Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Dushman - 1972
Dushman is a 1972 Hindi film produced by Premji and directed by Dulal
Guha. It is based on a novel by Veerendra Sharma. The film stars
Rajesh Khanna in the title role and for which he received a Filmfare
nomination as Best Actor, the only nomination for the film. Meena
Kumari, Mumtaz, Bindu, Rehman, Asit Sen and Johnny Walker are part of
the cast.
The film became a "super-hit" at the box office.
This film was remade in Tamil as Needhi in the same year (1972)
starring Sivaji Ganesan and Jayalalithaa. The film was later remade
into the Telugu film Khaidii Babay (1974) starring Shobhan Babu in
the title role, and Vanisri as his love interest. It was also
remade in Kannada as Hosa Theerpu (1983) with Ambareesh.
Summary :
Surjit Singh (Rajesh Khanna) earns a living driving a truck. He is a
rash driver and more than usually also driving while drunk. One night
he stops at the prostitute Chamelibai's (Bindu), spends the night
with her, and gets up late the next morning. He rushes out and drives
at breakneck speed in thick fog to make up for lost time while again
drinking. He inevitably ends up running over and killing a farmer
named Ram Din. But despite the opportunity to hit and run, he decides
to stay and face the consequences. He is arrested by the police,
charged, and brought before the courts.
Surjit acknowledges his guilt to the Judge (Rehman) who in-turn knows
that he should send Surjit to prison for two years. But moved by the
plight of Ram Din's family (which include his widow Malti (Meena
Kumari); his sister Kamla (Kumari Naaz); two young sons; a crippled
father Ganga Din (Nana Palsikar), and his blind mother (Leela
Mishra)), and his inherent belief that imprisonment does not serve
the good of the victim or the perpetrator, the Judge resolves to try
a novel experiment of forcing Surjit to live with Ram Din's family
and looking after their financial needs. A horrified Surjit attempts
in vain to convince the Judge to change his ruling. He is transported
to his new "prison" under police protection, where he is
met by hostile villagers. Ram Din's family detest his presence, and
call him "Dushman" (The enemy). Surjit attempts to escape
on the first night, but is apprehended and brought back to serve his
time.
He gradually comes to terms with the twist of fate that has forced
him to become a subsistence farmer and live under the ever
unforgiving eyes of Ram Din's family. Over time he starts sincerely
working for the family and its interests. He meets Phoolmati Mumtaz,
a happy-go-lucky girl who operates a small bi-scope machine to
entertain the village kids. They take an instant liking to each
other, which blossoms into love. He also finds friends amongst the
previously hostile villagers. He works hard on the family plot while
also protecting it from the clutches of a local landlord who has ill
intentioned designs on the land and also on Kamla.
Surmounting many obstacles, Surjit is able to arrange the marriage of
Kamla with her childhood sweetheart. With the help of a benevolent
police force and the Judge, he is also able to thwart the many
attempts of the landlord to seize the family's land, and that of
other villagers who have mortgaged their land with the same landlord.
Malti however, is unable to forgive Surjit for having killed her
husband.
Things take a dramatic turn for the worse when Surjit is framed and
arrested for the accidental death of Phoolmati's drunk grandfather.
At the same time, the landlord has the lush harvest produced by
Surjit and other villagers covertly set ablaze, and has Phoolmati
kidnapped, primarily to punish Surjit. Malti, who has been working in
one of the landlord's saw mills thinking he is an honourable man,
witnesses his misdeeds, and finally realises her mistake. She is able
to rescue Phoolmati but gets trapped by the landlord instead, who
attempts to rape her. Meanwhile, Surjit stages an escape from his
holding cell and with the help of Phoolmati, is able to come to
Malti's rescue in the nick of time. He confronts the landlord and
violently assaults him as payback. The police show up and arrest the
landlord for his role in defrauding the villagers and destroying
their harvest.
Ram Din's family finally accept Surjit as one of their own, and
arrange his marriage to Phoolmati. In a final twist though, his two
years' imprisonment is complete, and the Police arrive to escort him
back to town. He pleads with the Judge to let him serve a life
sentence, and the Judge smiles, vindicated that his experiment has
been successful.
Star Cast :
- Super Star Rajesh Khanna ... Surjit Singh / Dushman
- Mumtaz ... Phoolmati
- Meena Kumari ... Malti Ram Din
- Naaz ... Kamala
- Abhi Bhattacharya ... Police Inspector
- Asit Sen ... Head Constable Harishankar Chaurasiya
- Rehman ... Judge
- Anwar Hussain ... Timber Merchant
- Sajjan ... Nain Sukh
- Kanhaiyalal ... Durga Prasad
- Nana Palsikar ... Ganga Din
- Leela Mishra ... Mrs. Ganga Din
- K. N. Singh ... Public Prosecutor Saxena
- Ramayan Tiwari ... Nana, Drunkard Grand Father of Phoolmati
- Murad ... Supreme Court Judge
- Johnny Walker ... Panditji (Special Appearance)
- Bindu ... Dancer (In Song "Vaada Tera Vaada")
Music Sound Track :
S.No. Song Title Playback Singer(s)
- "Balma Sipahiya" - by Lata Mangeshkar
- "Dekho Dekho Dekho Bioscope Dekho " - by Lata Mangeshkar
- "Maine Dekha Tune Dekha" - by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar
- "Sachchai Chhup Nahin Sakti (Vaada Tera Vaada)" - by Kishore Kumar.
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