Lahu Ke Do Rang (1979)

I kick off my own Khanna-0-Rama week with Lahu Ke Do Rang (Two Shades of Blood). I had watched it in my early days of my Helen Fandom simply because it was the film that won Helen her first filmfare award, now you might ask why i go on so much about the filmfare awards, the thing is, when i rediscovered bollywood the award winning films /performances were my guide on what films to watch. Asides from Helen, I also remember loving Vinod in it, any way here's the story

The Indian Army led by Netaji Shubash Chandra Bose stationed in China (circa 1943) by the British government to help fight the Japanese, see Hong kong as the perfect opportunity to turn against the British

One of the soldiers Shamsher Singh (Vinod Khanna) while being chased by the British runs into Suzy's (Helen) house for help. She protects him when they come hunting for him and its not surprising she finds it hard to resist the hotness of Shamsher, as a result they both get busy between the sheets

Few months later when its time for him to leave for India, she reveals news of her pregnancy, he's reluctant to go back but she urges him to go and help India and then come back to get her and the baby (No Girl! No! i think we all know what happens in cases like this)

Back in India it turns out Shamsher Singh is married to Ladjo (Indrani Mukherjee) with whom he already has a child named Raj, he tells her about Suzie, she's heartbroken but promises to accept Suzy as a younger sister

During a plan to raise money to buy more weapons for fighting off the British, one of Shamsher Singh's men Shankar Kathuriya (Ranjeet) betrays them to the British government which results in Shamsher being killed off

Asides from the betraying, Shankar also loots the bank gold, he does this with the help of Mac (Mac Mohan) who later betrays him too by hiding the looted gold at the bottom of a lake before handing himself over to the police and then betraying Shankar to the cops

Raj grows up to be a hard working inspector, who's determined to avenge his father's death, he also happens to be the spitting image of his father

When Mac gets released from prison Raj tracks his movement and hopes he might lead him to his father's murderers. Shankar who is now known as Devi Dayal threatens and tortures Mac for the location of the gold they had looted from the bank years ago, which Mac reveals is in the boot of a car at the bottom of a lake. Upon arriving at the location, the Car had sink so hard that an expert diver would be required, they decide on hiring a foreign diver from China called Suraj (Danny Denzongpa)

Suraj turns out to be surprise! surprise!, Shamsher Singh's long forgotten son he had with Suzy. Suzy is now in old age and is still awaiting the return of Shamsher, Suraj on the other hand is vengeful and angry that his father had left him and his mother alone in China subjecting him to lots of abuse and prejudice. Suzy is hopeful he might find him in India

Upon arriving in India he meets Shabo (probably one of the most charmingly annoying kid actors you'll ever see) she turns out to be a pain in the (you know where). Shabo (Baby Shalu) and Suraj end up being buddies and when Suraj is sent by his employer Devi Dayal to live in Darjeeling with Roma (Shabana Azmi) he falls for her, with little Shabo giving him tips on how to win Roma's heart

A fellow competitor arises in the form of Inspector Raj Singh who has also come to darjeeling to investigate the death of a certain Doctor and get closer to to the investigation of his father's death.While there he and Roma fall for each other

she reveals how Devi Dayal had gotten her mother addicted to drugs and forced her into working for him, he also finds out Devi is responsible for Mac as well as a certain Doctor's killings, his determination to find Devi Dayal leads him to Hong Kong

before leaving his mum reveals news of a gift he must bring back, the said gift being Suzy who's still awaiting her Husband's return after years

Will Raj find Suzy? Will Suraj & Raj realize they're brothers? Will he succeed in finding Devi Dayal?

Writing up the plot of Lahu ke Do Rang is one of the hardest plot write ups i've had to do on this blog (no wonder on one bothered writing up on imdb) there seems to be so much happening but i hope you all get the gist of the story. Overall its an enjoyable fare, definitely not a bad one if you're a Vinod fan, i wouldn't say its up there with the masala classics like Muqqadar Ka Sikandar, Pavarish etc. It just doesn't have the masala craziness and style those other classics had, but Lahu Ke do rang holds its own relying on Vinods charms and other 70's style formlaic plots like long lost brothers, love interests, scheming villains etc.

