Zanjeer

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 (The Chain) is the film where Amitabh Bachchan made the breakthrough from being an established actor to superstardom, and where the trend was set towards the revenge film in Indian cinema. Amitabh's Angry Young Man character was born in this film in his brilliant portrayal of the brooding, temperamental Vijay who is haunted by a recurrent nightmare. Indeed, his performance as a disturbed, vengeful young man propelled him to new heights, such that he was at the top of many directors' wanted list for at least a decade afterwards. Interestingly, the role was rejected by several stars of the early 70s before being offered to Amitabh, illustrating how luck can play a part in a career's success or failure. Who knows what different turns Bachchan's career would have taken had he not had the chance to play Vijay, the young man with chips on both shoulders. Surely his talent would have found an outlet somewhere, but would he have made such a ground breaking impact in any other role?

Zanjeer is certainly not all about one actor, and a strong cast showcase their talents to the full. The greatest character actor of all time in Indian cinema, Pran, gives a very enjoyable performance as Vijay's loyal friend, Sher Khan. As ever, Pran's attention to detail and willingness to 'live the character' is immediately obvious and doubtless he will have researched the Pathan dialects to deliver a richly authentic performance. Jaya Badhuri cleverly plays the sassy knife sharpener with great depth and sensitivity. Ajit is no conventional villain: not the hothead that is seen in so many Indian movies; instead he is cold and cruel but nevertheless, quintessentially evil. Even Iftekhar's cameo as Vijay's boss, the Police Commissioner is worthy of praise.

This classic thriller is tightly scripted by Javed Akhtar, and never loses its pace thanks to Salim Khan's screenplay and Prakash Mehra's clever direction and the richly talented cast. It has a high octane tension which is sustained throughout. An example of this is in Vijay's visit to the party when the gangster's moll (played by Bindu) seeks to seduce Vijay in the raunchy number Dil Jalon Ka. The posturing of the unimpressed Vijay and Teja (Ajit), the cool, calculating tycoon and his cronies with the backdrop of the gyrating Bindu and superb musical score are captured expertly by a circling camera team. Mehra achieves all this without being overly melodramatic, something that might not be said of one of his other big hits, Muqaddar Ka Sikander, and that is very much to Zanjeer's benefit.

There are several haunting, dark moments in this film which last long in the memory. The initial murder scene against the backdrop of the firecrackers of the Diwali celebrations, as well as Vijay's nightmare of the black hooded rider atop a galloping white horse are enduring images which immediately spring to mind. The film is essentially dark in mood and many of the images - the inner city back streets and railway sidings give it a real gritty feel - and yet in contrast, many of the scenes are shot in bright daylight. Mehra's attention to detail influences all aspects of the film, giving it a rich texture, quite literally in some cases! Vijay's costumes are very early 70s Western chic, without going over the top, and the Pathan, Sher Khan (Pran), wears authentic cultural dress.

The enjoyment of this film is slightly detracted from in a couple of scenes, as the cropping of the edges of the film mean that facial expressions of the leading characters are missed. This does not detract from the fact that Zanjeer is pure, carefully crafted art and that this seminal film is essential viewing for anyone with an interest in Indian cinema.

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.

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!

This movie is lots of fun. It has EVERYthing in it - car chases, dance numbers, action, crime, revenge - like many Bollywood films - there's something for everyone. The film cant help but be dated - some of the 70's era clothes are hilarious. Some of the cliché zoom shots to an actor's face and yes, the movie is long - 145 minutes - it is slow at times but hang in there - it is worth it. The fact that Bachchan became a huge superstar after this also makes it a must-see. He supposedly found the seeds here to start his "angry young man" act. And the gypsy knife sharpener girl became his future wife in real life. I loved her first dance number where she gets customers to come out of their homes and bring her their knives to be sharpened. One thing about the copy we watched on DVD - it was subtitled but the SONGS WERE NOT. Frustrating.