Karz
File:Karz, 1980 film poster.jpg
Directed by	Subhash Ghai
Produced by	Akhtar Farooqui Jagjit Khurana
Written by	Dr. Rahi Masoom Reza(dialogue)
Screenplay by	Sachin Bhowmick
Starring	Rishi Kapoor Tina Munim Simi Garewal Raj Kiran Pran Pinchoo Kapoor
Music by	Laxmikant-Pyarelal Anand Bakshi (Lyrics)
Cinematography	Kamalakar Rao
Editing by	Waman Bhonsle Gurudutt Shirali
Distributed by	Mukta Arts Ltd.
Release date(s)	11 June 1980 (1980-06-11)
Running time	159 mins
Country	‹See Tfd› India
Language	Hindi
Box office	5,50,00,000 [1]

Karz (Hindi: क़र्ज़, Urdu: قرض, pronunciation: qarz, translation: in-debt) is a 1980 Hindi film directed by Subhash Ghai, starring Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim as leads, also in a feat of perfect casting was Simi Garewal, who stood out in her role of Kamini Verma, the murderous wife from the past life, which won her a Filmfare nomination.

Film's music was by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, giving memorable hits like, 'Om Shanti Om' and 'Dard-e-Dil', and who went on to win Filmfare Best Music Director Award for this film, even the lyricist received two Filmfare nominations for these two hits.

Plot[link]

Ravi Verma wins a legal battle against Sir Judah, his dead father's business partner. Shantaprasad Verma, Ravi's dead father, was a rich man in Ooty, whose property was being unjustly usurped by Judah after his death. Ravi gives the good news to his mother, little knowing the fact that Judah has already set new plans in action to further his intentions. Ravi has fallen in love with Kamini, a gold-digger working covertly for Judah. Here, Ravi tells his mother that he is going to get married & coming back to get her blessings for him & Kamini.

However, when he is on his way to Ooty, Kamini tricks him into getting out of the jeep. An unsuspecting Ravi gets mauled by Kamini, who throws him off the cliff near a small temple of Goddess Kali. Ravi dies & his death is written off as an unfortunate accident. Nearly two decades later, Monty Oberoi, an orphan raised by a greedy G.G.Oberoi, is a teen singer on rise. He likes to play a tune, the same one which Ravi liked. But, the tune triggers some horrific memories, of which he can make no sense. It is clear that he is Ravi's re-incarnation.

Monty soon falls in love with an unknown girl, whose name is later revealed to be Tina. Monty suffers another breakdown & is advised a break or vacation in some remote place. Monty chooses Ooty, partly because he knows that Tina lives there. However, instead of being placated, his visions become intense. He sees all the places there that were seen in the memories. Tina has told him that she was brought up by her Rani Maa, a woman who took her care at behest of her uncle Kabira, who is always overseas & coming back.

In truth, Kabira was sentenced to life imprisonment and is about to be released. Monty wins Kabira's affection & permission to court Tina. However, he is shocked to learn that Rani Maa is none other than Kamini, the murderess in his visions. Kabira later reveals his story to Monty. He learns that Tina's father learnt some deadly secret about the Kali temple, due to which Kamini's brother killed him. In retaliation, Kabira killed Kamini's brother & blackmailed her to bring up Tina with proper education. Kabira tells Monty that he just pretended to know the secret.

Besides this, Monty has also learnt previously that Ravi's mother & his sister were ousted unjustly from their own house by Kamini & her brother. Now, he puts all pieces together & learns his identity. He tells the whole story to Kabira, who in turn offers to help find Ravi's estranged family. Lady luck smiles on Monty & he is united with the family he was so brutally separated from. Realizing that Kamini is a puppet of Sir Judah, Monty decides to pay her in her own coin.

Monty succeeds in seducing her. Slowly, he starts making her believe that Ravi's ghost has come back to exact his revenge. Kamini is unable to see through the act & becomes paranoid. She reveals to Monty that she is only titular head while Sir Judah calls all the shots. Slowly, a rift is caused between her & Sir Judah. Finally, it is revealed that she is going to start a school in the memory of Ravi. Monty & Tina perform at the function, where they perform on the song based on actual events that happened with Ravi.

Kamini learns that her game is up. She is horrified to see that Ravi's mother & sister are back. Kamini runs back to the mansion. When Monty comes to confront her, Kamini has totally lost her cool. In a fit of anger, Kamini blurts out her confession. Kabira comes out with police, who were hiding in the mansion, taping her confession. Just as she is about to be arrested, Judah appears with his henchmen, holding Ravi's estranged family under the gun. Judah agrees to release Tina in exchange of Kamini. Just as the exchange is about to take place, Tina, who has learnt all the truth, attacks Kamini. In the melee, Kabira & Monty gain an upper hand on the goons.

Judah tries to burn down Monty's family, but Monty saves them and kills him in a fire. Kamini takes the advantage of the situation & escapes through the jeep. Monty tracks her down vis his motorcycle. Finally, a standoff takes place, where Kamini again tries to maul Monty. But this time, Monty quickly steps sideways, leaving her to plummet to death with the jeep. He realizes that he is standing in front of the same Kali temple where he was murdered. He looks at the statue in a thankful gesture. In the end, Monty/Ravi finally gets his mother's blessings when he goes to honeymoon with Tina as his newlywed wife.

