Ghazab (1982)

Kicking off Dharmendra week here on this blog is one of my favourite Dharmendra films, i watched this again the other day and had a new found respect and admiration for Dharmendra the actor and man. Yes it does contain some of the cliches of 80's bollywood but this film was well directed and is greatly entertaining. Greed, ghosts, possession, a incredible hulk type transformation, tongue cutting, mental shocks and evil evil villains, this film has it all. Even if you're not a fan of the revenge fare's bollywood churned out in the 80's by all means watch this one

Ajay (Dharmendra in a wig and humoungous front teeth) is a mentally retarded happy go lucky guy who lives with his wealthy father Vikram Singh ( Shereeram Lagoo) in a huge tea estate, his father wants him to learn how to run the business when he dies but all naive and fun loving Ajay wants to do is romance Jamuna (Rekha) and play with her brother Raju all day

Goofily cute Dharam


When Vikram Singh uncovers his disloyal workers headed by Arjun Singh (Ranjeet) using his tea industry as a base for the distribution of Heroine, he threatens to report them to police. on his way to the police staion he has an accident as a result of Arjun and his evil workers snapping off his car brakes



Unsure of what will be the outcome of his accident he tells Ajay of a twin brother and Mother (Seema Deo) in Bombay, he explains how they had separated when he had married another woman and as a result they had each taken one of the twins




He tells him to tell NO ONE and TRUST no one and that he should go to Bombay after his death to bring them back so they can help him in run the tea estate.Vikram Singh is murdered by Arjun (Ranjeet) who fears Vikram will reveal their deeds to the police


Ajay is devastated by his fathers death, but naively trusts Jatashankar (Madan Puri) with the secret his father had revealed to him about his mother and twin brother Vijay in Bombay, unknown to Ajay however is the fact that Jatshankar is dishonest and along with Arjun he plans on taking over the family property. He tells Ajay he would go to Bombay and help bring them over to the estate, naive or should I say silly Ajay is pleased


Jatashankar tells Arjun Singh and they come up with a plan to hire actors to play his mother and brother in the form of Narveri (Arunai Irani) and Karbadi (Jagdeep). Ajay is delighted and believes them to be his real mother and brother



Ajay is disappointed when he hears plans being made by Arjun Singh, Jatashankar & co. to kill him so that they can inherit the Tea estate. Ajay locks them in and threatens to report them to the police


They manage to break the lock and beat him black and blue, after which they push him off a rock leading to his death


Jamuna enters a state of shock upon witnessing the murder



her brother Raju's tongue is snipped off to prevent him from blabbing to the cops

is that a peace sign Ranjeet


Following his death (and i kid you not), Ajay's Ghost goes to Bombay in search of his brother Vijay and his mum Laxmi


When he finds Vijay he starts talking to him which scares the hell out of Vijay, who starts thinking he might be hearing voices in his head


He makes himself known and Vijay as one would be is in awe , he tells of his ordeal & makes Vijay promise to avenge his death as well as that of their father, so that his own soul can be at rest



When Vijay goes back with Ajay they come across Jamuna who is now mentally ill and a mute Raju



When Vijay returns to his father's house he's taken as a ghost


Will Vijay be able to get revenge or will he suffer the same fate as his father and brother? Will Jamuna gain her memory back?

Other reasons to watch Ghazab include

a deliciously evil Ranjit


The greatest ghost possession incredible Hulk transformation ever seen on screen (see it HERE) which i have to say is very similar to a scene from the 2010 film dabangg


This is a fun delightful action packed movie and is A MUST SEE FOR ALL DHARMENDRA FANS, great acting as well as excellent comic timing from Dharmendra as Ajay (a stand out scene include him challenging his dead father to a blinking competition) and action packed hero as Vijay. This film really does showcase Dharmendra as a multi faceted and versatilte hero. This movie became the craze or is still the craze among many bollywood loving Nigerians, Ghazab is a Nigerian bollywood classic


Super gorgeous Dharmendra, he was in his late 40's here

Great acting from the supporting cast as well, Ranjit was deliciously evil, he was on top form as the greedy villain Arjun


And Rekha was beautiful as always, i loved her Jamuna act


The songs of from Ghazab by Laxmikant Pyarelal are EXCELLENT, i have said it before and i'll say it again Laxmikant Pyarelal are amongst my top 3 hindi film composers there's the lovely 'Ghar se chali' and 'aage se dekho, peeche se dekho'


My two favourites however are 'Ye hawa' Lata's voice is on top form as usual and Rekha's dance moves are just so graceful


Ghazab - Ye Hawa (HQ)
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Followed by arguably my favourite Dharmendra song of ALL TIME 'Jaaneman, Jaane Jigar' this song also became the craze among bollywood loving Nigerians and remains immensely popular even till today when one talks to any red blooded Nigerian bollywood lover



Ghazab - Jaaneman
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Total Score: 8/10 (Perfect Masala Drama)

Buy the dvd here

Edited to add: According to Ramesh (Thanks for the tip) Ghazab is a remake of the 1979 Tamil movie Kalyanaraman starring Kamal Hassan and Sridevi, from this youtube clip right here, it would seem Dharmendra is playing Kamal Hassan's part and Rekha that of Sridevi in the tamil version