Zanjeer

As a kid, little Vijay, while hiding in a wardrobe, witnessed his parents' assassination by Teja, a man who was a member of a mafia group Vijay's father was a part of and retired. Vijay was adopted by a police officer and as he grew up, he himself became a hot-blooded policeman. Vijay does not remember Teja. He only vaguely remembers the murderer's golden chain with a white horse hanging on it.

That's the story of Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer, an action-packed drama and one of the first films which shot the leading actor Amitabh Bachchan to fame. Zanjeer is an entertaining movie, and the story is interesting and well told. The direction is also pretty good. The characters are well-written. Bachchan's character is that of a very serious and uncompromising young man who takes crime as a personal affront and is thus often put in trouble with his superiors.

The film has several actors supporting Bachchan, including Jaya Bhaduri, his real-life future-wife, who plays the sassy and lovely Mala. The chemistry between the two is wonderful as always. Pran, also an actor who frequently collaborated with Bachchan, plays Sher Khan, a kind-hearted, brave and smart man who befriends Vijay in some unusual circumstances and supports him in every step throughout the film. Om Prakash also appears in a small but important role of a drunkard who is also Vijay's informant.

Bachchan is excellent as Vijay. It's easy to see why this was a star-turning performance for this towering actor. He is restrained and inhibited and brilliantly displays his character's internal turmoil and fear. Jaya Bhaduri is absolutely charming and natural as Mala, and it's nice to see her transform so convincingly from a vivacious girl to a mature and supportive wife. Pran is brilliant in his rather unusual role. Om Prakash is good in his role of a traumatised man. Bindu makes her usual vamp act, and Ajit is okay as Teja.

Zanjeer is an enjoyable and well-made film. It is at times a bit unsettling and disturbing but it is generally well-executed, well-narrated and well-acted. The film's music is also very nice, though the cabaret number was a bit annoying. I liked it that no songs were given to Bachchan. It only contributed to his serious image in the film. In its favour it can also be said that the film is devoid of too much melodrama, though it is not very realistic in the last portions. Anyway, this is a good, classic Hindi movie, I recommend you to watch it.

This is a unique movie (well, until every director started to copy the theme).

I don't think I need to comment on the story, it's good though. This is Amitabh's first hit, and he's been on top of the movie industry since then, and did an excellent job as usual. Everyone played their roles very well, and acting wise nothing is wrong. The only thing is if you're like me, you'll think there's a little bit too much violence. Actually, Amitabh got hurt during the shooting and when he was asked he acted like nothing had happened. But later Prakash Mehra felt his head and there was a large bump on it...AB is very dedicated obviously.

But excellent songs! KA are wonderful music directors! An entertaining movie, a must see, and you just have to listen to the superbly composed title music.

Unbelieveable!

My dad made me see this when i was a kid. Obviously it is outdated but some of the 70's era clothes n hairstyles are hilarious. The zoom shots to an actor's face is funny and the editing is lousy. It is slow at times but hang in there. Bachan is excellent. His angry n serious facial expressions, dialogue delivery n above all his screen presence is awesome. Bachan displayed the character's internal turmoil very well. The action choreography is again lousy. Also noteworthy is Pran, another magnificent character actor. He was solid as the fearless Pathan n his song about friendship is memorable. The villain, Ajith was good too.

Zanjeer review :

"Jab tak baithne ko na kaha jaye, sharaafat se khade raho. Yeh Police station hai, tumhare BAAP ka ghar nahi"

When Pran Saahab's Sher Khan had to eat humble pie to a lanky police officer whose eyes spoke volumes, a super star was born.

Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer gave India its first angry young man. Playing an upright cop who is battling his troubled childhood memory, Amitabh Bachchan was just the kind of the hero the aam junta of that time was looking to celebrate. After all, he epitomised their frustrations and angst against the system.

Salim Javed's script may seem tailor made for Bachchan today but Zanjeer was a film rejected by many reigning superstars from Rajkumar to Dev Anand before landing in Amitabh's lap.

Ajit played the sophisticated Teja whose Mona darling jokes are still popular. I am particularly fond of the restaurant scene where Amitabh goes to meet Teja and Mona (Bindu) having their dinner.

"Khana khate waqt cigarette peena bahut buri baat hai"

Punchy dialogues, perfect plot and an angry Amitabh. Thats the immortal Zanjeer!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Zanjeer (1973) : Brief Review -

Indian cop drama gets gritty and intense like never before. Amitabh Bachchan was coming from soft roles, and it must have been a shocking experience for the audience to see him in such an intense role, and that too in a masala-driven cop's avatar. The cop dramas in Bollywood or Indian cinema have always believed in keeping things massy and preferred revenge as the main tool behind the anger of the character. Zanjeer is also based on the same lines, with an additional touch of gritty character, which was mostly seen in Hollywood's western dramas back then. For our audiences, a cop movie meant a simple action masala flick, and the equation hasn't changed till date. Be it Singham, Dabangg, or Rowdy Rathore, you see diversity in the screenplay and the characters because the writers don't want to take a risk. Zanjeer took that risk in the peak era of masala movies and turned out to be a successful film. That's why it should be hailed forever. It has also inspired many mainstream theories, but the ideological metaphor of Vijay's character remains unmatched. In the above-mentioned films, you'll see a cop behaving like a child in a few scenes or becoming comical for a while, but you don't see that in Inspector Vijay Khanna's character. The seriousness of being on duty or being traumatized around corruption or past memories has to be highlighted, and Zanjeer did that so well. Amitabh Bachchan plays that angry young officer's role, and in the 10-15 minutes you know what kind of material he is. Pran plays one of the best roles ever written and portrayed in any cop movie in history. Be it his dialogues, action, attitude, or even that joyful dance of friendship, everything is top notch. Salim-Javed's screenplay looked fantastic, even though a few things seemed to be borrowed from classic Western material. Jaya Bachchan was more fun as a chatterbox than a responsible woman. Mehra must be on fire from inside while making this one.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.