Saboot

'Saboot' is one of the earlier flicks that really poses the sense of horror. The storyline is good, with good actors doing justice to their roles. The movie failed to create much buzz as compared to other Ramsay movies like 'Purana Mandir', 'Hotel', 'Dahshat', 'Shaitaani Ilaaka' and 'Purani Haveli', however it is one of the most remarkable movies ever made in the world of horror genre.

Seth Dharamdas (Trilok Kapoor), a widower is a wealthy industrialist and wishes to sell one of his factories to Dhanraj (Prem Chopra). Dhanraj is in high spirits and tells the news of this future takeover to Mr. Ajit Roy (Om Shivpuri) who nests plans of his own. Dharamdas has 2 daughters Asha (Vidya Sinha) and Kaajal (Kaajal Kiran). Asha has shortly been married to her love interest Aakash (Vinod Mehra). After few days of happy marriage Aakash dies in an air crash. Asha sobs at this loss but can't do anything to fend off the harsh times she is caught into. After Aakash's death Dharamdas cancels his plan to sell the factory to Dhanraj as Aakash was the sole entitled owner of the factory and Dharamdas would like to preserve this factory as a souvenir. Dhanraj doesn't want this deal be cancelled and hence bribes Dharamdas's trusted employees Manmohan Saxena (Roopesh Kumar), Ashok Gupta (Narendra Nath), and Rita (Padma Khanna) for a small favour.

Dharamdas has to go to Nainital for a business trip. However, he is approached by Dhanraj, Ashok, and Manmohan in the train itself and is forced to sign an agreement that would entitle Dhanraj to be the sole owner of all his riches. Poor Dharamdas does as told, however the crooks kill him and bury him nearby. During the fracas, Ashok's knife falls down into the grave but he is in a hurry and doesn't have time to take it out.

In the meantime, Asha and Kaajal are being looked after by Mr. Ajit Roy, who used to hold a responsible post in the factory during Dharamdas's ownership. Ajit Roy seems to know too much about Dhanraj and his confederates, and is now all set up to sign a special deal with Dhanraj.

Anand (Navin Nishchol) is a police officer and is assigned the task to solve the case of Dharamdas's murder. Soon Dhanraj and his friends get killed one by one by the mysterious ghost of Dharamdas. Anand investigates the murders and discovers a unique way to apprehend the killer.

Saboot reminds me of the iconic cult 'whozdunit' thriller 'Gumnaam' which had a storyline so tight that it never let the viewers yawn for a second. Saboot has the charisma of a thriller film, that viewers will appreciate after it would end. Navin Nischal has been superb as a strict cop. The movie hardly wastes time in romantic sequences, comedy and melodrama that actually kill the soul of a horror movie. Om Shivpuri, Prem Chopra and Trilok Kapoor have been perfect in their roles. Narendra Nath and Roopesh Kumar have well-imbibed the sense of being a 'crook', as the same reflects in their performance. Both of them have considerable roles in the movie. Vidya Sinha has a very special role which stretches from the beginning till end. Kaajal Kiran doesn't have much to promise as she is mostly seen daydreaming about her soul mate.

I highly recommend this movie to all the Bollywood horror addicts. Watch it once, you won't regret.

This movie has B-Grade written all over it...Not very satisfying in the end, very filmy and artificial ending.. The horror part is Okay but the costumes of the so-called Bhoot is quite raw and funny even for 1980..The identity of this killer is quite obvious from the suspicious behavior of the one of the main characters...I could guess it, and so could many others if you watch closely...

Navin Nischol with his wooden expressions underplays well but Vidya Sinha is a mis-fit as she looks neither vulnerable nor dangerous as made out in the end..Vinod Mehra is Okay and Kaajal Kiran adds glamour..Villains make faces, scream and ham a lot..as if we should suspect any of them to be the likely murderer!

Go see it if you have no other thriller classic from 60s and 70s with you on a rainy lonely night..and Keep the lights on!! Some screams and chills are surely there to be frank!!!...

Saboot review :

First time Ramsay brothers made a film for outside banner; Saboot was a nice blend of suspense and horror. Featuring Navin Nishchol, Vidya Sinha, Vinod Mehra and Kajal Kiran as leads, it was released at Mumbai's Central cinema where it did reasonably well.

The plot was Ramsay staple - a rich old guy is murdered by the villains and seemingly, his ghost returns to eliminate them one by one. But is it really a ghost or someone else committing the murders?

It was first time Prem Chopra worked with the Ramsays and his villainous role was much appreciated. "Paisa bahut boori cheez hai" is his catchphrase. The sexy Padma Khanna got one item song and a shower scene. Narendra Nath suited the henchman role while Om Shivpuri brought a new dimension to his character.

Of the leads, I loved Vidya Sinha in this movie and her character could've been developed much better at script level. Navin Nishchol was strictly okey dokey. Kajal Kiran could never act. So no exception here as well.

All in all, Saboot was one of the better Ramsay movies which though not as famous as their Purana Mandir (1984) or Veerana (1988), is certainly worth a watch for Bollywood horror aficionados. Do try it out!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Review By Kamal K

For a Ramsay Brothers movie, this did offer some interesting twist towards the end. The cinematography has many signature shots of the Ramsay brothers. The plot does look like developing into a horror flick, only to turn into a murder mystery towards the very end and revealing underlying story. Navin Nischal, although decent in his role of a police inspector, seemed to lack depth emotionally. Rest of the characters performed well to their calling. Many plot holes here, but one can forget all of that and just enjoy the film.

This movie was produces and directed by the Ramsays -the hini version of Hammer House Of Horror.Later on Keshu Ramsay would leave his last name, be known as just Keshu and would make approx 15 films with Akshay Kumar like the Khiladi series. Saboot is one of their earlier movies and actually one of their best.The story revolves around 2 sisters Vidya Sinha (the actress who was seen in classics like Chhoti Si Baat, Rajnigandga and Swayamvar) and Kaajal Kiran (who was seen in Hum Kisise Kum Nahin with the song Kya Huwa Tera Vaada, who was married to Punneet Issar -the actor who beatup Amitabh Bachchan during the filming of Manmohan Desai's Coolie when Amitabh almost died). Their father is brutallu killed so is the husband of Vidya played by Vinod Mehra. Then mysteriously one by one the killers start dying. Suspected is that the ghost of the father is taking revenge. A friend of Vinod played by Navin Nischal - a police inspector) is given the task to solve the case. In the meantime he falls in love with kaajal Kiran. This is ne of the last movies in which you can hear the first Bappi Lahri. That is before the Himmatwala period started and he composed sensible songs. One of my alltime Kishore-Asha duets is in this movie "Jeena Bhi Koi Jeena Hai, Jabtak Tera Saath Nahin".