Lajja failed commercially in India[3] but was a major commercial success overseas.[4] It received mixed reviews with criticism for story and screenplay, but the performances from the lead actors were highly praised.
Vaidehi (Manisha Koirala) is married to the rich Raghu (Jackie Shroff). Outside, she has a sophisticated life but inside, Raghu is abusive and has extramarital affairs. Later, she is banished from the household. She returns to her parents' house, but they reject her as her running away from Raghu taints their family's reputation. She soon finds out she is pregnant.
Raghu gets into a car accident and is left impotent. Upon knowing Vaidehi's pregnancy, he calls her, faking remorse, and asks her to return. She agrees, thinking Raghu has mended his ways. In reality, he and his father plot for the baby to become their heir and if Vaidehi intervenes, she will be killed. A friend informs Vaidehi of Raghu's true intentions and she escapes from his henchmen.
Raju (Anil Kapoor), a petty but kind-hearted thief helps Vaidehi, hears her story and gives her money so that she can go to Haripur. They gatecrash a wedding, Vaidehi meets the bride Maithili (Mahima Chaudhary), a middle-class girl marrying a rich groom. The two see the groom's father Mr. Hazarilal harassing Maithili's father Nekchand with demands for an opulent wedding which is unaffordable and forcing him to pay dowry, with his reputation in society being ruined if he fails. Vaidehi tries to convince Raju to give Maithili's father his money from the heist. He refuses and is soon forced to escape as somebody has recognized him as a gatecrasher. Changing his mind, he returns to give his heist money to Vaidehi.
The groom's friend Gulshan attempts to rape Maithili but is stopped by Raju. One of the guests Gulabchand recognizes the heist money which Raju had stolen from him before gatecrashing the wedding. Moreover, Gulshan tells the groom's family that he spotted Raju in Maithili's room. She is accused of sexual relations with him in return for money, which leads Raju to publicly acknowledge his theft. Maithili insults the groom's family, and they flee from the wedding. Raghu finds and forces Vaidehi into returning home. On the way, they encounter a protest mob. Raghu gets out to investigate thus giving Vaidehi a chance to escape.
Vaidehi arrives in a small town, Haripur and meets Janki, a theatre actress in love with her colleague, Manish. She is pregnant but not married, and doesn't care for society's norms. The older theatre director Purushottam took in Janki when she was young and lusts after her while keeping his younger wife, Lata, confined to their house. He badmouths Janki to Manish, creating a rift. Manish asks her to abort the child as he suspects it isn't his, indirectly accusing Janki of sexual relations with Purushottam. Outraged, Janki intentionally botches a scene during a performance of the Ramayan. The angered audience assaults her, causing her to miscarry. Vaidehi confronts Purshottam, who threatens to call Raghu. However, Lata intervenes and puts her on a train at the railway station.
Vaidehi's train is robbed by bandits but Bhulwa, a kind-hearted local dacoit saves the passengers. Vaidehi faints at the sight of blood. Bhulwa takes her to the local midwife Ramdulari who bravely opposes the village leaders Virendra and Gajendra as they exploit innocent women, young and old. Tensions escalate when Ramdulari's educated son Prakash, who tries to educate the villagers about what Virendra and Gajendra are doing, falls in love with Gajendra's daughter Sushma. Gajendra locks Ramdulaari in her house and sets out to find Prakash. He also locks away Vaidehi in his home to be rewarded by Raghu by returning her to him. Prakash elopes with Sushma; whilst Virendra and Gajendra rape and burn Ramdulari alive.
In a fit of rage, Bhulwa and his army kill Virendra and his goons, though being severely injured. Vaidehi escapes with Sushma and Prakash. Gajendra attempts to enter politics, so when he is applauded by the local authorities, Vaidehi intervenes and exposes him as a rapist and a murderer. She delivers a heart-wrenching speech about how women in India are only treated as burdens to be married off by their families or tools to get dowry and male heirs by their in-laws. This drives all the women in the audience to assault Gajendra, whom Bhulwa kills later (off-screen). The speech changes Raghu's attitude and he reforms, reconciling with Vaidehi. They return to New York City as a proper married couple.
Vaidehi gives birth to a daughter and named her Ramdulari. She reunites with Raju, who is now a taxi driver married to Maithili. Vaidehi invites him to a charity dance show with Janki in the main role, wherein all the money from her shows goes to fund women's organizations in India.
The songs were mainly composed by Anu Malik. A. R. Rahman was initially signed in as the composer; but then he opted out; after he got extremely busy with his international assignment, Bombay Dreams.[5] Then, the background score for the movie was done by Ilaiyaraaja. Lyrics of all songs were also written by Sameer, except those of "Kaun Dagar Kaun Shehar", which were written by Prasoon Joshi. This song was also composed by Ilaiyaraaja and was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 13,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's fifteenth highest-selling.[6]
The film received mixed reviews, however the performances from the lead actors were highly praised.[7][8]
Bollywood Hungama gave a rating of two and half out of five stars and said "On the whole, Lajja is a purposeful film within commercial parameters and the best part is that the Indian masses will be able to identify with the goings-on. An enviable star cast, a talented director and an excellent second half are amongst its strong points."[9]The Hindu stated "Unfortunately, this colourful film is a black-and-white disappointment, particularly in the second half when Santoshi loses track of his story and in a blatant bid to get the tax-free certificate brings in bits about computer education, female literacy and infanticide.".[10] The BBC gave a positive review saying "The film is well directed, excellent songs, although they should have had more realistic fights."[11][12]
Box office
Lajja failed commercially at the box office in India due to high budget and distribution price. However it tasted success overseas. It ranked 14th on the British box-office chart, according to the Internet Movie Database.[4]
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