Mashaal

There are very few Hindi films that impress me and Mashaal is one of those few. The highlights were, of course, a powerhouse performance by Dilip Kumar, a well-grounded finely etched portrayal of a youth from the slums by Anil Kapoor and a sinister yet commendable performance by Amrish Puri as SK Vardhan. But what really stood out for me, personally, in this movie were the very real and strong female characters played by Waheeda Rehman and Rati Agnihotri. I strongly feel that there was a genuine effort on the part of these two versatile actresses to break away from the quintessential Hindi film stereotypes of MAA and HEROINE. So, while you had a very pregnant Waheeda standing by her husband in his fight against injustice, you also had an educated Rati Agnihotri encouraging her beau Anil Kapoor to continue his further education while she stays back and helps Dilip Kumar in his fearless journalistic pursuits. I mean, how many contemporary Hindi movies can you remember where the women characters had such a purposeful and strong portrayal of the all-important roles of mother and fiancée. Sadly, such roles and performances are scarce in our industry. The directors of today ought to take a leaf out of Yash Chopra's directorial life and give back to Cinema some more of these powerful female characters and maybe help the medium which has been reduced to commercial glorification of such strong influences on the life of the male species.

Dilip Kumar with his mind-blowing performance proved again that he is unmatchable and undoubtedly the legend of Indian cinema. All the characters, such as of Waheeda Rehman, Anil Kapoor, Amrish Puri fit perfectly in their roles. Another great film from Yash Chopra, recommended to everyone.

Only a team of Torchbearers of Indian cinema could have justified this splendid piece of work, which goes by the title "Mashaal (Torch)". At a time when most of the filmmakers were cashing on India's newly developed taste for action packed entertainers, Yash Chopra took a daring move by bringing the subject of freedom of press to the silver screen and by roping in Dilip Kumar he also made sure that this directorial venture of his gets the attention it truly deserved. Yash Chopra succeeds in delivering this message that "when there is darkness everywhere, then the best and the only weapon one needs is a source of light i.e. Torch (Mashaal)". In this movie the newspaper is portrayed as the torch for the society and to win the marathon of life it's the ultimate responsibility of the elders of the society to make sure that the Torch that they have been carrying all their life is passed on to the mentored youth of the nation - The Ultimate Torchbearers. This movie is about hope that, even a hopeless man on a path of immorality can turn a new leaf if shown hope of a brighter future (a role brilliantly performed by Anil Kapoor). This movie also tells you that even an honest and optimistic man could become a monster if made helpless and robbed off the only thing that he lived and cared for (Dilip kumar's sensational performance as an honest reporter and a vengeful bootlegger is a treat to watch). A man's desperate attempt to save his dying wife, which I guarantee is one of the best scenes in the history of Indian cinema, will leave your heart bleeding for days.

Time will never succeed to cast its shadow upon this eternal beauty!

Disclaimer - While rating this movie I have considered the fact that this movie was made in 80's, much before The Post, Spotlight, Nightcrawler and many more of Hollywood's spectaculars which dealt with a very important subject of freedom of the press and how politicians and other influential group of people try to influence on what a common citizen gets to know.

A must watch for every actor & non actor out there this movie was a masterpiece power packed performances & above all great content.... Aey bhai gadi roko scene is so well written & performed that even today when i see this scene it makes my eyes watery even after seeing the movie for 20th time it is so damn good... A proud moment for indian cinema.

Dilip Kumar is often referred to as Tragedy-King.However, he has displayed histronics in every type of role.In Mashaal as ANGRY OLD MAN he lights up the screen and makes the excellent movie a classic.

The story involves Vinod Kumar(Dilip Kumar) who is a fearless journalist trying to clean the city of Bombay from crime.He resides in a chawl with his wife(Waheeda Rahman). There is a gang of goons who live by the street and proclaim it proudly in the song ''FOOTPATHON KE HUM...''(A sentiment echoed 10 years later in ''Yaaron Sun Lo Zara...'' from RANGEELA).The gang is headed by Raja(Anil Kapoor) who is a wayard guy and the rest of the gang comprises of Gulshan Grover and Madan Jain.Enter the bad men the Puri brothers with Vardhan(Amrish Puri) the chief and Tolaram(Madan Puri, Amrish's real life elder brother)as his assistant.What follows is a fight of good v/s evil but the story takes many interesting twists and aided by some great script and remarkable performances make it a worth watching movie.

