Karz

Karz review :

The Subhash Ghai directed Karz enjoys a cult status today with even a remake in the recent past. But do you know Karz bombed at the box office when released in June 1980 which greatly disappointed Rishi Kapoor who had pined a lot of hope on it. The audience of that time, fed generously with escapist actioners of Amitabh Bachchan, found this reincarnation drama a bit too elite for their taste. Karz was not only panned but also unfairly compared to Mehbooba (1976) and Kudrat (1981) - two box office duds dealing with the same reincarnation theme.

It is only in the '90s decade that Karz got its due recognition as the finest effort of showman Subhash Ghai. The film has a solid script (albeit plagarised from Hollywood's 'The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)) with a taut narrative, breathtaking Ooty locales, excellent cinematography and super competent direction by Ghai.

Moreover, Laxmikant Pyarelal's music with the iconic song 'Om Shanti Om' and the mesmerizing signature tune elevates the film to an altogether different level. The song itself has a Farah Khan film as well as countless remixes as reference.

Rishi Kapoor was brilliant as pop star Monty while the ever gorgeous Simi Garewal was a class apart in the negative role of Kamini. It is her career best performance and seems Ghai had a tough time convincing her to sign on the villainous role. The mute Prem Nath as Sir Judah spoke volumes through his silence. Subhash Ghai had penchant for giving unique English name to his villains - Sir Judah, Sir John (Ram Lakhan) etc.

An underperformer when released, Karz will always be a blockbuster material for me!! A must see for those of you who havent, if at all there are any..

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Please be aware, I watched Karz 2008 (which is a remake of this movie) before seeing this version of the story. And I enjoyed the 2008 version. But it also meant - I already knew the story and how it was going to play out. For me, viewing this movie was an exercise in seeing someone else's vision of this story play out. Which is always a fun geek experience - if you like the story, which I do.

The other thing you need to know is that the only Hindi language movie I own on blue ray is Om Shanti Om. Because I love that movie.

Why is this important? Because - Farah Khan - who directed Om Shanti Om - borrowed heavily from Karz 1980 for Om Shanti Om. In fact, Om Shanti Om is clearly Farah's reimagining of the story. And I had no idea until just now - having just finished watching Karz 1980. And now that I've seen the original Karz - I have a much better understanding of Farah's brilliance. Keep in mind, I already thought she was brilliant. This just seals the deal.

I tell you all this because it's impossible for me to review this movie without referencing the other 2 movies since they are all related. Om Shanti Om is basically a reimagining of Karz 1980 by Farah Khan. And ... I had no idea that Om Shanti Om had anything to do with Karz while I was watching Karz 2008.

So let's talk about this version of Karz (1980)

1st - The is the best thing I've seen Rishi Kapoor in. I don't like him that much. I like his wife and his son a lot. But him. meh. Like in Chandni - I found him really annoying even though I totally loved Sridevi and enjoyed the movie. I understood I was supposed to root for him in the love triangle, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Neither could my dad who saw it with me. I don't like how rough Rishi is with his dancing partners and he's not a very good dancer. Even in this movie - there were times when it looked painful how awkwardly and roughly he was pulling his partner into a spin. Granted, I did like Rishi in Kabhi Kabhie - but I still found him - odd. This movie - I was with him and rooting for him the whole time - and yes - his acting was so good in a pivotal scene - it made me cry.

2nd - the music. I own the soundtrack to Om Shanti Om - and LOVE that music. So - hearing the original songs that the writers for Om Shanti Om were stealing from - was awesome. Really enjoyed it. And again - it points to the artistry of the writers for Karz that they could write melodies that would be so haunting and so adaptable to a different style. And to the artists who wrote and sang the music for Om Shanti Om - for stealing from Karz directly - and yet creating something entirely new. Brilliant.

3rd - the cinematography. They made use of a lot of spinning and camera rotation throughout this film. From the record player in the Om Shanti Om sequence to the pivotal scene where they get Kamini to confess. I would have said it was a bit much - since it was everywhere. But ... it only happens when someone is experiencing a flashback moment where the present and the past are colliding. And it's surprisingly effective at conveying the confusion and mixed emotions of those moments. And again, it's really amazing to see how Farah adapted the rotation element into Om Shanti Om and more importantly why she did. It also helps me make sense of the climatic scene in Veer-Zaara where this same rotation occurs, melding past and present emotionally and physically in space.

