If you are looking for a perfect Bollywood entertaining film, which can be taken as an ideal example of how Our Hindi Film Industry mixes different parallel genres into one project and that too in a strongly convincing style then Subhash Ghai’s KARMA is the one to be studied in details. Re-defining the way, how to use the word “Inspiration” in film making, Ghai very cleverly writes his hugely likable script around the basic plot of Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai” and our own “Sholay” with a fine touch of Patriotism.
And then he adds into it all the essential ingredients of a Hit Hindi film and yet comes up with a superbly cooked dish which still works whenever it gets telecast on any cable channel around the major Indian National Days. For a casual study, just take a look how many added plots are there in its well tuned script. Starting from Patriotism, it goes on adding border terrorism, ruthless killings, vengeance plan, hiring of three deadly criminals, their own interesting personas and love angles, two main stream heroines, many melodious & Hit songs, occasional well written comedy scenes, striking action sequences, trend setting explosive dialogues, emotional outbursts of various characters and then in the end completion of the task successfully. A made to order HIT Bollywood formula film, which entertains almost all kinds of viewers, satisfying their distinctive choices superbly. Moreover, its immensely catchy Theme Music (played on a Banjo) and its hit patriotic song “Har Karam Apna Karenge, Aye Watan Tere Liye” has now become a necessary feature of any National Day Celebrations in the country.
Still, the most powerful factor which worked in KARMA was the character of Dr. Dang played by Anupam Kher and its brilliantly directed conflicting scenes with Dilip Kumar as Dada Thakur. Just watch out for the expressions, camerawork, background score and the fabulous dialogues in these particular sequences which are now universally included in the 10 best dialogues of our Hindi commercial cinema. In my opinion, the scenes can surely be used to study what DIRECTION actually means in its literal sense. Apart from this highly appreciated merit of the film, the remaining responsibility of converting it into a cult classic was undertaken by the three hired criminals played by Nasseruddin Shah, Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff (in this sequence only) and they all gave one of their career best performances in their respective roles.
Interestingly Subhash Ghai’s initial choice for the role of Dr. Dang was Amrish Puri, but after giving it a thought he opted for Anupam Kher instead, because of a very valid & intelligent reason. He said that “Amrish has been killed so many times on screen before, that the viewers would not feel like killing him once again with more hatred.” And the decision worked very well both for the film as well for its audience who instantly made it a Hit at its release around the Indian Independence Day of 1986.
So its indeed a must watch for all lovers of Bollywood Masala Films looking for a perfect dose of entertainment along with the melody.
Directed by Subhash Ghai
Starring : Dilip Kumar, Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Poonam Dhillon, Dara Singh, Shakti Kapoor and more.
Music by Laxmikant Pyarelal
Tags :
Karma (1986), Movies To See Before You Die Thriller, Subhash Ghai, Anupam Kher, Dilip Kumar, Dr. Dang, Must See Movies List at bobbytalkscinema.com, Aye Watan Tere Liye, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Patriotic Hindi Films, Must See Movies List by Bobby Sing at www.bobbytalkscinema.com
