Qurbani

Looking for a cool, stylish, action-packed Bollywood flick with some memorable musical numbers? "Qurbani" fits the bill.

I rented this from an Indian video store in town, on the advice of my wife. The DVD is pretty easy to find and has English subtitles.

The music is exceptional. Several of the tracks were lifted for the cult-classic compilation "Bombay the Hard Way," and I was shocked at how much of that album came directly from this film. There are at least three musical numbers which will leave a vivid impression on you - particularly a disco number with trippy visuals.

The action also doesn't disappoint, and there's a leg-breaking scene that's surprisingly intense. This is one Bollywood classic that I actually think is worth owning.

Qurbani means sacrifice which is something that plays an important plot point in the climax of this movie.

The film when it was released brought a new ultra kinetic violence to Bollywood cinema in this tale of two guys who become thick as thieves but end up falling for the same woman which would cause ructions. In the mean time they are pursued by a dogged hard nosed detective Amjad Khan (in a rare good guy role) who is also there to provide some humour.

The film was directed, produced and stars Feroz Khan who had the vision to shake up the Bollywood formula and brought it into the 1980s well before the rest of the industry followed suit. Parts of the film were shot in location in London.

Zeenat Aman brings sexiness and at the time you can see why guys would instantly fall for her. A classic of its era.

Think Feroz Khan and Qurbani crops up. This is the actor-director-producer's signature work. His other films are more about individual parts not quite adding up to a syncretic whole. Not that Qurbani manages this entirely but it is the most well-knit of his oeuvre. The elements themselves have acquired a special place in the history of Hindi films. For starters, as with most movies that have done well at the box office, Qurbani's got great music. Kalyanji - Anandji scored big time with songs like 'Laila O Laila', the Qawwali 'Qurbani Qurbani' and 'Kya Dekhte Ho'. That the songs stand out in spite of the chart-buster 'Aap Jaisa Koi' scored by Biddu and rendered by Bangladeshi pop sensation Nazia Hassan, is credit to the duo. Utlimately though, this film is about 'Aap Jaisa Koi' and I guess the late Khan-saab knew he had something on his hands even while making the film. It features twice (so that Vinod Khanna can shake his head too !) and the guitar riffs are used extensively during the first half of the film. Strangely enough, it did not spawn imitators and remains a singular composition even today. There is a peculiar 'phoren' quality to it that other disco based Hindi songs do not have if one excludes the Arabic influences in our songs.

Vinod Khanna and Feroz Khan pull off their dosti act rather well. I still think of Vinod Khanna as an underrated actor despite his successful parallel wave during the Amitabh years. Then there is the feisty Zeenat Aman in probably the most glamorous turn of her career. You could watch Yaadon Ki Baaraat and Qurbani back-to-back and be forgiven for thinking they were released within a year of two of each other. A 7-year gap doesn't reflect on screen at all. Qurbani also gave me two chuckles. I knew Amjad Khan played, in his own inimitable style as it turned out, a cop-who-won't-stop character. Imagine this. During his intro scene, he announces to a flustered Feroz Khan - "Khan naam hai mera, Amjad Khan" ! The other chuckle is a well-documented whim of Feroz Khan. Only a man obsessed with translating his ideas on screen at any cost would import two Mercs, one for the rehearsal and the other for the actual scene, which involves the clinical decimation of a Merc. I think its impact on Indian audiences merits comparison with the 'D'you want me to talk ?' scene from Goldfinger. Just as world-wide audiences in 1964 had never seen a laser beam, Indian audiences hadn't even seen a Mercedes-Benz let alone ride in one. The execution is good too. At the end of the scene, when a suave Khan tells Amrish Puri to keep one rupiah - "half a rupee for losing the bet (that he couldn't drive a Merc which he demonstrates) and half for damage costs", one is watching the the essence of Feroz Khan's brand of cinema.

It's an absolute classic. It released the same time as rishi Kapoors karz and killed his box office and put rish in depression at the time but both films are classics today. And both are my favourite of all time. I loved every character in qurbani they are all very remarkable characters. Specially amjad khans bond style entry in the film. It is one of the best films of feroz khans career. Before his death his dying wish was to remake qurbani. But I dont think anyone can do justice to the original, specially his son fardeen khan. Sadly alot of the lead cast have passed away now but this film is perfect to keep them in our memories.

The Clint Eastwood of Bollywood, Feroz Khan went way out of the box to deliver a cult ahead of it's time. This movie offers everything that you would expect of a crime thriller - Fast but on track screenplay, great music, action (couldn't expect anything less from the deadly duo of Khan & Khanna), romance, deception, misconception and finally an epic sacrifice. Back then when most of the director's in Bollywood were struggling to deliver anything more than action and few dance numbers to the youths of the nation, Khan cleverly manages to deliver Bollywood its first iconic sex symbol (Zeenat Aman) without going overboard. The sizzling dance numbers "Aap Jaisa Koi Meri Zindagi Mein Aye" & "Laila Main Laila" once witnessed will surely have a lasting impact.

A complete entertainment package with some great dialogues, intense action sequences with few comical punches to ease the tension, wonderful music and choreography.