Raj Kanwar’s Jeet wasn’t really a ‘bad film’ for its time, when it released all the way back in 1996. Screamy Deol, a shrieking Karisma, and Salman’s newly-acquired paralysed face (after Karan Arjun) – it was all in fashion.
A vengeful lover following his lady to the mandir? Sure. Karisma Kapoor and Salman Khan using words like rusva and daaman – in their everyday conversations. Of course. This is still the mid-90s, remember?
But all this doesn’t seem to have aged very well. A scene from the film began circulating over the Internet, where Deol looks at Kapoor with sulky eyes and asks – Kal aayi kyun nahi? And let’s just say it sounded… strangely invasive and creepy. Revisiting some of the other scenes, it becomes sufficiently clear that the film would be an ironical cult film, if it was released today.
Here are 5 reasons why the Sunny Deol-starrer is a cult film waiting to be discovered:
1. Most angry Deol
Sunny Deol has this habit in the film. Each time he gets angry (that’s quite often for a film where he’s playing a hitman), he turns around and screams AYEEEE!!!! with the index finger pointing towards the person he’s threatening.
2. Best Hindi to English switch ever
There’s a fascinating scene in a temple, where Karisma confronts her stalker (Deol). She dares him to fulfill his hawas and then kill her. The beauty of this scene is when she transitions from filmy dialogue… to a flat KILL ME! KILL ME NOW! She said it first, even before it was a thing for today’s millennial.
3. Most gullible cop ever
Ashish Vidyarthi is a gem of an actor, who was relegated to the side roles (like many others) during the 90s. And in Jeet, he plays the most gullible cop ever. He gives an order to arrest Deol since he’s the one with the big biceps and a bandana tied around his head. When Karisma Kapoor speaks up for Deol, he immediately releases Sunny paaji. No sweat.
4. Never-ending dialogues
The dialoguebaazi in Jeet is like a bad day at work, it never ends. It goes on and on… and then you fall asleep for an hour… and it’s still going on.
5. Sunny paaji‘s dance
Yaara O Yaara was one of the biggest hits of the year. But nearly two decades later, Chinni Prakash’s choreography and Sunny Deol’s dancing skills don’t hold up all that well. See for yourself!
