Bandhe Haath

Bandhe Haath a 1973 film from OP Ralhan's stables is a surprisingly well told action thriller in the Masala genre of Double acting heroes, Crime and retribution and some sizzling dance numbers by a buxom Mumtaz.

Amitabh plays Shyamau 'chor' who sees the end of his mentor-god father Madan Puri and wants to turn a new leaf as he has met a lovely stage dancer who he has fallen in love with. His drama of acting like Deepak a writer to escape from Police turns into a hide and seek game as he dons the dead author deepak's role in real life after the latter breathes his last in front of him. But everything is not hunky dory in his new life as shyamu's past always keeps haunting Deepak with the help of a nosy cop, Ajit, Deepak's ex- girl friend Kumud chuggani who wants to marry him and an anguti ( ring) belonging to her father now in Deepak's possession, RD's numbers are not red hot unusually except for Kishore KIumar's haunting title song. Mumtaz looks pretty and dances away to glory. This is well shot, screen play quite taut except for the irritating essentials of comedy by OP Ralhan-Tuntun and Asit Sen trio.

Bandhe Hath review :

Released a few months before Amitabh Bachchan became a sensation with Zanjeer (1973), Bandhe Hath is one of his lesser known films with OP Ralhan helming it (producer/actor/ ghost director) and Mumtaz as his co-star.

The plot revolves around a thief (Bachchan) wanting to turn a new leaf and assuming the identity of his doppelganger writer (Double role) who dies in an unfortunate incident. Posing as the writer, Amitabh falls in love with the dancer Mumtaz until his past comes to haunt him in form of a tough cop (Ajit) on his trail.

OP Ralhan's execution was not too bad but the major issue here was lack of chemistry between Amitabh and Mumtaz. By early '70s, Mumu was an established star and Bachchan, a newbie with multiple flops in his kitty, looked stiff in front of her. His performance was quite good, mind you, but his scenes with the gorgeous Mumu lacked spark!!

Bandhe Hath was rejected by the audience in the first run but once Zanjeer released, it picked up business in some centres and did much better in re-runs. Amitabh's fans must watch it (in case they haven't) for experiencing the time when he wasn't "Big B" yet!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.