I watched this film for Helen at first, as it was the film that earned her the best Supporting actress award and oh! how disappointed I was, she barely had much to do and i believe she got the award for her self sacrificial mother mumbo jumbo. I've seen and i prefer Helen in many other supporting roles such as that in Gumnaam or Shikar, i'd have preferred if she was awarded for any of those rather than these

Danny was enjoyable as Suraj, i wonder why he had no love interest though, Couldn't they find him one, rather than place him next to a 9 year old, who then goes on to him dating advice, i would have liked to see Danny with his own love interest

Now i know Shabana is an acting legend, but she seemed so stiff in this, either she was uninterested or just in it for the money (as she was mostly an art film actress) or she completely bowed to what the director demanded of her, i would never know

This one's for you Sita-ji

As for Ranjit i never tire of his villainy, he just delivers pure villain awesomenss in this, from his pimping ways, all the way to his disguise as 'Fu Man Chu'

And how can i end this post without a gorgeous picture of Prema Narayan one of my favourite side Heroines of all time, i wonder why she never hit it big, she definitely had the looks and acting capabilities to be a leading lady

The songs by Bappi Lahiri well before his disco king days in the 80's are further proof of Bappi Lahiri's talents, I hate when he's spoken of as a shameless lifter who stole people's songs, though in fairness he did plagiarise, i believe he did it with much style and he always added his own Midas touch. I love his songs in this, none have been lifted as far as i know, this film has not one but two of my favourite Vinod Khanna songs of all time

There's the fun 'Chahiye Thoda pyar' (a VK favourite of mine)

the absolutely lovely 'Muskurata Hua' ( yet another VK Favourite)

and Helen in very un-Helen (Mathe ki Bindiya) but still very lovely song

a fun duo between danny and his lovely sidekick in the cute 'Hum se tum mile'

and a lovely 'Masti jo mein nikli' for all daaru (drunken) songs collectors with Vinod and the lovely Prema Narayan

Paisa Vasool Rating: 5.5/10

Thikana (1987)

Ahh poor 80's bollywood, its always getting all the knacks for being the worst decade, personally and i've heard this feeling echoed elsewhere as well, its the 90's i would describe as the worst decade and not the 80's. This is one of my favourite Anil Kapoor films, this film proves if there's anyone who can match Amitabh Bachchan in the angry young man stakes or should i say give him a run for his money its Anil Kapoor

Kamla who is politician Rane MP's (Avtar Gill) keep appoints Avinash (Madan Jain) a young photographer to plant a video camera in her bedroom in order to capture her affair with Mr Rane M.P who refuses her to date anyone else, she hopes the tape would help her blackmail him so he would get off her back



When Rane comes over for his usual lovemaking sessions with Kamla he finds out about her lover Bhaskar, he murders her out of jealousy, unknown to him is the fact that the video tape has captured his wicked deeds



Avinash gets the tape and intends to make an expose but the newspaper is owned by Rane MP, Avinash manages to escape with the tape & Rane MP's men give chase, he manages to ring his sister Shaila (Amrita Singh) alerting her about the sticky situation he's in



The next day when he dosen't turn up for a court trial, Shaila is worried and is on the lookout for a lawyer, alcoholic and slacker lawyer Ravi Goel (Anil Kapoor) is recommended to her, but he's too much of a lazy sod to be up for the challenge



His sister Shashi (Smita Patil) is the breadwinner of the family and dotes on him way too much,
when their mother (Rohini Hattangadi) finds a gynaecologist's card in her wallet, she becomes suspicious of her and soon learns that Shashi had an abortion



Ravi finds out from her fiancee Ranbir Singh (Suresh Oberoi) that Shashi had aborted her babies just so she can have enough money to feed and cater for her family, Ravi become's overwhelmed with guilt, he smartens up and decides to clean up his act, he accepts his first proper case from Shaila regarding her brother Avinash's safety from Rane MP, his petition for Avinash's protection is rejected on the basis of Rane MP being a respectable officer


Ravi is eager to get to the bottom of the case, he starts getting threats and attacks from Rane MP's men urging him to back off the case, Ravi is so relentless that he almost gets framed for a murder committed by someone else


Anwar (Anupam kher) a police officer who's racked by enormous guilt arranges to meet up with Ravi, he reveals details about Avinash's death and how Ranbir whom Avinash had come to for help had killed Ranbir for threatening to expose Rane MP



Ravi is now caught between handing over his sister's future husband to punishment and getting Shaila justice ? What will he decide on? Will Rane MP be brought to justice? Will he tell Shashi that her would be husband is a murderer? Will Avinash's tape which contains the proof be found?


