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Tejas
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sarvesh Mevara
Written by	Sarvesh Mevara
Produced by	Ronnie Screwvala
Starring	Kangana Ranaut Anshul Chauhan Varun Mitra
Cinematography	Hari K. Vedantam
Edited by	Aarif Sheikh
Music by	Shashwat Sachdev
Production company	RSVP Movies
Release date	27 October 2023 (2023-10-27)
Running time	112 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹70 crore
Box office	₹5.6 crore

Tejas is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by Sarvesh Mewara and produced by Ronnie Screwvala. The film stars Kangana Ranaut in the lead role, alongside Anshul Chauhan and Varun Mitra in supporting roles.

The film was released on 27 October 2023 to mostly negative reviews from critics. Tejas emerged as one of Hindi cinema's biggest box-office disasters within its first two days of release, with most theatrical screenings being cancelled on its opening day.

Plot

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Indian Air Force pilot Tejas Gill is on a mission to rescue an Indian spy who has some very confidential information while also battling with her tragic past of haunted memories.

Cast

• Kangana Ranaut as IAF officer Tejas Gill
• Anshul Chauhan as IAF officer Aafia
• Varun Mitra as Ekveer
• Rohed Khan as Sarqalam
• Ashish Vidyarthi as IAF chief R K Panicker
• Vishak Nair as Prashant
• Kashyap Shangari as Vivek
• Sunit Tandon as Academy Teacher
• Rio Kapadia as RAW Chief
• Mohan Agashe as Prime Minister
• Mushtaq Kak as Khatooni
• Lovlesh Khaneja as Pakistani Pilot

Production

Principal photography commenced in August 2021. Production wrapped in November 2021.

Promotion

The film was endorsed by the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and Uttarakhand's CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, both belonging to Bharatiya Janta Party, on 31 October 2023 after watching it in Lucknow together with Kangana Ranaut.

Ranaut remarked that Yogi Adityanath "assured us that he would protect us and our film from all our enemies and anti-national elements and motivate the nationalists to watch and connect with it". Ranaut was criticised over using politics to influence people to watch the film.

Ranaut also visited the Israeli Embassy to promote the film amid 2023 Hamas-Israel conflict, which also drew criticism.

Music

The music of the film has been composed by Shashwat Sachdev. The lyrics have been written by Kumaar, Folk-Lore and Shashwat Sachdev.

Reception

Box office

Made on a budget of ₹70 crore (US$8.2 million), Tejas has grossed ₹4.93 crore (US$580,000) in India, with a further ₹0.67 crore (US$78,000) overseas, for a worldwide total of ₹5.6 crore (US$660,000). The film emerged as one of Hindi Cinema's biggest box-office bomb in both domestic and overseas markets within its first two days of release.

Critical response

The film received negative reviews from the critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Tejas holds a score of 10% based on 10 reviews and an average rating of 5/10.

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film a rating of 1 out of 5 and wrote, "Tejas is a film that flies into rough weather from the word go and never manages to find a way out of it. An air combat thriller has never been so frustratingly airy-fairy". The Times of India's Dhaval Roy gave 3 out 5 stars, writing, "As the story builds up, sequences seem abrupt, and one wishes for a more cohesive screenplay. That being said, things turn thrilling once the main rescue operation begins, and the movie offers some high-octane action scenes". He praised Ranaut for performing "action as effortlessly as emotional scenes". More positive albeit mixed reviews came from Samarth Goyal of Hindustan Times who described Tejas as film that "takes you on a rollercoaster ride through the skies and geopolitics", which "succeeds in creating moments of tension and anticipation". The reviewer labelled the first half as an "an unruly hunk of footage" but credited the film for regaining its composure in the second half where it keeps "maintaining a commendable tone that never veers into loud and jingoistic territory". Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost, who gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, appreciated Ranaut and said the film becomes interesting in the second half, but lacks appropriate depth in the research.

Anuj Kumar, reviewing for The Hindu, wrote that the movie is "a sloppy follow-up that neither works as an action film nor manages to sustain the emotional swell". Zinia Bandyopadhyaye of India Today gave the film of 2 stars out of 5 and called it a bumpy ride muddled with jarring inconsistencies. Filmfare concluded, "while Tejas is a valiant attempt towards championing inclusion of women in combat roles, the half-baked nature of the film cushions the impact of its message." Shubhra Gupta panned the film as replete with "a series of eye-roll moments" but praised Ranaut "whose acting abilities shine through even in the weakest scenes". Jansatta described the movie in its review to be lacking plot and attempting to thrive on nationalist sentiments.

