Rajput

Rajput began in 1975 as a dream project with all the makings of a blockbuster hit. It had Goldie as the director,LP as music directors; and Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna as the lead actors. Following her phenomenal success in Laila Majnu,the gorgeous Ranjeeta was also roped in. As if that was not enough, they also signed Tina Munim some time in the middle of the project. Unfortunately, the movie took seven years to see the light of the day, and it turned out to be only an average box office earner. There is no satisfactory explanation available as to why it took so long. Maybe there were problems with the dates of the overworked stars. To a viewer, the main problem appears to be the the weak story-line which ,it seems, was revised again and again, and it became weaker with each revision. The characters played by Dharmendra and Hema Malini are deeply in love, and they get physically intimate, but their parents-Om Shivpuri and Rehman- are sworn enemies. The result is that Hema gets married to the character played by Rajesh Khanna, and Dharmendra goes to jail as he kills the dacoit who attacks Hema Malini's Doli. Hema gives birth to Dharmendra's son who is raised by Rajesh Khanna as his own son, even though he knows the truth. Bhanu (Vinod Khanna) is in love with Kamali( Ranjeeta) who gets raped by Ranjeet who plays a tyrant ex ruler. Ranjeet is a widower who has a daughter from his first marriage-played by Tina Munim. Vinod Khanna forces Ranjeet to marry Ranjeeta, and kidnaps the daughter (Tina Munim) to settle the scores. Predictably, the kidnapped daughter falls in love with the kidnapper. In spite of the multi star billing, the bizarre twists to the story lead to the evident asymmetry in the relationships as Hema is the heroine for both Dharmendra and Rajesh Khanna; and Vinod Khanna is the hero for both Ranjeeta and Tina Munim. I give full marks to Goldie as he managed to make a watchable movie even though the project dragged for seven years for whatever reasons. Among the actors, Rajesh Khanna has performed the best. Physically, he looks less of a Rajput if you compare him with Dharmendra,Vinod Khanna, and Ranjeet. But his role was meatier, and he did full justice to it as the devoted lover, committed husband, caring and loving foster father, and a brave and intelligent Police Officer. Dharmendra didn't have much scope in the story. Vinod Khanna didn't have too much scope either, but he was the director's darling. Goldie sure gave special importance to his Guru Bhai ( Ref Acharya Rajneesh) ,Vinod Khanna, who gets significant footage particularly during the climax. It should be mentioned that while Goldie and Mahesh Bhatt had deserted Rajneesh, Vinod Khanna was still with the Godman and even went with him to America.He could shoot for the film only when he visited India. The girls were totally ignored except for some scintillating scenes of Hema Malini. Ranjeet was too young to play Tina's father and certainly inadequate to be the main villain. I recall when I first saw this movie, my fellow viewers wondered why Prem Nath was not there in the movie. Certainly a watchable film. The names of the actors should be taken to mean the characters played by them in the film.