Khoon Bhari Maang (1988)

Nandini and Sanjay Verma are lovers, and they conspire to take over the vaste estate of Mr. Saxena and his only widowed daughter, Aarti, and her two children, with the help of Sanjay's ... See full summary »

Director:

Rakesh Roshan

Writers:

Ravi Kapoor, Mohan Kaul,

Stars:

Rekha, Kabir Bedi, Sonu Walia

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rekha	...	Aarti Saxena / Jyoti
Kabir Bedi	...	Sanjay Verma
Sonu Walia	...	Nandini
Kader Khan	...	Hiralal
A.K. Hangal	...	Ramu Kaka
P. Jairaj	...	Oldman - Rescues Arti (as Jairaj)
Sulochana Latkar	...	J.D.'s mom (as Sulochana)
Sulabha Deshpande	...	Leela (as Sulbha Deshpande)
Vikas Anand	...	Manager of the factory
Mangal Dhillon	...	Arti's Advocate
Satyajeet	...	Baliya
Tom Alter	...	Plastic Surgeon
Farita Boyce
Master Gaurav	...	Bobby Saxena
Master Kaushal

Storyline

Nandini and Sanjay Verma are lovers, and they conspire to take over the vaste estate of Mr. Saxena and his only widowed daughter, Aarti, and her two children, with the help of Sanjay's maternal uncle Heeralal, a longtime employee of Saxena. After Saxena passes away suddenly, Sanjay woes Aarti and marries her. On a boating trip both Nandini and Sanjay do away with Aarti, making it look like an accident, and subsequently take over the entire Saxena estate. But Aarti survives, disfigured beyond recognition by a crocodile attack, With the help of plastic surgery transforms herself to a successful model, Jyoti. She then plans to carry out her vengeance against Sanjay, but finds that he has been physically abusing her children, pets, and servants. She must now decide to reveal her identity, or continue with her plan and be a spectator to the abuse on her loved ones.

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Plot Keywords:

revenge | presumed dead | back from the dead | female protagonist | remake

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller | Action

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Filming Locations:

India

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Kraft

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Remade as Nari Bi Pindhipare Rakta Sindura (1997)

User Reviews

Say Rekha and you'll get Khoon Bhari Maang!

Well it's plain and simple, Rekha does not only deliver one of the best performances of her career, but one of the best performances ever seen on the Indian screen. Rakesh Roshan's direction deserves a special mention. He successfully remakes the Australian mini-series "Return to Eden" into a feature film, and it's great to see him portraying the film in such a complete and rather realistic way. I liked the portrayal of a modern, urban India. The story is very interesting, though it's much more engaging in the second half. Rekha plays the role of Aarti, a rich, unattractive widow with two kids who gets married to a man who deviously befriends her children and who wants nothing but her money. The rather shocking scene in which she is supposedly killed by her husband is followed by Aarti's transformation from a gentle, innocent woman to a decisive lady (or better say lioness) who will do anything to take revenge on all those who made her life miserable and separated her from her children. And she comes back to her city in the form of a to-die-for, extremely beautiful model named Jyoti. From then own her journey begins.

This story seems to be a bit unrealistic when you first read it, but the film's proceedings are well displayed with not a single flaw, and it develops at a fast, steady pace. The film has it all: drama, thriller, action, but it is just a very good film as a film and works as complete entertainment no matter what genre it belongs to. Of course there are some unnecessary scenes of comedy here and there, but they are not that significant. The film is made on relatively high production values: the editing is good, the cinematography is effective, the sets are well chosen, the costumes are fantastic, and the film is a very atypical commercial Hindi film of the 1980s in that it does not go to unnecessary extents of overdone melodrama. Rajesh Roshan's music is memorable. "Jeene Ke Bahaane Lakhon Hain" is wonderfully sung by Asha Bhosle, "Main Haseen Ghazab Ki" presents the film's topmost musical performances, but the film's ultimate tune is "Hanste Hanste", which, in its three different versions, is a pleasure to listen to.

Easily one of the finest actresses of India, Rekha is just exceptional in this author-backed role. Her portrayal is simply indescribable. Her facial expressions, body language and dialogue delivery are extremely forceful. She carries every scene naturally and makes the transformation from Aarti to Jyoti with great conviction. As the more traditional and simple Aarti in the initial portions of the film she is unrecognisable, and displays confusion, simplicity and modesty brilliantly. But it's the new Aarti (naming herself Jyoti) who gives her full scope to become a winner. She is stunning, gorgeous and acts with impressive confidence and sincerity, delicately letting the viewer sense the pain of a deeply hurt deceived woman, the struggle of a tormented mother, and the steadfast determination of a decisive avenger. This is an unforgettable bravura performance.

Other than the show-owner Rekha, the entire cast is very good, with Sonu Walia standing out. She is fabulous as Nandini and acts with aplomb throughout the film. It's really sad to know that such a talented actress did not have the opportunity to make something with her career. She reminds me of today's Sushmita Sen. Two winners of the Miss India contest, two beautiful, sexy and classy women, and two extremely underrated actresses. Kabir Bedi is excellent as the bad guy Sanjay. He plays the part so well that there seems to be nothing easier than to hate him. The kids are great (at par with the kids of Masoom in my view). Sulabha Deshpande in the small part of Leela is outstanding, and Shatrughan Sinha provides good support in his significant guest appearance.

The film has many great moments which manage to tug at the heartstrings. My favourite scene is when the kids dedicate a song to their "dead" mother on their parents day at school, while she is sitting in the audience teary eyed. I was very surprised to see Rekha's transformation; the first time Jyoti appears on-screen comes across as a complete shocker (in the most positive sense of the word). Another moving moment is when the boy meets Aarti and notices the similarity between "this woman" and his own mother but the absence of the birthmark on her face disproves him. Same with the scene when her dog runs towards her. The last scene is extremely touching. The second part is overall full of great moments. And to sum it up, if you have not watched Khoon Bhari Maang yet, I highly recommend you to do so. It is a fantastic dramatic thriller with an all-time great performance by Rekha.