Trishul

Revenge! Revenge! Revenge! At a point of time during the seventies, almost every third Bollywood movie was being made on the theme of revenge. Sometimes, the story was given the backdrop of banditry and sometimes that of smuggling. However the purpose remained the same in every case - settling score with and teaching a lesson to the wrongdoer(s).

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan's makers in the real sense who only arranged the Angry Young Man tag for him - Salim-Jaaved wrote a brilliant drama for the extra-ordinarily popular hero which was a revenge drama coupled with a family drama, quite different from the routine revenge sagas being made like assembly line production in that period. This unrealistic yet highly impressive movie is Trishul(1978), a multi-starrer made by Gulshan Rai and directed by none other than the legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra.

In Trishul(trident), our hero Vijay(Amitabh Bachchan) seeks revenge from his estranged father Raaj Kumar Gupta(Sanjeev Kumar) who had ditched his mother Shaanti(Waheeda Rehmaan) for the sake of marrying Kaamini(Geeta Siddharth) to get her wealth and make it big in life. He indeed makes it big in his life and becomes the biggest construction contractor of the region. He begets one son - Shekhar(Shashi Kapoor) and one daughter Babli(Poonam Dhillon) through his marriage with Kaamini. On the other hand totally alone and resourceless Shaanti fosters her son Vijay with a lot of difficulty but teaches him only one thing - self confidence. Vijay comes to learn that with self-confidence, one can achieve everything. And when his dying mother tells him about his father and what he had done to her, he uses this the only asset of his(self confidence) to settle score with him. The activities of Vijay and his interaction with R.K. Gupta and his family form the bulk of the narrative and keep the audience hooked for two and a half hours in which Vijay seeks his revenge from his father by becoming his business competitor.

Right from Vijay's setting in to seek his revenge(or his mother's revenge) from R.K. Gupta, the complete script runs in typical Salim-Jaaved style of the seventies - blows and counter-blows, checks and checkmates, frequent twists in the tale happening at such a speed that the viewer does not get any time to pause and ponder over what's being shown to him and just keeps on watching holding his breath and finally, lots of action. Most of the masaala movies starring Amitabh Bachchan were made in this style only but Trishul puts itself in a league of its own. There is a heavy dose of sentiments in the action-studded drama and it is underscored both subtly and loud that the hero is the hero because he is capable of doing anything and achieving anything purely riding on the strength of his guts and confidence. However the script is totally unreliable because the way the completely resourceless hero becomes a big construction contractor in a very short period, is possible in fiction only.

Yash Chopra has presented the very fast-paced drama on the screen with elegance. Despite lots of cinematic liberties taken in the script, the characters do not appear unreal and they are able to leave their mark on the audience. No character has been ignored in the huge star cast assembled for the movie, may it be Shashi Kapoor or Raakhee or Hema Maalini or Sachin or Poonam Dhillon or Younus Parvez. Especially Raakhee emerges high through her well-written role(of Geeta, an honest employee of R.K. Gupta) in this male-dominated movie. And the narrator has very skillfully shown that Vijay and Geeta gradually come close to each other without showing any romance between them which is something highly laudable.

Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjeev Kumar are two pillars of the script and both of them have lived up to their reputation. Sanjeev has brought a typical businessman with a professional mindset alive on the screen who keeps the practical aspect of life above personal sentiments whereas Amitabh Bachchan is the popular angry young man of that era expressing his anger sometimes in a controlled way and sometimes a little bit loud. The script has given them ample moments to take on and outwit each other on the screen and they outshine each other on different occasions.

All others including the debutante Poonam Dhillon have done quite satisfactorily. Prem Chopra is the typical Bollywood villain and he has performed stylishly.

The movie is studded with action and fight scenes associated with Amitabh Bachchan in that era. Today, it's a pleasure to watch such action on the screen when the larger than life hero beats many baddies single-handedly.

The production value of the movie is according to the repute of the banner. It's a technically superior movie. Editing is so sharp that seldom do we get a moment to relax throughout the duration of the movie.

Music by Khayyam is not great but not bad either. Tu Mere Saath Rahega Munne, Mohabbat Bade Kaam Ki Cheez Hai, Gaapuchi Gaapuchi Gam Gam, Jaaneman Tum Kamaal Karti Ho etc. are all quite good to listen and have also been presented on the screen very well.

The title of the movie is perhaps as such because the grief in the heart of the hero(due to the injustice done to his mother) keeps on hurting him like a trident.

It's one of the blockbuster movies of Big B, i.e., Amitabh Bachchan and renders abundant entertainment even when watched today. I wholeheartedly recommend this evergreen movie to one and all.

