Achanak is a 1973

1973 in film

The year 1973 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. Blakely would later marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra....

 Hindi film made by Gulzar

Gulzar (lyricist)

Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...

. Vinod Khanna

Vinod Khanna

-Early life:Khanna was born to Kamla and Kishanchand Khanna, a textiles, dyes and chemicals businessman of Hindu Punjabi Khatri origin, on 6 October 1946, in Peshawar, British India . He has three sisters and one brother...

 is in the lead role. It was a bold experiment by Gulzar, which earned him a Filmfare

Filmfare

Filmfare is an English-language tabloid-sized magazine about Indian cinema. Published by The Times Group, India's largest media services conglomerate, in Mumbai , it highlights the doings of the Bollywood film scene...

 nomination as Best Director. The film has no songs, which is very unusual for a film in Bollywood, as it is the songs that generally contribute to the film's success. K.A. Abbas earned a Filmfare

Filmfare

Filmfare is an English-language tabloid-sized magazine about Indian cinema. Published by The Times Group, India's largest media services conglomerate, in Mumbai , it highlights the doings of the Bollywood film scene...

 nomination for best story. It is inspired by the real-life sensational 1958 murder case KM Nanavati v State of Maharashtra.

Plot

Major Ranjeet Khanna (Vinod Khanna

Vinod Khanna

-Early life:Khanna was born to Kamla and Kishanchand Khanna, a textiles, dyes and chemicals businessman of Hindu Punjabi Khatri origin, on 6 October 1946, in Peshawar, British India . He has three sisters and one brother...

) is in love with his wife Pushpa, who seems to love him as well. His commanding officer, also his father-in-law, is played by Iftekar. Ranjeet is happy with his marriage, until he finds out about his wife's affair with his best friend. He kills them both and turns himself in to the police. Then, he escapes from the police to find the Ganges River, because he wanted to fulfill his wife's wish of dropping her wedding necklace into the river. However, the police shoot him first and he is hospitalized, where he becomes emotionally attached to the doctors (Om Shivpuri

Om Shivpuri

Om Shivpuri was an Indian theatre actor-director and character actor in Hindi films.A National School of Drama, New Delhi alumni, Om Shivpuri became the first chief of the National School of Drama Repertory Company and one of its actors; he later founded an important theatre group of its era, in...

, Asrani

Asrani

Govardhan Asrani , popularly known simply as Asrani, is an actor in Indian films whose Bollywood career has spanned over 35 years. His wife Manju Bansal is an actress.-Early life:...

) and the nurse (Farida Jalal

Farida Jalal

- Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...

), who are also devastated when he is sentenced to hang.

Credits

Cast

Character	Actor
Major Ranjeet Khanna	Vinod Khanna Vinod Khanna -Early life:Khanna was born to Kamla and Kishanchand Khanna, a textiles, dyes and chemicals businessman of Hindu Punjabi Khatri origin, on 6 October 1946, in Peshawar, British India . He has three sisters and one brother...
Dr Chaudhary	Om Shivpuri Om Shivpuri Om Shivpuri was an Indian theatre actor-director and character actor in Hindi films.A National School of Drama, New Delhi alumni, Om Shivpuri became the first chief of the National School of Drama Repertory Company and one of its actors; he later founded an important theatre group of its era, in...
Mrs Pushpa Khanna	Lily Chakravarty
Nurse Radha	Farida Jalal Farida Jalal - Career :Farida Jalal, a native of New Delhi, started her career in the 1960s, when she won the United Film Producers Talent Hunt sponsored by Filmfare. She usually played the sister or rejected fiancée of the male lead, but almost never the female lead...
Dr Kailash	Asrani Asrani Govardhan Asrani , popularly known simply as Asrani, is an actor in Indian films whose Bollywood career has spanned over 35 years. His wife Manju Bansal is an actress.-Early life:...

Crew

Director	Gulzar Gulzar (lyricist) Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
Producer	Romu N.Sippy & Raj N. Sippy
Script	Gulzar Gulzar (lyricist) Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
Music	Vasant Desai

Trivia

• The entire film was complete in 28 days only.
• Achanak was based on a Khwaja Ahmed Abbas story, The Thirteenth Victim, which had appeared in the magazine called Imprint.