Naseeb

This movie has the footprint of Manmohan Desai all across the board. It contains all the emotions associated with human life, very well packaged. Period between 1979 to 1985 was the peak period for Manmohan Desai, giving hits like 'Amar Akbar Anthony' & 'Suhaag' in 1979, 'Naseeb' in 1981, 'Coolie' in 1983 & 'Mard' in 1985, where Amitabh Bachchan is the main hero in all these movies. Besides the 'lost & found' theme of the story, all these movies has excellent music, song & dance. He stretches the scope of the movie to its limit in all directions, be it the number of stars, locations and sets. It is an entertaining movie and can easily be listed in must-see movies, if time permits.

Naseeb review :

Legendary director Manmohan Desai reached the pinnacle of success with Naseeb (1981) which was his favourite lost and found formula offered on a platter of superstars with dollops of entertainment. The movie had Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha and Rishi Kapoor with Hema Malini, Reena Roy and newcomer Kim alongwith a plethora of villains including Amjad Khan, Prem Chopra, Shakti Kapoor, Amrish Puri and Kader Khan.

Thematically, Naseeb could pass off as a sequel to Desai's Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) with the identical plot of a father (Pran) losing his family after his friends falsely implicate him in a murder just to get hold of his prize winning lottery ticket. The son (Amitabh), called John Jaani Janardhan, grows up as a waiter in these villains' hotel built from the prize money.

Manmohan Desai pulled off a coup of sorts by getting almost the entire film industry in a guest appearance in the iconic song "John Jaani Janardhan". It brought the house down at Badal Bijlee Cinema, Matunga where I saw this film as a kid with my parents. The audience was clapping and cheering so loudly the song was hardly audible. Many years later, Farah Khan included a similar song with filmstars as guests in her Om Shanti Om (2007).

Of the cast, Amitabh Bachchan was fantastic as the waiter cum amateur boxer and the audience shouting "Johny Johny" as he knocks out his opponent was a superbly executed sequence. Shotgun Sinha impressed as the alcoholic friend who ends up in love with same woman (Hema) as Bachchan. Rishi and Kim provided the comic quotient with Jeevan playing the rare positive role.

Naseeb was a runaway success releasing in matinee shows first at the iconic Minerva Cinema just to let Ramesh Sippy's Shaan (1980) complete its silver jubilee in three shows there. It then shifted from matinee to regular shows and enjoyed a long run at the Minerva. This was Desai's creative high and is one of his most entertaining movies ever..

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Review By Kamal K

Great entertainer with ensemble star cast with good storyline and nice songs. As usual Amitji carries the entire film on his shoulder with support from supporting actors. What a lavish movie. The presentation was great. An out an out entertainer. There must have been efforts to include Vinod Khanna but he would have refused and would have been replaced by Shatrughn Sinha. Definitely a must watch.

This film is a gem. It has to certainly be an all time classic for people of my generation who grew up in the 70's and 80's. To those who live in England, it is of special significance as it was shown on Channel 4 a few times in the mid and late eighties. It all starts when four friends Kader Khan,Amjad Khan,Pran and Jagdish)receive a winning lottery ticket and Jagdish wins. Out of sheer greed Kader Khan and Amjad Khan kill Jagdish and frame Pran. They throw Pran into a river and he is persumed dead. Kader Khan and Amjad Khan start a hotel with their winnings. Years later we find out that Pran is actually very much alive and returns to avenge his friend's murder, which results in a superb finale that takes place in a hotel. & super songs sung by Mohammad Rafi,Kishore Kumar with great music by Laxmikant Pyarelal.one of the evergreen movie in the history of Bollywood..

This is a movie that is best seen for people who want entertainment. The plotline is average (standard for a Hindi action blockbuster), but the action scenes are definitely novel ones for Hindi movies. I have not seen them repeated elsewhere in Hindi cinema. If you are a fan of martial arts or Western action movies though, you might recognize the elements.

It is the actors and the music that are the real backbone of the movie. Unfortunately, the camerawork shows you how they have aged and reveals any excessive makeup. Amitabh is in classic form, and Rishi Kapoor shows you why he deserves the title of "The Dancing Kapoor", esp. in the final song sequence "Rang Jamake". This is an excellent song sequence and will remind you of the final song sequence in "Amar, Akbar, Anthony".

The music is wonderful, not too much of it and not bizarre in execution on screen. I had not heard these songs in over 10 years, and they still sound very good.

An unusual aspect of this movie is there is very little in the way of romantic scenes. Hema Malini has the role of a woman who is not helpless.

Strong-willed is one thing, but ability to defend yourself physically is an added dimension, a welcome one. There is also nothing in the way of the extended woman-abuse (rape, slapping, beating, etc.) scenes you see in Hindi movies. Heck, even the violence is toned down. So this film is probably more suitable for family viewing.

Overall, I would say a 7 out of 10. ("Amar, Akbar, Anthony" by comparison would be an 8.5 out of 10, to give you an idea.)