Faraar

This is an incredible journey, with maybe enough plot for three movies. Trouble was there was nothing new, it was just amazing how well it was all packed in. It has something for everyone – love, passion, male-bonding, jealousy, self-sacrifice, trust, hate, sorrow, regret and big time redemption. And flashbacks and some nice music.

Man on the run from police for the murder of the murderer of his sister holes up in police officer's house, who is married to his ex with a little son. He doesn't want to leave as it means the cops might catch him, the cop wants him to leave but is playing ball with a gun to his head for his family's sake, while his wife and son – and so on and on. To say there's a lot of ideas and plot twists is to put it mildly – for a while it even resembles a stage play with the intensity of Le Jour Se Leve or Petrified Forest, with a nod to Key Largo. And in a sometimes garishly fascinating colour. The young Amitabh Bachchan never looked more dashing; only the young can portray such desperation - the old would mix it with more fatalism and just tend to look pathetic. There's so much story that any technical shortcomings are ignorable – for instance I never got used to the Bollywood convention of someone being socked on the chin to the sound of a horse apparently being loudly carpet-beaten. But I suppose it helps dispel any sense of realism from sneaking in, which is no bad thing.

If you like a good complicated yarn you shouldn't fall asleep watching this film! At the end they ask What Is Life – just a procession of memories? This will leave you with a fine procession of memories because all of Life is in here.

Faraar review :

A fugitive on the run takes shelter in a cop's home where his wife turns out to be this runaway criminal's ex-lover. Things get complicated when the cop gets to know about the hidden truth!!

Amitabh Bachchan played the fugitive on the run while Sanjeev Kumar- Sharmila Tagore were the couple. Faraar released towards the end of 1975 which was otherwise Bachchan's year with Deewaar and Sholay turning huge blockbusters that year. Faraar wasn't that lucky and didn't last long in theatres despite its taut execution and some wonderful performances from Big B and Sanjeev Kumar.

The basic plot point itself, was already made earlier as 36 Ghante (1974) where Sunil Dutt and Danny were simply chilling in negative roles. Later, a major sub-plot of Rajkumar Santoshi's Ghayal (1990) where Sunny and his fellow jailmates take refuge at the police commissioner Kulbhushan Kharbanda's house, was also inspired from the same movie.

Of the cast, Amitabh Bachchan was outstanding as the painter who loses his lady love and later, avenges his sister's rape by killing the culprit (Rajan Haksar) and escapes the arms of the law. Sanjeev Kumar was equally effective as the tough cop for whom the case gets personal when he gets to know about his wife's prior romance with this escaped criminal. Sharmila looked elegant and classy as ever but somehow, never paired well with Bachchan. All their movies as a couple from Faraar (1975) to Besharam (1978) and Desh Premee (1982) were underperformers at the box office.

Not many know that Faraar had two endings - the theatrical release had Amitabh Bachchan getting shot by the cops and dying in the end. Another ending was filmed where he is shot in same manner but lives after getting admitted to hospital. The Doordarshan version which I saw in mid '80s with my grandparents, was the theatre version while many years later, I got to watch the other version in a UK dvd. Out of the two, the original ending where Bachchan dies was better and I really enjoyed this movie then on our black and white television with my dear grandpa who was also a Bachchan fan like me. Fond memories indeed!!

Faraar is not a great movie per se but it gives us Bachchan with his trademark raw anger and simmering intensity in full form. Deserves a watch just for that!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Watched this movie especially as an Amitabh Bacchan (AB) fan, but was not disappointed as it had a good story and actors like Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmila Tagore, with one popular song. On seeing this picture, it reminds one about lot of other Hindi films like Itefaq and Prem Kahani, although with a twist in the story of each of them. The success of this movie would have been subdued by lot of other super hit films released in 1975 like Sholay, Deewar which had AB himself acting in them. If this picture had another hit song, then it would have been more successful. Worth seeing for once if one has time and has a passion to see Bollywood movies.

Amitabh has acted superbly as a fugitive on the run, he has played the role to perfection. Sanjeev too has played superbly & Sharmila is at best too. When top 3 of a movie perform well then the movie has to be good. Faraar has Amitabh in the lead & also leads the pack with his unmatched acting ability. This is a movie which is not of the same storyline as Ittefaq of the superstar Rajesh Khanna but is similar with the hero running all through the movie as a fugitive. I liked Ittefaq, Faraar & 36 Ghante of the seasoned Raaj Kumar starrer. All 3 were simply superb movies with no errors.

There is no fun if I write the story here, with the ratings it is better to watch & see the power house performers display their superb acting prowess. This movie I am going to watch this week for the 2nd time in few days.

Amitabh Bachchan as the vengeful brother is on the run after killing the villain, but as the fate would have it, he hides in Sharmila Tagore's house holding her young son ( Ever so lovable Master Raju!) to ransom, her husband ( Sanjeev Kumar) himself the Police Inspector in charge of catching him...Good screenplay, excellent acting by all lead actors, haunting song by Kishore: "Main pyaasa tum saawan " that keeps repeating ... Go watch it..Worth 'two' dekho!!

The Direction by Shankar Mukherjee who directed earlier thrillers " Mahal" is in his elements, so is the Music Director and the rest of them...