Agar Tum Na Hote

Lekh Tandon's Agar Tum Na Hote is an interesting, pleasant watch. The story must have been told many times, but I would mention that it involves many noteworthy points. It is about the difficulty of bringing up a child all alone without a wife, about sacrifice and dedication to a spouse, and about the pain of crippled people. This entertaining film shows the more chilled out side of Indian cinema, it flows very well, and never makes you want to fast it forward. Apart from its many great moments, it is particularly benefited by a fantastic soundtrack by maestro R.D. Burman. Two songs which stand out are the soulful "Agar Tum Na Hote", performed by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar in two different versions, and especially "Dheere Dheere", a rather sensuous number which is perfectly performed by Asha Bhosle.

Of the three leading stars, the one who impresses most is unsurprisingly the ever enigmatic Rekha. The film revolves quite around her character(s), and she is amazingly compelling, likable and restrained all through. Whether she is an honest and intelligent young woman, a dedicated and suffering wife, or a loving governess, she exudes warmth and kindness and makes the character truthful and believable. The two costars are less convincing. Rajesh Khanna plays a smart and sharp businessman, but I personally don't think he is a great choice for the role because despite the good actor that he is considered to be, he is for the most part very unnatural. Raj Babbar in quite a good role is not consistently good and at times overacts, but still he is effective enough. And the girl! Oh boy was she annoying.

I recommend you to watch Agar Tum Na Hote. It's a good Hindi 1980s film. As it goes by, it becomes more intense and interesting and the ending is both heart-warming and saddening.

I have seen several times this film and every time I feel through my heart that without the super performance of the Super Star of the Indian cinema, the film would have not such solid impact on the audience. A number of scenes are especially appreciable where the super performance word fits most genuine. The Railway Platform scene, The Airport scene and the ending shot taken on the facial expression of the greatest super star-actor of all time of the Indian film world.It is a truth that nobody except Mr. Rajesh Khanna can perform and present such excellent facial expression on the silver screen. The story/plot is also most uncommon in comparison to the main stream films of that era. Overall I judge this film as one of the Rajesh Khanna Standard films of Golden Era.

The film certainly has unusual storyline compared to those days. Title song was Big Hit. Today film is remembered only for music. Rajesh Khanna was past his prime. One can say that Rekha was at her pinnacle. Raj Babbar was very good actor, but here he is slightly in negative shed. Kaka i.e. Rajesh Khanna did such roles earlier in films like Amardeep, "Thodisi Bewafai", Dhanwan etc. So it was not new for Kaka's fans. RD's music was too not very outstanding. Though there 1 or 2 Gems. Song sung by Rekha was much publicized in Press & Film periodicals those days. But when the film was released, the song which became Hit was something else i.e. Title song. If you are fan of any of the three actors i.e. Rajesh Khanna, Rekha or Raj Babbar then the film is for you.

But still the film did well in Certain pockets like Punjab, Delhi, MP etc.

Agar tum Na Hote is one of those lovely films which has some soul stirring music, specially the title song. It is Rekha's film all the way, no doubt but she is solidly supported by Raj Babbar, Asrani & others. Asrani does a villainous character thus showing what he is capable of.

The hero, Rajesh Khanna should be complimented for taking up this role, fully knowing that it is going to be women centric. He has had a record of shining in women centric movies (Aradhana, Amar Prem, Kati Patang etc.,) & this is no exception.

He holds his own in portraying a complex character. His reactions when his daughter asks questions on her mother, are excellent. He walks away with the honors in the climax.

As always, the Kaka-Kishore-RED combination has worked wonders this time also. The film was a moderate hit, though it deserved to be a super hit.

The only drawback is the length. It is close to 3 hrs. It could have been trimmed.

Kudos to Lek Tandon & his team for having given a wonderful film.

Rajesh Khanna proves once again why he is still the original superstar.

Agar Tum Na Hote was Khanna's 3rd hit film in 1983, after Avatar and Souten, giving him a hat-trick! He delivers another heart touching performance and steals the show. Rekha also puts in a strong performance and Raj Babbar also does well.

The film has a good story and is different to the type of masala films being churned out at the time. Kishore Kumar's version of the title song was also a big hit and complimented Khanna's acting beautifully. The success Khanna has in 1983 led to film offers flooding in and kept him busy for the next few years. Back on top again, Khanna went on to deliver the super hit Maqsad and Dharam Aur Kanoon in 1984.