Khoj

Khoj, like most Indian movies of its genre, is unoriginal and the script is generally not very well written. It has its moments of suspense and as a thriller it may be quite a nice watch for the family, but something is the narration is overly exaggerated and overdone. The suspense was marred by songs which were very misplaced and irrelevant to the proceedings. Also, there are numerous plot holes and the script seems very contrived, unconvincing and at times forced. The movie stars Rishi Kapoor, who is quite okay but goes overboard in many instances. A beautiful Kimi Katkar plays a young woman who pretends to be his wife. Naseeruddin Shah and Danny Denzongpa do well in their respective parts. The ending is very melodramatic and sugarcoated. The moments the great twist is revealed is quite surprising but it gave me a strange feel of much ado about nothing. Why the police would do what they did is mystifying and unintentionally funny. Khoj is overall a rather poorly written movie, but as said, would suffice for lovers of Hindi movies if they could overlook the many of its flaws.

Khoj review:

The film starts with a missing wife whom her husband (Rishi Kapoor) keeps searching through the streets of Nepal but in vain. A priest (Danny Denzongpa) then claims to have found the lady (Kimi Katkar) but Rishi refuses to accept her as his spouse. Top cop Naseer is assigned the task to investigate...

Loosely based on the Hollywood classic 'Chase a Crooked Shadow' (1958), the plot was remade earlier as Dhuaan (1981) with a gender reversal where Rakhee searches for her missing hubby. Khoj was obviously a better adaptation of the two and full credit to Ramsays for transcending beyond their comfort zone of 'Saamri' and 'Nevala' to make this taut suspense thriller.

Khoj was a unique non-horror experiment from Ramsays with A list actors like Rishi, Kimi and Naseer at the helm. Even though extremely fast paced with many edge of the seat moments, the film is still quite underrated as Ramsays are identified only for their trademark horror stuff. No wonder, it tanked at the box office when released in November 1989 alongwith Parinda and Ladaai. I remember watching it at half empty Citylight Cinema, Matunga where the audience was only cheering Kimi Katkar's seductive moves and grooves. Nothing else!!

Performance wise, Naseer and Danny were assuredly competent. Danny's sinister act was simply awesome! Kimi looked extremely charming and sensuous in every scene whether romancing Danny or seducing the clueless Rishi. Satish Shah and Beena were there to evoke some laughter.

Khoj would not have been half as good if not for Rishi Kapoor. Showcasing his immense versatility as an actor, Kapoor was absolutely awesome in a role which goes through myriad emotions through the journey of searching for his wife. I would suggest you re-watch the movie again (after the end revelation) and concentrate on his expressions and body language at different crucial points to understand what a great performance that truly was. Extraordinary!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Definitely a good watch.. Set in the beautiful Kathmandu with so many scenic backgrounds. Great acting by Rishi Kapoor & Naseeruddin Shah as usual. Danny does what he does the best. Kimi gets a different role and justifies it. The superb direction, good background music and fab script make the movie quite interesting. Good twists and turns scene after scenes with a plot which refuses to end.

A fantastic ensemble of good actors who played their role to their best.

Only the songs were a let down.

There isn't a single song that I could recall aftet the movie.

Watched it in Dec 2024 without expectations and it came out as a real surprise.

Do watch it.

I recently seen movie on YouTube... without any idea movie is really gem.. classic thriller with well direction...why this movie is not in list of best thriller movies, it has all elements to become classic thriller...movie start with missing person..later process through investigation and end with good climax....all actors has done amazing acting...even star cast is also good enough..from start to end movie didn't lose its grip.. screenplay and editing is top notch..you can easily watch this movie freely on YouTube.... perfect weekend night movie with friends or family... definitely worth to watch..

Keeps you on your toe till the end, very interesting.