References

1. "Kangana Ranaut's 'Tejas' to hit theatres on October 27, teaser out". The Hindu. 2 October 2023. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
2. ^ "Tejas (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 25 October 2023. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
3. ^ "Kangana Ranaut's Tejas records massive loss of over Rs 50 crore, earns only Rs 4.25 crore at the box office". The Indian Express. 9 November 2023. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023. As per the report, the film's cost to the producers amounted to Rs 70 crore.
4. ^ "Kangana Ranaut-starrer Tejas Suffers Loss Of Rs 50 Crore At Box Office: Report". CNN-IBN. 10 November 2023. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023. As per reports, the film's budget amounted to Rs 70 crore.
5. ^ "Kangana Ranaut starrer Tejas faces a loss of over Rs. 50 crores; makers of Tejas and Dhaakad left poorer by Rs. 129 crores". Bollywood Hungama. 8 November 2021. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023. The film was made at a huge cost of Rs. 70 crores.
6. ^ "Tejas (2023) Box Office Collection". Bollywood Hungama. 28 October 2023. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
7. "Kangana Ranaut's Tejas to release on October 27, teaser unveils inspiring tale of female Air Force pilots". The Times of India. 2 October 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
8. "Tejas teaser: Kangana Ranaut goes to war, promises to rain fire from the skies. Watch". The Indian Express. 2 October 2023. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
9. ^ "Tejas (2023)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
10. ^ "'It's a bad film': Experts weigh in on Kangana Ranaut's 'Tejas' failure". ARY News. 1 November 2023. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023. Apart from the poor numbers in ticket sales, the Box Office disaster opened to mostly negative reviews from film critics
11. ^ "Kangana Ranaut starrer Tejas faces a loss of over Rs. 50 crores; makers of Tejas and Dhaakad left poorer by Rs. 129 crores". Bollywood Hungama. 8 November 2021. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023. The complete lack of pre-release buzz coupled by negative reviews and word-of-mouth has affected the film greatly.
12. ^ "Kangana Ranaut Breaks Silence Post Tejas' Negative Reviews & Says Her Haters "Will Be Forever Miserable" & Requests Them To Join Her Fan Clubs For Our Nation Bharat". Koimoi. 29 October 2023. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
13. ^ "Tejas Box Office Estimate Day 4: Crash-lands on Monday with Rs. 35 lakhs; competes with Dhaakad as one of the biggest disasters of Hindi cinema". Bollywood Hungama. 30 October 2023. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
14. ^ "Box Office: Vikrant Massey defeats Kangana Ranaut as 12th Fail crushes Tejas on Saturday; Tejas emerges as a true-blue disaster of Hindi cinema". Bollywood Hungama. 28 October 2023. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
15. "Exhibitors SHOCKED with TOTAL rejection of Kangana Ranaut-starrer Tejas: "It is an UNMITIGATED disaster. For the first time this year, the morning show in my theatre got CANCELLED because of zero ticket sales"". Bollywood Hungama. 30 October 2023. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
16. "Tejas, 12th Fail, and Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video open to disastrous response; shows cancelled due to lack of audience". Bollywood Hungama. 27 October 2023. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
17. "Shows of Kangana Ranaut's Tejas cancelled due to zero ticket sales, exhibitors say, 'Not even 4-5 viewers turned up'". Times of India. 1 November 2023. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
18. "Kangana Ranaut dons IAF uniform as she begins Tejas". The Indian Express. 22 August 2021. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
19. "Kangana Ranaut celebrates Tejas wrap-up amid ongoing controversy". The Indian Express. 14 November 2021. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
20. ^ Singh, Shubham (31 October 2023). "UP CM Yogi Adityanath 'had tears in his eyes' while watching 'Tejas': Kangana Ranaut". Business Today. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
21. Chiu, Fengyen (1 November 2023). "Kangana Ranaut Says People Hating On Her Film Tejas Are 'Anti-National'; 'Yogi Ji Has Assured Us...'". Mashable India. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
22. "Amid Hamas-Israel conflict, Kangana Ranaut reaches Israeli embassy to promote her movie 'Tejas'". The Economic Times. 26 October 2023. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
23. "Kangana Ranaut visits the Israel embassy and meets Ambassador Naor Gilon, ahead of the Tejas release". Bollywood Hungama. 27 October 2023. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
24. "Kangana Ranaut gets trolled by Prakash Raj, Deepa Mehta for her comments on low theatre footfalls, Israel-Gaza conflict". Hindustan Times. 29 October 2023. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
25. "Netizens disapprove of Kangana Ranaut's 'Hindu nation' comment during meeting with Israel Ambassador Naor Gilon". Times of India. 28 October 2023. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
26. ^ "Tejas – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Jiosaavn. 6 October 2023. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
27. "Tejas is a MONUMENTAL DISASTER at the overseas box office; collects less than Rs. 20 lakhs on Day 1". Bollywood Hungama. 29 October 2023. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
28. "Tejas Review: An Air Combat Thriller Has Never Been So Frustratingly Airy-Fairy". NDTV. 27 October 2023. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
29. Roy, Dhaval (27 October 2023). "Tejas Movie Review: This aviation drama is on a bumpy ride". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
30. Goyal, Samarth (27 October 2023). "Tejas movie review: Kangana Ranaut takes you on a bumpy ride through skies and geopolitics". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
31. Roy, Lachmi Deb (27 October 2023). "Kangana Ranaut's Tejas Movie Review: Indian Air Force (IAF) deserves better". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
32. Kumar, Anuj (27 October 2023). "'Tejas' movie review: Kangana Ranaut's surgical strike goes kaput". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
33. "'Tejas' Review: Kangana's film is a bumpy ride muddled with inconsistencies". India Today. 27 October 2023. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
34. Sharma, Devesh (27 October 2023). "Tejas Movie Review". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
35. Gupta, Shubhra (27 October 2023). "Tejas movie review: In a film replete with eye-roll moments, Kangana Ranaut shines through". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
36. Maheshwari, Sudhanshu (27 October 2023). "Tejas Review: सिर्फ राष्ट्रवाद पर खेलने से कुछ नहीं होगा, बेदम कहानी और बचकाने VFX ने कंगना की झोली में डाली एक और फ्लॉप". Jansatta (in Hindi). Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.

External links

• Tejas at IMDb
• Tejas at Bollywood Hungama

• 2023 films
• Indian action thriller films
• Indian aviation films
• 2023 action thriller films
• 2020s Hindi-language films
• Indian Air Force in films
• Military of Pakistan in films
• India–Pakistan relations in popular culture
• Films set in Pakistan
• Films about the Research and Analysis Wing
• Films about aviators
• Films about women in India