Gehri Chaal

in this great movie, jeetendra gave a good follow-up on the success of farz. this film consolidates jeetu's acting prowess to match Hollywood thrillers of that time.

jeetu, hema & amitabh displayed their acting capabilities & excelled. talking about the timing, the film was well directed; the suspense was great and all the action scenes were very thrilling. i recall the scene where jeetu's jeep was prompted by the bad guys to enter the truck on motion. that was a landmark direction by the director & very good action displayed by jeetu.

prem chopra, as a villain was undoubtedly remarkable. it is indeed a fascinating film & a must watch for lovers of James bond thrillers.

considering this film & its success, another film starring jeetu & amitabh should have been made to give Indian audience all over the world another thrilling time.

Amitabh Bachchan and Jeetendra have been two big heroes of the Indian screen. On one hand, Amitabh Bachchan has reserved his place in the history books and is called as the star of the (bygone) millennium now; on the other, Jeetendra has also been a highly successful hero who maintained his on-screen magic and commercial success for around two and a half decades. Amitabh Bachchan is definitely a legend and he is still active at the age of around 70 years. However Jeetendra has retired from acting now.

Jeetendra entered the tinsel town prior to Amitabh and became famous as the Jumping Jack during the sixties because of his typical dancing style when romancing with the heroines on the screen. He tasted success early in his career and his Jumping Jack avtar continued till the eighties courtesy the movies made in Madras (now Chennai). On the other hand, Amitabh Bachchan came late in the industry and took his time in becoming something too big to be ignored. These two stalwarts have done only one movie together. It's Gehri Chaal (1973) which is a crime-thriller made in the filmmaking style prevailing in Bollywood during the seventies.

Gehri Chaal (subtle move) is a typical crime-thriller in which Jeetendra is in romantic lead whereas Amitabh Bachchan's role contains gray shades. It's a unique movie in which Hema Malini has played the role of Amitabh Bachchan's sister. It's by no means a great or memorable movie but this formula-studded flick is definitely able to entertain the viewer for two and a half hours.

The movie starts with the suicide of the father of Amitabh and Hema who was heading a bank. Amitabh conceals the suicide note which says that the reason behind his father's suicide was embezzlement of the bank's money. However someone blackmails him on this ground and forces him to participate in a bank robbery. Now his friend - Jeetendra comes into picture who presents himself as a diamond dealer (or smuggler) but actually is an intelligence officer in quest of some hardcore criminals hidden from the public eye. He lives with Amitabh and Hema as their guest and soon himself and Hema fall in love with each other. On one hand, he becomes suspicious in the eyes of the brother-sister duo (they doubt him to be a smuggler) on the other, he himself suspects Amitabh to be in collusion with the criminals. After many interesting twists in the narrative, the criminals get caught and Amitabh also tells the truth to Jeetendra and Hema.

Gehri Chaal starts quite interestingly and thereafter it contains sufficient twists in the narrative to keep the viewer's interest alive. The rom-com track of Jeetendra and Hema adds to the entertainment value. The suspense and thrill, though not extra-ordinary, are sufficient to entertain the typical spectator of Bollywood movies. Overall, the movie keeps the viewer tied to the screen for most of its duration.

Technically, the movie is OK. Despite modest production value, all the relevant aspects have been taken care of well. The duration is also not that much because except for the routine climax, there is no dragging anywhere.

Laxmikant Pyarelal have delivered average music for the movie. One song - Jaipur Ki Choli Mangwa De Re Saiyyan (sung by Asha Bhonsle) impresses though.

Amitabh Bachchan had not become Big B by the time of this movie's release and it remains one of the two movies done by him in the early years of his film career in which he played roles with gray shades (the other one was Parwaana). However his role is stronger than that of the hero - Jeetendra and he has ably showcased his acting talent. Jeetendra and Hema Malini could not rise above the ordinary. Prem Chopra is also routine as the baddie. Bindu shines in the meaty role of the vamp.

Gehri Chaal was a flop because apparently it was just like the run-of-the-mill crime-thrillers that used to come frequently in that period. However, now after around four decades of its release, this movie can be watched to get a nice timepass in a lazy afternoon and enjoy the sharing of screen by Big B and Jumping Jack which can be considered its USP.

It is the first & last movie of Jeetendra & Anitabh together, when the movie was released Jeetendra was a already a established actor & given several hits, while Amitabh was struggling, Gehri Chaal was a master piece suspense thriller that time, script was very superb,while action scenes were very well composed specially Jeetendra Jeep entering into truck through wheeled ramp, gun fights in Prem Chopra's den, Jeetendra looks dynamic in big eye glasses, he has done brilliant as CID officer role, he is a all rounder performer, Hema too acted well & looks glamorous, While Amitabh looks not so good his physique was not too good as Jeetendra & even the dressing sense that of Amitabh was very poor, Acting wise he is good, Prem Chopra gives his good performance as Main Vallian, Bindu as vamp too good, Gehri Chaal must a watch movie for those who like action suspense thriller type movies.

Gehri Chaal review :

Like Parwana (1971), Gehri Chaal had Amitabh Bachchan in an anti-hero role with the plot revolving around him and the actual hero-heroine played by Jeetendra and Hema Malini largely restricted to songs and dance. By the way, this was the only film Amitabh and Jeetu did together and probably, the only one where Hema played Bachchan's sister.

The film starts with suicide of a bank chairman whose son (Amitabh) gets embroiled in a web of crime after knowing that his father had embezzled twenty lac rupees from his workplace. An anonymous syndicate helmed by a disguised villain (with Satyen Kappu voiceover) blackmails Bachchan to commit crimes even to the extent of involving him in a heist which is unfortunately witnessed by his sister Hema. Later, Amitabh's friend Jeetu comes to stay with them but no one knows that he is actually a jewel thief. Catching the fancy of a sexy socialite (Bindu) at a party, Jeetendra tries to sell his illegal diamonds to her even as Hema recognises the lady to be one of the robbers she saw on the day of the heist. The plot thickens..

Gehri Chaal is a fast paced thriller with adequate twists and turns to keep its viewers engaged throughout its two hour thirty minutes of run time. Barring the Hema- Jeetu love angle, the narrative is crisp and racy. The surprise package is Bindu playing the vamp to perfection. She has exposed a lot in this film and done full justice to her meaty role of a sexy seductress. As for the identity of the main villain, the film reveals it much earlier than expected. Ideally, that should've been done just before the climax for better impact. Also, the villain is easily identifiable so there is no great shock value for the audience when Jeetu makes the disclosure to Amitabh.

This was Big B's immediate release after the blockbuster Zanjeer (1973) and though he wasn't really the hero here, Gehri Chaal relied completely on his pivotal character and expectedly, Bachchan delivered yet another super fine performance. The simmering intensity of the character which leads to his ocassional outbursts is truly a delight to watch. The film is highly recommended to his fans who may have not seen some of his earlier films like this one!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.