Trishul

Review By Kamal K

Trishul - produced by noted producer Gulshan Rai and directed by Yash Chopra - relied primarily on Amitabh Bachchan's simmering intensity and volcanic angst. He played Vijay, a man with a mission to get even with his biological dad R. K. Gupta (Sanjeev Kumar) who had ditched his mother (Waheeda Rehman) to marry a wealthy heiress. Vijay's revenge is not physical but rather an emotional one wherein he wants to destroy his father's business empire. Vijay even conspires to win over Sheetal (Hema Malini) whom his R. K. Gupta's legitimate son and Vijay's step bro Shekhar (Shashi Kapoor) is in love with.

Salim Javed's script wasn't perfect - it had its share of cinematic liberties like a young engineer Vijay with no money or clout becoming a top businessman almost in a jiffy to take on the might of an established business tycoon like R. K. Gupta. But the audience chose to overlook these fallacies only due to Bachchan's charisma and star power to pull off the role of Vijay - an otherwise anti-hero who touches your heart just by his belief and conviction in what he is doing.

Yash Chopra's direction was extraordinary and this is my personal favourite from his illustrious resume - a film he chose to remake again as Vijay (1988) with Anil Kapoor in Bachchan's role but that film turned out to be a box office dud.

Not many know that Gulshan Rai wasn't too happy at the trial show held when the film was around seventy percent complete. Yash Chopra too agreed with his producer that there was something missing in Trishul and he huddled up with Salim Javed to finetune the screenplay further. Amitabh's ambulance wala fight scene was added to the plot which later became the film's highlight. That bit of re-work benefited the film tremendously and it ended up being the second highest grosser of 1978 after Prakash Mehra's Muqaddar Ka Sikandar.

Trishul earned a Filmfare award nomination for Bachchan which he lost to himself for his performance in Chandra Barot's Don (1978). As the saying goes, One should only compete with oneself!

Amitabh and Shashi and Shashi and Sanjeev and all three in Trishul made by Yash Chopra who later remade this film into VIJAY(1988), PARAMPARA (1991) and even worser David Dhawan's YEH HAI JALWA(2002)

The film starts with Sanjeev-Waheeda romance and then Amitabh comes in with a stylish swagger that only Amitabh could do After an emotional talk with his mom, Vijay comes to Mumbai to find R.K. Gupta

Shashi always got the flirting scenes and shared good chemistry with Hema. But Rakhee impressed as the genius secretary of Amitabh Her chemistry with Amitabh was awesome

Direction by Yash Chopra is superb, He does a great job handling the drama Music by Khayyam is superb too, Mohabbat Bade Kaam Ki is the best one and all songs are superb, Here too Kishore is a voice for Shashi and not Amitabh just like DEEWAAR Dialogues are power packed

Amitabh excels in his tailormade role, every expression, dialogue leaves such a huge impact. Yash Chopra and Amitabh were a great team and always gave their best together Sanjeev Kumar too is superb in his chameleon kinda character He suits the role and his chemistry with Amitabh is superb though he was hardly in his 30s he suits the 50+ character well Shashi is relegated to the background mostly though he does have some moments, He does a great job Though he doesn't get much importance compared to DEEWAAR and KABHIE KABHIE Amongst rest Rakhee does a great job, in 1978 she paired with Bachchan in other blockbusters too like MQS and KASME VAADE Here too she does a great job Hema Malini is good too and looks nice, Poonam Dhillon is okay Sachin is awkward Prem Chopra does a good job as the bad guy Waheeda leaves a mark in a cameo

I have been a fan of Bollywood cinema since a very young age and I am very ashamed to admit that until a couple of weeks ago I had not seen Yash Chopra's masterpiece Trishul. After hearing so many people rave about it I gave it a go and very glad I did. For those who don't know already the story involves Amitabh taking revenge on his father(Sanjeev Kumar) who abandoned him and his mother. His father is a businessman so Amitabh sets up a rival business and sets out to destroy him. I think Trishul is a wonderful tale of how people are motivated by different things, Amitabh's father is motivated by money and power whilst Amitabh is motivated by revenge.

To support Amitabh and Sanjeev Kumar there is a wide array of great actors, for instance Shashi Kapoor,Rakhee and Waheeda Rehman(in a special appearance as Amitabh's mother). The wide array of actors for me were basically props in a movie what is essentially a battle between Sanjeev Kumar and Amitabh. Both Amitabh and Sanjeev Kumar both resort to dirty tricks to discredit the other. Amitabh and Sanjeev Kumar were excellent but I felt they were even better in Sholay together. I only watched this movie a couple of weeks and is quickly becoming one of my top five Yash Chopra's movies along with Lamhe,Dewaar,Silsila and Chandni. Highly recommended to all fans of classic Bollywood.

