K N Singh

There are the good guys and the goons. The plot begins with the murder of an union leader, Acharya which leads to a gang whose members are identified by a gold medal with the gang's logo. Enter the head of Secret Services, David, a mysterious figure who weaves a web to bring the gang to book, including the mastermind. Gopal, a young officer is tasked with the job. To support him Dimple (David's niece) alias Shoba plays the girlfriend of Gopal and acts as a communication conduit. When Bindu a nightclub dancer is murdered and Gopal become the prime suspect Gopal joins the gang and earns the trust of the leader. Exploring the netherworld of drugs, stolen antiques, smuggling of gold and silver, creating social and religious tensions he learns the innermost secrets of the gang. Is Gopal a double agent, or has he found the lure of power, money and corruption irresistible? Has he turned triple? Will Shoba play along with Gopal's deceit? While some of the plot transitions leave the viewer baffled and edits incomprehensible, the overall story line is a product of its times, credible and entertaining. —"MG" Gopalan

Anjali lives in a hostel and always waits for her mother Kamini to come take her during holidays but Kamini never takes Anjali home; instead she takes her on holidays to different places. Kamini pretends to be a wealthy woman in front of Anjali, but she actually works for the Bombay-based Don Sultanbhai--she conducts robberies for him. Anjali falls in love with Anand and both want to get their parents together, but at the last moment Kamini is called back to Bombay by Sultanbhai; this doesn't go over well with Anand's mother. Sultanbhai finds out from Kamini about Anjali and how life was cruel to her he promises Kamini that he will get Anjali married to Anand and makes a fake family out of his gang and present them in front of Anand's family. —alex.mjacko@gmail.com

Rajesh Narain lives a poor lifestyle in a small town in British India along with his brother, Brijesh, Bhabi, and a niece, Munni. He attends college and has a sweetheart in wealthy Kamini Sinha, and both hope to get married someday. While Brijesh is actively involved in trying to force their oppressors (the British) to leave India, poetic Rajesh has no interest in politics. Things change when Brijesh gets killed and Rajesh decides to avenge his death by actively becoming involved with freedom fighters so much so that he quickly becomes a thorn on the Britisher's side and orders are issued to apprehend him - dead or alive. He even spurns Kamini, who ends up getting married to a man of her dad's choice. While on the run from the law, assisted by a Pathan truck-driver, Sher Khan, Rajesh finds shelter in the house of his childhood friend, newly-wed Superintendent of Police, Dheeraj Kumar - not knowing that he will soon be confronted by an embittered Kamini, who is the bride of Dheeraj; Sher Khan, who has been arrested and is being tortured may soon reveal Rajesh's hiding place, and from Dheeraj himself when he finds out that his best friend loves his bride. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Somesh lives a very wealthy lifestyle with businessman dad, Banwari, and housewife mom. His dad runs a bank, Canara Bank, and wants Somesh to take an active interest in helping him, Somesh spends all his time drinking alcohol, womanizing, and at the races. When Banwari asks Somesh to marry Rekha Mahendru, his friend's, Superintendent of Police, Dinanath's daughter, Somesh not only refuses but quarrels and leaves. Several weeks later, Somesh is apprehended by the police smoking cocaine and is brought back home. His father apologizes to him, and tells him that he will not force him to marry Rekha. Banwari wants to throw a big party on the bank's anniversary, and asks Somesh to invite all his new-found friends and taxi-drivers from the slums, who he had been living with when he ran away from home. That night a number of well-dressed dignitaries arrive for the party, so do Somesh's poor friends. His father wants to make an announcement about Somesh's forthcoming engagement to Rekha until a woman named Chanda shows up. Somesh is in with love with Chanda and will not marry anyone else but her. The only problem is that Chanda is a highly paid prostitute and may have snared Somesh with her charms merely to get to his wealth. Watch what happens when Banwari decides to disown Somesh, leaving him penniless. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Bombay City Police suspect that some diamonds are being smuggled through Santa Cruz Airport, they immediately alert Customs Officials, and Airport police who thoroughly check through all the luggage and the passengers who have just arrived. They notice a nervous male, and when they approach to question him, he flees, leads the police onto a high speed chase, then crashes his vehicle against a tree and is killed. The police are able to recover diamonds and jewelery from a suitcase, and trace it to Bhagwandas Jewellers. When Mr. Bhagwandas is questioned, he denies having any knowledge of this, and asks his Munim to go to the Police Station and file a statement to this effect. Before the Munim can carry out his employer's instructions, he kills himself. The police must now determine as to why the Munim killed himself or was he killed by Bhagwandas, and assisting them in their task is a young man by the name of Shekhar, who has fallen in love with Bhagwandas' daughter, Rita. All the clues and trails point to Bhagwandas and his "silent" partner, Shamsher Singh, who was formerly known as criminal don, Shyamlal, but the police have no evidence to link Shamsher to the smuggling racket nor to the death of the Munim. It looks like the wily Shamsher does seem to have successfully pulled wool over the eyes of the police again. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

"Awara", a film that introduced Raj Kapoor`s tramp character inspired by Charlie Chaplin, is regarded among the greatest films of all time. The film tells the story of Raj (Raj Kapoor) the estranged son of a wealthy judge Raghunath (Prithviraj Kapoor) who throws his wife out on the streets suspecting her of adultery as a result of which Raj and his mother live in poverty. Raj meets Rita (Nargis) in school and she leaves an impression on him, but they drift apart when Raj is expelled from school. Raj is convinced by Jagga (K.N. Singh), a crime boss, to take up a life of crime to escape his life of poverty. He encounters Rita again who is now a lawyer and a ward of Raghunath. Through dramatic twists and turns, Raghunath discovers that Raj is his son and a contrite Raj goes to jail with Rita promising to wait for him.

The story of Barsaat revolved around two contrasting love storiesone rooted in innocence and the other in heartbreak. Two friends, Pran (Raj Kapoor) and the womanizing Gopal (Prem Nath) romance two local girls Reshma (Nargis) and Neela (Nimmi) while holidaying in the valley of Kashmir. While Pran and Reshma's love is true, Gopal is a womanizer, who disregards the faithful Neela and condemns her to wait faithfully for his return. The music of the film marked the debut of the legendary duo Shankar-Jaikishan and has songs that are hummed even today. The poster of the film that depicted the romantic pose of the heroine gazing up at the hero as she bends backwards on his arm inspired the famous insignia of R.K. Films.