Cast[link]

• Rishi Kapoor - Monty Oberoi(Ravi's re-incarnation)
• Raj Kiran - Ravi Verma
• Simi Garewal - Kamini
• Tina Munim - Tina
• Premnath - Sir Judah
• Pran - Kabira(Tina's uncle)
• Durga Khote - Mrs. Shanta Prasad Verma (Ravi's mother)
• Abha Dhulia - Jyoti Verma(Ravi's sister)
• Jalal Agha - Dr. Dayal
• Pinchoo Kapoor - Mr. G.G. Oberoi
• Iftekhar - Dr. Daniel
• Viju Khote - Baayan(Kabira's Left)
• Birbal - Daayan(Kabira's Right)

Crew[link]

• Direction – Subhash Ghai
• Screenplay – Sachin Bhowmick
• Dialogue – Dr. Rahi Masoom Reza
• Production – Akhtar Farooqui, Jagjit Khurana
• Editing – Waman Bhonsle, Gurudutt Shirali
• Cinematography – Kamalakar Rao
• Direction Assistant – Ashok Ghai, Kuku Khanna
• Art Direction – Sudhendu Roy
• Costume Design – Bhanu Athaiya, Bhavana Munim, Satyawan
• Choreography – Suresh Bhatt
• Music Direction – Laxmikant-Pyarelal
• Lyrics – Anand Bakshi
• Playback – Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Anuradha Paudwal

Soundtrack[link]

The soundtrack of the film includes tracks, composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, and with lyrics by Anand Bakshi, who received two Filmfare nominations for these two hits, 'Om Shanti Om' and 'Dard-e-Dil', Laxmikant-Pyarelal however won the trophy for Best Music Director of the year. With hits like, "Ek Haseena Thi " and " Om Shanti Om " by Kishore Kumar and "Dard-E-Dil" by Mohd. Rafi, the soundtrack was a trendsetter for the disco music in the Indian music industry and film's background score, especially the signature tune are still remembered as one of the most memorable ones.^[2]

The film's chart-buster song, Meri umar ke naujawaanon (aka Om Shanti Om) sung by Kishore Kumar reached the number 2 spot on the Binaca Geetmala's annual list 1980, while another duet between Lata and Kishore, Tu Kitne Baras Ki reached number 13.^[3][4]

All lyrics written by Anand Bakshi, all music composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal.

Reception[link]

This story is about the reincarnation and the revenge became the ninth highest grosser of the year, and declared a "Semi Hit" nationwide and 80%/Big City Hit at the Indian Box Office.^[1] In a 2008 interview, film director, Subhash Ghai admitted that film was ahead of its time, and was thus panned by critics of the times, and "flopped" at the box office, it was only years later that it started being considered a classic and even remade several times over.^[5]

The film is also one of the finest films of Subhash Ghai, notable for picturization of songs like Ek Hasina Thi on stage as well as Dard-e-Dil, and set the standard for his future films, as most of them became known for his dramatic flair, and above all their music score. However, the director Subhash Ghai admitted that Karz was partly inspired by the 1975 American film The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, mixed in with Indian beliefs on reincarnation.^[6] In turn, both Karz and The Reincarnation of Peter Proud may have been inspired by the 1958 Hindi film Madhumati.^[7] Karz was itself remade several times: as the Kannada film Yuga Purusha (1989), the Tamil film Enakkul Oruvan (1984), and more recently the Hindi film Karzzzz (2008). Karz may have also inspired the American film Chances Are (1989).^[7]

Meanwhile, despite the Filmfare Best Music Director Award notwithstanding, films music turned out to be heavily "inspired" in the later years, like the dramatic Ek Hasina Thi was taken from George Benson's As We Love, while Om Shanti Om itself came from Trinidad Calypso artist Lord Shorty's version ^[6][8][9]

Influence[link]

Though the theme of reincarnation was earlier handled in Indian cinema in Madhumati (1958) directed by none other than Bimal Roy and written by Ritwik Ghatak, starring Vyjayantimala and Dilip Kumar, where lost lovers reunite in another birth, and also in Chetan Anand's lyrical Kudrat (1981), starring Raaj Kumar, Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini. The modern twist with murder and revenge angle set in made Subhash Ghai's Karz a pot-boiler, and went on to inspire several other Indian remakes, notably the Kannada film Yuga Purusha (1989), the Tamil film Enakkul Oruvan (1984) starring Kamal Hassan, and more recently the Hindi film Karzzzz (2008) starring Himesh Reshammiya.^[8][9]

Film's hit song, 'Om Shanti Om', inspired the title of Shahrukh Khan starrer Om Shanti Om (2007), which again was a light-hearted tribute to the film.^[10]

Awards and nominations[link]

• 1981: Filmfare Award
  • Best Music Director: Winner: Laxmikant-Pyarelal
  • Best Supporting Actress: Simi Garewal: Nominated
  • Best Male Playback: Kishore Kumar: "Om Shanti Om": Nominated
  • Best Male Playback: Mohammed Rafi: "Darde Dil": Nominated
  • Best Lyricist: Anand Bakshi: "Om Shanti Om": Nominated
  • Best Lyricist: Anand Bakshi: "Darde Dil": Nominated"^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Karz at the Internet Movie Database
• Karz at Bollywood Hungama
• Review of the film

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