Naseeb (1981 film)

Naseeb (transl. Destiny) is a 1981 Indian Hindi-language masala film[3] produced and directed by Manmohan Desai, and written by Kader Khan. It is a typical Manmohan Desai film with his regular star Amitabh Bachchan and an ensemble cast including Hema Malini, Rishi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Reena Roy, Kim Yashpal, Pran, Kader Khan, Amjad Khan, Prem Chopra, Shakti Kapoor, Amrish Puri and Yusuf Khan. The music is by the Manmohan Desai regulars Laxmikant–Pyarelal.

Naseeb
Theatrical release poster
Directed byManmohan Desai
Produced byManmohan Desai
Written byKader Khan
Prayag Raj
K.K. Shukla
StarringAmitabh Bachchan
Hema Malini
Shatrughan Sinha
Reena Roy
Rishi Kapoor
Kim Yashpal
Pran
Amjad Khan
Kader Khan
Amrish Puri
Prem Chopra
Shakti Kapoor
Yusuf Khan
Music byLaxmikant–Pyarelal
CinematographyJal Mistry
Distributed byAasia Films Pvt. Ltd.
Release date
  • 17 March 1981 (1981-03-17)
Running time
182 mins
CountryIndia
LanguageHindustani
Budget₹4 crore (equivalent to ₹66 crore or US$9.2 million in 2019)[1]
Box office₹14.5 crore (equivalent to ₹239 crore or US$33 million in 2019)[2]

The film was among those rare movies which crossed 1 crore per territory.[4] and was a huge blockbuster.[5] There were only 13 All Time Earner movies (which crossed 1 crore per territory) before 1984, 9 of which starred Bachchan; Naseeb was one of them.[6]

The film was later remade in Tamil as Sandhippu (1983), with Sivaji Ganesan and Prabhu Ganesan, and in Telugu as Trimurtulu (1987), with Daggubati Venkatesh.[7]

Plot

Naseeb, a story of destiny and fate, begins with a lottery ticket. A drunken man who cannot pay his tab trades: he decides to sell his ticket to the waiter, Naamdev (Pran). 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. Namdev is presumed dead.

However, he is rescued by Don (Amrish Puri), and no one is aware he is alive.

Twenty 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, Johnny's younger brother Sunny (Rishi Kapoor) has fallen for Asha's younger sister, Kim (Kim Yashpal). 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 intertwined and Naseeb becomes a poignant story about love, friendship, sacrifice, deceit, revenge and, above all, destiny.

Cast

Soundtrack

All the songs were composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal and the lyrics were penned by Anand Bakshi.

Song Singer
"John Jaani Janardan" Mohammed Rafi
"Chal Mere Bhai" Mohammed Rafi, Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor
"Rang Jamaake Jayenge" Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Shailendra Singh, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar
"Pakdo Pakdo Pakdo" Kishore Kumar, Usha Mangeshkar
"Mere Naseeb Mein" Lata Mangeshkar
"Zindagi Imtihan Leti Hai" Kamlesh Awasthi, Anwar, Suman Kalyanpur

Cameo appearances

One of the songs in the film sung by Mohammed Rafi, "John Jani Janardan", has cameo appearances by many actors playing themselves. The appearances include Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Rakesh Roshan, Vijay Arora, Waheeda Rehman, Sharmila Tagore, Mala Sinha, Bindu, Simi Garewal and Simple Kapadia. According to eminent film expert Rajesh Subramanian, the opening line was composed by Manmohan Desai himself. The tune was inspired by a catchy line from the song "Aksar Koi Ladka" from Bobby.

The star studded song was shot at R. K. Studios and the shooting spanned one week. Showman Raj Kapoor played an integral part in the song and during the shooting. The one-week shoot was a gala event.

Box office

The film was an "All Time Earner", got the highest verdict (equivalent to All Time Blockbuster today) present at that time by Trade Guide Bollywood box office magazine, and was among those rare movies which crossed 1 crore per territory.[4] There were only 13 All Time Earners (crossing 1 crore per territory) before 1984, and Naseeb was among them.[6]

Awards and nominations

References
  1. Sethi, Sunil (15 January 1982). "Year 1981 was for Indian movies what 1977 had been for Indian politics". India Today. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  2. "Box Office 1981". Box Office India. 15 January 2013. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013.
  3. Pothukuchi, Madhavi (26 February 2020). "The champion of masala films, Manmohan Desai made Bollywood what it is today". ThePrint. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  4. "Amitabh Movies Verdict (1969-1984) By Trade Guide (Prakash Pange) « Bollybusiness : Bollywood boxoffice". Bollybusiness.wordpress.com. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  5. "The Best Films Of Rishi Kapoor - Bobby Has Historic Numbers". boxofficeindia.com. 1 May 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  6. "Upto 1984 : Total 13 All time earners , 9 Was Starring Amitabh « Bollybusiness : Bollywood boxoffice". Bollybusiness.wordpress.com. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  7. "venkatesh filmography". TeluguCinema.Com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  8. "1st Filmfare Awards 1953" (PDF).
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