I don't really understand what Film Noir means but i've heard many refer to this film as film noir, asides from it being a very interesting drama slash cum thriller what impressed me most were the characters, they all had an edge to them and seemed very real. We have a heroine who asks for it and has one night stands, a sister who has premarital sex and even aborts her baby several times, a greedy mother who betrays the trust of her kids, and a mother daughter conflict


that even culminates into a fight ( the first mother/daughter fight i've ever seen in hindi cinema) all this happens without someone dropping dead or meeting some ill fate as is usually the case in some bollywood films

Great direction from Mahesh Bhatt, i'm always impressed by his movies ( all the one i've seen so far at least) the movie moves at a steady pace and allows no room for silliness, the film closes in at just about 2hrs 15mins


Passionate performance from Anil Kapoor, this ranks as one of my all time favourite Anil Kapoor films, the rest of the cast are great too

the film was dedicated to Smita Patil and as usual what a performance, there's something so intense about her, this film made me realise how much i love her and how i need to see more of her work



Excellent music by Kalyanji Ananadji makes this movie even closer to my heart there's the reflective ballad 'aasman ho chhat meri' the flamenco style 'bachaana dil bachaana' and my two favourite numbers are the smoochy 'Ajnabi koi kabhie'



and the beautiful 'Thoda sanam Thodi Khushi'




Paisa Vasool rating: 8/10

Thikana is available in 12 parts on Youtube with English Subtitles

Sadak (1991)

One thing i've noticed about Mahesh Bhatt's earlier films is how tightly scripted they usually are, most times his films eliminate unnecessary dross or comic side plots and just keep their basic plot. This is one such film with great performances, good songs and a hilarious Hijra you don't want to mess with

Ravi (Sanjay Dutt) is a hard working taxi driver who's deeply traumatised by his sister Roopa's death. He hopes to catch the person responsible for her death

He meets Pooja (Pooja Bhatt) and he falls for her at first sight, their love is threatened when Pooja's uncle sells her off to a pimp called Mahurani

Mahurani is one Hijra or the closest description i could find for a Hijra this side of the world would be a Transgender but you can read more on Hijra's here) you don't want to mess with, he/she has his own personal hairstylist and manicurist and he makes "Top whores" out of innocent young girls

'Fierce Maharani'


Poor Pooja had been pawned to him as her uncle couldn't pay back what he owed Maharani

When Ravi learns of it he tries to buy Pooja out but Maharani is suspicious of his intentions and he holds his friend Gotya (Deepak Tijori) as guarantee

After he returns her to the brothel, he starts making plans to get her out again, this time Maharani gets suspicious and demands he does whatever he wants to do with her in the brothel. Ravi forces his way out of Maharani's brothel with Pooja

Ravi gets Inspector Irani (Pankak Dheer) involved letting him know about his and Pooja's escape from Maharani's brothel, unknown to them is the fact that inspector Irani works closely with Maharani

Will they be able to escape Maharani's evil tactics? What evil tricks will Maharani does he have up his/her sleeve?


Overall Sadak was an entertaining watch as i've noted the film is well paced and tightly scripted with no room for silly comic side plots, the only funnies (sic) came in the form of the villain Maharani's antics


the super fierce Maharani
Sadashiv Amrapurkar as Maharani steals the show, his hijra act was so camp, over the top and ridiculous. From the way he twirls his hair and flirts ridiculously while carrying or about to carry out treacherous acts, Maharani has to be one of the funniest villains of all time in bollywood. he won the filmfare best villain award for his performance and rightfully so, he deserved it. See him in action here at around the 2:15 mark


Great passionate performance from Sanjay Dutt and in fact one does really get the impression that had he not gone to jail or not had any legal troubles he would have been one of the top actors of the 90's


Pooja Bhatt is the perfect damsel in distress and she plays it to a T, the look on her face when she's taken to Maharani's brothel is priceless, she genuinely looks scared of him


And oh yes we have heard countlessly about Bob christo & Tom Alter but i had never heard of another token white villain by the name of Gavin Packard until when i saw him in this, like Bob Christo he was mostly the villains henchman in '90s bollywood films, his imdb page lists him in over 50 movies. I have no idea where he is from and there's hardly any information on him so if anyone knows much about him please leave me a comment

Gavin packard as the token gori villain 'ggrrrrr'


Great songs from Nadeem -Shravan, these guys totally owned '90's hindi film music most of my favourite '90's tunes are from them. The soundtrack to this is a winner as well with ballads such as 'Zamaane ke dekhen hai' the breezy 'hum tere bin' the earworm worthy 'Dhin dhin tak' the sensual Tumhe apna banane and then my favourite the happy clappy and well choreographed 'rehne ko' which just makes you want to get up and do the dance moves



Total Score: 7/10 ( fast paced love story action drama (yes in that order)