Yash Chopra's films are mainly about love, whatever love it may be. This story revolves around R.K Gupta, a wealthy businessman whose illegitimate son, Vijay, comes to take revenge on him because of his late mother Shanti's loneliness and miserable life. Back in time, Gupta was deeply in love with Shanti, but his ambitious mother convinced him to marry his rich employer Din Dayal's only daughter Kamini so that he could find success in life. And he did. And now, Vijay, painful and lonely, is decisive to use every possible way to destroy his father, whether it's his business or his personal life, while Gupta does not even know who he is.

Beautiful and poignant, the film's most impressive aspect is the portrayal of upper-class Indian people and their relationships. It deals mostly with people who are wealthy, modern and intellectual, yet they have great values which are very Indian. The film shows hidden feelings, ego, love, respect and different basic principles of life. There were many scenes which were touching and exciting, many of which showed how great humanity can be. I personally was moved by the scenes where Vijay meets his father and siblings for the first time. My two favourite scenes (or better called moments) include one scene between Vijay and his father's wife Kamini after a particular accident (you'll know what I'm talking about), and Vijay's scene with his secretary/love interest Geeta, played by Raakhee, when he asks her to stay with him when he feels very lonely and depressed.

The film quite clearly belongs to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan who delivers a very sincere performance as the serious, decisive and deeply hurt Vijay. He is good-looking, convincing, and delicately lets the viewer sense his character's pain, pride and determination. Sanjeev Kumar gives another example of his extraordinary acting talent. Shashi Kapoor is very good as Shekhar although his feel-good attitude tends to be a bit exaggerated at some points. Raakhee is brilliant as Geeta, the faithful, honest, intelligent and loving secretary. Hema Malini takes a break from her vivacious and comic roles, and is restrained as the modern and lovely Sheetal. Waheeda Rehman is simply outstanding and makes a remarkable impact with her brief role of Shanti. Poonam Dhillon is quite pretty, and Prem Chopra is as hateful as ever.

Overall, Trishul is one of Yash Chopra's most underrated films. A beautifully written drama, it has everything a Yash Chopra movie is known for: a moving story, exceptional dialogues, fantastic music, good emotions, great actors and a very lifelike depiction of relationships, love and circumstances. It is interesting, well directed and well narrated, and should provide a pleasant watch for any Hindi cinema lover.

Trishul has a better cast than Kaala Patthar, but IMO the latter is the better film. Yes, Trishul has Sanjeev and when did he ever fail to satisfy? But his character is most undeveloped in my opinion. In the beginning it is clear that he loves Waheeda, is forced by his mother to marry the rich man's daughter, is torn when she announces she is expecting his child - so he is not all bad. But would just that one act of weak caving-in make him more and more extreme in his dealing with people? No fault at Sanjeev's door, he did a very good job with the material given him. Rakhi was just there, Sachin and his lady, not needed other than to stage a coup against the patriarch. Shashi was quite good, as was Hema - their love story was convincing. Amitabh yet again stole the show with his simmering rage and outrage at the abandonment of his mother. The fight scenes were so real, but the story was somewhat predictable. This one, like Kaala Patthar, was also mostly focused on the story and did not rely on too much romance or songs.

One thing I like about these oldies from Yash Chopra is the very matter-of-fact dealing between the sexes. In Kaala Patthar Shashi invites Parveen to stay with him after she is thrown out, tells her he lives by himself, and without any coyness she accepts. In Deewar the relationship between Amitabh and Parveen is most matter-of-fact. In Trishul the same goes for the relationship between Waheeda and Sanjeev. And these were educated people, not from the lower strata - yet they did not have the prudishness one sees on display in modern fare.

Trishul is one of Bachchan's best movies. The role of Vijay was tailor made for him. Yash Chopra has created another master piece with this movie. It was a super-hit, running for more than 100 Weeks. The song 'Mohabbat bade kaam ki' is a very good song.

I have been a fan of Bollywood cinema since a very young age and I am very ashamed to admit that until a couple of weeks ago I had not seen Yash Chopra's masterpiece Trishul. After hearing so many people rave about it I gave it a go and very glad I did. For those who don't know already the story involves Amitabh taking revenge on his father(Sanjeev Kumar) who abandoned him and his mother. His father is a businessman so Amitabh sets up a rival business and sets out to destroy him. I think Trishul is a wonderful tale of how people are motivated by different things, Amitabh's father is motivated by money and power whilst Amitabh is motivated by revenge.

To support Amitabh and Sanjeev Kumar there is a wide array of great actors, for instance Shashi Kapoor,Rakhee and Waheeda Rehman(in a special appearance as Amitabh's mother). The wide array of actors for me were basically props in a movie what is essentially a battle between Sanjeev Kumar and Amitabh. Both Amitabh and Sanjeev Kumar both resort to dirty tricks to discredit the other. Amitabh and Sanjeev Kumar were excellent but I felt they were even better in Sholay together. I only watched this movie a couple of weeks and is quickly becoming one of my top five Yash Chopra's movies along with Lamhe,Dewaar,Silsila and Chandni. Highly recommended to all fans of classic Bollywood.