Over the course of its three hour running time, Kaalia
(1981) shifts through a number of different genres. That’s not really
unusual for Bollywood, of course, but what’s impressive is how fully the
movie commits to whatever genre it happens to be at the time. When the
movie is a social drama, it’s a parade of misery. When it’s a slick
crime drama, the characters are classy and cool. When it’s a wholesome
romance, they bring the kids along for the musical number. And it
finishes as an action movie, with a fistfight on the Giant Twister Board
of Doom! It’s really four movies for the price of one.
Amitabh Bachchan plays Kallu, a simple man with a warm heart and a terrible haircut. Kallu lives with his brother Shamu (Kader Khan), his sister-in-law Shanti (Asha Parekh), and their young daughter Munni (Baby Geeta). Kallu spends his time playing marbles with the local children, running away from dogs, and telling outrageous lies, while Shamu supports the family by working at the local fabric mill.
There is trouble at the mill. The workers, lead by Shamu, are on strike, demanding better pay and that the old, unsafe mill equipment is repaired. The mill’s new owner, Shahani (Amjad Khan), offers more money than the striking workers are asking for, but only if they return to work immediately. (Shahani is secretly using the mill as a cover for an unspecified criminal operation which involves moving large quantities of gold around the country. This will be important later.) Since the workers value feeding their families above safe working conditions for themselves, they all agree.
With a hard working and virtuous brother working in dangerous conditions in a factory managed by an actively evil industrialist, it’s only a matter of time before tragedy strikes. Shamu loses both his arms while saving another worker, and the family is suddenly destitute. Against doctor’s orders (and all common sense) he takes a new job pulling a wagon, in order to buy milk for Munni. Kallu takes the wagon and sends his brother home, but it’s too late; all of Shamu’s stitches have been opened, and if he doesn’t have an operation immediately, and he can’t have the operation without paying 500 rupees.
Kallu promises to get the money. He goes to Shahani and begs for help, but is cruelly rebuffed. He tries breaking into Shahani’s house and stealing the money, but he’s immediately discovered, and after running all the way home, money in hand, he discovers that his brother has just died. And then the police drag him away.
After nine months in prison, Kallu is released, leaner, meaner, and very angry. He plans to kill Shahani, but some nice fellows that he met in prison convince him to take a more subtle revenge. They steal the gold, and Kallu burns down the mill and then waits politely for the police.
While bouncing from prison to prison, Kallu beats up Bob Christo, gets a decent haircut, and renames himself Kaalia. He also meets Raghvir Singh (Pran), a strict but good hearted prison warden who genuinely wants to improve his prisoners. (Twenty years ago, Raghvir’s three year old daughter was kidnapped by a former prisoner, and he still doesn’t know where she is or what happened to her. This will be important later.) Before Raghvir and Kaalia can have an epic clash of wills, Kaalia is released.
Shanti, meanwhile, is living comfortably; Kaalia’s associates have provided her with a can and house (with servants,) and convinced her that her brother in law has a fabulous job and is traveling Europe and America on business.
After being released from prison, Kaalia divides his time between pampering his niece and sister-in-law, building a criminal empire of his own, and making Shahani miserable. After he steals a diamond that Shahani had his eye on, Shahani dispatches the lovely Shalini (Parveen Babi) to seduce Kaalia and retrieve it. She succeeds, but when she demands a 50-50 split, Shahani’s right hand man Rawat (Sudhir) sends goons to kill her. She runs to her terminally ill mother and tells her that they’re rich now, but the mother has just enough time to tell her that she’s really not her mother, and then die. (This will be important later.) Then Shalini runs into a pole, knocking herself unconscious. The thugs take the diamond and leave her on the street, where she is discovered by Raghvir, who nurses her back to health.
After regaining consciousness, Shalini slips away. Weeks later, she has decided to give up her life of crime. Unfortunately, this means she can no longer pay the private school tuition for her kid sister Rina (Khushboo), who is heartbroken at the thought of being separated from her very best friend, Munni. Fortunately, Kaalia happens to be visiting this niece at the time, and since he hasn’t given up crime, he can easily afford the tuition for two. Shalini is grateful, and she and Kaalia drift into a very sweet relationship. (Refreshingly, the romance here grows out of the characters having things in common, rather than an overwhelming physical attraction.) Life is very good indeed, at least until Shanti discovers where the money is coming from.
