Mashaal (1984): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1984, Mashaal is a notable film directed by Yash Chopra, running about 162 minutes.

What it’s about. After being dismissed from his employment as a newspaper editor, for writing against S.K. Vardhan, a influential politician and underworld don, Vinod Kumar, re-locates to the slums of Bombay, and starts his own publication. He soon runs into problems with the local street-gangs, one of which is headed by the notorious Raja. Vinod adopts a positive approach, and this brings out the best in Raja, who even manages to take Vinod's wife, Sudha, to hospital, risking his life, during a Bombay Bandh. Raja then decides to go straight, give up his gang, and study further, encouraged by girlfriend, Geeta. He leaves the slums to upgrade. Several months later, he returns back, anxious to get working with Vinod and his publication, only to find that Vinod is now a criminal don, who has no interest whatsoever in any publication, nor in Raja.

Who’s in it. Mashaal stars Anil Kapoor as Raja, Dilip Kumar, Waheeda Rehman and Amrish Puri as S.K. Vardhan, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 9.0/10, Mashaal sits among the best-reviewed titles in the catalogue.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Netflix and Netflix Standard with Ads and rent or buy it from Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Mashaal page.