Tina Ambani

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.

Two close and devout Muslim youth, Javed and Akhtar, are childhood pals. They both unknowingly fall in love with the same woman, Firdaus. Since Akhtar is wealthy, and comes from a noble family, the girl's dad, Nawab Mirza, decides that she should marry Akhtar. She is reluctant to do so, but finally agrees when she is threatened. Akhtar has not yet seen Firdaus, but finds out that Javed also loves her, and he decides to marry her, and promptly divorce her by saying "Talaq" three times, so that Javed can marry her later. Javed is delighted with this idea and goes along with it, not knowing that Firdaus is Akhtar's dreamgirl, and he may not be able to keep his word and divorce her. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Kamini and Ravi Verma are in love and plan to get married. Sir Juda wants to take over the vast estate of Ravi, and finds out that he can only do so with the help Kamini. Sir Juda orders Kamini to marry Ravi and thereafter kill him accidentally, and Kamini agrees to do so. After Ravis death, his mother is devastated, and Sir Juda takes over the vast estate. In a strange turn of events, Ravi is reborn as Monty - and grows up to become a popular singer. He visits Ooty for a short holiday where he recollects his previous lifes memories. He later enquires about these memories and reaches the estate where he realizes the reason and motive of his rebirth. Upon realization, he decides to avenge his death and bring back his familys lost glory by putting Kamini and others behind bars. Will Monty succeed in his endeavor?