A pleasant, wonderful film about family, love, relationships, friendship, and most importantly about the fact that people still wake up conscience at certain moments of life. Less well known is the film of the young Amitabh Bachchan. After watching so many Indian films in my life, I came to realize that there is a huge difference between their films of the 1970s and 80s and those they make today. Old Indian films sometimes lack the gloss and special effects that movies have today, but you want to watch them more and more often. And even though the songs in old movies often seem the same, but the actors’ play is much more refined, professional, the actors put their soul into their work. The Bollywood film industry now produces films that are as good as many of Hollywood’s best films, but that wasn’t the case in the 1970s and 80s. And in my opinion, it is not necessary for those beautiful films. I accept their shortcomings and enjoy them for what they are. Including the film "Conscience". It's what it is - it's still quite interesting today.
Thakura Singh’s whole life was centered on his horses, his young son Chimpu and his wife Rukmini. Chimpu had a birthmark on his left shoulder, resembling the trident of Lord Shiva, which was considered a sign of great happiness. The three-year anniversary of the child became one of the most fun events in the life of the family, but, alas, the joy was not long. The same night, the child was kidnapped. This led Singh to a black fury. He accused his servant of carelessness, beat him half to death and threw him out of the house. All attempts to find his son failed. Singh's life has become agony. Rukmini became disturbed by reason, but continued to live in the hope that she would find her son again.
Years pass, and the viewer sees how a small fraudster Badal (Amitabh Bachchan) is released from prison. One day he comes to Thakura’s house, possessing many of the virtues that Singh wanted in his heir. Is it a son or not a son? The catch here is that Badal has fallen in love - and learns that his beloved girlfriend Smith (Saira Banu) is Thakura's daughter, and may well be his sister! What do you do with love now?
But the biggest problem is that Badal, although a petty pickpocket thief who has been in prison twice for several months, is a good guy at heart and simply cannot bring himself to hurt Singh. And one day another guy appears Suraj (Vinod Khanna), who has the same sign on his shoulder. And then the question arises, which of the two guys is the real son of Thakura?
The film has an interesting plot and a pleasant game of actors. Also, while much of the plot is easy to predict, it’s still worth watching. The good easily outweighs the bad, and for an '70s Indian film that's very good.
Now about the actors. Awesome Shammi Kapoor, in the role of inconsolable father, 20 years grieving for his missing son. Mimicry of his face is excellent, inflated sponges when he is offended or suffering, eyes expressing anger, then sadness, then unbearable longing for his son, then full of anxiety for his wife, a look penetrating into the heart. And moments of his excitement do not defy description, you look at him and there is a feeling that this person really lost his beloved child, his only son, and really can not cope with this pain in the heart for many years.
Amitabh Bachchan is more magnificent here than ever. He smiles a lot, he has never smiled as much in any of his films as in this one. His smile is striking - radiant, sincere, light, he just glows from the inside. And his eyes are shining so that they blind even through the screen, and his head is spinning from this glow of his eyes. Here he is impossibly good and beautiful, although his role is controversial. It seems to be a petty crook and a thief, but at the same time a good person in whom conscience woke up when he got into this family, and who does everything so that these people who became his relatives in a short time were truly happy.
Saira Banu (wife of Dilip Kumar, by the way), played in a pair with Amitabh. Here I saw their couple for the first time as lovers. Saira Although younger than Amitabha by 2 years, she looked much older than him. I don’t know if it’s the fault of makeup or something, but when they stood next to her, she really looked 10 years older, and at such moments I didn’t really believe in their love. It was as if she was burdened with this role, even next to Amitabh. And in fact, Amitabh drew all their joint episodes completely on himself, alone.
Khanna Vinod. It appears on the screen for 10-15 minutes, and then towards the end. As always, "b" is nice, stately, with a naked torso that drives women crazy. Vinod was almost in no way inferior to Amitabhu, although its role is quite small.
There are three gorgeous male duets. The first is Amitabh Bachchan and Shammi Kapoor. Wow, sparks fly right through the screen as they hug, rejoice, swear, and even fight. And you look at them with real pleasure. The three are Shammi Kapoor and Vinod Khanna. Here is a little more restrained, both express emotions with only one eye, although Shamiyi also inflates the sponges, and becomes like a capricious child. But they also believe in their relationship. And the third duet is Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna. The charisma is already over the top. Their duet with Amitabh is great, as in all their joint films, where they were brothers and friends. Here they too beat each other a couple of times, then as usual became friends, and became not spilled water.
I really liked two songs - "Zindagi hasne gaane ke liye hai" and "Tum Bhi Chalo Hum Bhi Chale", they are remembered forever.
In general, the film is not a masterpiece of course, with a fairly predictable plot, and you can give it 8 points out of 10. But for the amazingly radiant smile of Amitabh, for his shining eyes and impeccable performance of the role, for the wonderful Shammi Kapoor, and for the overall atmosphere of the film, I will safely add another 2 points, and still put a 10. May the readers and future viewers of this film forgive me this freedom, but I cannot put the rating below ten. It just won't lift your arm. The film is great and Amitabh is more beautiful than ever. And again, the classics do not age, and never lose their relevance.
10 out of 10