Hari Shivdasani

Truth, beauty and Godliness are subjective and humans have not been able to find an objective definition for either through centuries of search. It is a human's love, faith and devotion that gives any meaning to any of the 3. The story is set in a village where Roopa (Zeenat Aman) lives with her father, the village priest Pandit Shyam Sunder (Kanhaiyalal). Roopa is unconsidered a jinx as her mother died while giving birth to her. Bansi (A. K. Hangal) is Roopa's uncle and protects her from Pandit's wrath. Pandit wanted a boy and hence hated Roopa as a burden on himself. From the very early age, Roopa had a fabulous voice and she supported her father, the temple priest, in conducting religious ceremonies for patrons, which requires singing devotional songs. Still, the priest does not value Roopa and does not even celebrate her birthday as he says that he lost his wife the same day and does not know how to celebrate that day. As a young child (Padmini Kolhapure), the right side of Roopa's face and neck were burned by a pot of boiling oil which she spilled on herself while cooking a meal for her father. She was cooking the meal on occasion of her birthday, which Bansi insisted should be celebrated, leaving part of her face disfigured. Due to this dis-figuration, she is unmarried and everyone in the village pities her. Henceforth, Roopa keeps her right cheek hidden under the veil of her sari. Despite the terrible accident, Roopa remains religious and goes to the village temple daily, singing hymns and devotional songs. Pandit is eager to get Roopa married as she is old enough, but Shastri (Subroto Mahapatra), Roopa's prospective father-in-law & Shastri's son (Javed Khan) demand a hefty dowry to take her on. Despite the cruelty of her own father, Roopa understands her fate and says that she is resigned to stay at home and does not want Shyam to exert himself in his old age to gather money for her dowry. Rajeev (Shashi Kapoor) is a dashing engineer who arrives in the village to oversee the operation of a major dam. He lives in a guest house managed by dam supervisor Bade Babu (David Abraham Cheulkar) and Bade Babu's wife (Leela Chitnis). Jai Singh (Vishwa Mehra) is the supervisor. Rajeev's mom and dad have already passed away. Rajeev abhors anything ugly and he even gets scared when he sees his optically disfigured face in mirrors at the village fair. He hears Roopa's lovely singing at the temple and then later at the inauguration function of the new dam and meets her when she arrives at the temple again early morning. Rajeev does not see her disfigured side, and falls in love with her. Village belle Champa (Sheetal) is also in love with Rajeev. Rajeev mistakes Champa for Pooja and expresses his love for her. When he realizes she is not Pooja, he runs away, angering Champa. Rajeev continues to pursue Roopa during her morning singing sessions at the temple. He follows her to a waterfall where he watches her bathe and return to the temple. Rajeev introduces himself to Roopa and it is clear that he is attracted to her. Roopa hides her hideous side from Rajeev. One day Roopa and Rajeev both share a sensuous moment under the waterfall, where Pooja also finds herself attracted to Rajeev. Rajeev kisses her that day. He wants to sleep with her, but Roopa says she will have sex only after marriage. Rajeev then asks her father's permission to marry her. Roopa does not want to cheat Rajeev because she loves him deeply and first request his father to reject the marriage proposal. But everyone from the village (including the Panchayat) request her to change her mind. They even donate funds for her wedding festivities and thereby she agreed to get married to Rajeev thinking he may accept her with her condition as he claimed to love her truly. After the wedding, Rajeev discovers the truth and thinks that he was cheated and forced to marry someone else, at which point he disowns Roopa and drives her out of the house. Rajeev roams around the village at the wedding night in search of another Roopa, as he think there is another girl with the same name, waiting for him. On the other side, after being rejected by Rajeev at their wedding night, Roopa decides to commit suicide but rescued by Rajeev, when he thought he found the girl he fall in love with, not his wife. After being rescued, Roopa decides to meet him at night, using a veil to hide the scarred side of her face. Rajeev spends his days ignoring his wife, and his nights loving his mistress including having sex with her in the darkness of night, not knowing they are both the same woman. Rajeev's servant Jaisingh notices that Roopa is meeting Rajeev as his mistress at night. During one of their nights together, they make love and Roopa gets pregnant. When Rajeev finds out that his wife is pregnant, he accuses her of infidelity and refuses to believe that his "mistress" and wife are the same. He publicly shames her and wont relent even when Jaisingh also confirms that Rajeev's wife is Roopa and there is no other girl, and sends her back to her home. Seeing it, Roopa's father dies out of agony. Roopa vows that she will never ever return to Rajeev as his mistress. A terrible storm ravages the village, breaking open the dam which Rajeev had come to repair. The village is being evacuated as the dam's shutters are opening. In the swirling waters of the flood, Rajeev sees how shallow he has been. He finds his wife singing a lovely song in her sweet voice and comes to the realization that Roopa and his wife are the same woman, and saves Roopa from drowning. The dam waters flood the village and break the bridge that the villagers were using to cross over to the other side and safety. Once safe in the vicinity of the temple, Rajeev ask for Roopa's forgiveness and accepts Roopa as his wife.

