Trishul

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.

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 review:

"Main Uss Shanti ka beta hoon Mr. R. K. Gupta ...aur aap mere NAAJAYAZ BAAP hai".

Trishul - produced by noted producer Gulshan Rai and directed by Yash Chopra - relied primarily on Amitabh Bachchan's simmering intensity and volcanic angst. He played Vijay, a man with a mission to get even with his biological dad R. K. Gupta (Sanjeev Kumar) who had ditched his mother (Waheeda Rehman) to marry a wealthy heiress. Vijay's revenge is not physical but rather an emotional one wherein he wants to destroy his father's business empire. Vijay even conspires to win over Sheetal (Hema Malini) whom his R. K. Gupta's legitimate son and Vijay's step bro Shekhar (Shashi Kapoor) is in love with.

Salim Javed's script wasn't perfect - it had its share of cinematic liberties like a young engineer Vijay with no money or clout becoming a top businessman almost in a jiffy to take on the might of an established business tycoon like R. K. Gupta. But the audience chose to overlook these fallacies only due to Bachchan's charisma and star power to pull off the role of Vijay - an otherwise anti-hero who touches your heart just by his belief and conviction in what he is doing.

Yash Chopra's direction was extraordinary and this is my personal favourite from his illustrious resume - a film he chose to remake again as Vijay (1988) with Anil Kapoor in Bachchan's role but that film turned out to be a box office dud.

Not many know that Gulshan Rai wasn't too happy at the trial show held when the film was around seventy percent complete. Yash Chopra too agreed with his producer that there was something missing in Trishul and he huddled up with Salim Javed to finetune the screenplay further. Amitabh's ambulance wala fight scene was added to the plot which later became the film's highlight. That bit of re-work benefited the film tremendously and it ended up being the second highest grosser of 1978 after Prakash Mehra's Muqaddar Ka Sikandar.

Trishul earned a Filmfare award nomination for Bachchan which he lost to himself for his performance in Chandra Barot's Don (1978). As the saying goes, One should only compete with oneself!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

This is one of Amitabh Bachchan's Angry Young Man action movies. In this one, he is the illegitimate son of a big industrialist. The industrialist, when he was a young man, got a woman pregnant, but at his mother's insistence he married the boss' daughter and left his girlfriend to raise the illegitimate son in poverty. The son, named Vijay Kumar, makes a solemn vow to get justice for his mother by humbling the father who wouldn't take his responsibility as the father of her child.

Well, as they say its a pretty good movie. Bachchan gives the usual intense performance. Sanjeev Kumar plays the father in the classic style. Waheeda Rehman is the wronged mother. Later in the plot, Shashi Kapoor shows up as Shekhar, RG Gupta's legitimate son by the boss' daughter. And Hema Malini shows up as Sheetal, Shekhar's love interest.

Shashi also played Amitabh's brother in the good son-bad son drama Deewar.

Good things for ME were Hema. She was just a gorgeous screen presence back then and every smile warmed things up. In a way, Hema played herself as the confident, ambitious woman. Probably not too hard a role for her.

And Bachchan's acting. He's always the most riveting present on the screen. Prem Chopra was pretty good as the oily rival. I also liked Rakhee Gulzar as Geeta.

Not too much I didn't like about the movie, but I found some of the songs kind of disruptive to the flow of the story. They weren't badly shot or anything, they just seemed out of place.

There was some cleverness in the script. For a while, as business rivals, Gupta and Vijay play kind of a chess game. The screenplay is by Javed Akhtar and shows some intelligence.

So, I guess I can give it an 8/10.

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.