Karz

Karz review :

The Subhash Ghai directed Karz enjoys a cult status today with even a remake in the recent past. But do you know Karz bombed at the box office when released in June 1980 which greatly disappointed Rishi Kapoor who had pined a lot of hope on it. The audience of that time, fed generously with escapist actioners of Amitabh Bachchan, found this reincarnation drama a bit too elite for their taste. Karz was not only panned but also unfairly compared to Mehbooba (1976) and Kudrat (1981) - two box office duds dealing with the same reincarnation theme.

It is only in the '90s decade that Karz got its due recognition as the finest effort of showman Subhash Ghai. The film has a solid script (albeit plagarised from Hollywood's 'The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)) with a taut narrative, breathtaking Ooty locales, excellent cinematography and super competent direction by Ghai.

Moreover, Laxmikant Pyarelal's music with the iconic song 'Om Shanti Om' and the mesmerizing signature tune elevates the film to an altogether different level. The song itself has a Farah Khan film as well as countless remixes as reference.

Rishi Kapoor was brilliant as pop star Monty while the ever gorgeous Simi Garewal was a class apart in the negative role of Kamini. It is her career best performance and seems Ghai had a tough time convincing her to sign on the villainous role. The mute Prem Nath as Sir Judah spoke volumes through his silence. Subhash Ghai had penchant for giving unique English name to his villains - Sir Judah, Sir John (Ram Lakhan) etc.

An underperformer when released, Karz will always be a blockbuster material for me!! A must see for those of you who havent, if at all there are any..

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Review By Kamal K

In my opinion the film Karz is a master piece, cult classic very well directed by Subhash ghai best movie as director, memorable music by the great LP and who can forget the performance of its entire Starcast, mind blowing performances by Rishi Kapoor, Simi Grewal, Raj Kiran, treat to watch again and again.

This movie is an Indianised version of THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD (1975)

The movie follows a good plot line as THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD while making the characters and incidents different

Rishi Kapoor and Raj Kiran look the same thats why the reincarnation bit looks really good The best scenes were shared by Rishi and Simi

The memorable songs include OM SHANTI OM, DARD-E-DIL and EK HASINA THI Rishi dances well to these songs and the picturization was brilliant

Rishi Kapoor is a really good actor and you can touch his feelings using his expressions Pran steals the show Premnath as a mute villain is different His name is quite strange but it was the 80s Simi Garewal was beautiful and sinister Tina Munim is OK

Karz is one of the most famous Subhash Ghai films, but according to me it is nowhere among his best. The execution is uneven and at places the film does not flow well. The story is very interesting, but the script lets it down. The film spans for a period of something like three decades (Monty's age was specified as almost 30 in the film), but the characters do not even age appropriately during this time. Some of the dialogues and the proceedings are overdone and some sequences are amateurishly done. Despite the flaws, Karz does have entertainment value, mainly due to the fantastic music and some successfully shot moments of suspense. Songs like "Dard-E-Dil", "Om Shanti Om" as well as the instrumental theme of the movie are beautiful. The entire reincarnation track could have been better done. Rishi Kapoor is Monty, a top singer who was named Ravi at his previous birth. Ravi was killed by his wife Kamini and eventually reborn as Monty, probably in order to take revenge. Kapoor did his part well, but at some points he overdid it. The vibrant Tina Munim played his love interest, and her overly childish attitude really got on my nerves. The show was stolen by the awesome Simi Garewal, and she played her elegant vicious Kamini with style. Karz is an okay film, quite watchable and enjoyable, but basically nothing particularly good.

This movie is an absolute all time classic. It even had me stunned that Subhash Ghai was able to make a movie like this. He never even came close again. But this time he wasn't the self proclaimed showman, no, he had the help of the son of the ONLY showman Mr. raj Kapoor's son RISHI KAPOOR the best actor from all the Kapoors! Rishi really shows what acting is all about. You can feel his pain and confusion by just looking at his face. Really next to Amitabh one of the best actors Indian Cinema has ever had but never really appreciated. The film is loosely based on the movie THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD only Indianised a bit of course. Simmi Garewal gives a good performance (again with Rishi after Mere Naam Joker) and Pran steals the show. Prem Nath as a gunga is different than usual. Even Tina Munim is likable. And i haven't even mentioned the music...Wow! Dard-e-dil, Om Sjanti Om, Tu Solah Baras Ki, Ek haseena thi- all smash hits. They don't make 'm like this anymore.