This is a very complicated movie, but while the plot runs on coincidence and doesn’t always make sense, all of the dramatic plot twists are carefully set up earlier in the film. Each of the genres within the film is handled well, and despite the radical shifts in tone, the script (by stalwart supporting actor Tinnu Anand) holds together well. It’s a solid effort; the movie is never as sublimely cool as Don, or as impressively bizarre as Mard, but a solid Bachchan movie is still pretty good.
Amitabh Bachchan plays Kallu, a simple man with a warm heart and a terrible haircut. Kallu lives with his brother Shamu (Kader Khan), his sister-in-law Shanti (Asha Parekh), and their young daughter Munni (Baby Geeta). Kallu spends his time playing marbles with the local children, running away from dogs, and telling outrageous lies, while Shamu supports the family by working at the local fabric mill.
There is trouble at the mill. The workers, lead by Shamu, are on strike, demanding better pay and that the old, unsafe mill equipment is repaired. The mill’s new owner, Shahani (Amjad Khan), offers more money than the striking workers are asking for, but only if they return to work immediately. (Shahani is secretly using the mill as a cover for an unspecified criminal operation which involves moving large quantities of gold around the country. This will be important later.) Since the workers value feeding their families above safe working conditions for themselves, they all agree.
With a hard working and virtuous brother working in dangerous conditions in a factory managed by an actively evil industrialist, it’s only a matter of time before tragedy strikes. Shamu loses both his arms while saving another worker, and the family is suddenly destitute. Against doctor’s orders (and all common sense) he takes a new job pulling a wagon, in order to buy milk for Munni. Kallu takes the wagon and sends his brother home, but it’s too late; all of Shamu’s stitches have been opened, and if he doesn’t have an operation immediately, and he can’t have the operation without paying 500 rupees.
Kallu promises to get the money. He goes to Shahani and begs for help, but is cruelly rebuffed. He tries breaking into Shahani’s house and stealing the money, but he’s immediately discovered, and after running all the way home, money in hand, he discovers that his brother has just died. And then the police drag him away.
After nine months in prison, Kallu is released, leaner, meaner, and very angry. He plans to kill Shahani, but some nice fellows that he met in prison convince him to take a more subtle revenge. They steal the gold, and Kallu burns down the mill and then waits politely for the police.
While bouncing from prison to prison, Kallu beats up Bob Christo, gets a decent haircut, and renames himself Kaalia. He also meets Raghvir Singh (Pran), a strict but good hearted prison warden who genuinely wants to improve his prisoners. (Twenty years ago, Raghvir’s three year old daughter was kidnapped by a former prisoner, and he still doesn’t know where she is or what happened to her. This will be important later.) Before Raghvir and Kaalia can have an epic clash of wills, Kaalia is released.
Shanti, meanwhile, is living comfortably; Kaalia’s associates have provided her with a can and house (with servants,) and convinced her that her brother in law has a fabulous job and is traveling Europe and America on business.
After being released from prison, Kaalia divides his time between pampering his niece and sister-in-law, building a criminal empire of his own, and making Shahani miserable. After he steals a diamond that Shahani had his eye on, Shahani dispatches the lovely Shalini (Parveen Babi) to seduce Kaalia and retrieve it. She succeeds, but when she demands a 50-50 split, Shahani’s right hand man Rawat (Sudhir) sends goons to kill her. She runs to her terminally ill mother and tells her that they’re rich now, but the mother has just enough time to tell her that she’s really not her mother, and then die. (This will be important later.) Then Shalini runs into a pole, knocking herself unconscious. The thugs take the diamond and leave her on the street, where she is discovered by Raghvir, who nurses her back to health.
After regaining consciousness, Shalini slips away. Weeks later, she has decided to give up her life of crime. Unfortunately, this means she can no longer pay the private school tuition for her kid sister Rina (Khushboo), who is heartbroken at the thought of being separated from her very best friend, Munni. Fortunately, Kaalia happens to be visiting this niece at the time, and since he hasn’t given up crime, he can easily afford the tuition for two. Shalini is grateful, and she and Kaalia drift into a very sweet relationship. (Refreshingly, the romance here grows out of the characters having things in common, rather than an overwhelming physical attraction.) Life is very good indeed, at least until Shanti discovers where the money is coming from.
This is a very complicated movie, but while the plot runs on coincidence and doesn’t always make sense, all of the dramatic plot twists are carefully set up earlier in the film. Each of the genres within the film is handled well, and despite the radical shifts in tone, the script (by stalwart supporting actor Tinnu Anand) holds together well. It’s a solid effort; the movie is never as sublimely cool as Don, or as impressively bizarre as Mard, but a solid Bachchan movie is still pretty good.
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