Tejas (film)

Last updated

Tejas
Tejas film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySarvesh Mevara
Written bySarvesh Mevara
Produced by Ronnie Screwvala
Starring Kangana Ranaut
Anshul Chauhan
Varun Mitra
CinematographyHari K. Vedantam
Edited byAarif Sheikh
Music by Shashwat Sachdev
Production
company
Release date
27 October 2023 [1]
Running time
112 minutes [2]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget70 crore [3] [4] [5]
Box office5.6 crore [6]

Tejas is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film [2] written and directed by Sarvesh Mewara and produced by Ronnie Screwvala. [7] The film stars Kangana Ranaut in the lead role, alongside Anshul Chauhan and Varun Mitra in supporting roles. [8]

Contents

The film was released on 27 October 2023 to mostly negative reviews from critics. [9] [10] [11] [12] Tejas emerged as one of Hindi cinema's biggest box-office disaster within its first two days of release, [13] [14] with most theatrical screenings being cancelled on its opening day. [15] [16] [17] It was subsequently released on streaming platform ZEE5 on 5 January 2024. [18]

Plot

Indian Air Force pilot Tejas Gill is on a mission to rescue an Indian spy who has some very confidential information while also battling with her tragic past of haunted memories.

Cast

Production

Principal photography commenced in August 2021. [19] Production wrapped in November 2021. [20]

Promotion

The film was endorsed by the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and Uttarakhand's CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, both belonging to Bharatiya Janta Party, on 31 October 2023 after watching it in Lucknow together with Kangana Ranaut. [21]

Ranaut remarked that Yogi Adityanath "assured us that he would protect us and our film from all our enemies and anti-national elements and motivate the nationalists to watch and connect with it". [21] Ranaut was criticised over using politics to influence people to watch the movie. [22]

Ranaut also visited the Israeli Embassy to promote the film amid 2023 Hamas-Israel conflict, [23] [24] which also drew criticism. [25] [26]

Music

Tejas
Soundtrack album by
Released6 October 2023 [27]
Recorded2023
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length26:22
LanguageHindi
Label Zee Music Company
Shashwat Sachdev chronology
Attack: Part 1
(2022)
Tejas
(2023)
Article 370
(2024)
Official audio
Tejas – Full Album on YouTube

The music of the film has been composed by Shashwat Sachdev. The lyrics have been written by Kumaar, Folk-Lore and Shashwat Sachdev. [27]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Dil Hai Ranjhana"Rashmeet Kaur, Shashwat Sachdev3:31
2."Jaan Da (Saiyaan Ve)" Arijit Singh, Shashwat Sachdev4:53
3."Reh Jao Na" Hariharan, Shashwat Sachdev4:43
4."Shiva (Prayer Of A Warrior)" (Lyrics by Folk-Lore) Simran Choudhary, Shashwat Sachdev2:37
5."Jaan Da (Rab Ki Dua)" Shreya Ghoshal, Shashwat Sachdev4:26
6."Ishq Hai Ranjhe Da"Osho Jain, Shashwat Sachdev3:59
7."Aag Udi (Victory Anthem)" (Lyrics by Shashwat Sachdev) Sanjith Hegde, Shashwat Sachdev2:13
Total length:26:22

Reception

Box office

Made on a budget of 70 crore (US$8.8 million), [3] [4] [5] Tejas has grossed 4.93 crore (US$620,000) in India, with a further 0.67 crore (US$84,000) overseas, for a worldwide total of 5.6 crore (US$700,000). [6] The film emerged as one of Hindi Cinema's biggest box-office bomb in both domestic and overseas markets within its first two days of release. [13] [14] [28]

Critical response

The film received negative reviews from the critics. [10] [11] [12] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Tejas holds a score of 10% based on 10 reviews and an average rating of 5/10. [9]

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film a rating of 1 out of 5 and wrote, "Tejas is a film that flies into rough weather from the word go and never manages to find a way out of it. An air combat thriller has never been so frustratingly airy-fairy". [29] The Times of India 's Dhaval Roy gave 3 out 5 stars, writing, "As the story builds up, sequences seem abrupt, and one wishes for a more cohesive screenplay. That being said, things turn thrilling once the main rescue operation begins, and the movie offers some high-octane action scenes". He praised Ranaut for performing "action as effortlessly as emotional scenes". [30] More positive albeit mixed reviews came from Samarth Goyal of Hindustan Times who described Tejas as film that "takes you on a rollercoaster ride through the skies and geopolitics", which "succeeds in creating moments of tension and anticipation". The reviewer labelled the first half as an "an unruly hunk of footage" but credited the film for regaining its composure in the second half where it keeps "maintaining a commendable tone that never veers into loud and jingoistic territory". [31] Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost , who gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, appreciated Ranaut and said the film becomes interesting in the second half, but lacks appropriate depth in the research. [32]

Anuj Kumar, reviewing for The Hindu , wrote that the movie is "a sloppy follow-up that neither works as an action film nor manages to sustain the emotional swell". [33] Zinia Bandyopadhyaye of India Today gave the film of 2 stars out of 5 and called it a bumpy ride muddled with jarring inconsistencies. [34] Filmfare concluded, "while Tejas is a valiant attempt towards championing inclusion of women in combat roles, the half-baked nature of the film cushions the impact of its message." [35] Shubhra Gupta panned the film as replete with "a series of eye-roll moments" but praised Ranaut "whose acting abilities shine through even in the weakest scenes". [36] Jansatta described the movie in its review to be lacking plot and attempting to thrive on nationalist sentiments. [37]

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References

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