| Dharmatma | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Feroz Khan |
| Produced by | Feroz Khan |
| Written by | Kaushal Bharti |
| Starring | Feroz Khan Hema Malini Premnath |
| Music by | Kalyanji Anandji |
| Cinematography | Kamal Bose |
| Editing by | B.S. Glaad |
| Release date(s) | 30 May 1975 |
| Country | India Afghanistan |
| Language | Hindi |
Dharmatama is a 1975 Hindi movie and the first ever Bollywood film to be shot in Afghanistan. It was produced and directed by Feroz Khan. The movie is the first attempt in India to localise The Godfather. This film's protagonist Premnath was based on the character of Matka king Ratan Khatri. It is said that Feroz Khan sat down with Ratan Khatri in order to learn more about the man and understand the nuances of matka (form of Indian gambling). The film cast includes: Feroz Khan, Rekha, Hema Malini, Premnath, Danny Denzongpa, Farida Jalal, Ranjeet, Helen, Madan Puri, Iftekhar and Dara Singh. The location in the movie is Band-e Amir, Afghanistan and the music is by Kalyanji Anandji.This film took Feroz Khan to new heights in his career as this was one of the block buster movies of all times. The same year, Sholay and Deewar were also released, both of which had great photography, especially Sholay's director of Photography Dwarka Dwivecha was to get the Filmfare Award for Sholay, but Dharmatma's Director of Photography Kamal Bose won the race for eye-pleasing locations as well as breath-taking action scenes and got this award.
In this movie, Producer-Director and Actor Feroz Khan showcased the female lead of the film in a glamorous look first time. It is being said that actress Hema Malini was so impressed with the Feroz Khan's method of filming the female lead and she always wanted to work with Feroz Khan. But Feroz Khan, like his all movies, never repeated her in his movie. All the songs of the movie including 'Tere Chahere Main Woh Jadu Hain' were huge hit. The film earned name and fame to Feroz Khan.
Contents |
Wealthy, powerful and influential Seth Dharamdas(Prem Nath) leads a financially secure life in a palatial mansion. He is known to come to the aid of all people who are beyond any hope of assistance, and this leads to him being known as "Dharmatma". But Seth Dharamdas does have a number of skeletons in his closet, and a parallel life as a gangster and a matka king.The only person who he hates and fears is his own son Ranbir(Feroz Khan). One day after a heated argument over Dharmatma's matka business,Ranbir leaves home and goes to Afghanistan,where he stays with a friend of his father and manages his business.One day in a forest while riding a horse,he finds a nomadic man named Jankura(Danny Denzongpa) and a woman named Reshma(Hema Malini)fighting.He defends beautiful Reshma and falls for her.Reshma too falls for him. Meanwhile in India,his sister Mona(Farida Jalal) is all set to marry Kundan,son of their father's old friend.She invites Ranbir to attend her wedding and give them his blessings through a letter stating that "he has a conflict with their father not with her".Ranbir accepts her proposal and arrives there while seven rounds around fires are going on.The marriage commerces and the Mona departs.While in the car,she gifts her husband a steel ring with "I Love You" inscribed beneath it. Meanwhile,Ranbir leaves back for Afghanistan.He proposes to Reshma,which she accepts.Her foster-father also reluctantly agrees to their marriage.A fortune-teller present there predicts that Reshma will bring death to Ranbir which makes Reshma worried. Meanwhile in India,a business-rival by the name of 'Anokhelal' propose to deal relating to Narcotic to Dharmatma,which he refuses.His son-in-law tries to force him to accept the scheme but is unsuccessful.Dharmatma recognises the nature of his son-in-law and apologises for his mistake of letting her daughter marry him.He misses Ranbir and orders his assistant Vikram Singh(Iftekhar)to bring Ranbir back from Afghanistan.Vikram Singh agrees but while in the way he is kidnapped by drug-addict sons-Natwar & Rishi of Anokhelal and his brother Biradar. Meanwhile in Afghanistan, Ranbir and Reshma prepare for their marriage.On the day of marriage,they left to take blessings from god from temple.While in they both are in temple,Natwar & Rishi plant a bomb in their jeep which will explode once the car is started.Rabir & Reshma arrive back from the temple to the jeep.Reshma starts the jeep and it explodes,killing Reshma leaving Ranbir heartbroken. Meanwhile in India,Natwar & Rishi attack a matka centre of Dharmatma,injuring him and Kundan.They both order a nurse, to help Kundan in killing Dharmatma. Meanwhile in Afghanistan,Ranbir gets the news of attack on his father and returns back to India. Meanwhile in India,Kundan kills Dharmatma assisted by the nurse but looses his steel ring given to him by his wife in Dharmatma's hands.Ranbir arrives and finds that his father is