Kaalia

Kaalia - A name that spells terror in the minds of the people, and the police but Kaalia (Amitabh Batchchan) was not always like this.

Years ago he was a mere simpleton. Living simply in a shanty ch awl with his elder brother, Shyamtal (Kader Khan), Bhabhi (Sister-in-law), whom he adored and their daughter Munni. Apart from them there is no one else in Kallu's Little World until one day, an enemy in the guise of Shahani Seth (Amjad Khan) appears. Shahani shatters the happiness in Kallu's life.

That same day the young Kallu dies, and the dreaded Kaalia is born, Kaalia's main motive in life becomes wealth, and to destroy Shahani. This path of violence leads Kaalia to inspector Raghubir Singh's (Pran) jail. Outside of jail, Shahani starts reclaiming his power, and inside jail. Kaalia clashes with Raghubir Singh.

Well, another of those crude and pathetic movies of the 1980s which today are sadly often cited as the worst examples for films which stamped this decade as the most terrible period in the history of mainstream Hindi cinema. From Kalu to Kaalia, from an innocent guy to a sophisticated gangster, and there you get another Bachchan hit. A clichéd and done-to-death story, a poor script filled with mindless action scenes and many melodramatic proceedings. It's a pity, considering Bachchan's achievements in the 1970s, when he proved his merit as an excellent actor and a star deserving of the resounding success he attained. Actually, here too Bachchan is not that bad; he is of course let down by the script but he also rises above its weakness in several sequences. It's just the choice of this film itself which disappoints (and he would appear in many movies unworthy of his abilities later in the decade). Where the film manages to provide some fun is, first, in the music. Well, that's to be expected when the one responsible for the soundtrack is R.D Burman. Secondly, the sequences portraying the romantic relationship between Bachchan and the exotic beauty Parveen Babi. These are the only worthy moments in the film, which also include the hilarious (not unintentionally, for a change) scene in which Babi breaks an egg on her own head, thinking this would help her to make an omelet. Babi's presence is one of the few positive aspects in this film. The film also has Asha Parekh, who is quite okay, but at times gets also a bit melodramatic, which is of course not her fault. To sum it up, Kaalia is just another wannabe gangster movie with the most predictable twists and neither Bachchan nor any of its other good points save it from being a cheapo.

"Kalia" was disappointing--overlong, illogical and generally ham-handed. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that a movie is bad--after all most Indian films suffer from these problems. The star of this film, Amitabh Bachchan appeared in "Amar, Akbar, Anthony" (1977) which had similar problems but was still a wonderful film.

Bachchan is a charismatic actor but even he cannot save this film from its repetitious plot twists, insipid songs, laborious dialogue and bad acting.

Bachchan plays a good-natured fellow, who is forced to turn to a life of crime to support his family when his brother is injured at the unsafe mill where he works. The mill owner/criminal mastermind callously refuses to help with money for an operation, even though the injury is his fault. Kaalia seeks revenge for his brother and ends up in jail where he becomes a hardened criminal. Heists, fistfights, interminable chases flesh out this 3 hour film. None are particularly interesting. See "Amar, Akbar, Anthony" instead.

The 80's was a time when Amitabh Bachan's name alone would make a movie a complete sell out. Kaalia was released in 1981 and was a huge hit. After watching this movie I can only assume that audiences went to see this movie just for Amitabh Bachan and nothing else because Kaalia offers nothing in terms of plot. Kaalia was directed by Tinnu Anand, scripted by father Inder Raaj Anand and starred Amitabh, this combo would be repeated in the 1988 movie Shahenshah, another movie that is ridiculously overrated. It is basically the same gangster movie that had been told millions of times before with a mild mannered man turning into a gangster and coming in and out of jail. In jail he comes across an uncompromising jailer Pran. There is a poorly tacked plot about Pran having a daughter who was lost as a child(as far as I remember). That plot strand was probably only included because by the time Kaalia was released the lost and found formula was ever so popular,particularly in Amitabh Bachan movies,Amar Akbar Anthony,Naseeb,Laawaris,Suhaag,Ram Balram etc. The only highlight is RD Burman's phenomenal soundtrack, I would call it one of his top five best. My favourites being Jahan teri nazar or the Mohammed Rafi number that takes place in jail. Kaalia in my opinion is one of Mr Bachan's most overrated movie and the it's success is completely undeserved. There are far more better underrated Amitabh starrers, for instance Amitabh's 1982 starrer Shakti with Dilip Kumar.

Review By Kamal K

Superb movie. One of the most stylish and iconic blockbuster of Amitabh. Plot is not new but still movie is entertaining.