Lashkar review :
Most movie buffs, including few Dev Anand fans, believe that he didnt deliver a hit from 80s onwards and his last success was Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971) or at best Des Pardes (1978). Nah guys, that's not true.
Dev Saahab, who started his career in 1946, gave his last hit film called Lashkar in 1989 - thats more than forty years of successful career very few stars can boast of. Hats off to the man who was forever young...truly evergreen legend!
As for Lashkar, it was film not directed by Dev Saahab and as I read somewhere, was pitched to him as a counter to Dilip Kumar in Karma (1986). The basic theme of a veteran hiring youngsters to avenge his family's death was similar in both the movies. Karma had Dr Dang as the antagonist while Lashkar was about Sanghaa played by Kiran Kumar in complete white getup from hair to shoes.
Dev Saahab had B graders like Sumeet Saigal, Javed Jaffrey, Hemant Birje and Aditya Panscholi helping him in his mission to nab Sanghaa. Madhavi and Sonam were present in blink and miss roles.
Anyway, Dev Saahab was at his fluid best and the audience thronged the cinemas just for him. Released at Mumbai's Imperial theatre, Lashkar was the last hit in Dev Sahaab's illustrious repertoire. Ironically, it was last silver jubilee for Imperial cinema also which went downhill in the 90s.
Regards,
Sumeet Nadkarni
