and landowners into giving them protection money or property through force, extortion, or murder. Ashraf Khan IPS take charge as the new Police Commissioner of Mumbai and starts cracking down on crime in the city.
Radhe is a thug, who is abducted by Genghis and his henchmen. Radhe has taken a contract from Pawle to beat up Genghis, which he does. However, Golden Bhai, Gani Bhai's brother invite Radhe to join their gang. Radhe declines stating that he does not work for any gang, but is ready to do anything for money. Meanwhile, Radhe falls in love with Jahnvi, an aerobics teacher, when he visits his friend Ajay's aerobics class, but she mistakes him for a pervert. Jahnvi lives with her widowed mother Laxmi and younger brother Ballu. Sonu Gates, a software engineer, lives above Jahnvi's house and frequently, albeit comically and unsuccessfully, tries to convince her to marry him. Daulat Talpade is a corrupt Senior Inspector in the colony where Radhe and Jahnvi live and is on Gani Bhai's payroll. He lusts for Jahnvi and decides to make her his mistress, even after she rejects him multiple times.
Radhe's first assignment with Gani Bhai's gang is to kill a member of Pawle's gang. However, The police show up at the spot where Radhe and the other gangsters are waiting. Radhe engages the cops long enough for the others to finish the task and flee. He also helps Jahnvi escape from Talpade. She is impressed by his kindness, and a friendship soon blossoms between the two, leading to the development of unspoken romantic feelings for each other. When Jahnvi tries to express her feelings to Radhe, they are attacked by members of Pawle's gang, whom Radhe finishes off. Jahnvi is shocked to learn that Radhe is a gangster with no qualms about killing people. Later, Talpade arranges for some thugs to pretend to assault Jahnvi, so that no decent family will want to take her as their daughter-in-law, as a result of which with no other option, Jahnvi and Laxmi will accept his demands. Radhe learns of this and thrashes Talpade incognito. After much ado and mental anguish, Jahnvi accepts Radhe's love. Soon, Gani Bhai arrives from Dubai and kills Pawle. He also meets Radhe to discuss the killing of a minister by blowing up a school. Radhe disagrees with Gani Bhai's method as it would involve killing innocents, including women and children.
In the middle of their argument, the police raids the club and arrests Gani Bhai. His gang members retaliate by kidnapping Ashraf's daughter, drugging her and creating a lewd video of her which they threaten to release to the media if Gani Bhai is not released, forcing the embattled commissioner to release Gani Bhai. However, in her drugged state, Ashraf's daughter reveals that her father had placed an undercover officer as a mole in Gani Bhai's gang. The gang members find out that an IPS police officer by the name of Rajveer Shekhawat, the son of a retired police inspector Shrikant Shekhawat, has gone undercover to finish off the underworld mafia gangs and is now a part of their gang. Gani Bhai kills Ajay, believing he is Rajveer. However, it is revealed that Ajay was actually Shrikant's adopted son. Gani Bhai then kills Shrikant to lure the real Rajveer. When Rajveer actually turns up, everyone, especially Jahnvi and Talpade are shocked to see that he is none other than Radhe. Rajveer had gone undercover by posing himself as Radhe and had killed all the gangsters under Ashraf's orders. After Shrikant and Ajay's funerals, Radhe forces Talpade to call Gani Bhai to find out his location, which is Binny Mills. He goes there and starts to kill Gani Bhai's gang members one by one, rescuing Ashraf's daughter in the process.
In a final confrontation, Radhe thrashes and kills Gani Bhai by slashing his throat with a broken glass window, following which he shoots Talpade by saying the following words: Ek bar joh maine commitment kar di uske baad toh main khud ki bhi nahi sunta (transl. Once I get committed, I won't listen even to my own words)
Director Prabhu Deva was also the director of the previous Tamil remake, Pokkiri.
Asin Thottumkal & Ileana D'Cruz were approached for the role of Janhvi, but due to other commitments, both rejected the offer. Consequently, the role went to Ayesha Takia. Nana Patekar was originally offered the role of Gani Bhai but due to his busy schedule, the role went to Prakash Raj, who was seen in the original.[2] Salman Khan became very excited after hearing the script and agreed to the role. Part of the film was shot in the Greek Islands of Rodos, Santorini, and Paros.[3]
| Wanted | |
| Type: | Soundtrack |
| Artist: | Sajid–Wajid |
| Recorded: | 2008–09 |
| Genre: | Feature film soundtrack |
| Producer: | Sajid–Wajid |
| Prev Title: | Kal Kissne Dekha |
| Prev Year: | 2009 |
| Next Title: | Main Aurr Mrs Khanna |
| Next Year: | 2009 |
The music of the film was given by Sajid–Wajid. The album received mixed to negative reviews from critics, with some songs seeing positive response. The songs "Jalwa", "Love Me Love Me" and "Le Le Maza Le" became a huge hit among the audiences.[4]
Wanted received positive reviews from critics. Nikhat Kazmi from The Times of India gave it 4 out of 5 stars praising Khan's performance. Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama gave it 4 out of 5 stars saying, "WANTED rides on Salman Khan's star power. He may not be the best actor in town, but in a film like WANTED, in a role that seems like an extension of his personality, you can't think of anyone else enacting this role with flourish." Raja Sen from Rediff gave a negative rating of 2 out of 5 stars and said, "The writing is both amateurish and crass, while the songs are plain hideous...Khan might be having fun, but the fact a film like Wanted underscores is how badly Bollywood needs a breed of younger leading men. And how the existing lot need roles that fit."[5] [6] Indicine gave it 3 out of 5 stars, calling it "watchable for Salman Khan" and the "best out and out action flick of Bollywood".[7]
The success of Wanted kick-started Salman Khan's career as an action hero and boosted his super-stardom which was declining prior to that with films like Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya? and Marigold not doing well. This film started Khan's tradition of releasing his films on the occasion of Eid. Khan's dialogue from the movie, "Ek bar joh maine commitment kar di uske baad toh main khud ki bhi nahi sunta" became very popular among the audiences and one of his most iconic ones. This film also started the trend of Khan going shirtless in his climax fight scenes.[12]