Starcast: Ashok Kumar, Ranjeeta, Mithun Chakraborty, Yogeeta Bali, Naseeruddin Shah, Madan Puri, Sujit Kumar and Utpal Dutt Direc...
Starcast: Ashok Kumar, Ranjeeta, Mithun Chakraborty, Yogeeta Bali, Naseeruddin Shah, Madan Puri, Sujit Kumar and Utpal Dutt
Direction: Shakti Samanta
Music: Ravindra Jain
I recently dug up this old Bollywood flick from
1980 called "Khwab", directed by Shakti Samanta. The man behind classics like "Aradhana" and "Amar Prem"? He was trying something a bit different here,
stepping away from his usual big-star romances with Shammi Kapoor or Rajesh
Khanna, and going for a more dramatic thriller vibe with then up-and-coming
actors.
The story follows Pratap, played by Mithun
Chakraborty, this ambitious guy from a small town who heads to Bombay dreaming
of making it big. He crashes in a chawl with his buddy Gopal (Naseeruddin Shah)
and Gopal's sister Maya (Yogeeta Bali). Pratap lands a job through his dad's
old friend, Ram Prasad (Madan Puri), and starts climbing the ladder quick. Soon
enough, he's catching the eye of the boss's daughter, Indrani (Ranjeeta Kaur),
and things look rosy – love, success, the works.
Now, ambition bites hard in this one. Pratap gets
tangled up with Maya too, and when she ends up pregnant, his "dream"
life starts crumbling. On the day he's supposed to get engaged to Indrani, boom
– he's arrested for Maya's murder. The rest is courtroom drama, betrayal, and
that classic moral lesson about how greed and chasing the high life can mess
you up. Naseer as Gopal turns pretty intense as the antagonist, flipping from
friend to foe in a way that feels kinda raw for the time.
What I liked most was the cast coming together.
Mithun was still early in his career – this was around when he was blowing up
after "Surraksha" vibes, but here he's more serious, playing the conflicted
everyman really well. His tight bellbottoms and dance moves in the songs are
pure 80s and good fun. Naseeruddin Shah steals scenes like he always does; even
in a commercial setup, you can see that parallel cinema edge shining through.
Ranjeeta is sweet and sassy as the rich girl, and Yogeeta Bali brings this tragic
vibe to Maya – she's the suffering type who gets pushed around by life (and her
alcoholic brother), which is a trope Bollywood loved back then, but she makes
you feel for her.
Shakti Samanta keeps it moving at a decent pace –
about 2 hours – with some solid tension in the thriller bits. There's a guest
appearance by Ashok Kumar as a lawyer that's pretty memorable; the old-timer
nails it. The film's got that message about how ambition corrupts, and it hits
without being too preachy. . It feels a bit run-of-the-mill in places, like a
standard rise-and-fall story we've seen before.
Music-wise, it's Ravindra Jain taking over from
Samanta's usual RD Burman, and it's a good track but not unforgettable. Tracks
like "Tu Hi Woh Haseen Hai" by Rafi is a classic though, and Main
Banjara toh Nahin is also excellent as Mithuns intro song and stands out
.
Released in February 1980, the film didn't set the box office on fire. Apparently,
it just didn't click with audiences, even though Mithun and Ranjeeta were a
popular pair back then. Shakti Samanta himself said later that sometimes things
just don't gel. Fun trivia: Mithun and Yogeeta Bali's real-life romance
supposedly sparked on set – they ended up getting married!
Overall, if you're into retro Bollywood or a
Mithun/Naseer fan, it's worth a watch for the performances and that 80s
nostalgia. It's got drama, romance, a bit of suspense, and those over-the-top
emotions we love. Not a masterpiece, but a solid time pass on a lazy weekend.
It's decent for what it is, but dreams don't always come true in Bollywood
either, right?
By Ayushmaan Mitra
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