In 1975, Bhaktawar (Danny Denzongpa) rules over the docks in Mumbai, treating his workers like slaves. Despite his general dissatisfaction with this regime, Tiger (Amitabh Bachchan) extorts money from the dock workers for his father Pratap (Deepak Shirke), who in turn works as an enforcer for Bhaktawar.
Tiger is in love with Jumma (Kimi Katkar), the sister of his best friend Gonsalves (Romesh Sharma). Gonsalves is against Bhaktawar's policies and is killed by Bhaktawar and in the subsequent fallout, Tiger's father and stepmother also die, leaving his two young half-brothers, Kumar and Vijay, with Tiger.
Tiger immediately sets out to kill Bhaktawar but is stopped by Inspector Girdhar (Anupam Kher). Girdhar reminds Tiger to fulfil his dying stepmother's wish and take care of his brothers while leaving the police to deal with Bhaktawar. Girdhar and his faithful sidekick Havaldar Arjun Singh (Annu Kapoor) steal money from Bhaktawar's safe and set fire to Bhaktawar's house to destroy any evidence, murdering Bhaktawar's wife and his daughter. Police later arrest Bhaktawar for killing Tiger's family and sends him to jail. Tiger escapes in a train and Jumma refuses to leave with Tiger, as his brothers should be his priority. Jumma and Tiger promise to reunite in the future. Girdhar bombs the train carrying Tiger and his brothers to eliminate any possible witnesses of his crime, but they escape.
16 years later, in 1991, Tiger has renamed himself Shekhar and is a respectable farmer and timber merchant in Ooty. Kumar (Rajnikanth) is a police officer married to Aarti (Deepa Sahi), and they have a young daughter Jyoti (Sanjana). The youngest brother, Vijay (Govinda), is a college student. Vijay is in love with Anita (Shilpa Shirodkar), daughter of General Rana Pratap Singh (Kader Khan), who wants his daughter to marry a military officer. Shekhar and his brothers lead a happy family life. Neither of the two youngest brothers seems to have any memory of their time in Mumbai and both regard Shekhar as their elder brother. Jumma is now a successful actress, while Girdhar and Havaldar are leading a luxurious life off the money they stole from Bhaktawar.
Bhaktawar is released from jail and is manipulated by Giridhar into believing that Tiger killed Bhaktawar's family. To seek revenge, Bhaktawar tracks down Tiger in Ooty. He kidnaps Aarti and Jyothi in Bangalore and tells them the truth about Shekhar. Meanwhile, Kumar also learns Shekhar's true identity and blames him for his wife and child's kidnapping. However, all misunderstandings are cleared by Jumma when she explains Vijay and Kumar about their past and the sacrifices made by Shekhar for them to lead a respectable life.
Later Tiger, along with Kumar and Vijay, rescue Aarti and Jyoti and explain to Bhaktawar that it was Giridhar who had murdered his family. Bhaktawar then ties himself along with Giridhar to a bomb and they both die due to the explosion. The film ends with the family happily united.
Aparajita Bhushan as Bhaktawar's wife (Uncredited)
Production
Hum was shot in various locations including Mumbai,[5]Ooty,[6] and Mauritius.[7] Mukul S. Anand had considered and discussed a potential scene for this film with Rajinikanth, where Amitabh Bachchan's character would help Govinda get a seat in the Police Academy. Anand discarded the scene, because he did not find it suitable. But Rajinikanth felt the scene had the potential to develop into a script for a possible feature film, which resulted into the 1995 Tamil film Baashha.[8]
In 1990 at Wembley stadium London, Amitabh Bachchan performed and danced to the song "Jumma Chumma De De" with Sridevi even before the film and song were released.[9]
The soundtrack was composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal. Two songs were inspired by Guinean singer Mory Kanté's 1987 album Akwaba Beach, with "Jumma Chumma De De" being based on Kante's "Tama", while "Ek Doosre Se" was based on Kanté's "Inch Allah".[10]
N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express wrote that "‘Hum’ is a formula film of vendetta that tries to renew itself with a lush visual feel and expansiveness, which qualities to give some credibility to the rhetoric of poor against rich and the oppressed against tyranny that the film bandies".[13]
