Qurbani

Think Feroz Khan and Qurbani crops up. This is the actor-director-producer's signature work. His other films are more about individual parts not quite adding up to a syncretic whole. Not that Qurbani manages this entirely but it is the most well-knit of his oeuvre. The elements themselves have acquired a special place in the history of Hindi films. For starters, as with most movies that have done well at the box office, Qurbani's got great music. Kalyanji - Anandji scored big time with songs like 'Laila O Laila', the Qawwali 'Qurbani Qurbani' and 'Kya Dekhte Ho'. That the songs stand out in spite of the chart-buster 'Aap Jaisa Koi' scored by Biddu and rendered by Bangladeshi pop sensation Nazia Hassan, is credit to the duo. Utlimately though, this film is about 'Aap Jaisa Koi' and I guess the late Khan-saab knew he had something on his hands even while making the film. It features twice (so that Vinod Khanna can shake his head too !) and the guitar riffs are used extensively during the first half of the film. Strangely enough, it did not spawn imitators and remains a singular composition even today. There is a peculiar 'phoren' quality to it that other disco based Hindi songs do not have if one excludes the Arabic influences in our songs.

Vinod Khanna and Feroz Khan pull off their dosti act rather well. I still think of Vinod Khanna as an underrated actor despite his successful parallel wave during the Amitabh years. Then there is the feisty Zeenat Aman in probably the most glamorous turn of her career. You could watch Yaadon Ki Baaraat and Qurbani back-to-back and be forgiven for thinking they were released within a year of two of each other. A 7-year gap doesn't reflect on screen at all. Qurbani also gave me two chuckles. I knew Amjad Khan played, in his own inimitable style as it turned out, a cop-who-won't-stop character. Imagine this. During his intro scene, he announces to a flustered Feroz Khan - "Khan naam hai mera, Amjad Khan" ! The other chuckle is a well-documented whim of Feroz Khan. Only a man obsessed with translating his ideas on screen at any cost would import two Mercs, one for the rehearsal and the other for the actual scene, which involves the clinical decimation of a Merc. I think its impact on Indian audiences merits comparison with the 'D'you want me to talk ?' scene from Goldfinger. Just as world-wide audiences in 1964 had never seen a laser beam, Indian audiences hadn't even seen a Mercedes-Benz let alone ride in one. The execution is good too. At the end of the scene, when a suave Khan tells Amrish Puri to keep one rupiah - "half a rupee for losing the bet (that he couldn't drive a Merc which he demonstrates) and half for damage costs", one is watching the the essence of Feroz Khan's brand of cinema.

Qurbani means sacrifice which is something that plays an important plot point in the climax of this movie.

The film when it was released brought a new ultra kinetic violence to Bollywood cinema in this tale of two guys who become thick as thieves but end up falling for the same woman which would cause ructions. In the mean time they are pursued by a dogged hard nosed detective Amjad Khan (in a rare good guy role) who is also there to provide some humour.

The film was directed, produced and stars Feroz Khan who had the vision to shake up the Bollywood formula and brought it into the 1980s well before the rest of the industry followed suit. Parts of the film were shot in location in London.

Zeenat Aman brings sexiness and at the time you can see why guys would instantly fall for her. A classic of its era.

First of all, (Amrish Puri) wore such a wig that you will never forget for the rest of your life. As a leading man, I didn't like (Feroz Khan); (Vinod Khanna) is more charismatic and persuasive in comparison. I didn't like the story either; it had lots of forced and illogical matters. And there wasn't much to pay off, or rather make you forget. For instance, just one song caught my attention; "Kya Dekhte Ho", and no action scene did.

(Feroz Khan), as a director and producer, maintained a formula of action, romance, and sex in all of his movies. With the emphasis of sex. This round, he enjoyed putting his leading lady (Zeenat Aman) in a bikini, and risqué outfits, let alone putting the disco dancers in swimsuits! For decades, the Indian cinema used to be demure and bashful when it comes to titillation. Hence what (Khan) was doing was an event. Sure he saw this as historical and profitable. However, for me, this is a shameful way whether to go down in history, or to make money!

On the other hand, the cinematography is incredibly vivid, the colors are dazzling, and the image is crystal, DVD crystal. You will notice something about the costumes of the leads, or all the cast for that matter; they are all so chic to say the least, even their sunglasses. The movie looks like a long ad about Armani (Well, the Indian Armani then!). Mostly in Bollywood, the music numbers are what used to be taken care of chromatically, but this time it's the whole movie.

While the movie got some stars, (Amjad Khan) was the one who beat them all. He did a nice role nicely, looking like a smart version of Insp. (Clouseau). Loved the moment when he was playing the drum while disguising as a hippie, or regulating a car by his bare hands while praying God.

(Qurbani) is cops and robbers stuff, with a story of a friendship. It's brainless, elegant and sexy. Smashing all box office records when it was released assures that sometimes what a movie needs to be successful entertainment is nothing but being brainless, elegant and sexy. A mix that you, along with millions, would love. But not necessarily me.

That Firoz Khan was a suave filmmaker was proved by Dharmatma which he made in the seventies. Qurbani confirmed the debonair director's skills.

Qurbani is essentially a story of friendship and sacrifice. Firoz himself and Vinod Khanna play the friends while Zeenat Aman is their common romantic interest. The story revolves around friendship, love, and there is a sub plot of underworld excesses affecting the lives of the three protagonists.

The film ends with the sacrifice of one friend. Vinod Khanna dies thus uniting Firoz Khan and Zeenat Aman forever. One of the film's songs {Aaap jaisa koi} sung by Nazia Haasan almost became a national anthem and made Nazia a legend.

Qurbani means 'sacrifice' and here it's about one man's sacrifice of his love for his friend (never mind if the girl, he loves ,

was in any case already in love with the friend!)

Anyways, the movie was a big hit of the year, primarily because of the music and a pleasantly surprize performance from Amjad Khan who plays a gum-chewing inspector constantly on the heels of both the heroes in the movie. Feroze khan carries on his Clint-Eastwood hangover in this movie as well, but does not disappoint. Vinod Khanna , highly under-rated in his times, comes up with a good performance. Zeenat is supposed to look sexy and she does that with aplomb.

Music of this movie, was a huge factor in it's success. It introduced a new singer Nazia-Hassan (a brit-pakistani) to hindi filmdom and she was an overnight star. The music director 'Kalyanji Anandji' got a new lease of life and it was also a stepping stone for 'Viju Shah' (I think he's the son of Kalyanji) to jump into the big league albeit temporarily.

Overall, a good entertainer, that was a big hit. I'd give it a 7.0/10.0.