Two Blockbusters..a Year apart
1st May 1981 : Naseeb
30th April 1982 : Namak Halaal
Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra.
Those were the days when Amitabh was right there on top and these movies added to his popularity.
Between these two there was
Laawaris, Silsila, Kaalia, Satte Pe Satta , Desh Premee in between.
(Naseeb - Laawaris (1981), Desh Premee - Namak Halaal 1982 ) were the MKD and PM combos for the years.
NASEEB Completes 41 years today.
A look at this Blockbuster.
Can't beleive it..
Manmohan Desai's masala films are the richest, most symbolically laden and most delightfully creative of their time. His stories are packed with archetypes for good, Bad,Ugly, god and godlessness, creation, nurture, and destruction. They are masterful creations, with equal parts allegory and entertainment value bursting out of every frame.
It all starts when four friends(Kader Khan,Amjad Khan,Pran and Jagdish Raj)receive a winning lottery ticket and Jagdish wins. Out of sheer greed Kader Khan and Amjad Khan kill Jagdish and frame Pran. They throw Pran into a river and he is persumed dead. Kader Khan and Amjad Khan start a hotel with their winnings. Years later we find out that Pran is actually very much alive and returns to avenge his friend's murder, which results in a superb finale that takes place in a hotel.
Now to this we have sub-stories of how Pran's sons ( Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor), Amjad Khan's son ( Shatrughan Sinha)
Jagdish Raj's daughters ( Hema Malini and Kim)and a well-wisher of Pran , Mrs Disa ( Lalita Pawar)her daughter Reena Roy get entangled in a love triangle, a love square and a college romance. ( Amitabh and Shatru both fall in love with Hema , Hema likes Amitabh, Reena Roy has a crush on Shatrughan Sinha).
It's complicated but entertaining.
One can't help comparing it with Amar Akbar Anthony.
If you took Amar Akbar Anthony, pureed it in a blender, and passed it through a sieve into a parallel universe, you might end up with something like Naseeb. The syncretic spirit of that older film, joining Hindu, Muslim, and Christian to muster the strength of the nation itself in triumph over evil, is captured here right from the very beginning in the three rings worn by Namdev (Pran) - a cross, an ॐ , and the name of Allah. Namdev is the victim of a grave injustice; like Pran's character in Amar Akbar Anthony, he is framed for a crime, wins a fortune, and has it stolen from him all within the first 20 minutes of the film. And like that character - like most anyone seeking justice in India - he must wait many years to see justice served.
Where Amar Akbar Anthony distributed the three gods across three brothers, Naseeb jelly-rolls them into one John Jaani Janardhan (Amitabh Bachchan), who introduces himself to the world in song much the Anthony Gonsalves did.
Rishi Kapoor does a great job in a comparitivly smaller role. Kim his girlfriend is a lip reader which helps going into the climax.
just like Amar Akbar Anthony, Naseeb's climax begins with a fantastically-costumed number in which all three principals and their romantic partners distract the bad guys. But Naseeb ups the ante. This climax doesn't just offer silly costumes and acrobatic fistfights; it sets them in a revolving skyscraper-top restaurant which it then sets on fire.
Bottom line, Naseeb is as good and rich and satisfying as any masala movie you'll ever see, including Desai's other bests, Amar Akbar Anthony and Parvarish. Naseeb's cadre of villains includes Amjad Khan, Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Yusuf Khan, and Amrish Puri – Pran, as noted above, is a good guy in this one, much as he is in Amar Akbar Anthony. With that crew, plus Amitabh, Rishi Kapoor, and Shatrugan Sinha on the side of light, Desai does skimp a little on the heroines. Hema Malini brings first-class star power, her gorgeous smile and guts.
But the other female leads are somewhat lesser lights – Rishi Kapoor and Shatrugan Sinha end up with Kim and Reena Roy, respectively. These two are certainly up to the tasks they are given, even if they aren't in the same league as Parveen Babi, Shabana Azmi, or Neetu Singh. But each gets a song – Kim's is a terrific boys-against-girls kabbadi sequence with Rishi Kapoor.
The music is apt .. instead of a drunken mirror scene we have a drunken song between Rishi and Amitabh .Shatrugan Sinha plays one of his trademark morally grey characters, like in Desai's Aa gale lag jaa, who seems like a creep but actually never does anything wrong and turns out to be a pretty good guy. If that's not all, there is sabre fencing – sabre fencing! - between Pran and a gloriously blond-wigged-and-bearded Amrish Puri. There is Lalita Pawar in perfect masala-maa form. And to punctuate Desai's syncretic message, Pran's rings get distributed among the three principals ( having Om, Allha,Holy cross on them)
In short, if you like masala – and let me tell you, I like masala – there is really no reason not to watch this movie over and over again. I'll be right there with you. Mere naseeb mein hai ise baar baar dekhna.
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