Twists, Pyaar, Deshbhakti & DJ Waale Bobby: An Honest Tribute To ‘Soldier,’ A Film That Has It All

As someone who grew up in the 1990s, my reaction to most Abbas-Mustan twists were always this:

And 1998’s Soldier was basically the duo at the height of their powers. Starring DJ waale Bobby…

…and love-interest Dimple.

The film was FULL OF twists and conceit, the climax might as well have taken place in the fifth dimension of a tesseract.

Any way let’s dive into the story right away. It begins with a ‘soldier’ trying to foil a robbery of military arms.

And then ends like this…

Killed by this mysterious dude wearing a Chinese coat in the heat of Rajasthan. That’s that.

Then the story leaps 20 years forward to Mumbai, where a commissioner gets info about a wanted arms dealer.

What are we doing in life?

Commissioner sends the picture to another mystery man, also our hero – DJ waale Bobby.

Bobby saves the arms dealer from arrest on one condition –

Bollywood being Bollywood, the action soon moves to Australia. Why? No idea.

But here’s where DJ waale Bobby sees Dimple for the first time…

Doing what all female actors of the 90s were expected to do…

Through a series of Anu Malik songs, the two obviously fall in love.

In pursuit of an audience, DJ waale Bobby even picks a fight with the local mob boss and his son. Who looks like this –

As it turns out Dimple’s Dad, the local mob boss – are the same arms dealers from the beginning of the movie. Settled in Sydney, even though they’ve graduated to expensive suits and hats, they still haven’t left behind their Bihari accent.

DJ waale Bobby meets Dimple’s parents and they have this cryptic conversation – where Bobby makes him an offer he can’t refuse.

The mob boss hunt DJ waale Bobby, only to find out he’s the son/heir of the entire Bihari mob.

Followed by a typical reunion scene between estranged father-son.

Bihari don shows DJ waale Bobby a file

After I found out about this twist –

DJ waale Bobby uses MS Paint to uncover the true identity of the mystery man wearing a Chinese coat in a desert climate.

DJ waale Bobby is essentially a double-agent, who implicates Dimple’s Dad into the murder. And then does this…

WHAT IS HAPPPENING? WHAT IS THIS STORY? WHO IS THIS GUY? AND WHAT DOES HE WANT?

We’re told DJ waale Bobby is actually the son of the slain ‘soldier’, who we see at the very beginning. Having been declared an enemy of the state based on the testimonies of the actual assholes – Bihari mob boss and Dimple’s father, Bobby promises to restore his father’s honour and bring his killers to justice.

We find out soon enough, as he takes us to the film’s last leg. Back to the desert in Rajasthan –