Sunday, May 30, 2010

Reshma Aur Shera (released in 1971) - starring Sunil Dutt, Amitabh Bachchan, Waheeda Rehman, Raakhee

Reshma Aur Shera was one of the earlier movies of Amitabh Bachchan, at a time when he was not the established superstar. The movie is an account of betrayal, love, murder, honour, set against the backdrop of the sands and harshness of Rajasthan. The movie was essentially the creation of Sunil Dutt, who also produced and directed the movie.
The movie was well liked by critics, and was nominated for some international (although it did not win too many). Some of the awards it was nominated for include:
- The Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival
- Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (Oscars)
The movie was written by S. Ali Raza, with some beautiful music by Jaidev (for which he won the 1972 National Film Award for Best Music Direction (his first award for music)).



The movie is about the feud between 2 families, and in a story that has been seen many times, where the children of both families are in love. The eldest son of Sagat Singh, Shera (Sunil Dutt) is not the more violent and revenge seeking son, trying to make peace. He is very strongly attracted to the daughter Reshma (Waheeda Rehman) of his father's rival, and she also falls in love with him when she sees how he can be strong for peace rather than for more revenge.
And yet there is a third element, the younger son of Sagat Sing, the mute Chotu (Amitabh Bachchan, who plays the role of a skilled shooter, also heavily influenced by his father). Eventually Chotu goes against the wishes of his brother in terms of not having violence and going in for peace and influenced by his father who wants Chotu to shoot the rival and his son both. And they both die; this causes Shera to hunt for his own brother to kill him. What happens next ?

Reshma Aur Shera (released in 1971) - starring Sunil Dutt, Amitabh Bachchan, Waheeda Rehman, Raakhee

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