Shakti (1982 film)
Encyclopedia
Shakti is a 1982 Bollywood
film directed by Ramesh Sippy
and starring Dilip Kumar
, Amitabh Bachchan
, Raakhee, Smita Patil
and Amrish Puri
. It was written by the writing duo Salim-Javed
. Although the film was only a moderate success at the box office, it was notable for being the first and only film to feature Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan together on-screen.
) is on a railway station to receive his teenager grandson Ravi(Anil Kapoor
). On being asked by his grandfather about his future plans, Ravi promptly replies that he wants to become a police officer and serve his country, just like his grandfather. Kumar tells him that the journey of a police personal life is fraught with many challenges and so he must reconsider his decision. Kumar starts by explaining his own story.
Kumar goes in flashback, back to the days when he was an Inspector. Kumar had a happy family consisting, him his wife Sheetal(Raakhee) and son Vijay. Ashwini takes cudgels against a dreaded gangster named J.K. Verma (Amrish Puri
). He arrests a key henchman of J.K. and is about to challenge J.K.'s supremacy. J.K. takes the matters in his hands and abducts Vijay.
J.K. tries to strike a deal with Kumar: set his henchman free and he will spare Vijay's life. Kumar, an honest cop who will give any sacrifice tells J.K. on the phone that even if his only son is killed in the process, he will not betray the law. Unknown to him, an abducted Vijay is also listening to this conversation. He is shocked and pained to hear his father's words.
At that time, K.D.Narang (Kulbhushan Kharbanda
), another goon in J.K.'s gang, helps Vijay to escape after he has a fight with his boss. Soon the police find J.K.'s hideout where he hid Vijay, but Vijay is missing. J.K. and K.D. become sworn enemies. Vijay returns home, but his actions indicate that the damage has already been done.
As Vijay grows, his hatred for his father grows too. A young Vijay(Amitabh Bachchan
) is an antithesis to his father, espousing every wrong thing his father dislikes. He finally has a fall-out with his father and leaves home. Vijay soon becomes a known name in the underworld. By chance or destiny, Vijay joins K.D., who has become a rival, an equal for J.K.
Vijay gladly accepts to work with the man he perceives as the person to whom he owes his life. With K.D.'s help, Vijay starts climbing the crime ladder even faster. J.K. cannot help but notice that Kumar's son has become a notorious gangster, just as he cannot help noticing that the alliance of Vijay and K.D. has made his life of crime even harder. J.K. decides to remove his thorns before they suck the blood out of him and his business.
Meanwhile, Vijay meets and falls in love with Roma Devi(Smita Patil
), a single woman. They start living together, without marriage. Sheetal tries to persuade her son to leave the path of wrong, but in vain. Later, Roma reveals to Vijay that she is pregnant with his child. Vijay decides to marry her.
J.K. hires a sharpshooter to kill Kumar. Instead, Sheetal gets killed trying to shield her husband. Vijay is enraged and starts hunting for J.K.'s head. J.K. has already perceived this and made all arrangements to leave the country. K.D. too plans to leave the country with Vijay. K.D. convinces Vijay that if he kills J.K., the whole city's police will start hunting him and so he should get out of the country as fast as he can.
Kumar has learnt about Roma and her pregnancy from Sheetal before her death. Kumar and his team learn of J.K. and K.D.'s plans. Vijay kills J.K.'s goons who try to kill him and ultimately succeeds in killing J.K. before he leaves the country. Meanwhile, Kumar succeeds in foiling K.D.'s attempt to flee the country. At this time, he learns that Vijay was going after JK.
Kumar succeeds to track down Vijay, who has just killed JK. Kumar tries to stop him, but in vain. A teary-eyed Kumar lifts his pistol and pulls the trigger. Vijay falls down just before he can reach the plane stairs. Kumar rushes towards him and in a tearful conversation, Vijay realizes his mistake and asks forgiveness. Vijay dies in Kumar's arms. Kumar later takes Roma with him.
Kumar cuts to the present and asks again to Ravi whether he wants to follow that dream. Ravi, on hearing the story, firmly says that his answer would still be "yes". Kumar and Roma give Ravi their blessings. Ravi takes a train and leaves, signifying that he would become an officer in the future.
