Muqaddar Ka Sikandar

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar is the second biggest blockbuster of Amitabh to date after Sholay and when you watch this movie you feel that it deserves too.Prakash Mehra was in top form in this movie he made some other top movies with Amitabh like Sharaabi,Lawaaris,Zanjeer,Namak Halal,Hera Pheri but Muqaddar Ka Sikandar was his best, in my opinion.

STORY:-A poor orphan boy is kept as a servant by a man named Ramnath in Shimla but the boy is outsed when he delovopes a friendship with Ramnath's daughter Kaamna,Ramnath shifts to Mumbai with Kaamna and the orphan reaches Mumbai searching for Kaamna .In Mumbai the orphan boy is adopted by a Muslim woman named Fatima who names the orphan Sikandar.Fatima works as a servant for Ramnath in Mumbai.On Kaamna's birthday Sikandar steals a favourite doll of Kaamna from a shop and as he is secretly placing the doll in Kaamna's room Ramnath catches and falsely accuses him of theft and beats him up and removes Fatima also from his house, even Kaamna believes that Sikandar is a thief. Fatima dies of a heart attack leaving the responsibility of her younger daughter Mehroo on Sikandar.After burying Fatima, Sikandar meets Fakir Darvesh Baba(Kader Khan)who advises him to embrace sadness in life as it is faithful and remains with us forever whereas happiness in momentary and hence not trustworthy and this wouls make him the master of his fate(Muqaddar Ka Sikandar) which Sikandar decides to follow.

Sikandar(Amitabh) grows up and becomes rich by giving information of smuggled goods to police and receiving cash awards, as a result smugglers become Sikandar's enemy. Sikandar has set up his business and looks after Mehroo,he still loves Kaamna but Kaamna does not.Ramnath is not rich any more and has become very old.Whenever Sikandar tries to confess his love to Kaamna she refuses as she regards him as a thief and a betrayer to her family.As a result Sikandar starts drinking and visting Zohra Beghum's(Rekha)Kotha regularly.Once Sikandar is saved by a bomb attack planned by his smuggler enemies by a young advocate Vishal(Vinod Khanna)so Sikandar befriends him and also arranges a also arranges a case for him.Zohra Beghum is falls in love with Sikandar but a crimnal Dilawar(Amjad Khan)loves Zohra and as soon he escapes from the jail and goes to Zohra's kotha searching for Sikandar as soon as she finds Sikandar a fight ensues between them in which Sikandar beats up Dilawar.Dilawar swears to kill Sikandar.

Kaamna discovers Sikandar's kindness to her family and goes to thank him. Encouraged, Sikandar tries to profess his love to Kaamna through a love letter. Because Sikandar himself is illiterate, Vishal transcribes the letter for him, but the plan backfires when Kaamna mistakes the letter as actually being from Vishal. Vishal, unaware that Kaamna is the girl Sikandar loves, falls in love with her, and the two begin to date. Sikandar, upon learning this, struggles with his emotions but decides he must sacrifice his love for the sake of his friendship with Vishal.

Sikandar's visits to Zora Begum have hampered his reputation. His sister(Mehroo's) marriage is in dire straits because of this habit. Vishal then visits Zora and offers to pay her for the rest of his life if she would let Sikandar go. Zora, upon learning the reason, promises Vishal that she would die before letting Sikandar visit her again. Sikandar arrives at Zora's in the evening and Zora refuses to let him in. Sikandar demands entry, and when Zora is unable to stop him she swallows a diamond and lets Sikandar in, only to die in his arms.

Dilawar in the meanwhile has formed an alliance with Sikandar's arch smuggler enemy JD(Ranjeet)and upon learning of Zora's death hatches a plan to destroy Sikandar and his family. Dilawar kindaps Kaamna but Sikandar sees them and follows him. JD and his henchmen kidnap Sikandar's sister Mehroo but Vishal follows them and rescues her.

Sikandar rescues Kaamna and sends her home while he battles Dilawar. In the final battle both Dilawar and Sikandar are mortally wounded, and Sikandar tells Dilawar that he never loved Zora. A dying Sikandar reaches the wedding of Kaamna and Vishal. Just as the wedding ceremony is completed, Sikandar collapses. His dying words inadvertently reveal his love for Kaamna, and Vishal sings him his favourite song "Life is going to betray you someday...Death is your true love as it'll take you along..." Sikandar's entire life flashes before him and he dies in Vishal's arms just as the song is completed.