Yash Chopra is known mainly for his Switzerland based love stories but he did made some hard-hitting cinema like the trilogy of DEEWAR,KAALA PATTHAR and TRISHUL with Amitabh, Shashi Kapoor and SALIM-JAVED.In Mashaal Yash shows his class in handling such a intense movie.The direction is absolutely amazing.The backbone of the movie is a superb story,gripping screenplay and excellent dailogues by Javed Akhtar,who by now had split with Salim.The movie shows his ability to create ANGRY OLD MAN alongwith his trademark ANGRY YOUNG MAN.The dailogues whenever Dilip Kumar and Anil kapoor come face to face are brilliant.Mashaal remains one of the best movies written by Javed Akhtar after he broke away from Salim.Another high point of the movie is its excellent music.Hridyanath Mangeshkar has never been a big music composer but in Mashaal he gives a superb sound track.All the songs ''Footpathon ke hum...'',''Holi aayee..'' and ''Mujhe tum yaad..'' are very pleasant on the ears.The tunes are aided by some fabulous lyrics by Javed Akhtar who proves his ability as a lyricist also.However,the icing on the cake is the song ''Leeye sapne nigaahon mein...'' which opens infront of Bangalore's Vidhan Sabha.The song is excellently sung by Kishore Kumar and aided by some fantastic lyrics and melodious music make it one of the best songs ever picturised on Anil Kapoor.The echoes of the feeling conveyed in the song can be heard in ''Chaand Taare..'' from Yes Boss which incidentally was penned by Javed again. The film breaks many new grounds like working of press, the threat to fearless journalists from underworld,the life in slums,the lives of a gang of goons who are not that brute,changing of sides after the interval between the 2 male protagnists(there is even a mention of football match).The sets showing the slums are very real.The topic of a gang of goons wandering aimlessly came later in movies like Arjun(again written by Javed Akhtar) and Ankush.The slum life again came on the screen in underworld sagas like Angaar and Vaastav.It was much later that films on press like New Delhi,Surkhiyaan and Main Azaad Hoon came into light.Although the concept of male protagnists first appeared in Roti,Kapda aur Makaan, it was with Mashaal that it got famous and an entire movie called Lakshman Rekha was beased on the concept.The film does not have many light sequnces and people expecting over the top comedy will be disappointed.The character of Dimple Kapadia in Krantiveer where she portrays a journalist who wants to reform the society and stays in slums has strong shades of Dilip Kumar's role in the first half of this movie.Infact a few years ago a film called Laawaris(the one with Jackie and Akhsaye Khanna) was made which was a poor copy of Mashaal.

Anil Kapoor as Raja delivers one of his best performances till date.In a role which initially was supposed to be written for Amitabh bachchan(evident from the language he uses)and first offered to Kamal Hasan,Anil shines throghout the movie.His honesty in his performance is so much present that u miss such honesty in his later films.Although,Anil later admitted of developing cold feet on the thought of acting opposite Dilip Kumar,he stands on his own very well in everyframe.It is said that a Feroze Khan and Subhash Ghai signed Anil for Jaanbaaz and Meri Jung respectively just after watching the movie's premiere. Infact Anil Kapoor somehow got trapped in a tapori image for a long-long time after Mashaal.His characters in Andar Bahar,Tezaab,Ram Lakhan to the recentnt dud-Rishtey all have shades of Raja of Mashaal.Anil Kapoor again worked with Dilip Kumar in the blockbuster KARMA.His other refined performance in a Javed Akhtar scripts are Meri Jung and the recent Armaan.Anil kapoor won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor In A Supporting Role for Mashaal. Somehow I miss the Yash Chopra,Anil Kapoor and intensity of Javed Akhtar, the way they were in Mashaal.

Waheeda Rahman as Dilip Kumar's wife gives a superb performance.It was after 16 years that she acted opposite the thespian the last being Aadmi(1968).Rati Aghinotri as Anil's love interest also gives a decent performance.Amrish Puri as the bad guy delievers another good performance. Incidentally,Amrish acted opposite Dilip Kumar in almost all his later movies where he played the Angry Old Man and puri the baddie.Vidhaata,Duniya,Shakti and Saudagar are other movies where both of them clash.The performances by Madan Puri,Gulshan Grover and Madan Jain are well enacted.Yash Chopra uses some great stage actors -Saaed Jaffery,Nilu Phule, Alok Nath and Mohan Agashe in this movie and extract some fine performances from them. Although when released in 1984 the film flopped but it was slowly and steadily that it became famous and acclaimed.Now thanks to several re-runs it enjoys a classic status.

Last but not the least,Dilip Kumar delivers a knockout performance.From a fearless journalist to a man running a crime syndicate the legend shows amazing verstality in his performance.His eye expression,dailogue delivery and usage of hands makes this performance of his one of his best ever.Whenever we see any actor mimicking Dilip Kumar,most of the times they enact the sequence from this movie where he tries to stop car on the street hoping that someone might help his dying wife.That speaks volumes of the impact he made in that scene.A similar scene apperaed in Ghayal and later in the dud-Yaadein.Yash Chopra is said to have shot the entire scene in 4 nights on Bombay streets and according to him the thespian maintained the same emotional graph throghout all 4 days. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING DEDICATION!!