As a viewer, the audience feel that Kumar's role was unnecessarily highlighted as a true and honest cop while Vijay's role was made weaker in many ways. Many a times, Vijay had done right things, though taking law in own hands, but Kumar always treats him like a criminal without knowing the true background of the matter. This makes Vijay more and more adamant towards his father and he hates his law-abiding father and wilfully joins hands with undeworld criminals to teach a lesson to his so called law-abiding father.
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
film directed by Ramesh Sippy
Ramesh Sippy
Ramesh Sippy is an Indian film director, probably best-known for directing the popular and critically acclaimed film Sholay ....
and starring Dilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar , is an Indian actor and a former Member of Parliament.He lives in Pali Hill, Bandra in Mumbai, India. He is commonly known as "Tragedy King",and is described as "the ultimate method actor" by Satyajit Ray....
, Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
, Raakhee, Smita Patil
Smita Patil
Smita Patil was an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Regarded among the finest stage and film actresses of her times, Patil appeared in over 75 Hindi and Marathi films in a career that spanned just over a decade. During her career, she received two National Film Awards and a...
and Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...
. It was written by the writing duo Salim-Javed
Salim-Javed
Salim-Javed were a scriptwriter duo who wrote a number of commercially and critically successful Hindi films in the 1970s and early 1980s. The duo, composed of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, made the writer's role popular with their names appearing in the posters of the films, and in some films they...
. Although the film was only a moderate success at the box office, it was notable for being the first and only film to feature Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan together on-screen.
Synopsis
An ex-cop Ashwini Kumar learns that his grandson wants to follow his footsteps. Kumar thinks that his grandson is taking this decision in a flow of emotion's, without taking into consideration it's implications. To warn his grandson about the dangers and pitfalls of the profession, Kumar decides to tell his own story. How the grandson makes his decision that would affect his whole life is the crux of the story.Plot
Retired Commissioner Ashwini Kumar (Dilip KumarDilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar , is an Indian actor and a former Member of Parliament.He lives in Pali Hill, Bandra in Mumbai, India. He is commonly known as "Tragedy King",and is described as "the ultimate method actor" by Satyajit Ray....
) is on a railway station to receive his teenager grandson Ravi(Anil Kapoor
Anil Kapoor
Anil Kapoor is an Indian actor and producer who mainly appears in Bollywood films. He won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in Yash Chopra's film Mashaal ....
). On being asked by his grandfather about his future plans, Ravi promptly replies that he wants to become a police officer and serve his country, just like his grandfather. Kumar tells him that the journey of a police personal life is fraught with many challenges and so he must reconsider his decision. Kumar starts by explaining his own story.
Kumar goes in flashback, back to the days when he was an Inspector. Kumar had a happy family consisting, him his wife Sheetal(Raakhee) and son Vijay. Ashwini takes cudgels against a dreaded gangster named J.K. Verma (Amrish Puri
Amrish Puri
Amrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...
). He arrests a key henchman of J.K. and is about to challenge J.K.'s supremacy. J.K. takes the matters in his hands and abducts Vijay.
J.K. tries to strike a deal with Kumar: set his henchman free and he will spare Vijay's life. Kumar, an honest cop who will give any sacrifice tells J.K. on the phone that even if his only son is killed in the process, he will not betray the law. Unknown to him, an abducted Vijay is also listening to this conversation. He is shocked and pained to hear his father's words.
At that time, K.D.Narang (Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Kulbhushan Kharbanda is an Indian actor, who worked in Hindi and Punjabi films, and is known as character Shakaal in Shaan inspired by the character of Blofeld from James Bond movies...
), another goon in J.K.'s gang, helps Vijay to escape after he has a fight with his boss. Soon the police find J.K.'s hideout where he hid Vijay, but Vijay is missing. J.K. and K.D. become sworn enemies. Vijay returns home, but his actions indicate that the damage has already been done.
As Vijay grows, his hatred for his father grows too. A young Vijay(Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
) is an antithesis to his father, espousing every wrong thing his father dislikes. He finally has a fall-out with his father and leaves home. Vijay soon becomes a known name in the underworld. By chance or destiny, Vijay joins K.D., who has become a rival, an equal for J.K.
Vijay gladly accepts to work with the man he perceives as the person to whom he owes his life. With K.D.'s help, Vijay starts climbing the crime ladder even faster. J.K. cannot help but notice that Kumar's son has become a notorious gangster, just as he cannot help noticing that the alliance of Vijay and K.D. has made his life of crime even harder. J.K. decides to remove his thorns before they suck the blood out of him and his business.
