Family Jallo with Hindi accent I did the good of preparing for trouble. The main character of this thriller will have to check this cheerful maxim on himself, after he and his wife find a wounded, bleeding man on the street and take him to the hospital. And well dragged them around the offices, interrogated by the police, but then began to name and threaten someone very malicious.
The plot is exciting a la Italian gallo (the machinations of a faceless killer, we will see his inflamed eye, hear hoarse breath), and the action and chase will all be, the action develops dynamically, competently without sagging. For some reason, on English-language sites, “The Call of a Stranger” is stubbornly called a remake of Hitchcockovsky’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much”, but apart from some connections in the main plot, these two paintings have very little in common.
As was customary in Bollywood in the 1970s, the picture is bright, interiors and costumes in a fashionable aesthetic. There are only three musical numbers, the most memorable at the party, where Bachchan waltzes with the seductive Helen dressed in a mind-blowing red dress.
From Amitabh Bachchan and the beautiful Moushumi Chatterjee came a cute couple of newlyweds - Amit and Sheela amusingly argue, tease each other, quarrel and reconcile. Unfortunately, their little son was played by a completely talentless boy, with his mouth always open, but his role is small. The main characters are young citizens, such Indian yuppies, but despite the modern rhythm of life, they are committed to traditional values. Amit always tries to act according to his conscience, which nowadays borders on heroism. Now the patriarch of Indian cinema Amitabh Bachchan has become famous for his roles as “angry young people”, but in “Benaam” we will see him more respectable, in fashionable costumes, with a gold watch. However, in desperate attempts to protect his loved ones and help the innocent, his hero loses his gloss.
A characteristic component of old films is unpretentious humor, in "The Call of a Stranger" it is represented in the person of a talkative housemate and a stupid assistant police inspector, jokes are stupid, but they are not many and they almost do not annoy. There is in the film and exotic like a trip to the astrologer, who by the way told the whole truth. But in general, “Benaam” is solved in a more realistic way – shooting on the streets, in the crowd or in real rooms, and not in studio pavilions, etc.
Bottom line: This is a great example of an Indian thriller from the lush, vibrant Bollywood of the 70s, which is worth watching not only because of the participation of Amitabh Bachchan.