There are so many bollywood actors and actresses i have major love for in a big way but for some reason i haven't written up about them on this blog yet, this is mostly because others have written extensively about them. I usually hate writing about movies others have written on, except i really have something to say but even then, i'll just make it known on the comments section of whoever wrote it up. Now as a big Shammi kapoor fan, I'm surprised as to why I'm picking this as my first Shammi Kapoor in a central role film to review on here, as it doesn't have all the charm and the appeal from the usual Shammi movies like Junglee, Teesri Manzil etc. but i was curious and as a fan i'd watch him in anything
Childless Laxmi (Lalita Pawar) while praying for a child of her own miraculously finds an abandoned baby, she picks him up to raise him as her own
the child's real birth mother Shobha (Sulochana Latkar) had given him up after the death of her husband which she had married in secret (her izzat (honour) just had to be intact) she remarries and gives birth to a son 'Hemant'
Laxmi is particular about Ramu's education but her husband Shankar (Jayant) has other plans and sets about raising Ramu as a gambler
Thus Ramu grows up with no education and ends up being a robber while his half brother from his actual birth mother Hemant (Vinod Khanna) is educated and becomes a Policeman who is hot on the tails of his notorious brother Ramu. However both brothers are unaware of their blood ties
Ramu meets and falls for Mala (Leena Chandavarkar) who urges him to go on the straight and narrow, Ramu does this but when Laxmi his adoptive mother is killed accidentally by Hemant during a gun chase, Ramu promises to exact revenge which leads him back to his previous ways
Shobha eventually realises Ramu is her long lost son and what follows, is a 'Mother India/Deewaar' style action of two brothers on opposite sides of the law with their mother trying to bring them together in peace
Jane Anjaane (Friends and Strangers) ends up being nothing much more than an average entertainer, at the heart of the film is the idea that Love (romantic or nurturing) would turn the most hardened of criminals into good citizens.
It was quite hard to watch Shammi in this, he was really sloppy and sweaty in his action scences and let's just say he was past his prime here, no surprise that this was his last leading role before he started playing father and uncle type roles, that spark that made one excited about Shammi was gone in this and needless to say a pal of mine a bollywood novice whom i was watching with quipped 'Why is that man the hero', at which i wasted no time in explaining his iconic status. All hope is not lost though, as traces of the old energetic Shammi pop up in the musical numbers
More Eyecandy
Vinod rocking the ultimate sideburns
Beautiful Leena
Suave Shammi
Vinod and Helen Sizzle up the screen
the songs by Shanjkar Jaikishen not their best are pretty decent, i love kishore's vocal on the title track 'jane anjaane log mile' other highlights are Manna Dey's lovely 'cham cham baaje', the flirty 'chahe tum pyar karo', and the sweet 'tere nilee nilee' my favourite of the whole bunch though is the fab 'jane anjaane yahaan' pictuised on Helen, i just love the way she commands attention and the way her male dancers fawn over her
The apple as they say never falls far from the tree, Manmohan Desai's son Ketan Desai proves this saying true in this crazy masala flick with a muslim theme in its background, yes i've heard of Muslim Socials, but this film can be called (or should i say is) Muslim Masala. It stars none other than Jackie Shroff (well done everyone who got the answer right in the Guess who? post below) We have all the masala elements lost children, double identities, villains, gorgeous heroines as well as the exploding tv's & the politics of prostitution thrown in. If you're looking for a hotly served masala look no further than this film. I don't even know how i'm going to write this up, but i shall try my very best as there was just way too much craziness going on
Karim Khan (Shammi Kapoor) had accepted the blame for a murder committed by Don (Bob Christo), as a result he was sent to prison with Don promising to take care of his family. Don however refuses to keep his promise. When Karim Khan's wife Razia (Aruna Irani) takes their newly born son to claim 6 months of her husbands wages from Don, he sees it as an opportunity to rape her
Razia manages to escape by falling through the glass all the way from the first floor to the second floor without getting injured (hmmmm), she escapes and miraculously falls into the hands of Inspector Anwar (Biswajeet) who arrests Don When Inspector Anwar and Salma's son falls ill, they're told by the doctor that they would need a pacemaker, when Inspector Anwar goes to buy the pacemaker that would save his son's life he's told he would have to release Don first He refuses at first but later decides to release Don, he's given a pacemaker for his son's heart. The pacemaker turns out to carry the 786 number which is also the muslim number for 'In the name of Allah'
Don and his henchmen then set Anwar up with Miss Banu (Bindu) who spikes his drink, when he wakes up, she claims he raped her. To protect his honour he decides to marry her, His wife Salma (Waheeda Rahman) walks in on them and when Anwar tells his wife that he plans on marrying Banu, she asks for a divorce contending she wouldn't share her pati with a slut like Miss Banu