Trishul review:

"Main Uss Shanti ka beta hoon Mr. R. K. Gupta ...aur aap mere NAAJAYAZ BAAP hai".

Trishul - produced by noted producer Gulshan Rai and directed by Yash Chopra - relied primarily on Amitabh Bachchan's simmering intensity and volcanic angst. He played Vijay, a man with a mission to get even with his biological dad R. K. Gupta (Sanjeev Kumar) who had ditched his mother (Waheeda Rehman) to marry a wealthy heiress. Vijay's revenge is not physical but rather an emotional one wherein he wants to destroy his father's business empire. Vijay even conspires to win over Sheetal (Hema Malini) whom his R. K. Gupta's legitimate son and Vijay's step bro Shekhar (Shashi Kapoor) is in love with.

Salim Javed's script wasn't perfect - it had its share of cinematic liberties like a young engineer Vijay with no money or clout becoming a top businessman almost in a jiffy to take on the might of an established business tycoon like R. K. Gupta. But the audience chose to overlook these fallacies only due to Bachchan's charisma and star power to pull off the role of Vijay - an otherwise anti-hero who touches your heart just by his belief and conviction in what he is doing.

Yash Chopra's direction was extraordinary and this is my personal favourite from his illustrious resume - a film he chose to remake again as Vijay (1988) with Anil Kapoor in Bachchan's role but that film turned out to be a box office dud.

Not many know that Gulshan Rai wasn't too happy at the trial show held when the film was around seventy percent complete. Yash Chopra too agreed with his producer that there was something missing in Trishul and he huddled up with Salim Javed to finetune the screenplay further. Amitabh's ambulance wala fight scene was added to the plot which later became the film's highlight. That bit of re-work benefited the film tremendously and it ended up being the second highest grosser of 1978 after Prakash Mehra's Muqaddar Ka Sikandar.

Trishul earned a Filmfare award nomination for Bachchan which he lost to himself for his performance in Chandra Barot's Don (1978). As the saying goes, One should only compete with oneself!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Yash Chopra's films are mainly about love, whatever love it may be. This story revolves around R.K Gupta, a wealthy businessman whose illegitimate son, Vijay, comes to take revenge on him because of his late mother Shanti's loneliness and miserable life. Back in time, Gupta was deeply in love with Shanti, but his ambitious mother convinced him to marry his rich employer Din Dayal's only daughter Kamini so that he could find success in life. And he did. And now, Vijay, painful and lonely, is decisive to use every possible way to destroy his father, whether it's his business or his personal life, while Gupta does not even know who he is.

Beautiful and poignant, the film's most impressive aspect is the portrayal of upper-class Indian people and their relationships. It deals mostly with people who are wealthy, modern and intellectual, yet they have great values which are very Indian. The film shows hidden feelings, ego, love, respect and different basic principles of life. There were many scenes which were touching and exciting, many of which showed how great humanity can be. I personally was moved by the scenes where Vijay meets his father and siblings for the first time. My two favourite scenes (or better called moments) include one scene between Vijay and his father's wife Kamini after a particular accident (you'll know what I'm talking about), and Vijay's scene with his secretary/love interest Geeta, played by Raakhee, when he asks her to stay with him when he feels very lonely and depressed.

The film quite clearly belongs to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan who delivers a very sincere performance as the serious, decisive and deeply hurt Vijay. He is good-looking, convincing, and delicately lets the viewer sense his character's pain, pride and determination. Sanjeev Kumar gives another example of his extraordinary acting talent. Shashi Kapoor is very good as Shekhar although his feel-good attitude tends to be a bit exaggerated at some points. Raakhee is brilliant as Geeta, the faithful, honest, intelligent and loving secretary. Hema Malini takes a break from her vivacious and comic roles, and is restrained as the modern and lovely Sheetal. Waheeda Rehman is simply outstanding and makes a remarkable impact with her brief role of Shanti. Poonam Dhillon is quite pretty, and Prem Chopra is as hateful as ever.

Overall, Trishul is one of Yash Chopra's most underrated films. A beautifully written drama, it has everything a Yash Chopra movie is known for: a moving story, exceptional dialogues, fantastic music, good emotions, great actors and a very lifelike depiction of relationships, love and circumstances. It is interesting, well directed and well narrated, and should provide a pleasant watch for any Hindi cinema lover.