Maharaj Singh (Shammi Kapoor) is a proud owner of several derby-winning stallions, and lives in a palatial farmhouse with his wife, Rukmini (Indrani Mukherjee) and young son, Chimpu. Chimpu has a birth mark (in the shape of a trident) on his back. Maharaj Singh is a champion horse rider and prides himself on taming the wildest of beasts. One day robbers attack his farmhouse with a view of stealing the stallions, but Maharaj fights them, killing the son of the leader of the robbers, Maan Singh (Madan Puri). Maan Singh swears to avenge the death of his son and abducts Chimpu. Chimpu was 2 years old and the night he was abducted, was his birthday. Servant Ram Singh (Ramesh Deo) gets blamed & kicked out of the household by Maharaj Singh. Ram Singh used to look after Chimpu inside the house and was with him all the time. Even at the time of Chimpu's abduction, Ram Singh was sleeping in Chimpu's room and hence was the prime suspect. Maharaj Singh spends all available resources to find Chimpu, but without any success. 20 years later Ram Singh is at a circus & finds a recently released convict, Badal (Amitabh Bachchan) whose mannerisms match Maharaj Singh. Badal has the same accurate aim with a gun that Ram Singh had last seen in Chimpu. Ram Singh was running a shooting game arcade and was paying 20:1 odd if the shooter could hit 6 balloons with 12 shots from a pellet gun. Badal corrects the shooting sight of the gun and hits 12 targets in a row. Badal also says the same things that Maharaj used to say. Badal can ride horses like an expert. Badal has taken to a life of crime to support the poor villagers who are dependent on his meager income. Badal used to work at a racecourse but was fired for someone else's mistake and was jailed for the same. Badal was released as part of a leniency declared on India's Independence Day and that day, he had decided that honesty does not pay. Badal has no birth mark, but Ram Singh tells Badal about Maharaj and Chimpu. Ram Singh convinces Badal to get a tattoo (for which they pay Rs 5 to a tattoo artist) & to pose as Chimpu to inherit the wealth. In exchange Ram Singh will get a 50-50 share of the Maharaj's wealth. Ram Singh teaches Badal everything about Chimpu's childhood memories and toys. Ram Singh tells him about Chimpu's mother Rukmini, a toy horse, a cradle made of sandalwood, stud farms, horses and the fact that the parents have been waiting for Chimpu for 20 years. Badal reaches the Maharaj's village by train and travels on foot to his estate. On the way he runs into college students camping in the jungle protesting the cutting of forest to create roads in the hills. Sunita is part of the group, and Badal is instantly smitten with her. The students invite Badal for a meal, impressed with his singing skills. Badal saves Maharaj's daughter's Sunita (Saira Bano) life from a stray horse that had escaped the Maharaj's stables & slowly they fall in love. At this point he doesn't know Sunita is Maharaj's daughter. Badal returns the horse to the Maharaj's stables and gets a job as a farm hand on his estate. Sher Singh (Jagdish Raj) is the manager of the Maharaj's stables and is impressed with Badal's skills with horses. Badal learns that Rukmini has not emerged from the shock of losing her child. She is still bedridden and sick. Maharaj Singh doesn't visit his stud farms anymore as he devotes all his time to the care of Rukmini. Badal goes in front of Maharaj & shows off his shooting & horse skills & impresses him. He then infuriates Maharaj in a series of incidents. At first, he disrespects a gift given by the Maharaj by shooting it with Maharaj's own gun, and then proceeds to insult the Maharaj's horses, which prompts him to tear Badal's clothes off & he sees the birth mark. This prompts Maharaj & Rukmini to accept Badal as their long-lost son, Chimpu. But at this point Badal also learns that Sunita is Maharaj's daughter & technically his sister. Sunita is confused because at some level she refuses to believe that Badal is her brother. As the news spreads Maan Singh wonders how Maharaj got a new son. Maharaj starts involving Badal in his business and starts handing over the reins of the offices to him. Now Ram Singh starts blackmailing Badal for his share. But Badal is moved by the trust & respect Maharaj Singh gives him & refuses to taint that by giving in to Ram Singh's demands. When Ram Singh tells the truth to Maharaj, at that moment Badal also professes the truth to Sunita. Maharaj confronts Badal & Badal accepts his folly. But Maharaj can't kick him out as this news would kill his wife who has grown fond of having her son back after 20 long years of separation. Maharaj also notices that Badal had every opportunity to steal money from Maharaj, as he was handling transactions worth several Lakhs, but every cent was accounted for, and all the money was safely deposited in Maharaj's accounts. Maan Singh approaches Badal & says that he has the real son Chimpu & asks Badal for Rs 2 Lakhs to keep his silence. Maan Singh says that he wanted to kill Chimpu after abducting him but was swayed by the child's innocence. Chimpu was raised by Maan Singh as his own son Suraj (Vinod Khanna) (& who is now a robber). Badal gives the Rs 2 Lakhs to Maan Singh, but kidnaps Chimpu when everybody in Maan Singh's camp is asleep. This lures Maan Singh to the estate & brings Maan Singh, Suraj, Badal in front of Maharaj. Maan is defeated in gun fight & he is forced to admit that Suraj is none other than Chimpu. When Maharaj's wife finds out, she forgives Badal & accepts him as son-in-law. Suraj agrees to leave Maan Singh & come back to his real family.