When Salma contends she get the custody of their child Iqbal, Anwar disagrees and they both go to court, while they're at court for the hearing custody, Don and his henchmen kidnap Iqbal. When Don's men proceed to crush the child with their car Razia who happens to be passing by swaps him with her dead son, she starts running with Iqbal, don's henchmen hit her with their car and she throws Iqbal away only for him to land in the tent of an ongoing procesion Iqbal is reported dead to his parents, however they don't know that the dead child is Razia & Karim Khan's son. When Salma hears she rushes out and is hit by a truck, she loses her sight and thus becomes blind When Karim Khan is released from Jail he's told about the death of his wife , he's given Iqbal whom he thinks is his own son, he then goes to avenge his wife's death from Don, he kills Don but before Don dies he promises Karim Khan that his son (Don's son) will avenge his death When Iqbal's pacemaker stops working, Karim Khan takes him to the mosque and places him on the altar where a ray of light from God descends on him Manmohan style and he starts breathing again. He's arrested again at the mosque for the murder of Don, before going to jail he hands the baby over to Salma and names the child Allah-Rakha (saved by Allah) he makes her promise him she wouldn't reveal his identity to him. Unknown to Salma is the fact that Iqbal is the child given to her
Allah-Rakha grows up and finds it hard to gain admission into University due to corrupt Mr Khera (Anupham kher). He resorts to running a roadside Panch Tara (as in five star) hotel
When he saves local Prostitute Rani (Meenakshi Sheshadri) from goons she falls for him saying he's the first person to make her wear her clothes as opposed to take them off He's arrested for beating up the goons, his mother Salma takes up the case & the hearing is adjourned. Allah-Rakha is set free on bail while Inspector Jafar is suspended
A reporter by the name of Julie (Dimple Kapadia) comes toAllah Rakha's side of town, she's mistaken for a prostitute by Rani & both ladies have a catfight only for Rani to later realise she's a Tv Reporter and had come to do a report on prostitution
Julie comes back to Allah-Rakha's side of town and disguises as a guy to expose the liquor and gambling dens of the city, there she comes across Inspector Anwar's son Jafar (Gulshan Grover)who is a cop taking bribes & terrorising locals, she records all this
When Jafar finds out he's being recorded due to a clumsy act by Julie he starts chasing and she's helped by Allah Rakha. Julie & Allah-Rakha fall in love much to her dad Mr khera's (Anupham Kher) displeasure
Mr Khera is paid to carry out bomb blasts across town, he does this by placing bombs in Tvs they plan to kill Allah Rakha by putting a bomb in his Tv (yes this film is that crazy) on the said day Inspector Anwar turns up at Alla-Rakha's house to see Salma. Allah Rakha turns on the Tv and goes to get him drinks, before he comes back the Tv explodes and Inspector Anwar is Injured
Allah Rakha hears Salma praying wishing her own true son Iqbal is still alive, saying he would have sent her on a Hajj trip, Allah-Rakha is disheartened that Salma isn't his real mother
He descides to wrestle against an acclaimed fighter called Gorilla in order to win money to pay for her trip. He wins the fight and Allah-Rakha is able to send Salma on a Hajj trip watch the fight here
While on Hajj, Salma prays for Anwar's health and he gets well as a result of her prayers. Allah Rakha is then framed for planting bombs in Tv's and as a result he's taken to jail, there he meets Karim Khan. the two have a fight over food but when Karim Khan discovers his name is Allah Rakha, he rejoices and introduces himself as Allah-Rakha's father, they have a happy reunion
When Karim Khan is released from Jail he's confronted by Don's son who has come to get revenge, Don's son who happens to look a lot like Allah-Rakha also arranges Allah Rakha's escape from prison When Allah-Rakha meets Don's son they have a fight and Allah-Rakha kills him, as a result he switches place with him and news spreads about Allah rakha's death
How will Salma & Anwar realise Allah-Rakha is their son? Will Salma ever reagin her eyesight? For how long will Allah Rakha convince everyone he's Don's son? For these answers a whole lot more entertaining reasons do watch Allah Rakha
Wow that was an exhausting write up, if you read it all, you deserve a round of applause, Allah-Rakha is a well timed crazy masla complete with all the necessary elements to keep you entertained, the story moves along at a steady pace and keeps you involved all the way through.
If you're looking for a hot served masala look no further than this film. Kudo's to Manmohan Desai's son for getting all the golden oldies a la Waheeda, Biswajeet, Shammi Kapoor to participate in all the masala craziness this film had to offer.
Even Shammi participates in some crazy Masala action
The movie was written with Amitabh Bachchan in mind but due to other commitments he couldn't take it up, as a result the role was offered to Jackie Shroff, who did a splendid job, if you're a Jackie fan like me, this is one movie of his you HAVE to watch
Other reasons to watch Allah-Rakha is Bindu in classic BAD woman mode, she is A bad bad bad woman in this film, and she had a fabulous wardrobe and hairstyles to go with it
I also loved the fierceness of Meenakshi Sheshadri, she doesn't get as much screen time as Dimple but she was feisty as the down trodden prostitute
there was also some Psycho shower scene rip off
and there were lots and lots of movie posters featured in the background, probably more so as the film was shot at Raj kapoor Studios
this movie had so much crazy goodness, if you're a red blooded masala lover do not miss THIS
Great songs from Anu Malik as well, some of the songs had a muslim theme in them such as 'Parvardegare Aaalam' and the title track 'Main Allah-Rakha' then there's the protest love song 'Sholon mein jalado' , and then 'doli leke yahan' where Rani laments on the sorrows of prostitution, my favourite however is the sweet parody of Amar Akbar Anthony and other Manmohan Desai films in 'na amar na akbar na anthony'
Total Score: 8/10 ( Hot Piping Masala at its best)
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