Naseeb (1981 film)

Naseeb (Devnagari: नसीब, in English: Destiny) is a 1981 Bollywood action drama film produced and directed by Manmohan Desai. The film is a typical Manmohan Desai film with his regular star Amitabh Bachchan and a large cast, lavish sets, memorable music and the lost and found theme. The film also stars Hema Malini, Rishi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Reena Roy, Kim, Pran, Kader Khan, Amjad Khan, Prem Chopra, Shakti Kapoor, Amrish Puri and Yusuf Khan. The music is by the Manmohan Desai regulars Laxmikant Pyarelal.

The film was an 'All Time Earner' got highest verdict[Equivalent to All Time Blockbuster Today] present at that time by Trade Guide[Bollywood boxoffice magazine], and was among those rare movies, which crossed 1 Crore per territory.^[1] There were only 13 All Time Earner[Crossed 1 Crore per territory] movies until 1984, 9 of which starred Bachchan himself and Naseeb was one of them.^[2]

The film was later remade in Tamil as Santhippu (1983) with Sivaji Ganesan and Prabu Ganesan and in Telugu as Trimurtulu (1987) with Daggubati Venkatesh.^[3]

Synopsis

Naseeb, a story of destiny and fate, begins with a lottery ticket. A drunk who cannot pay his tab trades: so he decides to sell his ticket to the waiter, Namdev (Pran), instead. Namdev purchases this ticket with his three friends Damu (Amjad Khan), Raghu (Kader Khan) and Jaggi (Jagdish Raj). Using a system of drawing out the highest card to decide who keeps the ticket, Jaggi wins, and the ticket stays with him. When the ticket turns out to be a winner, Damu and Raghu turn on the other two, murdering Jaggi and framing Namdev. Namdev goes on the run but Raghu and Damu intervene and throw him over a bridge into a river and Namdev is presumed dead.

However, he is rescued by a don (Amrish Puri), and no one is aware he is alive. Fast forward to ten years later — Damu and Raghu have used their stolen lottery money to build a fabulous hotel and make millions becoming very successful businessmen. Damu has used a share of his money to send his youngest son, Vicky (Shatrughan Sinha), to school in England. They have even employed Namdev's oldest son Johnny (Amitabh Bachchan), Vicky's best friend, as a waiter in the hotel. By coincidence (or by fate!) Johnny and Vicky fall in love with the same beautiful singer, Miss Asha (Hema Malini). Julie (Reena Roy) is a childhood friend of Vicky's who is in love with him, but he only sees her as a friend. When Johnny discovers this, he and Julie sacrifice their own love to ensure that Vicky and Asha get together. At the same time, Johny's younger brother Sunny (Rishi Kapoor) has fallen for Asha's younger sister, Kim (Kim). Kim and Asha happen to be the daughters of Jaggi, the man Namdev supposedly murdered. Namdev returns soon after and plans to take revenge against Damu and Raghu for separating him from his sons Johnny and Sunny. The lives of all these characters become interwined and Naseeb becomes a poignant story about love, friendship, sacrifice, deceit, revenge and, above all, destiny.

Naseeb set the trend for multistar song sequences like the John, Johnny, Janardan Tarra Rum Pum cameos by Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Simi Garewal, Rakesh Roshan, and Mala Sinha.

Cast

• Amitabh Bachchan .... John Jani Janardan
• Shatrughan Sinha .... Vicky (Vikram)
• Rishi Kapoor .... Sunny
• Hema Malini .... Asha
• Reena Roy .... Julie
• Kim .... Kim
• Pran .... Namdev (Waiter)
• Amjad Khan .... Damu (Damodhar) (Photographer)
• Kader Khan .... Raghuvir (Tanger Wala)
• Prem Chopra .... (Raghu's eldest son)
• Shakti Kapoor .... Ashok (Raghu's youngest son)
• Amrish Puri .... Don
• Lalita Pawar .... Mrs. Gomes (Julie's mother)
• Yusuf Khan .... Zabisco (Don's son)
• Jagdish Raj .... Jaggi (Asha & Kim's father) (Band Musician)
• Om Shivpuri .... Mr. K.K.
• Mukri .... Mehboob Bhai
• Shubha Khote .... Ms. Prema (School Principal)
• Jeevan .... Professor Prem (School Principal)
• Viju Khote .... Rodricks

Soundtrack

Cameo appearances

One of the songs in the film sung by Mohammed Rafi, "John Jani Janardhan," has cameo appearances by many actors playing themselves. The appearances include Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Vijay Arora, Waheeda Rehman, Sharmila Tagore, Mala Sinha, Bindu, Simi Garewal and Simple Kapadia. According to eminent film writer Rajesh Subramanian the song was shot at R K Studios and the shooting spanned for one week. Showman Raj Kapoor played an integral part in the song and during the shooting. The one week shoot was a gala event.

Boxoffice

The film was an 'All Time Earner', got highest verdict[Equivalent to All Time Blockbuster Today] present at that time by Trade Guide[Bollywood boxoffice magazine], and was among those rare movies, which crossed 1 Crore per territory.^[1] There was only 13 All Time Earner[Crossed 1 Crore per territory] movies until 1984 and Naseeb was among them.^[2]

Awards and Nominations

• Filmfare Best Actress Award - Hema Malini (only nomination for the film)^[4]

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Amitabh Movies Verdict (1969-1984) By Trade Guide(Prakash Pange) « Bollybusiness : Bollywood boxoffice". Bollybusiness.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2012-11-07. 
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Upto 1984 : Total 13 All time earners , 9 Was Starring Amitabh « Bollybusiness : Bollywood boxoffice". Bollybusiness.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2012-11-07. 
3. ↑ "venkatesh filmography". TeluguCinema.Com. Retrieved 2012-11-07. 
4. ↑ 1st Filmfare Awards 1953

External links

• Naseeb at the Internet Movie Database