Gardish

Naive and easily impressionable Vidya Bhalla (Aishwarya) would like her husband to be a dashing hero, one who is not afraid of anybody, one who can easily jump into a fire to rescue someone, one who is strong and romantic. She sees all of these qualities in Shiva Sathe (Jackie Shroff), the son of Havaldar Purshotam Sathe (Amrish Puri), whose only dream is to see Shiva become a Police Inspector. Vidya informs her dad, Prithviraj, that she has found her dream man; the Bhallas and the Sathes meet and get the couple formally engaged. Then Purshotam arrests the son of a M.L.A., and as a result he is transferred to the notorious Kala Chowki Police Station in Bombay. Upon arrival, he finds out that the Inspector in charge of the Police Station, Saini, has been severely beaten-up by Billa Jilani (Mukesh Rishi) and is hospitalized. Purshotam arranges for his entire family to relocate. Shortly thereafter, Shiva's brother-in-law approached Prithviraj (Shammi Kapoor) Bhalla and informs him that Shiva has become an underworld don, he has severely beaten-up the existing don, Billa Jilani, and is busy taking haftas and bribes from everyone. Prithviraj decides to investigate, and he does find that Shiva has become a ruffian, known to the police, arrested a number of times, much to the chagrin of his dad. Prithviraj breaks off the alliance and accordingly informs Purshotam. Shortly thereafter, another fight breaks out, this time Shiva is arrested, held in a cell for several days, then beaten up by his father and subsequently bailed out by a woman named Shanti (Dimple Kapadia), a prostitute. Eventually, Shiva kills Billa. The film ends with Purshotam declaring to Inspector Saini, that Shiva is not recommended to be an inspector, since in the eyes of the law he is a criminal. Shiva's photo is shown to be put up on the criminal's display board, and credits roll.

• Jackie Shroff as Shiva Sathe
• Aishwarya as Vidya P. Bhalla
• Amrish Puri as Havaldar Purushottam Sathe
• Farida Jalal as Lakshmi Sathe
• Mukesh Rishi as Billa Jilani
• Shammi Kapoor as Prithviraj Bhalla (Vidya's father)
• Kunika as Shiva's married sister
• Asrani as Shiva's brother-in-Law
• Dimple Kapadia as Shanti (prostitute)
• Raj Babbar as Pratap (Shanti's husband)
• Rakesh Bedi as Shiva's friend
• Tej Sapru as Billa's henchman
• Anant Mahadevan as Havaldar Sawant
• Suresh Oberoi as Inspector Saini
• Annu Kapoor as Manishbhai Harishbhai soda water bottle opener Wala
• Shagufta Ali as an item number "Rang Rangeli"

Mukul Kesavan from the magazine Manushi lauded Gardish as "a powerful, affecting film""[2] The Indian Express praised the film's "script, vivid characters and powerful dialogues" and noted the actors' performances.[3] Anurag Mathur of The Sunday Telegraph was critical of the film, dismissing it as "not even a film, but a series of action sequences strung together by guest appearances", although he singled out Kapadia for "excelling" in her part.[4]

• Gardish on IMDb