Chakravyuha (1978 film)

Last updated

Chakravyuha
Chakravyuha (1978).jpg
Poster
Directed by Basu Chatterjee
Written by Jainendra Jain
Based on The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
Produced byYusuf Hassan
Rajesh Khanna
Starring Rajesh Khanna
Vinod Mehra
Neetu Singh
Cinematography K. K. Mahajan
Music by Laxmikant Pyarelal
Release date
  • August 4, 1978 (1978-08-04)
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Chakravyuha is a 1978 Bollywood thriller film directed by Basu Chatterjee with screenplay by Jainendra Jain. [1] The film stars Rajesh Khanna in the lead role, supported by Neetu Singh, Vinod Mehra, Simple Kapadia, Pradeep Kumar, Om Shivpuri, Dina Pathak, Master Raju Shrestha, Yunuz Parvez, Pinchoo Kapoor and others. [2] Upon release, the film became critically acclaimed. [3] [4] [5] This film was co-produced by Rajesh Khanna with Yusuf Hassan.

Contents

Plot

Rajesh Khanna plays a man drawn unwillingly into a nest of enemy spies and intrigue with the future of his country riding on his shoulders. Chhaya (Neetu) and Amit Narayan (Rajesh) are in love and Chhaya wants to get married. Amit doesn't see why they have to get married and wants to keep things as they are. Wedding dates are set and then moved, to her great frustration. This is really their only point of discord. Amit lives alone, and is also very fond of Chhaya's family: father (Om Shivpuri), mother (Dina Pathak), little brother Raju (Master Raju Shrestha) and sister Maya (Rozeena). It is Diwali, and as children burst crackers and set off potentially limb-severing fireworks, Amit's upstairs neighbor Raman (Vinod Mehra) has been watching a group of men in a tent just outside the building's courtyard. They also appear to be keeping tabs on him, and have his manservant in their pay. Now, Raman tosses furniture about the room and loads a pistol and then takes a body out of a trunk, lays it out on the floor, sprinkles it with whiskey and as another set of firecrackers explode outside, he shoots the poor dead guy's face off.

When Amit returns home, Raman is waiting for him and forces his way in. He explains to Amit that he is a spy for India and that he is being watched by enemy agents (he shows the tent and its inhabitants to Amit through the window). He has set up his own suicide (using a morgue body) to throw the enemies off his trail and needs to stay with Amit for a few days in hiding. The unnamed enemy is plotting to destroy India's valuable relationship with an African country called Mazaland by assassinating its Chief Minister when he arrives 19 November at the Delhi International Airport. Raman wants to wait until his enemies hear of his "suicide" and depart before he sets off for Delhi to stop the assassination himself. He shaves his beard and dons thick black glasses to disguise himself and Amit reluctantly agrees to let him stay for a few days. The enemy agents are not put off by the sensational news of Raman's suicide and stay put themselves. The next day, Raman pries the back off his watch; hidden behind the watch face is a teeny-tiny red notebook. He opens it up and begins writing. Amit is meanwhile visiting Chhaya and her family again to talk about wedding details. Amit indulges in room talk with Chaya's family. Chhaya's family is a close and warm family. But when Aman returns home, he gets a shock. Raman has been murdered and Amit's living room turned upside down, and the men in the tent outside have disappeared. Amit wonders what to do next. He has a fantasy about being arrested for murder after calling in the cops. Then he wanders around his room and then makes a cup of tea. In the sugar jar is the not-as-teeny-tiny-as-it-used-to-be red notebook, hidden by Raman. Raman has written down some clues about the gang (known to him only as Z, P, R and M) and their plan to kill the Chief Minister of Mazaland. He begs Amit to stop them himself: to take the notebook with him to Delhi and hand it over to the police there.

