Ishq is a romantic action comedy film directed by Indra Kumar and released in 1997 in Hindi. Dalip Tahil, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Johnny Lever, and Mohan Joshi play supporting roles alongside Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgn, Juhi Chawla, and Kajol.
The film received mixed reviews when it premiered in theatres on November 28, 1997, but it went on to become the year’s third highest-earning film, grossing more than Rupees 500 million (US$6.6 million) worldwide.
Karisma Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit were both given the roles of Kajol and Juhi Chawla, but the former declined while the latter had scheduling conflicts. In addition, Amitabh Bachchan was cast in the role of a man who, after an intermission, seeks to reunite the four lovers, but he quit the film owing to disagreements with Kumar, and Kumar later omitted that character from the film.
Ishq was Kumar’s first film without Madhuri Dixit in the starring role, and his second with Aamir Khan after Dil in the 1990s. Kumar and Devgn worked together for the first time on this film.
During the filming of the film, Aamir Khan made a joke about Juhi Chawla, which irritated her. The film was a box office success. It made 53.2 crores on a budget of ten crores. In 2019, its gross is comparable to 368 crores when adjusted for inflation. After Dil To Pagal Hai and Border, it was the third highest-grossing Hindi film of 1997.
Anu Malik composed the soundtrack for the film. The Ishq soundtrack album was the sixth best-selling Bollywood soundtrack album of the year, selling 3 million copies.
