Abdullah

Raj Kapoor@100!

As the cinema lovers celebrate 100 years of legendary Hindi cinema legendary showman cum international star Raj Kapoor, it's time to discuss his lesser talked about performance as well. Raj Kapoor was the ultimate Showman film maker India saw and probably the most popular Indian film star internationally across continents and languages.

Somehow I couldn't relate to Raj Kapoors style of acting in many films and it was only later that I started appreciating his cinema. In his later innings post Sangam however none of the films did that well as an actor. However, I would like to mention that in his later films ,Sanjay Khans ABDULLAH -1980 stands out for me.

The film is an epic desert saga set in Arab world and Raj Saab plays the title role very well.

Sanjay Abbas Khan was a great admirer of Raj Sahib and after the brief appearance in his Chandi Sona he signed the showman as lead here. Abdullah is a simple,pious Muslim who has a well,talks to camel and extremely soft spoken. He raises the Hindu child Krishna and saves him from evil bandits. The role was tailor made and Raj Saab nailed it so well that the pious Arab character we read in poems like Abou Ben Adham came alive infront of me.

His scenes with the kid,with Sanjay and how he talks to his camels are heart warming. His brutal torcher at hand of evil Danny is heart wrenching and seems like a prequel of the infamous Ghatak scene wherein again Danny torchers an old Amrish Puri. Another aspect of Abdullah is that Kapoor Saab shared screen with Mehmood after 22 years of their Parvarish post which there were rumors of some tensions between the two. Here they have great chemistry though.

A grand enjoyable action saga where Raj Saab delivers an ace and a film which needs to be seen much more than it is discussed for the fights between Sanjay-Zeenat after it's release! The film is a pioneer of grand action films set in Arab and later fims like Sultanat, and then Palay Khan and Khuda Gawah (set in Afghanistan though) carried this genre. I am sure Raj Kapoor fans will not be disappointed seeing his heart warming act!!!

This film is set in some fictional Arab region, and for a Hindi film of its time, it is quite lavish. The sets are spectacular, and clearly a considerable amount of money was invested into making it look as well as it looks. The film's title role is played by none other than the great Raj Kapoor, and he plays here a kind Muslim man who adopts a little orphan. His house seems to be placed in a desert right in the middle of nowhere. On the other side of this desert lives a couple of wealthy Muslims who live in a grand mansion, and a cruel criminal who seeks to undermine their lives. Their stories are intertwined. Everything in this film seems to follow the style of Arabian Nights, just like other films that came at the time like Alibaba and Ajooba. Despite its pretty look, however, the film is sadly never fully realized, and the script is really, really poor. Even worse is the insertion of some sadistic elements into the film. Sanjay Khan, the director and actor, is very good in his role. The film is led by Raj Kapoor in a very nice performance in the central character. Zeenat Aman is incredibly beautiful and sensuous, while Danny Denzongpa plays the cruel villain typically. Abdullah sadly has little focus and although it's not a total waste of time, it just doesn't live up to expectations and falls flat.

The film's synopsis and action sequences can easily be done with in an hour but it was unnecessarily padded to over twice the length (for commercial constraints, I assume). It starts in classic 80s melodramatic sequence, has most songs which can be classified as filler and iconic actors like Raj Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar (in a small role) wasted.

The action sequences sometimes do lend an urgency to the plot but often get repetitive and by the end of the film, the viewer is almost begging for it to end. There is also some faux comedy in the middle which was cringe to say the least. I watched the film mainly for Raj Kapoor but the showman has much better films in his repertoire to go through, even in the later phases of his career than his passthrough.

Don't miss Sanjay khan's 1980 release #Abdullah. Except for one scene in the movie, the whole movie will overwhelm you on how Muslims hold Hindus with respect. And that too coming from a Muslim director, I have no words.

Available in Zee OTT for free.

Sanjay Khan Sir.. I was 6 yrs, when my father took me to watch #Abdullah in theatres. After 40 yrs, I have watched it again today in Zee OTT channel where it's available free.

I'm truly proud of you of making such a fantastic movie.

It must be #RajKapoor's best movie of all time. I wish everyone in this world should watch this movie. Songs are also very good.

Personally, I think this movie is absolutely brilliant. Hindi movies have the usual theme of Romance story lines, which gets boring. This movie has to be given a good score due to the director using a different storyline.

Abdullah is about a honest and kind Muslim in persia. The story starts when a hindu pregnant mother is attacked by dacoits looting in the area. Just before the pregnant mother dies, abdullah finds her in the desert, in labour. He helps her give birth to a boy.

Abdullah has to fight oppression and torture as he tries to bring up the boy as a hindu where the majority are muslims.

The rest you must watch!