Film Himmatwala : A Crude Classic

Yes, if somebody asked me as to which Hindi Film I consider the best in the masala genre then without even giving it a second thought, my reply would be K. Raghavendra Rao’s super-duper hit “Himmatwala”. Released back in 1983, Himmatwala starred dhamakedar jodi of Jumping Jack aka. Jeetendra and South-Indian beauty aka. Sridevi.

The film’s script was nothing spectacular, just your regular ghasa-pita plot of the 80s: The victimized and eventually dead father, the ever-suffering mother (Waheeda Rahman), the prodigal dehati-turned shehri son who returns to fulfill retributive dreams and take revenge (Jeetendra), the spoilt-brat girlfriend (Sridevi), evil zamindar (Amjad Khan), and even more wicked munim (Kader Khan) with his luchcha son (Shakti Kapoor).

But still Himmatwala manages to entertain even till this day. The reason for this as I see is in its presentation. Right from simple things such as character names (Amjad Khan as Sher Singh Bandookwala, Kader Khan as Narayandas Gopaldas and Waheeda Rahman as Savitri D. Murti), village scenario and slapstick dialogues filled with uncultured verbal humor to critical factors like action sequences, perfect comic timing and right dosage of melodrama – everything was dipped in saucy glee.

And then who can forget Himmatwala’s asinine lyrics but infectious music; undoubtedly one of Bappi Lahiri’s finest compositions. Just talking about songs like “Naino Main Sapna” and “Ktaki Oh Taki” makes you quite nostalgic about the good old 1980s. Especially “Naino Main Sapna”, brilliantly choreographed by P. A. Saleem; a Southern beach, thousands of matkas filled with colored powder, countless side-dancers and most striking of all apna hero vigorously bum-shaking and our heroine matching his every step with her thunderous thighs. This very dance (aerobics) jig could send even someone like Jane Fonda running for cover.

The other very impressive aspect of this film was the chemistry shared between late Amjad Khan and comedy master Kader Khan. In the 80s most movies had a secondary evil character ‘Munimji’, who would always be ready with an evil plan for his baddie boss which he could use in turn to hurt the ‘good guy’ and his family. Not many actors are able to strike a balance between pure evilness and comical antics at the very same time but in this case Kader Khan and Amjad Khan did their job so effortlessly.

In spite of its crass structure, Himmatwala managed to impress the masses since it contained all the ingredients (action, drama, sing-a-long-songs, etc) needed in a successful commercial flick. And therefore it definitely deserves a spot in the list of “great classics” of the eighties.