Amitabh was brilliant as Sikandar which had a mix of his "angry young man" image as well as a that of a "doomed lover" watch his scenes when he beats up Amjad Khan or when he breaks into a Shayari during "Salaam-E-Ishq" song or his speech before "O Saathi Re" song or the climax scene he oozes confidence in every scene. Vinod Khanna was very good and efficient, Rekha was great as the the Mujra dancer Zohra who falls in love with Sikandar, Raakhee was decent, Amjad Khan was good as usual in the villain role,Kader Khan was excellent as the 'fakir', Nirupa Roy is perfect in her short role, Ranjeet fits his role..

The script by Vijay Kaul,Kader Khan and Laxmikant Sharma is great and now we come to the biggest strength of this movie:-

THE MUSIC by Kalyanji-Anandji is just excellent with superb songs like 'Rote Hue Aate Hain Sab','O Saathi Re','Wafa Jo Na Ki To','Dil To Hai Dil','Pyaar Zindagi Hai','Salaam E Ishq','Zindagi To Bewaafa Hai'.

A movie you can't afford to miss, because this movie is the complete package it has everything action, romance,comedy specially the emotional quotient of this movie is too strong, you might shed a couple of tears in the climax scene...

I love this movie for so many reasons, first and foremost for Amitabh Bachchan. How can anybody not fall in love with him?, then for the story- It's been portrayed very well, it touches every right chord of your heart. The movie and some amazing scenes resonate with you long after you have watched the movie and finall all songs. I love the sikandar drunkard scene outside his house, I love to listen to all the songs, but definitely love to watch one song in particular which is salaame ishq. There you see dual magic of Kishore Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. The end is of course my favorite.

I particularly want to appreciate the writer-director for the way they handled Amitabh's reaction when he learns of VK and Rakhee's love. Anybody would obviously feel betrayed and wounded.. so he kills VK but only subconsciously to realize later that it was never VK's fault. Then he goes to Rekha to console his feelings and when he gets defeated there too. He comes back to do the only thing he can and should which is to let go off the illusion of ever marrying Rakhee and have VK and Rakhee marry instead.

Over all this is yet another feather on Amitabh's well deserved victory hat.

As an orphan on the streets in Shimla, young Sikandar (Amitabh Batchchan). Has no one to care for him. For a short while he works for Mr. Ramnath, little Kamna Ramnath (Rakhee Gulzar) gives Sikandar the kind of consideration friendship no one has ever before given him. After that Ramnath, leave Shimla for Bombay, Sikandar follows them there. Eventually Fatima, a young widow who works for Ramnath, adopts Sikandar. At Kamna's birthday party Ramnath mistakes Sikandar for a thief and has him thrown out. Little Kamna turns against Sikandar and wants to have nothing further to do with him. At Fatima's grave yard, a Darvesh (Kader Khan) advice young Sikandar how to deal with the realities of life. Young Sikandar works hard and grows up to be a wealthy respected young man. Kamna, who still wants to have nothing to do with Sikandar, is unaware that he has been helping her all along by paying for her handicapped father's medical bills. Sikandar meets a dancing girl, Zohra Bai (Rekha), who falls in love with at first sight. But Sikandar still loves Kamna. Dilawar (Amjad Khan), a vengeful lover of Zohra, declares Sikandar to be his enemy. When a young lawyer Vishaul (Vinod Khanna) saves Sikandar's life, Sikandar takes him in to his home and treats him more than a brother. Vishaul who know nothing of Sikandar's feelings for Kamna, becomes Ramnath's assistant and falls in love with Kamna. Before Sikandar can declare his love to Kamna, his life long dream is shattered when he see her in vis haul arms. Sikandar feels he has been betrayed by his best friend and by his love.

When I first saw Muqaddar Ka Sikandar as a kid, I absolutely loved it and all I wanted to do is to watch it again, which I ultimately did the following day. Something in the film's emotional ingredients really moved me. Today I of course look at it differently, but I still enjoy it. Muqaddar Ka Sikandar is a melodramatic and tragic fairy tale, and that's how I prefer to see it. The story of the film is actually fantastic, it is the script that often resorts to sentimentality. But as I said, if you see the movie from a clear perspective and take it as a fairy tale, there should be no problems. Some of the scenes in the movie are very good, particularly the one with the old man played by Kader Khan telling young Sikandar and his sister that the best way to deal with problems in life is to laugh when you want to cry and cry when you want to laugh. Never tried this tactic, but in the film it looked quite effective.

