1987 · Film
Mr. India
Shekhar Kapur's Hindi science-fiction adventure in which a poor violinist who looks after orphans finds a device that makes him invisible, starring Anil Kapoor and Sridevi.
Reviewed by Movie Mandala, Sun, 18 Oct, 2026
Where to watch
IndiaAs of 18 October 2026, Mr. India is free to watch in India on Prime Video.
- Checked Sun, 18 Oct, 2026Open ↗
The story
Arun Verma is a street violinist who rents an old house he calls a hostel, where he looks after a group of orphaned children with help from his cook, Calendar. Deep in debt, he rents a room to Seema, a lively crime reporter. Meanwhile Mogambo, a criminal with a private army and a hidden island base, plans to conquer India and is hunting for a device that can make people invisible. Arun learns that his late father, a scientist, built exactly such a device, and he is soon pulled into Mogambo's plans.
Spoiler-free: only the set-up.
Who it suits
A family adventure with comedy, songs and children at its centre, and an easy pick for watching with kids. It runs about three hours and has fights and bomb attacks, including a scene in which a child dies, which may upset younger viewers.
Genres:Fantasy and sci-fiActionFamilyComedy
Curation to help you choose, not a review.
Background
Mr. India was the last film written by Salim–Javed before the duo split. Producer Boney Kapoor approached Shekhar Kapur after his family drama Masoom (1983); filming began on 6 July 1985 and took 350 days. Peter Pereira created the invisibility effects with masking, in-camera tricks and stop-motion, before digital effects were available. Laxmikant–Pyarelal composed the songs, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar, including "Hawa Hawai" and "Kate Nahin Kat Te".
The film opened in May 1987, ran in cinemas for over 175 days and was the second-highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, with an estimated ₹10 crore, behind Hukumat. It was also a hit in China after its release there in February 1990. Amrish Puri's line "Mogambo khush hua" became one of Hindi cinema's most quoted dialogues. The film was remade in Tamil and Kannada, and a sequel announced in 2011 has not entered production.
The facts
- Language
- Hindi
- Hindi
- Hindi original
- Genre
- Science fiction, Superhero adventure
- Runtime
- 179 min
- Director
- Shekhar Kapur
- Cast
- Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Amrish Puri, Satish Kaushik, Ashok Kumar
Questions people ask
- Where can I watch Mr. India in India?
- As of 18 October 2026, Mr. India is free to watch in India on Prime Video.
- Is Mr. India in Hindi?
- Yes. Mr. India is a Hindi-language film.
- How long is Mr. India?
- Mr. India runs for 2 hours 59 minutes (179 minutes).