Karz (transl.Debt) is a 1980 Indian Hindi-language romantic thriller film directed by Subhash Ghai, starring Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim in the lead with Simi Garewal in the critically acclaimed role of Kamini Verma, the murderous wife, which won her a Filmfare nomination. The film's music was given by Laxmikant–Pyarelal. With chartbusting numbers like Om Shanti Om and Dard-E-Dil they went on to win Filmfare Best Music Director Award for this film and Anand Bakshi received two Filmfare nominations for the lyrics of these two hits.[2][3]
Plot
The film begins with Ravi Verma (Raj Kiran) winning a court case against Sir Judah (Premnath), who had unjustly usurped the wealth and property of Ravi's father, Shanta Prasad Verma, after his death. Ravi calls his widowed mother (Durga Khote) and younger sister (Abha Dhulia) to share the good news and that he is marrying his girlfriend, Kamini (Simi Garewal), who is actually a gold-digger working for Judah, unbeknownst to him. On their way home to Coonoor, Kamini throws Ravi over a cliff to his death near a small temple of the Goddess Kali. Distraught at the sudden death of her son, Ravi's mother demands Goddess Lakshmi to allow her son to pay his mother's debt for dying prematurely, while Kamini inherits everything. Two decades later, Monty (Rishi Kapoor), an orphan raised by the wealthy G.G. Oberoi (Pinchoo Kapoor), is a professional singer who begins to have visions of Ravi's memories triggered by a tune that was Ravi's favourite.
Monty's doctors jokingly state that maybe he is Ravi's reincarnation, but he should just take a vacation and rest in all seriousness. Monty travels to Ooty (coincidentally near Coonoor) where Tina (Tina Munim) lives and they fall in love. Tina tells him that she was brought up by a woman she addresses as Rani Sahiba, and her uncle, Kabira (Pran), who is released from prison after having served ten years for murder. As Monty explores the area and learns the story of the Verma family from the locals, including that Ravi's mother and younger sister were banished from their house by Kamini, he starts to experience more of Ravi's memories which become more intense. He is later shocked to find that Tina's Rani Sahiba and Kamini are one and the same.
Kabira then reveals to Monty that Tina's father was murdered by Kamini's brother after overhearing a secret involving Ravi and the temple of Kali. In retaliation, Kabira killed Kamini's brother which is why he was arrested by the police. Pretending to be aware of Kamini's secret, Kabira blackmailed her in prison to raise Tina with a proper education. Monty in kind reveals to Kabira his connection to Ravi Verma, and that they must find Ravi's estranged family, with whom Monty is united. Accepting that he is Ravi's reincarnation, Monty is able to piece together Ravi's murder.
To set things right, Monty and Kabira gradually trick Kamini into believing that Ravi's ghost is seeking revenge. In their final trick, Monty and Tina perform at a local school opening function attended by Kamini, where they dramatise Ravi's story. Kamini is horrified to see Ravi's mother and sister and escapes. When Monty confronts her, Kamini confesses to Ravi's murder, which is recorded by the police. However, Judah holds Tina hostage and offers her in exchange for Kamini. Just as the exchange is about to take place, Tina jumps on Kamini causing a melee. Kabira and Monty gain the upper-hand but Judah locks Ravi's mother and sister in a house and sets it ablaze. Monty saves them, and kills Judah in the fire. Kamini escapes in a jeep but Monty pursues her. She tries to throw Monty off the cliff at the temple of Kali in the same way she killed Ravi, but this time Monty jumps away, causing Kamini to drive off the cliff and meet her death. In the end, the Verma wealth and property is returned to Ravi's family and Monty marries Tina.
The soundtrack of the film includes tracks composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi, who received two Filmfare nominations for the two hits, "Om Shanti Om" and "Dard-E-Dil". Laxmikant-Pyarelal won the trophy for Best Music Director of the year.
Kishore Kumar supplied Monty's singing voice in all of the songs, except "Dard-E-Dil" (performed by Mohammed Rafi).
With hits like "Ek Haseena Thi", "Om Shanti Om" and "Dard-E-Dil", the soundtrack was a trendsetter for 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.[4] The "Ek Hasina Thi" is copied from George Benson's "We As Love".[5][6][7]
The film's chart-buster song Om Shanti Om reached the number 2 spot on Binaca Geetmala's annual list 1980, while a duet, Tu Kitne Baras Ki reached number 13.[8][9]
Despite being counted as a cult classic today, Karz was declared an "average" nationwide during its opening and very next week Feroz Khan's mega budget Qurbani was released and crashed it at the box office. Rishi Kapoor admitted himself about its failure in his many interviews and also in his biography. 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.[10]
The film is also one of the finest films of Subhash Ghai, notable for picturisation 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 his taste for spectacular music.
Influence and legacy
Though the theme of reincarnation was earlier handled in Madhumati (1958), Kudrat (1981), and Mehbooba (1976), the modern twist with the murder and revenge angle in Karz was a contemporary pot-boiler.[11] Film critic Anupama Chopra also cites The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975, J. Lee Thompson), an adaptation of a novel of the same name by Max Ehrlich, as the basis of the film.[12] Director Subhash Ghai admitted that Karz was partly inspired by the 1975 film but was mixed in with Indian beliefs on reincarnation.[5]
^Ramnarine, Tina K. (September 2011). "Music in circulation between diasporic histories and modern media: exploring sonic politics in two Bollywood filmsOm Shanti OmandDulha Mil Gaya". South Asian Diaspora. 3 (2): 143–158. doi:10.1080/19438192.2011.579454. ISSN1943-8192. S2CID154941959.
^ abDoniger, Wendy (2005). "Chapter 6: Reincarnation". The woman who pretended to be who she was: myths of self-imitation. Oxford University Press. pp. 112–136 [135]. ISBN978-0-19-516016-1.
