Ram Balram (1980/I)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Vijay Anand

Writers:

Vijay Anand (screenplay)
Vijay Anand (story)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Drama | Romance | Crime

Plot:

Ram and Balram are 2 young boys who live with their loving parents. Their scheming uncle, Jagatpal, however kills the boy's father and mother...

Plot Keywords:

Smuggler | Mechanic | Police Inspector | Scheme | Revenge

Cast

Zeenat Aman	...	Madhu
Rekha	...	Shobha
Ajit	...	Jaggu / Chowdhary Jagatpal Singh / Baba
Prem Chopra	...	Chandan Singh
Sujit Kumar	...	Daku Satarawala
Amjad Khan	...	Suleiman Seth
Helen	...	Tara Bai
Urmila Bhatt	...	Saraswati
Utpal Dutt	...	Prof. Saran
Ranjan	...	Thekedar Bhanwari
Asit Sen	...	Havaldar A.K. Mukherjee
Mohan Sherry	...	Police Comissioner Gupta
Madhup Sharma
Bharat Kapoor	...	Chandarbhan
Lalita Kumari	...	Gangubai

Also Known As:

Ram and Belram

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

India:U

Company:

Navjeevan Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Soundtrack:

Achcha kaho chaahe bura kaho

Good...in a way.

Okay, I guess if you're a Dharmendra or an Amitabh fan...and if you were really impressed with Sholay (like me), you should see this movie.

Jagatpal (Ajit) causes a misunderstanding between two brothers who he claims as relatives (but obviously not). While they were arguing, Ajit shoots both of them from the window, and frames them for murdering each other. Meanwhile he kills Ram's mother Saraswati who also raises her brother in-law's son Balram as her own (supposedly, but she pops up at the end somehow). Jagatpal forcefully raises Ram to be a thief, and Balram to be educated without the accompaniment of his brother/cousin. He does this with sharp-pointy objects on the ends of his crutches...if they don't listen he threatens to stab them.

Ram (Dharmendra) ends up being a car mechanic, and Balram (Amitabh Bachchan) ends up being a police officer. Jagatpal shares his plan, for Ram to be the best smuggler, and for Balram to be the best police officer. Balram tries to argue, but those annoying pointy things are once again a threat.

The first half of the movie (excluding the evilness of their evil uncle) was pretty entertaining ~ Dharmendra and Amitabh are first shown together and then shown in different scenes separately to show the differences and similarities in their life. Balram falls in love with Shoba (Rekha - a good couple I must say) and Ram falls in love with Madhu (Zeenat - she is very ugly in this movie and her a Dharam don't match). The part where they display their own girls to each other is pretty funny.

But I mean the VIOLENCE is just TOOOO much! I watch action movies, but this was ridiculous! After the first half, one who is watching this movie won't even be able to see the nice acting of the Dharmendra and Amitabh! It's like shooting and blowing up things all the time. And Jagatpal's evilness gets to be too much. It's hard to believe that it was so hard for toughies like Dharmendra and Amitabh to beat up a cripple.

I only rate it a nine because I am an ardent fan of Dharmendra as well as Amitabh and I wasn't particularly disappointed with their powerful performance combo. I recommend this movie if you like the actors, and if you're a fan of Laxmikant Pyarelal who made good songs (like Ek Rasta, Hama Maafi Dai Do, Yaar Ki Khabar, and Ladki Pasand). But if you're not then don't waste your time. I was thoroughly angry with Vijay Anand's violent and perverted direction.

Stick with Sholay.