Himmatwala (1983)

Following the massive flop of Deedar-E-Yaar, this film did magic for Jeetendra's career and catapulted him into the high realms of bankable stars in 80's bollywood. Directed by K.Raghavendra Rao, Himmatwala (Bravery) was a remake of the directors Tollywood film 'Ooriki Monagadu', these southern type melodramas (mostly remakes of southern films) became a winning formula in 80's bollywood with Jeetendra starring in almost every single one of them alongside Sridevi & Jaya Prada, coupled with dialogues written by Kader Khan as well as folky disco type music from Bappi Lahiri. Himmatwala is a typical example of this genre of films that became blockbusters

Ravi (Jeetendra) returns to the village of Ramnagar after completing his Engineering education in the city, he is disheartened when he finds his mother & sister living in dire conditions

He finds out about his mother Savitri's (Waheeda Rahman) sacrifice to get him educated & learns how his father Dharmamurti (Satyendra Kapoor) had been framed for rape by the village tyrant Sher Singh (Amjad khan), as a result his father was driven out of the village never to be found again, a furious Ravi promises to avenge his father's disgrace and gain back his father's honour by bringing Sher Singh to justice

Also taunting or should i say terrorising the villagers with her pranks is Sher Singh's daughter Rekha (Sridevi)

Better don't mess with Rekha or you'll be lashed

Unfortunately for both father & daughter they finally meet their match in the form of Ravi who squares up to them, he's met with admiration and respect by the local villagers who begin looking up to him

When he's given the contract to build a dam in the village, Sher Singh tries to bribe him into choosing his own plot of land for the project, when Ravi refuses Sher Singh sets out to get him

He manages to make Rekha see the error of her ways in a taming of the shrew kind of way, she falls hard for him & joins him in his quest to bring down her father's tyranny

Himmatwala is a silly film with a barely there plot which manages to stretch itself out for 2.5 hours, i'd be lying if i said i didn't enjoy it in spite of its silliness, these southern type films were widely panned by the critics, which didn't stop them becoming massive hits. Himmatwala of the two southern type melodrama's i've seen so far is not overly melodramatic like Tohfa, its charm lies in the charisma of Jeetendra and campness of Sridevi and the supporting cast, i think the rather simple and relate-able surroundings the film appears to have been shot in, as well as its themes on forgiveness and love for humanity coupled with visuals that felt very Indian perhaps made the film a hit amongst audiences

There's a certain Indian aesthetic to this southern type films that i admire, for example the 'Nainon mein sapna' number ranks as one of my all time bollywood song picturisatons, with its Bugsby Berkely style arrangement of props and dancers as well as the use of colours, it just packs so much of a raw Indian aesthetic which i just couldn't help but love. The 'Nainon mein sapna' song is the major reason i bought this film, i refuse to get tired of it, its one of my all time favourite bollywood songs, Why is this so, allow me to recap

massive area of land with carefully arranged clay pots and dancers

Sridevi in southern style dance poses

Cheerful looking dancers in colourful outfits with colourful dusters

Jeetendra and his colourful dusters

a giant glittery sun shaped prop

Perfectly synchronised dance steps

(see the video to this legendary song at the bottom of the post)

Himmatwala took Sridevi's career to new heights, i've read posts on various bollywood forums describing her effect on the filmi world as that of an earthquake hitting a town, upon the release of Himmatwala

What a long way she has come, i'm amazed that despite being older now, she looks half the size of what she looked like back then. She was curvy in this film, and seems she was given every opportunity to flaunt those curves at us, the cameraman perhaps in a case of perviness or perhaps to make the film more commercially viable gives lots of closeup shots of her thighs and posterior

lots of body close ups

The music by Bappi Lahiri is what makes Himmatwala a winner for me and one of the major reasons i shall be re watching it again, there's the fun 'ladki nahin tu' with lyrics such as "You simply aren't a girl, you're a wooden pillar" as well as 'taki o taki' a joy to behold for the perfectly synchronised dance steps of Jeetendra and Sridevi. My favourites include the highly infectious 'Wah wah khelu shuroo ho gaya' for its electro disco sounds

and the wonderful 'Nainon mein sapna' the major reason i bought this film

Paisa Vasool Rating: 6/10 (Extra points for the songs, props & Nainon mein sapna)

Buy the dvd here

Allah-Rakha (1986)

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

watch the hilarious catfight here

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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