Showing posts with label 1970s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1970s. Show all posts

Don

The film Don is a classic Indian gangster movie featuring an outstanding performance by Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachan. Don is full of fight scenes and car chases from its very beginning, with the escape of Don from a gang of thugs with help from an exploding suitcase. Along with the action, the film weaves together numerous subplots, such as Roma’s vendetta against Don for Ramesh’s death, and the downfall of Jasjit.
Along with Amitabh Bachan as Don and Vijay, Zeenat Aman stars as Roma, the vamp actress Helen as Kamini, Pran as Jasjit, and Iftekhar Khan as Officer D’Silva. The film starts by following the antics of the criminal mastermind Don and his interactions with the law. Later, Don’s murder of his goon Ramesh for attempting to flee Don’s criminal organization incites Ramesh’s fiancĂ©e Kamini to seduce Don into a police ambush. However, Don survives the ambush only to later be mortally wounded by the police in another trap. Despite this, Don’s death is kept a secret by Officer D’Silva, the only one who knows Don is dead. In an attempt to capture the criminal mastermind who was above Don, a smuggler named Vardhan, D’Silva recruits a street performer by the name of Vijay to impersonate Don, in exchange for the welfare of the two orphans Vijay takes care of. However, at the same time Roma, the sister of the late Ramesh, waits for news of Don’s existence with the wish to kill the man in revenge for her brother. Along with this, the acrobat and safe cracker Jasjit is released from prison intent on killing Officer D’Silva for his arrest and finding his two children. All of the subplots of Don lead up to an action packed second half of the movie, complete with plot twists, cemetery fight scenes, and car explosions. This film is truly epic and worthy of its cult following. -Aneil Tripathy

Deewaar

Year: 1975
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Nirupa Roy, Parveen Babi, Neetu Singh, Iftikhar
Director: Yash Chopra
Producer: Gulshan Rai
Music: RD Burman, Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi
Story/Screenplay: Salim Khan, Javed Akhtar
Production Company: Trimurti Films

The visually iconic and historically important Deewaar (The Wall) is, at its core, a story of two brothers competing for the love of their mother. The entire film is a flashback of Sumitra (Nirupa Roy), which begins with the childhood of her sons Vijay and Ravi. The family is dishonored when the brothers’ father, a union messiah blackmailed by evil corporate monkeys, is lambasted as a false prophet and driven out of town. Vijay is attacked by disgruntled workers and is forever branded with a tattoo reading, “Mera baap jhoot hai,” my father is a liar. Sumitra is horrified and decides to move the family sans father to Mumbai, the city of dreams. They live in poverty while Sumitra sacrifices everything for the benefit of her sons.
Scarred by his memories of the old village, Vijay is broody even as a child, refusing to step into temples but working for the better future of his brother. Vijay grows up to become Angry Young Man Amitabh Bachchan, surprising no one. Vijay, initially still working class, impresses a bigwig in the Mumbai mobster scene and immediately starts making rolls of cash. He is an anti-hero, seen smoking lots of cigarettes, becoming more and more successful with his implied trade of illicit materials, and man-handling bad guys who dare mess with his sense of justice. He uses his newfound wealth to dote on both his mistress(Parveen Babi) and his mother.
Ravi, on the other hand, is enamored with authority and does very well in school, eventually morphing into Shashi Kapoor. Ravi’s love of rules limits his options before he finds work as a rather gun-happy policeman through his connection to the father of his carefree girlfriend (Neetu Singh). He insists happy endings are not a legitimate cause for morally ambiguous actions. He and Vijay inevitably clash when Ravi is assigned to the arrest of his brother. This family drama mostly manifests itself through the brothers’ competition for their mother, who is heartbroken when it becomes clear that she must choose between them. Deewaar is famous for its unique moral stance, its dialogues, and Amitabh’s fiery performance as Vijay. -Emily Dunning

Anand

ANAND (1971)
Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Major Characters:
Rajesh Khanna: Anand Saigal / Jaichand
Amitabh Bachchan: Dr. Bhaskar K. Bannerjee
Sumita Sanyal: Renu
Ramesh Deo: Dr. Prakash Kulkarni
Seema Deo: Mrs. Suman Kulkarni

Movie Outline:
One of the most eye-opening movies of all time in the Bollywood film industry, this story begins with Dr. Bhaskar K. Bannerjee, a cancer specialist, winning a literary award for his first novel about a patient called Anand. Dr. Bannerjee is asked to give a speech about his motivation behind this novel. The movie is a flashback of Dr. Bannerjee’s tale of a terminally ill patient named Anand. Anand, the title character, is in his last stage of a disease called Lymphosarcoma of the intestine. Prior to the introduction of Anand, the movie is truly gloomy and depressing. Dr. Bannerjee is frustrated with life as a doctor because of the disparity in Bombay in terms of accessibility of basic amenities such as health-care. Dr. Bannerjee is so caught up with this frustration that he completely detaches himself from the rest of the world. He seems to have lost desire towards everything in life such as marriage, food and friendship. The jovial character of Anand completely changes the mood of the movie. Anand knows that he has only months to live, and therefore wants to extract as much joy and happiness during this short lifespan. He puts matters in perspective for Dr. Bannerjee and says that a long frustrated life is much worse than a short happy life. Anand’s theory is that a great life is much better than a long life. The audience and the rest of the characters in the movie fall in love with Anand and his philosophy of life. This philosophy that one should live life to the fullest extent is really the basis of Anand. Through Anand last few months, the movie asks the modern, fast-paced audience to reflect on what is really important towards leading a great life. -Gaurav Gharti-Chhetri