Naseeb (1981 film)

Naseeb
Directed by	Manmohan Desai
Produced by	Manmohan Desai
Written by	Kader Khan Prayag Raj K.K. Shukla
Starring	Amitabh Bachchan Hema Malini Shatrughan Sinha Reena Roy Rishi Kapoor
Music by	Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Cinematography	Jal Mistry
Distributed by	Aasia Films Pvt. Ltd.
Release date(s)	17 March 1981
Running time	182 mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Naseeb (Devnagari: नसीब, in English: Destiny) is a 1981 Hindi film produced and directed by Manmohan Desai. The film is a typical Manmohan Desai film with his regular star Amitabh Bachchan and a large cast, lavish sets, memorable music and the lost and found theme. The film also stars Hema Malini, Rishi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Reena Roy, Kim, Pran, Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Amjad Khan and Prem Chopra. The music is by the Manmohan Desai regulars Laxmikant Pyarelal. The film was very successful, earning 14.5 crore (US$2.94 million) at the box office.^[1] The film was later remade in Telugu as "Trimurthulu" (1987) with Daggubati Venkatesh.^[2]

Synopsis

Naseeb, a story of destiny and fate, begins with a lottery ticket. A drunk who cannot pay his tab trades his recently purchased ticket to the waiter, Namdev (Pran), instead. 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 and Namdev is presumed dead.

However, he is rescued by a don (Amrish Puri), and no one is aware he is alive. Fast forward to ten 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, John's younger brother Sunny (Rishi Kapoor) has fallen for Asha's younger sister, Kim (Kim). 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 interwined and Naseeb becomes a poignant story about love, friendship, sacrifice, deceit, revenge and, above all, destiny.

Naseeb set the trend for multistar song sequences like the "John, Janni, Janardan Tarra Rum pum" cameos by Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Simi Garewal, and Mala Sinha.

Cast

• Amitabh Bachchan .... Johnny
• Shatrughan Sinha .... Vicky (Vikram)
• Rishi Kapoor .... Sunny
• Hema Malini .... Asha
• Reena Roy .... Julie (Vicky's best friend)
• Kim .... Kim (Sunny's girlfriend)
• Pran .... Namdev
• Amjad Khan .... Damu (Damodhar)
• Kader Khan .... Raghuvir
• Prem Chopra .... Raghu's eldest son
• Shakti Kapoor .... Ashok (Raghu's youngest son)
• Amrish Puri .... Don
• Lalita Pawar .... Mrs. Gomes (Julie's mother)
• Yusuf Khan .... Zabisco (Don's son)
• Jagdish Raj .... Jaggi (Asha & Kim's father) (band musician)
• Om Shivpuri .... Mr. K.K.
• Mukri .... Mehboob Bhai
• Shubha Khote .... Ms. Prema (school principal)
• Jeevan .... Professor Prem
• Viju Khote .... Rodricks

Cameo appearances

One of the songs in the film sung by Mohammed Rafi, "John Johnny Janardhan," has cameo appearances by many actors playing themselves. The appearances include Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Vijay Arora, Waheeda Rehman, Sharmila Tagore, Mala Sinha, Bindu, Simi Garewal and Simple Kapadia.

Awards and Nominations

• Filmfare Best Actress Award - Hema Malini (only nomination for the film)^[3]

References

1. ^ "Box Office 1981". BoxOffice India. http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=187&catName=MTk4MQ==. Retrieved 15 October 2009. 
2. ^ http://www.telugucinema.com/c/publish/starsprofile/venkateshhis_printer.php
3. ^ 1st Filmfare Awards 1953

External links

• Naseeb at the Internet Movie Database