Although it was pitch-dark outside moments ago, Amit looks out the window and the sun is shining brightly as the dudhwallah (milkman) approaches on his bicycle. Amit takes off his own clothes very skillfully underneath a towel, and gives the milkman money for his dhoti-kurta—which he somewhat unwillingly gives up. And so Amit's endless journey of swapping outfits and changing clothes begins. The poor milkman finds the grim scene in Amit's living room and calls the police. The police naturally assume that Amit is the culprit and put out an all-points bulletin for his arrest. The rest of the story is full of suspense. Will he make it to Delhi in time? Will he find the enemy's camp and manage to stop the assassination? Can India possibly survive the severing of ties with Mazaland if he doesn't? Who is the real brains behind this plot, anyway? And will he ever set a wedding date with Chhaya?

Quotes

Before the release of the film, director Basu Chatterjee said to Screen India: "If the artiste lives up to that image, I'm satisfied. In Chakravyuh, Kaka has interpreted his role beautifully. I will say this much. If the film flops, I am responsible for it. Khanna has performed very well. He gives me what performance I want very easily within an hour, whereas other actors generally would take around 8 hours to give the same kind of performance as I want. Khanna got more done in one hour than everybody else did in eight."

Tracks list

All songs were written by Anand Bakshi

  1. "Shaadi Karne Se Pyaar"  : Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle
  2. "Chal Chal Aage Nikal" : Mohammad Rafi
  3. "Chal Chal Aage Nikal Tere Peechhe Bhaage Tera Saaya" v2 - Rafi
  4. "Chal Chal Aage Nikal Tere Peechhe Bhaage Tera Saaya" v3 - Rafi
  5. "Chal Chal Aage Nikal Tere Peechhe Bhaage Tera Saaya" v4 - Rafi
  6. "Chal Chal Aage Nikal Tere Peechhe Bhaage Tera Saaya" v5 - Rafi
  7. "Chal Chal Aage Nikal Tere Peechhe Bhaage Tera Saaya" v6 - Rafi

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Muqaddar Ka Sikandar</i> 1978 Indian film

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar is a 1978 Indian crime drama film produced and directed by Prakash Mehra, and written by Kader Khan, Vijay Kaul and Laxmikant Sharma. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, in his fifth of nine films with Prakash Mehra, along with Vinod Khanna, Raakhee, Rekha, Ranjeet, Amjad Khan in pivotal roles, while Nirupa Roy, Kader Khan gave special appearances. The film tells of the story of Sikandar, an orphan raised in the slums of Bombay. The film's plot is loosely inspired by the Bengali novel Devdas (1917). and french play Cyrano de Bergerac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinod Mehra</span> Indian film actor

Vinod Mehra was an Indian actor in Hindi films. He started out as a child actor in the mid 1950s before starting his film career as an adult in 1971. He acted in over 100 films from the 1970s through to his death at the age of 45 in 1990. He was also the producer and director of the film Gurudev which was released 3 years after his death.

<i>Hadh Kar Di Aapne</i> 2000 Indian film

Hadh Kar Di Aapne is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Manoj Agrawal. The film stars Govinda and Rani Mukerji. Upon release, the film was a commercial success.

<i>Haath Ki Safai</i> 1974 Hindi film

Haath Ki Safai is a 1974 Indian Hindi-language masala film, written by Salim–Javed, produced by I.A Nadiadwala, and directed by Prakash Mehra. The film stars Vinod Khanna, Randhir Kapoor and Hema Malini. Vinod Khanna won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, the only nomination for the film. The rest of the cast includes Simi Garewal, Ranjeet and Satyen Kappu. It was a remake of 1959 film Do Ustad. The music is by Kalyanji Anandji. The film became a "semi-hit" at the box office.

<i>Anurodh</i> 1977 Indian film

Anurodh is a 1977 Hindi musical drama film, based on the 1963 Bengali film Deya Neya, produced by Girija Samanta and directed by Shakti Samanta.