dead.He promises to his father that he will find out his murderer and punish him. Some days later,Ranbir along with Sonia,a childhood friend who secretly loves him,goes out for a drive where he is attacked by goons send by Anokhelal & Company. The doctor who operated his father,gives him the steel ring which he found in Dharmatma's hand while postmartum of his body and also tell him that his father died because of suffocation caused by pressing neck.Ranbir suspects an hospital employee to be a part of conspiracy to kill his father and asks the doctor about the nurse on duty that night and they both visit to her house only to find her killed by Natwar & Rishi.He tries the ring on her hand but it doesn't fits. After that Kundan arrives and lies to him that Vikram Singh killed his father because his mind got filled with greed after hearing about Anokhelal & Company's drug deal which his father refused and he killed his father.He asks Ranbir to kill Vikram Singh. Meanwhile,at Anokhelal's place,they raise a toast for dead Dharmatma.Ranbir arrives there suddenly.Kundan,Natwar & Rishi hide themselves upstairs and position a sniper to kill Ranbir. Meanwhile downstairs,Ranbir accepts the drug deal which his father declined and provides them with 50 lac rupees but on a condition that they will give him Vikram Singh,dead or alive,to which Anokhelal agrees.Anokhelal signals Natwar to stop Kundan from firing at Ranbir,which makes Kundan very very angry.He returns home,drunk with a prostitute which makes Mona furious.Drunk Kundan gets angry and beats Mona.Ranbir comes to know about this and gets furious.He arrives at their place and beats Kundan but Mona stops him pleading him not to make her a widow. Meanwhile,kidnapped Vikram Singh is killed by Anokhelal & Company. Then they take his dead body in a coffin and meet Ranbir in burying ground of a church.Ranbir tries the ring on hands of Vikram Singh but it doesn't fits.Then Anokhelal laughs at him and confessing that he got his father killed.His hiden goons try to kill Ranbir but cops present already saved him,killing Anokhelal and his brother Biradar but Ranbir is injured during that. He thanks cops for saving his life and departs. At his place,while bandaging his wounds,Sonia asks him to leave this place and travel to a safer place to which he disagrees.After which Mona arrives,tieing rakhi to Ranbir's wrist.She sees the steel ring in Ranbir's hands and saying that she given one to Kundan also but he has lost it.Ranbir realises that Kundan is the main culprit behind the death of his father.He wants to kill him but is in a fix because he is his sister's husband and he doesn't want to make her a widow. After that,Mona and Kundan return home where find Natwar & Rishi already present there.Kundan signals Mona to go upstairs.Natwar & Rishi blackmail Kundan that they will expose that he was the main culprit behind his father-in-law's death.They demand him to find a path for Rabir's Death.Mona hears this conversation and informs about this to Ranbir.Kundan sees her doing all this. Ranbir along with Shakti Singh(Dara Singh),a top henchman of his father,arrives at their place and finds Mona dead.A mourning Ranbir receives a call from Kundan in he asks Ranbir,if he has the guts to meet him at his hideout in Madh Island to take revenge of his sister's death from him.Meanwhile he plans to kill him and Shakti Singh. Ranbir accepts and arrives there only find a bunch of goons with machine guns present there to kill him and Shakti Singh. Meanwhile Kundan lands in helicopter a hilly place with a small cottage where Natwar & Rishi are present.They ask him about their safehouse to which he says that a ship in the sea waiting for their arrival and then he asks them about the narcotics.They reply that it is in cottage.He asks its worth to which they reply that it is full 50 lacs.Then he kills them and takes the carton of drugs from cottage back to the helicopter where he finds Ranbir.He is astonished to see him alive and confesses him about the plan according to which he killed his father.Then commits a suicide by jumping of from the hill. After that,Ranbir closes all Matka racket across the world which was led by his father and handles over all the black money earned by his father to the police.He,then leaves with his mother and Sonia,now his wife,to Afghanistan to continue his old work there.
Kalyanji Anandji had composed all the songs of the film.This was their second collaberation with Feroz Khan after Apradh.Indeevar penned the lyrics.The music of this film was superhit is recognised as cult classic today.All the songs of the film were superhit.
| Track # | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kya Khoob Lagti Ho" | Mukesh , Kachan | 04:07 |
| 2. | "Meri Galiyon Se Logo Ki Yaari" | Lata Mangeshkar | 05:24 |
| 3. | "Tere Chehre Mein Woh Jaadu Hai" | Kishore Kumar | 04:11 |
| 4. | "Tum Ne Kisi Kabhi" | Mukesh , Kachan | 04:01 |