Barsaat Ki Ek Raat

Infobox_Film
name = Barsaat Ki Ek Raat


director = Shakti Samanta
producer = Shakti Samanta
writer =
narrator =
starring = Amitabh Bachchan
Raakhee Gulzar
Amjad Khan
music = Rahul Dev Burman
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Shakti Films
released = 20 February1981
runtime = 142 mins
country = India
language = Hindi
Bengali
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = imdb_id = 0080376

"Barsaat Ki Ek Raat" (Hindi: बरसात की एक रात, Urdu: برسات کی ایک رات English: "A night of rain") is a 1981 Bollywood film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Rakhee, Amjad Khan and Utpal Dutt. It was directed by Shakti Samanta. Barsaat Ki Ek Raat was filmed in two languages; the Bengali version, titled "Anusandhan", was the top grossing bengali movie ever for a number of years before the megahits of Anjan Choudhury took the crown. The hindi version was a lukewarm hit, certainly nowhere close to the Amitabh's other blockbuster successes like "Deewar", "Trishul" or "Muqaddar Ka Sikandar". The story was adopted from the novel "Anushandhan" by Shaktipada Raajguru.

The director, Mr. Shakti Samanat, was one of the premier Hindi movie directors during the Rajesh Khanna years, 1967 to 1972. As violence overshadowed romance in the mid-70s, and Rajesh Khanna relinquished the crown of the superstar to Amitabh Bachchan, several of Samant's films in this period (Mehbooba, Anurodh, Alag Alag etc) were box office disasters. He made a comeback of some sort with the bilingual version films with Uttam Kumar - Amanush in 1974, followed by Ananda Ashram. Before Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, he made another movie with Amitabh Bachchan, "The Great Gambler", which flopped in box office.

Amitabh Bachchan in this period (early 80s) conveyed the image of a king possibly past his prime as a warrior but still powerful enough to hold on to the crown. His movies during this period were mixes of hits and flops, but in terms of popularity, there was still no one in the horizon to challenge him. In the middle 80s, Mithun Chakrabarty became a poor man's Amitabh for certain directors, and then Amitabh himself was lured into Politics and took a hiatus from movies, vacating the throne of the Bollywood Badshah.

Characters

Abhijit - Amitabh Bacchan,Rajni - Raakhee (her character was named Tamosha in the Bengali version),Kaaliram - Amjad Khan,Rajni's father - Abhi Bhattacharya,Sahuji - Utpal Dutt (Kaaliram's father),Village belle - Prema Narayan,Local Police Inspector - Asit Sen,Misc cast - Sujit Kumar, Nimu Bhowmick etc

Story

In a small village in Darjeeling, Sahuji the merchant has weaved a web of corruption in every layers of the social fabric. He supplies materials of inferior quality to the tea garden, and then bribes the accountants to pass his bills. When one of themanagers, called "Boro Babu", (played by Abhi Bhattacharya), stands up, Sahuji pays the workers to go into strike against this Boro Babu. And he is also involved in rampant smuggling of goods across the border, and everyone from the local jeweler to the local police inspector are part of his intricate web.

While the father has created a position of influence by spreading corruption, Kaaliram the son (played by Amjad Khan) has ushered in a reign of terror. He goes to local bars, drinks, and doesn't pay. Anyone standing in his way gets beaten up mercilessly, either by him or his thugs. After getting sufficiently intoxicated, he then indulges in carnal desire by forcefully taking away any of the unmarried village girls for a night of merriment. If the poor girl's parents try to fight back, their house is set on fire. Desperate villagers make a plea to the owner of the tea garden, who calls (presumably) the higher ups in police force and they promise to send someone.

