Dard (Conflict of Emotions)

Dard is a gift for Rajesh Khanna fans as it has him in all frames. Rajesh Khanna has a double role in the movie- of a father and a son. Both have been played by him in his super star style which is worth remembering. The music of Khayyam is very melodious and has a number of catchy songs which are remembered even today. Hema Malini and Poonam Dhillon have nothing much to offer but do their roles to perfection. Rajesh Khanna holds the movie from start to finish and puts is a credible performance which in today's era no one would be able to pull off. It is a must see for Rajesh Khanna fans. The movie was a success in the year of its release and Rajesh Khanna got a no of nominations for his excellent portrayal.

Dard starts quite well and is interesting to watch in the first portions of the film, but it later turns into one terribly exaggerated melodrama. The film's story is not original, and it actually takes a lot of inspiration from such films as Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Aashirwad and particularly Asit Sen's unforgettable Mamta. The film shows the sacrifice and the selflessness of a parent when it comes to his child, but it never manages to be as effective and credible as the aforementioned movies, and that's simply because it's overdone. Rajesh Khanna stars in a double role as the father and the son. He is fairly convincing as the father, but making him play a 25 year-old man at his forties is a true example of tactless casting, as he looks too old for the part, and his attempts to look stylish and young are forced and unbelievable. Hema Malini stars as his supportive friend, who's loved him and brought up his son, without ever letting him know of his father being in prison. She's good and displays her character's vulnerability pretty well, but the sentimental proceedings let her down too. At times Dard was interesting actually, but towards the end I found myself squirming in my seat, bored with the overly clichéd presentation of the story. The ending was incredibly tragic but did not manage to move me as it could have, had it been directed by a better director of course. Sadly enough, Dard is a forgettable and typical Hindi movie of its sort and is worthy of only a one-time watch, that too for lovers of Hindi cinema's unrestrained nature.

Dard is a completely standard social movie produced during the age of action, sex, violence era. The story of the film is so emotional that fully justifies its title Dard. And to portrait its central character: a double role of Father-Son in a versatile manner, there is no alternative except Rajesh Khanna himself. There is no doubt that nobody else except him can justify the emotional father and stylish foreign returned son so effectively and life like natural way. After Aradhana, Rajesh Khanna again played a double role of Father-Son with tremendously brilliant touches of inner feelings of human being. In the total film, it is unbelievable that the old prisoner/gardener and the foreign returned lawyer are the same person; what a classic performance by a classic actor. The other performers of the film are as usual as per their limitations; but Late Mazhar Khan deserves special mention. He also performed very well in aged role villain. Overall the film is excellent in term of story, songs, direction, and above all classic characterization of Father-son by Rajesh Khanna.