Director: J.P. Dutta; Writer: J.P. Dutta; Producer: Salim Akhtar; Cinematographer: Ishwar Bidri; Editor: Deepak Wirkud; Cast: Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Vijayendra Ghatge, Neena Gupta, Dimple Kapadia, Shammi Kapoor, Asha Parekh, Poonam Dhillon, Mohsin Khan, Amrish Puri, Amrita Singh, Amitabh Bachchan, Ram Mohan
Summary: Amitabh Bachchan’s celebrated baritone
introduces in voice-over the film’s political
context: new laws limiting land ownership
introduced after Independence threaten the
zamindar class. One of them, Bade Thakur
(Kapoor), has a son, Vikram Singh aka Vicky
(Khanna) who is friendly with Sumer Singh
(Dharmendra), a member of the hated Jat
community. Vicky’s younger brother, the
arrogant Devan (Ghatge), is killed by irate
villagers and Vicky in turn murders several
villagers, including the brother of Sumer’s
girlfriend (Dimple). The friends turn into
mortal enemies as Sumer becomes the farmers’
leader. Both Sumer and Vicky are sought by the
police, especially by Rajendra Pratap Singh
(Khan), a principled officer despite being the
youngest son of Bade Thakur. Rajendra
Pratap’s disdain for caste differences irks his
junior officer Hanumant Singh (Puri), who
plans to kill him. The film continues J.P. Dutta’s
concern with Rajastan’s communal and caste
wars, the feudal lifestyle of the zamindars, their
scant respect for human life and the image of a
powerful, charismatic leader who unites the
people against the oppressive thakurs. The
visuals are replete with horses racing across the
desert, camels, palaces, elaborate costumes,
sand-dunes, ravines and the mandatory
vultures.
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