A wealthy and educated wife gets physically abused by her husband, but must agree to live with him for 15 days in order to get a divorce. Nainital-based, orthodox and traditional, Amar, obtains a degree in Engineering, and re-locates to Bombay for employment. After doing so, he decides to assist his friend, Prakash, woo a wealthy and educated woman, Neeta, but ends up falling in love and marrying her himself much to the chagrin of her father. Shortly after the marriage, he takes her to visit his widowed-schoolteacher mother, but she has gone on an outing. They return back, and shortly thereafter arguments ensue, which escalate to such an extent that Amar assaults her, compelling her to return to her parents' home. When she insists on a divorce - Amar refuses until and unless she lives with him for 15 days in order to create a false scenario of a happy marriage for his mother. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Haria lives with his widowed and elderly grandmother at a tea estate. He has no knowledge of his biological father, as his mother died at the time of his birth. He now works as a Mahout (Elephant driver) at the tea estate, with elephant-friend, Raja. He meets and falls in love with a gypsy girl, Gulabi, and both want to get married. But Gulabi has another suitor, none other than Ajay, the only son of the tea estate owner. When Ajay finds out that Gulabi loves Haria, he plans to get rid of Haria, but fails. He waits for the right moment, and has his men abduct Gulabi. But before he could have his way with her, she is rescued by Raja, but Ajay subsequently shoots Raja to death. An enraged Haria wants to kill Ajay in return, but Ajay's dad stops him from doing so. Then Ajay's dad finds out a secret about his past life, and decides to change his last will and testament. Ajay finds out about this and lays in wait with a shotgun to kill his very own father - and anyone else who dares to stand in his way.