Next day, while crossing a bridge, Kaaliram and his thugs meet a mysterious stranger (Amitabh Bachchan) on a mule, whose face is completely covered in a Sombrero-type hat popular in that region. The stranger, named Abhijit, doesn't seem to be aware of Kaali's reputation and has no hesitation in fighting back strongly. Kaali vows to take revenge, but on a number of subsequent encounters, including a drum-playing competition, Kaali comes up second every time. However, the ever so loyal police inspector, played by Asit Sen, always comes to his rescue and prevents him from being sent to jail. However, Kaalis's frustration grows.

In the meanwhile, Abhijit has met Rajni, the blind daughter of the Boro Babu, and fell in love with him. In the first of the two important Barsaat Ki Raats (which means rainy night) in the story, Kaali makes a bold attempt to molest Rajni, but Abhijit comes to her rescue. And when the police inspector again attempts to drag his feet, Abhijit erupts in anger, shows his identity as a very high level police offer, throws Kaali into jail and suspends the police offer also.

Second half of the story finds Abhijit, now promoted, in a quaint little village named Sonarpur, with Rajni as his wife, and awaiting the arrival of their first child. In the meanwhile, Kaalia gets out of jail, and finds the whereabouts of Abhijit and Rajni. He sends Abhijit away from home by making a fake call for help, and then, in the second significant Barsaat Ki Raat of the story, he enters Abhijit's home and kills Abhijit's unborn child (it was not clear whether it was a forced abortion caused by rape, or whether he came to kill the fetus only).

A clue found outside the house ties Kaali with the incident and Abhijit runs out to take his vengeance. His police jeep was sent off the road by Kaali's truck, and he was presumed dead. But, in a typical Hindi movie formula, he comes back in a disguise, participates in a song and dance with Prema Narayan, and then brings Kaalia to justice. However, as he is about to drag the handcuffed Kaalia to the police station, Sahuji, in an attempt to shoot Abhijit, ends up killing his son instead.

Amitabh and Raakhee

Though there seems to be very little on-screen chemistry between Amitabh and Raakhee (Amitabh is very tall, Raakhee is quite short, and on screen Raakhee often seemed older than Amitabh), Raakhee starred in some of the most memorable romantic pairings with Amitabh - Trishul, Kaalaa Paththar, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Kasme Vade and Bemisaal being among them. Barsaat Ki Ek Raat is not the best film of the duo, but they played their on-screen relationship admirably. Raakhee acted the role of the blind woman admirably and Amitabh played the role of a very sensitive, very protective husband with equal aplomb.

Amitabh and Amjad

Amitabh and Amjad apparently were very close friends outside the movies, each with great appreciation for the other one's talent. But on screen, they were one of the most watchable hero and villain combinations in Hindi Movies. Starting with the unforgettable Sholay, the duo was seen together in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Kasme Vaade, Mr. Natwarlal and many other movies. Amjad literally breathes fire in the character of Kaali who probably has not a single good bone in his body. Unlike his other "angry youngman" movies, in Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, Amitabh chose to play his character with a sense of humor and hint of amusement at Kaali's antic in the first part of the movie. He does return to his angry youngman stereotype after the second attack on Raakhee and the loss of their son

R D Burman's music

Again, the great composer who gave us the likes of Amar Prem, Caravan and Hare Krishna Hare Ram, the music of Barsaat Ki Ek Raat was probably a low key affair that RD managed to wrap up in a few days. RD was the always the favorite composer of Shakti Samant and the duo gave us unforgettable soundtracks like Aradhana (some songs were composed by RD), Amar Prem, Kati Patang etc. The film has two excellent solos by Lata Mangeshkar, a lively romantic duet by Lata and Kishore, the mocking of Kaaliram after the drum competition sung in the form of a titular song by Kishore ("Kaaliraam ka fass gaya dhol"), and then the feet-tapping melody of "Manchali Re Manchali" sung by the evergreen voice of Kishore and Asha. The other 4 songs are ok, but "Manchali Re Manchali" is the quintessential RD Music. Some of the scenes have been in filmed in Darjeeling. The knife shown in the poster is the "Khukri".