12 days ago
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Naseeb(1981) is a formulaic movie made by Manmohan Desai in his trademark style. There is no novelty either in the plot or in the treatment. It's an entertaining movie all the same. It had a silver jubilee run(more than 25 weeks) in the world famous Raj Mandir cinema of Jaipur and was commercially successful elsewhere also. It is counted among the hit movies of the so-called angry young man of that time - Amitabh Bachchan. As far as its story is concerned, it can be told in a couple of lines only - two friends kill their third friend and frame the fourth one in the charge of his murder, years later the sons of that fourth one seek revenge from the wrongdoers.
The movie says that no-one should ever sell his Naseeb(luck). The story begins with such a selling only when a person who has come to dine in a(low quality) restaurant gives his lottery ticket to a waiter of that restaurant as the payment(because he is not having money to pay the restaurant bill). This waiter is Naamdev(Pran) who in association with his friends Jaggi(Jagdish Raj), Raghunath(Kader Khan) and Daamodar(Amjad Khan) buys that ticket from that person(all these four friends contribute one rupee each as the restaurant bill is of Rs. 4). As we can understand that due to the Bollywoodish coincidence, that ticket only wins the first prize of the lottery. Raghunath and Daamodar are greedy. They kill Jaggi(as the ticket had been kept with Jaggi only) and trap Naamdev in the charge of his murder. Naamdev runs away and it is known to others that he has died.
Years pass. Naamdev has two sons - Johnny(Amitabh Bachchan) and Sunny(Rishi Kapoor). Johnny is known by three names - John, Johnny and Janaardan and he is serving as a waiter in the five star hotel owned by Raghunath and Daamodar(they had opened it with the prize money of that lottery only). Sunny is studying in boarding. Daamodar's son Vicky(Shatrughan Sinha) is fast friend of Johnny who is studying abroad. Well, when there are three heroes, there must be three heroines also. So we have Asha(Hema Malini), Julie(Reena Roy) and Kim(Kim). Johnny and Vicky fall in love with the same girl who is Asha whereas Julie loves Vicky in her heart without disclosing her feelings on him. Naturally, sacrifices are to be made as the Bollywood heroes and heroines(of that era) have always been the noble people.
To show a good deal of action to the typical Bollywood moviegoers, villains also should be more. So alongwith the main villains, we have Raghunath's sons(Prem Chopra and Shakti Kapoor) plus a person called as Don(Amrish Puri) who has illegal dealings with Raghunath and Daamodar. The separated ones meet again in Manmohan Desai style and a grand(and long) fight takes place in a glass house in the climax. In the ending scene the same person who had sold his lottery ticket to Naamdev and his companions in the beginning of the movie again tries to do the same thing in the restaurant now run by Naamdev and his sons(the person as well as his situation is the same after so many years, wow Bollywood!) but Naamdev stops him from doing so and advises him not to sell his luck(advises the same thing to the heroes too).
Though the complete movie is interesting, the most entertaining scene of the movie is Amitabh Bachchan's entry scene followed by the song - John Johnny Janaardan. In this song, Manmohan Desai had made an experiment of bringing several Bollywood heroes and heroines(as themselves) in guest appearance, viz. Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Rakesh Roshan, Waheeda Rehman, Mala Sinha, Sharmila Tagore, Simi etc. In that period, seeing so many stars in a single scene was an extraordinary and highly entertaining thing for the audience. It was the only joint appearance of Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra and Rajesh Khanna and also the only joint appearance of Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor. Naturally, the song won the heart of the audience.
Despite the stale story, ample doses of romance, comedy, action, songs and dances keep the viewer glued to the screen. The movie is three hours long but the entertainment quotient being high, length is not felt. Songs composed by Laxmikant Pyarelaal are not great but not bad either. Overall the music album of Naseeb is okay.
When the story itself is routine and formulaic, great performances should not be expected from the actors. However all the three heroes have done well especially Amitabh Bachchan. His comic timing alongwith his acting in serious scenes is superb. Rest of the cast has done the respective parts in a routine way.
The movie boasts of technical excellence. Dialogues are good. It's a lavish movie. Hence the art director has got ample opportunity to showcase his talent.
Summing up, Naseeb renders an escapist entertainment of three hours to its viewers. Regular entertainment-seekers(interested in the entertainment in the style of the seventies) can enjoy it.
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