Yateem review :
"Sonar ka beta Sonar
Lohar ka beta Lohar
Aur Daku ka beta.....Daku!!"
This line is repeated twice in JP Dutta's dacoit drama Yateem, a film which was a commercial failure on its release but still remains my personal fave JP film. Yup, I prefer Yateem more than his two super hits Ghulami (1985) and Border (1997) as well. This film is much more layered and bold in its approach and deserves its due which it sadly, never got.
Sunny Deol plays the titular character of an orphan who is brought up by a cop (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) after killing his bandit parents in a skirmish. He trains to be a police officer himself and returns home to find foster pappa cop married to a much younger female (Sujata Mehta) who takes an instant liking for him.
After rejecting her sexual advances, the orphan is charged of rape and put behind bars. When he learns of his childhood sweetheart's forced marriage to a baddie cop (Danny), our hero breaks free and elopes with his lady love (Farha) leaving behind a bloodthirsty trail of cops. There is also a dreaded dacoit (Amrish Puri) who turns antagonist in our yateem hero's life.
As aforementioned, the plot is multi-layered and explores bold relationships bordering on incest - something unimaginable in Bollywood before. Like a foster mother seducing her son or a man in love with daughter of his guardian whom he calls Babuji. Yateem was too bold for the '80s and this is the prime reason for its outright rejection at the box office. Laxmikant Pyarelal's underwhelming music score was another sore point.
Having said that, the film has many positive factors like Ishwar Bidri's outstanding cinematography. JP Dutta always had a flair for mesmerizing locales and breathtaking landscapes and Yateem is arguably, his best work on this front. Shot in valleys of MP and parts of UP, the landscape shots are simply awesome here. A long shot horse chase looks like a painting on celluloid. No exaggeration!!
Of the cast, Sunny Deol is perfectly cast in the lead role and he speaks through his smouldering eyes in many scenes. Danny and Kulbhushan Kharbanda are outstanding here specially Kharbanda's "Bhagwan Tumhara Bhala Kare" is still memorable. Sujata Mehta is absolutely brilliant as the amorous step mother who is the root cause of all conflicts in the film. After Pratighaat (1987), this is her best performance ever in Hindi cinema. Unfortunately, her career dwindled after this act. Amrish Puri was menacing as the dacoit whose catchphrase was "Main Boluun"!! Farha's performance was just about okay.
Yateem is highly underrated piece of cinema and one of the best dacoit dramas made in Hindi cinema. I strongly recommend it to all Bollywood buffs.
Regards,
Sumeet Nadkarni.
