Coolie

well, we all know that Manmohan Desai's movies are completely devoid of logic but yet are entertaining and paisa wasool. Coolie is remembered for Amitabh's unfortunate accident which gave the movie a lot of publicity.

The movie is pretty entertaining,but would come after Amar Akbar Anthony,Naseeb,Suhaag and Parvarish among other Amitabh and Manmohan Desai movies.

The action and comedy scenes are good. Amitabh is excellent as usual, specially his introductory scene is awesome,Waheeda Rehman is pretty good,Kader Khan is alright,Rishi Kapoor does not has much to do,Rati Agnihotri looks beautiful and does a good job. Rest of the cast is just OK, but the guy who plays Amitabh's uncle ,a coolie himself who brings him up does a very good job.

Direction by Manmohan Desai is not at par with his previous work and there are certain parts in the second half of the movie where too many coincidences start taking place,and logic takes a complete backseat which is a bit much even for a Manmohan Desai film.

The music by Laxmikant Pyarelal is average and some songs come as a hindrance in the story narrative, with the song "saari duniya ka bojh" being the best one, which shows the problems faced by coolies in their day to day life

A DECENT AND ENJOYABLE ONE TIME WATCH mainly due to Amitabh's powerhouse performance as the macho coolie iqbal which is the primary reason that this movie became the biggest superhit of 1983.

Coolie review:

2nd December 1983 was most awaited day for Indian movie buffs, particularly Amitabh Bachchan fans. Manmohan Desai's Coolie was releasing on that day - a film which had attracted immense attention even before its release due to Bachchan's near fatal accident while shooting it. The particular scene required the screen baddie Punit Issar to punch him in the stomach and then Amitabh was to roll over on a table. Unfortunately, the punch got mistimed and hit Bachchan hard and he got further hurt on the iron table rupturing his intestines.

The entire India, including the then PM Indira Gandhi and his close friend Rajiv Gandhi, paid visits to Breach Candy hospital and prayed for the superstar's speedy recovery. After many months, Bachchan was back on his feet, quite frail and weak but re-shooting the film from that very same scene. Manmohan Desai (Manji as he was affectionately called) froze the movie frame with a note stating "This is the shot in which Amitabh Bachchan was seriously injured" to let his audience know the exact unfortunate moment.

Coolie was sold out for weeks in advance and getting tickets was next to impossible. A two to three rupees ticket was black marketed for a whopping three hundred rupees!! Badal Bijlee, Matunga was perennially housefull so my parents took me to Capitol Cinema opposite CST (then VT) and I still remember the entire audience at Capitol just stood up and clapped loudly for minutes as Amitabh made his grand onscreen entry walking on top of a train with an eagle in hand. It was a great gesture to welcome him back on screen after this accident. The film became a blockbuster hit and ran for multiple weeks at Capitol where films wouldn't last for a week or two. The main theatre was of course Alankar at Gol Deval where the film completed a golden jubilee run. Manji even refused to give Alankar Cinema to Prakash Mehra for Sharaabi (1984) though Coolie had completed a silver jubilee. It lead to an argument between the two rival filmmakers.

As a standalone product, Coolie was quite underwhelming compared to Manji's other hits like Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) and Naseeb (1981). It was the standard lost and found formula with the separated child growing to be a railway coolie who then takes on the perpetuators and also finds his family in the end. Ths film also had a strong communist undertone where Amitabh held the hammer and sickle in the posters. But nobody cared about all that. Coolie was Amitabh's triumph over death and the whole India celebrated it wholeheartedly!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

This is among my favourite Bollywood films of all time. I grew up watching this film and have seen it 100s of time. this is one movie i never get bored watching. Amitabh in a powerhouse performance. This is the movie which shooked India, when Amitabh was injured on sets. In the original script Amitabh was suppose to die, but the script got changed and dedicated to his survival. The movie has great music, my favourite among the songs are Lambujee. It had Action, romance, comedy, family drama and the regular Bollywood Masala. It was an instant classic with a Brilliant Opening. It did great financially and is one of the Biggest Films of the 80s in Bollywood. The actress Rati was pretty good looking and decent. Rishi Kapoor was amusing as the supporting character. Kader Khan is great as the villain of the movie. A MUST SEE

True, this was brilliant movie with a little bit of everything in it. Despite his injury, Amitabh was brilliant and i especially like the ending, he thanked all his fans world wide for the support they gave him after the accident on set. Something worthwhile watching.

I was blown away with movie when I saw its first time in 1995 .. and probably it was my 2nd or 3rd Amitabh bachchan movie back then. I became instant fan .. the persona, the larger than life presence, the voice, Best Entry scene ever , the comic timing, Dance sequence, fights .. everything simply blow me .. probably first time I became fan of any actor and I was 14 years old in 1995. Its fifteen years .. and I have seen all movies of Amitabh bachchan, no need to say bachchan movies are treasure of sort .. but Coolie is still my All time favorite, I have seen more than 100 times, have VHS, CD, DVD .. all formats at home, and still buy any DVD/CD if found any new cover .. :) Such a crazy fan of this movie.

Coming to review .. This is probably ONLY movie in this world which made on life of Coolie .. Entire movie and each scene is attributed towards them only including songs. Movie is so true to its subject(coolie) yet so much entertaining. Right from entry scene of Iqbaal(Amitabh) to Climax .. movie packs a SOLID punch of entertainment. Some best scenes :

1. Zafar breaking DAM and flood scene 2. Zafar Kidnapping Salma 3. Puneet Issar trying to kill Iqbaal(Kid) and breaking hands of Mama. 4. Iqbaal(Amitabh) Entry scene 5. Coolie on Strike 6. Strike ends and "Saari duniya ka bhoj" song. 7. Mujhe Peene Ka Shaunk Nahi Song 8. Amitabh and Rishi first confrontation 9. Lambu Ji Tingu Ji Song 10. Iqbaal taking coolies to Puri and Vicky house 11. Iqbaal kidnapping Rati and Omelet scene 12. Umbrella Scene and Amitabh proposing Rati 13. Rati Confession of love to Amitabh followed by "Dono Jawani Ki Masti" Song 14. Coolies getting their Home and Chitfund fight scene where Amitabh hurt 15. Amitabh met his mother Salma 16. Salma shot bullet and Hazi Ali sequence 17. Rishi get to know about his identity. 18. Amitabh electing and Climax speech sequence between Amitabh, Zafar and Salma. 19. Climax fight and Amitabh shot bullets 20. Amitabh rescued and saved .. and his final thanks to Audience.

Background score and Music is another high point .. Specially BG music during Amitabh Entry scene and Climax scene when he was shot dead .. is SUPERB.

I can watch Coolie umpteen number of times .. this is wholesome timeless entertainer. A MUST watch for all Bollywood and masala movies fans. Best Masala movie ever made .. even better than Amar Akbar Anthony.