This is the story of a little orphaned boy who works as a servant in the house of a wealthy man named Ramnath. The boy develops a friendship with his employer's daughter Kaamna, but Ramnath notices this and fires him. All alone in the big city, he is found and adopted by a poor widow named Fatima, who names him Sikandar. When Fatima passes away, Sikandar remains all alone with the responsibility to take care of her daughter. Years go by and Sikandar grows to be a rich man. His only wish is to meet again Kaamna, who he has not stopped thinking of. They finally meet, but Kaamna does not love him the way he would want her to. He finds solace in a brothel where he often watches the dances of a beautiful courtesan names Zohra Begum. He befriends a young lawyer named Vishal, who actually later falls for Kaamna.

The story of the film looks quite complicated but it is actually very easy to follow. Despite being melodramatic, it is for the most part enjoyable and it often moves you with its impossibly tragic proceedings. Some scenes are really well done. The main character of Sikandar is a good one. He is tough, loving, selfless and caring, and sadly he fails to get what he longs for the most - Kaamna's love. And Amitabh Bachchan is there to portray it with utmost sincerity. Raakhee plays his love interest with a usual dignified and modest persona. Vinod Khanna does a very good job as Vishal. Rekha steals the show with a heartfelt portrayal of a courtesan who hopelessly falls for Sikandar, knowing she has no chance of being loved in return. One can see this role as a prologue to her all-time great performance as Umrao Jaan. No one could play such roles better.

The film's soundtrack by Anandji-Kalyanji is excellent. My favourite track is of course "O Sathi Re..." which is beautifully performed by both Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle in their individual versions. "Salam-e-ishq Meri Jaan" is also a nice song which introduces Rekha's Zohra Begum. The film's ending is tragic and a bit unpleasant to see, but as I said, this movie is better seen as fairy tale and so everything is acceptable in that context, even the melodramatic ending. Lovers of Hindi cinema and Amitabh Bachchan fan in particular will totally love this movie. Muqaddar Ka Sikandar is a nice movie by Prakash Mehra, which is always good to see with the family.

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar review :

Prakash Mehra's interpretation of the classic 'Devdas'; Muqaddar Ka Sikandar was an intense love saga where each of its key characters is madly in love with someone who doesn't love him or her.

Amitabh Bachchan loves Rakhee Rakhee loves Vinod Khanna Rekha loves Amitabh Amjad Khan loves Rekha.

Mehra's execution was extraordinary as he beautifully blended the hearttouching characters with superlative songs.

"Rote hue aate hai sab Hastaa hua jo jaayegaa Woh Muqaddar Ka Sikandar Jaaneman kehlayega" sings Amitabh racing down Marine Drive in Mumbai on his bike setting the tone of the film.

"O saathi re" and "Pyaar zindagi hai" are ever memorable tracks while Rekha's mujra number "Salaam-e- ishq" has attained cult status today.

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar is as much Amitabh's film as it is Mehra's. The superhit actor-director jodi had truly reached a creative crescendo with this venture. I simply love Amitabh's expressions while seeing his love Rakhee dancing with Vinod Khanna in the "Pyaar Zindagi" song. Admittedly, Vinod Khanna was a formidable angle to this love quadrangle and he impressed me with his swag even in a somewhat underwritten role. Trust me, any other actor wouldve fallen flat in this role and it is to the credit of Khanna that he could stand strong in front of the unbeatable Amitabh. Rekha looks alluring as the kind hearted courtesan and this is one of the finest performances of her illustrious career.

Amjad Khan, as Dilawar, was another brilliant character and his climactic encounter with Amitabh is a major highlight of the movie. Both are fighting for their love willing to risk their life for it...Super!!

Rightfully, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, a 1978 Diwali release, took the biggest opening in history of Bollywood. It remains the biggest hits of that year and one of the top grossers of the '70s decade. Many films tried to replicate this theme later including Sajid Nadiadwala's Jeet (1996) but Sikandar remains special. And immortal like the great Alexander from whom its draws its name!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.