Premiere:

It is surprising that we had to wait so long for an Indian remake of the smashing Australian romantic comedy, Crocodile Dundee (which in turn, owes much to the classic African Queen). You only wish Jyotin Goel had worked harder over the script that starts quite promisingly. It even has charm so rare in Hindi films.

Anju Agarwal (Juhi Chawla) starts telling us her unusual love story in a voiceover that brims over with amused affection. She is a baby tycoon being groomed for big business by hardheaded Mom (Tanuja) while Dad (Suresh Oberoi) seems a fun loving, indulgent sort. Anju goes to an idyllic Arabian Sea island to convince the locals about the benefits of a hydel project. She crashes her bi-plane to be rescued by the modern day version of the Noble Savage with a sense of wicked chivalry Captain Kishen (Sanjay Dutt). The encounters are along the lines of supercilious city miss brought down to muddy earth by the jungle lord till they naturally fall in love. Juhi tries too hard to be cute and Sanjay is all laid-back good humour. Unfortunately, the light touch doesn’t last for long as sentimental melodrama, bumbling villainy, unexplained loose ends, misplaced songs, take over the film to destroy its fragile charm. There is an environmental message all right even though it is not made with the finesse of the Discovery Channel. It is only a Hindi film, one that was unfortunately delayed for years that you are watching. A certain latitude is mandatory but nothing can excuse the atrocious clothes so called designer stuff that Juhi Chawla inflicts on us. The shiny purple mini- skirted suit, with an outsized, décolletage revealing lacy collar, for a meeting with a Cabinet Minister gets the booby prize for bad taste.

Channel Bollywood Review
by Abhishek Sharma

It's more of Hara-kiri than a Safari. The film is about a young lady Anjali Agarwal (Juhi Chawla) who wants to emulate her mother's way of doing business. Anjali's mother (Tanuja) is a hard core businesswoman who never say dies and is ruthless when it comes to business. Anjali's father (Suresh Oberoi) in contrast is a softhearted person who values love & life more than money. Anjali has a project of setting up a factory on a remote island in the Arabian Sea called Manjeera. The local inhabitants oppose this project, as it will lead to a disaster in the local Eco - system & Environment. But the Agarwals are adamant.
 Anjali decides to go to the island and convince the local inhabitants. So starts the journey of mishaps called Safari. On reaching the island she comes to know that she needs to meet Captain Kishen (Sanjay Dutt) who commands a lot of respect from the locals. But he has gone deep in the jungle in search of a Gorilla. By some miracle Anjali meets Captain Kishen and so starts their adventure in the jungle. As usual the Hero saves the fairer sex in the jungle time and again, the heroine has more to scream, shout and be hysterical than to say something material. What's new? This happens in most of the Hindi films.
During this adventurous odyssey the cupid strikes Anjali and Captain Kishen both. None of them though wants to admit the same. Anjali goes back to Bombay as their project's approval by the Govt. is in trouble. Captain Kishen also reaches Bombay to propose Anjali. Anjali's mother wants her to marry Shekhar (Mohnish Behl) who looks after Agarwal's business. Thus starts the cold war between Shekhar & Captain Kishen. In the interlude the Govt. invites the tribals of the island, so to listen their point of view. Anjali decides to give up the project and tie the knot with Captain Kishen. Anjali and her father are ecstatic about this development but her mother and Shekhar are left fuming. Anjali's mother & Shekhar manage to sanction the project by bribing the officers. Now Captain Kishen has to make a choice between his love and his people. He chooses the latter. There has to be a happy ending so before Captain Kishen goes back to Manjeera the cat is out of the bag. Anjali learns about her mother's concealment and patches up with her love captain Kishen.
The film hasn't got the substance to hold the viewer's interest. The film looks pale and the cinematography by Chaman K. Bajoo is so bad that one thinks the film is out of the eighties. The music of the film is a big letdown. The script could have been made more intriguing to make the film interesting. The direction by Jyotin Goel is ordinary. The only saving grace of the film is Sanjay Dutt and Juhi Chawla who bring smile to your face with some good comedy. But Juhi looks appalling in her outfits of bizarre colours. WARNING: Similarity to Pual Hogan's Crocodile Dundee is purely coincidental.