4th - the ballad of Om Shanti Om. OK - in Karz - it's not called that. But it's basically the same scene and the base melody is the same AND the outfit our girl is wearing is echoed in what Farah did with that exact same scene in Om Shanti Om. I LOVED seeing the version in Karz 1980 as a result. It was just as powerful for me, probably because I could see the two movies (Karz and Om Shanti Om) juxtaposed on each other. It was seriously cool and again - speaks to the brilliance of Farah that she could steal so blatantly and make it her own and yet be so totally overt that she was stealing and what she was stealing from.

5th - the house. Yeah - the set where the ballad of Om Shanti Om is shot in Om Shanti Om - makes sense now. As does the fire element. Again - brilliance how Farah stole those from Karz and how she used the differently.

To summarize: I understand now more of what Farah was doing with Om Shanti Om. Is Karz 1980 worth watching on it's own? Yes! It is. Totally. It's a good story and Rishi is great it in and the music is great and its a very good movie. It's just all the more awesome when you have the added layers of film making future and past mixing in your head while you watch it.

Karz is one of the most famous Subhash Ghai films, but according to me it is nowhere among his best. The execution is uneven and at places the film does not flow well. The story is very interesting, but the script lets it down. The film spans for a period of something like three decades (Monty's age was specified as almost 30 in the film), but the characters do not even age appropriately during this time. Some of the dialogues and the proceedings are overdone and some sequences are amateurishly done. Despite the flaws, Karz does have entertainment value, mainly due to the fantastic music and some successfully shot moments of suspense. Songs like "Dard-E-Dil", "Om Shanti Om" as well as the instrumental theme of the movie are beautiful. The entire reincarnation track could have been better done. Rishi Kapoor is Monty, a top singer who was named Ravi at his previous birth. Ravi was killed by his wife Kamini and eventually reborn as Monty, probably in order to take revenge. Kapoor did his part well, but at some points he overdid it. The vibrant Tina Munim played his love interest, and her overly childish attitude really got on my nerves. The show was stolen by the awesome Simi Garewal, and she played her elegant vicious Kamini with style. Karz is an okay film, quite watchable and enjoyable, but basically nothing particularly good.

This movie is an Indianised version of THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD (1975)

The movie follows a good plot line as THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD while making the characters and incidents different

Rishi Kapoor and Raj Kiran look the same thats why the reincarnation bit looks really good The best scenes were shared by Rishi and Simi

The memorable songs include OM SHANTI OM, DARD-E-DIL and EK HASINA THI Rishi dances well to these songs and the picturization was brilliant

Rishi Kapoor is a really good actor and you can touch his feelings using his expressions Pran steals the show Premnath as a mute villain is different His name is quite strange but it was the 80s Simi Garewal was beautiful and sinister Tina Munim is OK

After almost 26 years, I watched this film again and it still had its charm. Tina Munim, now Mrs Anil Ambani, looked absolutely gorgeous as does Simi Garewall. Rishi Kapoor, who stunned his fans then, still has the same affect.

Karz, meaning in-debt, Directed by Subash Ghai, was originally released in the early 1980's. A poor maid servant falls in love with a man, Raj, who is from a very rich family. She's persuaded to do this further when her boss, Judah, explains to her that if he helps her to gain control of the wealth, which he had been denied in a court case, he would ensure that she will have some of the estate but that this would only be done on the basis that she marries him and that four days later she murders him. Judah also promises her that hew would ensure that she is not held responsible for this. She agrees and gets married to Raj, who decides to take her to visit his family. Enroute, as planned, he is murdered and a faithful servant, Kabbira, takes the blame Years pass and Monty a singer has nightmares - which he finds out may be related to his previous birth. But he doesn't believe it and decides that he wants to perform on stage as much as he can.

The movie stars Raj Kiran, Tina Munim, Rishi Kapoor, Simi Garewall, Pran, Premnath and Durga Khote.

One of the most remembered scenes in this movie are between Simi and Rishi Kapoor. Karz is a most memorable movie based on reincarnation and the songs are just memorable - "Om Shanti Om" by the late Kishore Kumar and "Darde Dil" by the late Mohd Rafi.

A worthwhile movie to watch and especially if you like good old movies.