<i>Hatyara</i> (1977 film) 1977 Indian film

Hatyara is a 1977 Hindi action crime film. Produced by Sunil Sharma and directed by Surendra Mohan, the film stars Pran, Moushumi Chatterjee, Vinod Khanna, Pradeep Kumar, Rakesh Roshan and Nirupa Roy. The film's music is by Kalyanji Anandji

<i>Prem Bandhan</i> (1979 film) 1979 Indian film

Prem Bandhan is a 1979 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Ramanand Sagar. The film stars Rajesh Khanna, Rekha and Moushumi Chatterjee as the lead actors and is supported by A. K. Hangal, Prema Narayan, Bhagwan, Keshto Mukherjee and Lalita Pawar. The film's music is by Laxmikant Pyarelal. This film, along with Amar Deep, marked the comeback of Rajesh Khanna, as these were his commercially successful films after none of his films became huge hits at the box office throughout 1978, with the exception of Bhola Bhala. The news magazine "The Indian" noted that "Rajesh Khanna makes a sincere attempt to recover his popularity as a "superstar" and succeeds. He gives naturally touching performance".

Zinda Dil is a 1975 Bollywood film directed by Sikandar Khanna. The film stars Rishi Kapoor, Rajesh Leher and Neetu Singh in the lead roles. The film was based on East of Eden, a 1955 American period drama film directed by Elia Kazan.

<i>Maha Chor</i> 1976 Indian film

Maha Chor is a 1976 Bollywood action comedy film directed by Narendra Bedi, starring Rajesh Khanna in the lead role, paired opposite Neetu Singh for the very first time. The film had music by R.D. Burman and the lyricist whom Rajesh Khanna preferred for his films; Anand Bakshi.

<i>Sharafat Chod Di Maine</i> 1976 Indian film

Sharafat Chhod Di Main Ne is a 1976 Bollywood film directed by Jagdev Bhambri. The film stars Feroz Khan, Hema Malini, Neetu Singh in pivotal roles. The music was composed by Madan Mohan.

<i>Saboot</i> 1980 Indian film

Saboot (transl. Evidence) is a 1980 Indian Hindi-language horror/thriller film directed by Shyam Ramsay and Tulsi Ramsay. It stars Navin Nischol, Vinod Mehra, Vidya Sinha, Kajal Kiran, Trilok Kapoor, Om Shivpuri and Prem Chopra.

<i>Dharm Aur Qanoon</i> 1984 Indian film

Dharm Aur Qanoon is a 1984 crime thriller film starring Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Mehra, Asha Parekh, Jaya Prada, Supriya Pathak, Danny Denzongpa, Om Shivpuri, Iftekhar, Manmohan Krishna in pivotal roles. The film was a commercial hit at the Indian box-office and was critically acclaimed. Dharm Aur Qanoon was the remake of 1982 Malayalam language film Aarambham.

The 27th Filmfare Awards were held in 1980.

The 25th Filmfare Awards were held in 1978.

<i>Adaalat</i> (TV series) Indian television courtroom drama

Adaalat (transl. Court) is an Indian television courtroom drama anthology series about a defence attorney, K.D. Pathak, portrayed by Ronit Roy. The first season of the show premiered on Sony Entertainment Television on 20 November 2010 and ran for five years, ending on 11 July 2015. The show aired 431 episodes in its first season. Adaalat returned for its second season on Sony Entertainment Television on 4 June 2016 and ended on 4 September 2016. The show aired 26 episodes in its second season.

References

  1. ↑ Hungama, Bollywood. "That license to thrill: Espionage - Hindi film style - Latest Movie Features - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama . Archived from the original on 30 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Chakravyuha". 1 January 2000 – via IMDb.
  3. ↑ Collections. 1 August 2008. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "Chakravyuha (1979)".
  5. ↑ "PHOTOS: Fans remember Rajesh Khanna on his first death anniversary Photo Gallery, Picture News Gallery - The Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.