Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)

As an orphan on the streets in Shimla, young Sikandar (Amitabh Batchchan) has no one to care of him. For a short while he works for Mr. Ramnath, Little Kamna Ramnath (Rakhee Gulzar) gives ... See full summary »

Director:

Prakash Mehra

Writers:

Vijay Kaul (screenplay), Kader Khan (dialogue),

Stars:

Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Rakhee Gulzar

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Amitabh Bachchan	...	Sikandar
Vinod Khanna	...	Vishal Anand
Rakhee Gulzar	...	Kaamna
Rekha	...	Zohrabai
Amjad Khan	...	Dilawar
Nirupa Roy	...	Fatima
Sulochana Latkar	...	Vishal's mom
Shreeram Lagoo	...	Ramanath
Kader Khan	...	Fakir Darvesh Baba
Goga Kapoor	...	Goga
Ranjeet	...	J.D.
Manmohan Krishna	...	Piano Instructor
Yusuf Khan	...	Seth. Paul
P. Jairaj	...	Doctor Kapoor
Vikas Anand	...	Inspector raided for smuggled goods

Storyline

As an orphan on the streets in Shimla, young Sikandar (Amitabh Batchchan) has no one to care of him. For a short while he works for Mr. Ramnath, Little Kamna Ramnath (Rakhee Gulzar) gives Sikandar the kind of consideration and friendship no one has ever before given him. After that Ramnath leave Shimla for Bombay, Sikandar follows them there. Eventually Fatima, a young widow who works for Ramnath, adopts Sikandar. At Kamna's birthday party Ramnath mistakes Sikandar for a thief and has him thrown out. Little Kamna turns against Sikandar and wants to have nothing further to do with him. At Fatima's grave, a Darvesh (Kader Khan) advice young Sikandar how to deal with the realities of life. Young Sikandar works hard and grows up to be a wealthy and respected young man. Kamna, who stills wants to have nothing to do with Sikandar, is unaware that he has been helping her all along by paying for her handicapped father's medical bills. Sikandar meets a dancing girl, Zohra Bai (Rekha) who falls...

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Plot Keywords:

love | lawyer | prostitute | grave | orphan | 

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Genres:

Romance

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

27 October 1978 (India)

Also Known As:

A Força do Amor

Company Credits

Production Co:

Prakash Mehra Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

189 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Prakash Mehra had envisaged the film as a modern day take on Devdas.

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Connections

Remade as Prema Tarangalu (1980)

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Soundtracks

"Zindagi To Bewafa Hai"
Performed by Mohammad Rafi
Music by Anandji Veerji Shah & Kalyanji Veerji Shah
Lyrics by Anjaan

User Reviews

"O Saathi Re..."

For me, the most beautiful thing about 'Muqaddar Ka Sikandar' is the song 'O Saathi Re'. It is a wonderful song and is sung beautifully by Kishore Kumar. Amitabh Bachchan does a good job of expressing the emotions of the song.

"Muqaddar ka..." is a tragedy (and a particularly tragic one), but it's a tragedy that manages to evoke just the right amount of sympathy, without becoming unduly weepy or maudlin. It's a tragedy done properly, with class, honesty and depth. Amitabh Bachchan is great as the lead character. I just loved him in this film, from start to finish (the little boy who played the young 'Sikandar' was wonderful too). Sikandar is at heart a good (even noble) man, but yet is a deeply flawed character, who feels deeply but is completely unable to express it. He's been hardened by his life, but he still has a very soft core, which few get to see. The scene at Memsahib's birthday celebration (when she's older), when Sikandar comes in with her precious gift, is breathtaking. It's a haunting echo of the experience Sikandar had at her 'younger' birthday party. A beautifully nuanced performance, definitely one of the Big B's best.

Vinod Khanna also does a lovely job as the young lawyer, Vishal, in this movie, and the rest of the cast does well, too ... with one notable exception: the lead female, Rakhee. By the time the film was over, I hated her character, and I'm not sure that was the intention of the film makers(or was it?). She managed to portray 'Memsahib' as extremely shallow, uncaring and fickle. It's difficult to see even what the character of Vishal sees in her (although Sikandar's love for her - being completely childlike, pure and unselfish, is perfectly understandable). Even her last-minute repentance rung hollow. I've seen Rakhee do loads better in other movies, so I won't hold it against her in this one .. although it does slightly retract from the overall quality of the movie.

Rekha, as Zohrabai, deserves a mention ... hauntingly lovely and tragic (which is what she does best), she puts in a very good performance. Her role is very stereotypical, but she pulls it off and makes it memorable. Watch out for the scene where she threatens to swallow the diamond.

All in all, this movie is simply unmissable Bollywood. Watch it, and I guarantee you'll be hearing 'O Saathi Re' in your head for a few days afterwards.