Mr. India (1987)

Mr. India is a 1987 Indian Hindi-language science fiction superhero film directed by Shekhar Kapur and produced jointly by Boney Kapoor and Surinder Kapoor under the Narsimha Enterprises banner. The story and screenplay was written by the duo Salim–Javed in what was their last collaboration before their split. Starring Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, and Amrish Puri, the film tells the story of Arun Verma (Kapoor), a humble violinist and philanthropist. He receives a cloaking device that provides invisibility. While renting out his house to pay his debts, he meets a journalist Seema Sahni (Sridevi) and falls in love with her. Meanwhile, criminal Mogambo (Puri) has plans to conquer India.

After watching his previous directorial venture Masoom, a 1983 family drama about children, Boney Kapoor approached Kapur to make another film with a similar theme. Principal photography was handled by Baba Azmi, and took place in Srinagar, Mumbai, and other locations in India, starting in July 1985, and finished after 350 days. Laxmikant–Pyarelal composed the soundtrack, while Akhtar wrote the lyrics. After filming ended, Waman Bhonsle and Gurudutt Shirali jointly edited it. Veteran cameraman Peter Pereira was responsible for the special effects in the movie. Arun Patil handled mechanical components of these effects. In the pre-digital era, these effects were achieved using masking techniques as well as traditional and in-camera tricks.

Mr. India was released on 29 May 1987. It emerged as a commercial success and became the second highest-grossing film of the year at the Indian box office behind Hukumat, where it earned ₹100 million (US$7.72 million) against a ₹38 million (US$2.93 million) budget; it was also an overseas hit in China. It received widespread acclaim from contemporary and modern critics, with most of them appreciating the performances of Anil Kapoor and Sridevi. In 2013, Sridevi was awarded the Special Award at the 58th Filmfare Awards.

Mr. India was a breakthrough for its director and cast members and became a milestone in Hindi cinema for its rarely filmed superhero genre, which was followed by several Indian films in later years. It was remade in Tamil as En Rathathin Rathame (1989) and Kannada as Jai Karnataka (1989). A 3D sequel, titled Mr. India 2, was announced in 2011 but has not yet entered production.