A business man must choose between keeping his promise to marry a poor village belle, or making it big by wedding his boss's daughter: a wealthy Westernized girl who bares a striking resemblance to his first love. Raj Kumar lives a poor lifestyle with his widowed mom but dreams of making it big. He gets employed as a Typist with Ranjit and Co., makes many errors, and is warned. He takes the warning to heart, improves his work, and is soon promoted to the position of Superintendent by the owner, Ranjit Rai. While on holiday he meets an attractive village belle, Gauri, and they fall in love with each other. He is introduced to her dad, and promises to return within one year and marry Gauri. When he returns home, he is told by Ranjit that he is now the Manager, and a few weeks later he is made a partner. Ranjit wants Raj to marry his only daughter Madhu, who is cultured, foreign-educated, and attracted to Raj--all the more so when Raj finds that she resembles Gauri. Raj must now decide whether he wants to keep his promise to marry Gauri or wed her look-alike Madhu--and if he does not, he could lose his job and his position as partner. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com) Raj Kumar is a first-class graduate and returns home to find out that his mother had brought him up after taking much pain and working for other households. Raj Kumar returns to the city Bombay to work in the office of Mr. Ranjit who being his owner also acts as a role model for the position that Kumar aspires to achieve someday. During a vacation, Kumar's life is saved by a beautiful Himalayan girl named Gauri with whom he immediately falls in love, and he promises to return the next year on the occasion of Poornima (full moon), to marry her. On his return, Kumar discovers that he has been promoted to manager and will very soon be partner. Unknown to him, however, is the overarching goal of Mr. Ranjit who desires to marry his beautiful, modern, Europe-returned daughter Madhu to Kumar. To make it worse, Kumar too has fallen for the charm of Madhu, a lookalike of Gauri and has unknowingly signed a paper available with Mr. Ranjit that could make him lose everything including the very clothes he wore. Kumar wants to return to Gauri who will commit suicide if he did not return by next Poornima. However, Ranjit Rai pleads with Kumar to marry his only daughter Madhu, who too will commit suicide if Kumar doesn't marry her. —Bhagirath Kumar Lader

Upon killing Sanjay by mistake, an angel puts his soul in a criminal lookalike`s body. He tries to undo the man`s misdeeds but no one, not even the love of his life, believes him.

An army officer's wife is unsure if the man she is living with is her husband or his look-alike. Indian Army Officer, Kamal (Shashi Kapoor), and Archana (Babita) get married but shortly thereafter he is called to the front as war has broken out. Once there, he meets with Rakesh - his look-alike - who plans to kill Kamal and take his place, but Kamal resists and emerges as the winner. To escape prosecution/court martial, he runs from the front and returns home. Army personnel think Rakesh has become a deserter and also think that Kamal is missing in action and believed dead. The army personnel notify Archana, who is thrown in a dilemma, is it Rakesh or Kamal that she has been spending time with? —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

A spurned vengeance-seeking woman wreaks havoc in the life of an artiste and his lover. Painting artiste Ashok lives a wealthy lifestyle along with his Bombay-based father, Dwarkanath, who wants him to marry Vinita, the daughter of businessman Ramdas. Ashok not only refuses but also insults her and she swears to avenge this humiliation. He then re-locates to Nainital, rents a cottage from Colonel Bhim Singh, meets with his neighbor's Governess, Neelima, and both fall in love. Neither are aware that Neelima's employer, Pushpa, would prefer that she marry her London-based widower Civil Engineer brother, Anand, so that she could look after his child, Munni. After a dramatic and life-threatening hunt, Ashok asks Neelima to be present at their engagement - not knowing that she will not only not show up but also subsequently announce that she is going to marry Anand. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

`Shree 420` follows naive, hardworking, honest, Raj (Raj Kapoor), who comes to Bombay from Allahabad in search of employment. He soon discovers that his university diploma and a gold medal have little worth in this exploitative city. He later encounters Vidya (Nargis), a poor school teacher and the two fall in love. Finally, Raj lands a job in a laundry. One day, a rich client Maya (Nadira), discovers his proficiency with cards and takes him to a posh club where he wins her a big sum of money. Later, Raj gets involved in underhand dealings with an unscrupulous businessman, Seth Sonachand Dharmanand (Nemo). Gradually, Raj becomes completely corrupted and is alienated from the people he loves like Vidya. Raj`s conscience is awakened when he discovers Sonachand`s scheme to exploit poor people and he decides to right the wrong.