Meanwhile, Vijay meets and falls in love with Roma Devi(Smita Patil
Smita Patil
Smita Patil was an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Regarded among the finest stage and film actresses of her times, Patil appeared in over 75 Hindi and Marathi films in a career that spanned just over a decade. During her career, she received two National Film Awards and a...
), a single woman. They start living together, without marriage. Sheetal tries to persuade her son to leave the path of wrong, but in vain. Later, Roma reveals to Vijay that she is pregnant with his child. Vijay decides to marry her.
J.K. hires a sharpshooter to kill Kumar. Instead, Sheetal gets killed trying to shield her husband. Vijay is enraged and starts hunting for J.K.'s head. J.K. has already perceived this and made all arrangements to leave the country. K.D. too plans to leave the country with Vijay. K.D. convinces Vijay that if he kills J.K., the whole city's police will start hunting him and so he should get out of the country as fast as he can.
Kumar has learnt about Roma and her pregnancy from Sheetal before her death. Kumar and his team learn of J.K. and K.D.'s plans. Vijay kills J.K.'s goons who try to kill him and ultimately succeeds in killing J.K. before he leaves the country. Meanwhile, Kumar succeeds in foiling K.D.'s attempt to flee the country. At this time, he learns that Vijay was going after JK.
Kumar succeeds to track down Vijay, who has just killed JK. Kumar tries to stop him, but in vain. A teary-eyed Kumar lifts his pistol and pulls the trigger. Vijay falls down just before he can reach the plane stairs. Kumar rushes towards him and in a tearful conversation, Vijay realizes his mistake and asks forgiveness. Vijay dies in Kumar's arms. Kumar later takes Roma with him.
Kumar cuts to the present and asks again to Ravi whether he wants to follow that dream. Ravi, on hearing the story, firmly says that his answer would still be "yes". Kumar and Roma give Ravi their blessings. Ravi takes a train and leaves, signifying that he would become an officer in the future.
As a viewer, the audience feel that Kumar's role was unnecessarily highlighted as a true and honest cop while Vijay's role was made weaker in many ways. Many a times, Vijay had done right things, though taking law in own hands, but Kumar always treats him like a criminal without knowing the true background of the matter. This makes Vijay more and more adamant towards his father and he hates his law-abiding father and wilfully joins hands with undeworld criminals to teach a lesson to his so called law-abiding father.
Cast
- Dilip KumarDilip KumarDilip Kumar , is an Indian actor and a former Member of Parliament.He lives in Pali Hill, Bandra in Mumbai, India. He is commonly known as "Tragedy King",and is described as "the ultimate method actor" by Satyajit Ray....
.... Ashwini Kumar - Amitabh BachchanAmitabh BachchanAmitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
.... Vijay Kumar - Raakhee .... Sheetal Kumar
- Smita PatilSmita PatilSmita Patil was an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Regarded among the finest stage and film actresses of her times, Patil appeared in over 75 Hindi and Marathi films in a career that spanned just over a decade. During her career, she received two National Film Awards and a...
.... Roma Devi - Amrish PuriAmrish PuriAmrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...
.... J.K.Verma - Kulbhushan KharbandaKulbhushan KharbandaKulbhushan Kharbanda is an Indian actor, who worked in Hindi and Punjabi films, and is known as character Shakaal in Shaan inspired by the character of Blofeld from James Bond movies...
.... K.D.Narang - Dalip TahilDalip TahilDalip Tahil is an Indian film, television and theatre actor. He did his schooling from the elite Sherwood College in Nainital, India and later graduated from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.-Films:...
.... Ganput Rai - Ashok KumarAshok KumarAshok Kumar also fondly called Dadamoni was an Indian film actor. Born Kumudlal Ganguly in Bhagalpur, Bengal Presidency he attained iconic status in Indian cinema...
.... Police Commissioner - Satish ShahSatish ShahSatish Ravilal Shah is a Hindi and Marathi film and television actor best known for his comedy films. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the ever popular 80's sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi directed by Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha. He is famous for playing the role of Municipal Commissioner...
.... Satish - Anil KapoorAnil KapoorAnil Kapoor is an Indian actor and producer who mainly appears in Bollywood films. He won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in Yash Chopra's film Mashaal ....
.... Ravi Kumar (Vijay and Roma's son) (Guest appearance)