Jaani Dushman (1979) Poster

(1979)

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5/10
Mock, droll horror.
kaiyomerz7 April 2021
Mock horror movie. The "creature" that goes around killing brides clad in red is a pathetic caricature of a werewolf that wouldn't scare an eight year old child. All of the horror scenes are sheer comedy!
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A crowd puller for sure.
gunwanti9 March 2002
Jaani dushman is one of the most popular horror flicks, mostly due to it being star-studded, excellent acting scores, an unexplored theme, and catchy songs, like "Chalo re doli uthao piya milan ki ruth ai"; "tere hathon me pehna ke churiyan..."; "Aisi waisi na samaj sajna.."; and yet another catchy song picturized on Shatru and Rekha. The story centres around the mysterious deaths of brides, all dressed in red, as is the tradition in India. The suspense mounts as one by one the brides are killed and no one seems to have a clue, and everybody seems to be suspect, including the village poojari.
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10/10
Classic
rahulkala-866488 September 2018
A story with rich characters, suspense, horror , haunting music and last but not the least the dolis with their red brides. We see the ever present dread through the eyes of the common villager and the village elites. How the suspecting villagers lead their lives and marry their daughter with the fear of the present monster is the essence of the movie.
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8/10
So many childhood memories brought back!
Rawal_Afzal1 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
No, don't really belong to such an old era. In fact, I was born well over 11 years after the film. But this film used to be such a popular choice for the (Indian) channels to run almost every other month. We as kids used to feel so frightened by it, but yet could never resist the temptation to peek at the TV screen.

What brought it back was the insistence of my niece who at all costs wanted to watch the film of which the song "Chalo re doli" is played in almost every wedding film during the rukhsati scene.

Reflecting upon it years after, the viewers of the new generation might find some of the stuff to be laughable, living in era where films of every genre are made with immense efficiency, editing, special effects and thousand re-takes, but for its era and given that this isn't Hollywood what we're talking about, this was quite a good film. It being a star-studded one probably added to the fun.

Again, it had its flaws and even the overall length could've been shortened, but for its era it remained a thoroughly entertaining film. Not quite Bollywood's 'Aliens' (1986), but pretty doable for Bollywood. Has its thrills and carries the suspense quite well till the end. One exceptional thing was that bringing attention and suspicion to everyone except only the Thakur could've given it away, but it was clever to have shown that even Thakur was looked at with suspicious eyes around about half an hour before the ending, albeit for a very brief period before the attention then gets shifted to his son (Shera). I can imagine it being a really big success at the box office back then.
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Good suspense film with catchy songs and especially the haunting song "Chalo Re Doli Uthao Piya Milan Ki Rut Aai".
hrishabhmishra29 August 2016
Jaani Dushman, one of the most popular horror flicks, mostly due to it being star-studded, excellent acting scores, an unexplored theme, and catchy songs, like "Chalo Re Doli Uthao Piya Milan Ki Rut Aai"; "Tere Hathon Me Pehna Ke Churiyan..."; "Aisi Waisi Na Samaj Sajna.."; and yet another catchy song filmed on Shatrughan Sinha and Rekha.

The story focuses around the mysterious deaths of brides, all dressed in red, as is the tradition in India. The suspense mounts as one by one the brides are killed and no one seems to have a clue, and everybody seems to be suspect, including the village priest.

After watching the movie I think at the end some question are left unanswered like 1.Was the priest in cahoot with the monster (Saneev Kumar) ? 2.Sanjeev Kumar's story of his sister death was it true ? 3.Did Thakurian know about each of Thakur's secret as is reflected when Jeetendra show the The 'Lal Joda'to Thakur for his blessings? 4.How did the monster come beneath the temple ? 5.How does Sanjeev Kumar go back to his home after killing the brides? 6.Did the evil always reside in the body of Sanjeev Kumar? 7.Was the secret doorway created to save brides from abduction by bandits?

Overall what I like the most is Rekha's diction of Awadhi which is nicely executed in the movie along with other actors and actresses Hindi-Urdu dialogue and diction. I would like to conclude by saying that last but not the least the haunting song "Chalo Re Doli Uthao Piya Milan Ki Rut Aai" in the very apt voice of Mohammad Rafi.
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10/10
jaani dushman is one of the most fantastic movie
jaani_dushman14 September 2000
i think this one of the wicked movies ever made by raj! the story line is fantastics and the whole movie is just supa one of my best movies ever made! jaani
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10/10
Sheer masterclass in scaremongering
coltras3515 November 2021
A bridegroom is outraged when his unfaithful fiancee tries to leave him with another man the night before their wedding. He transforms into a monster and kills her, then for years to come, continues to prey on women about to be married. Even when he is killed, his spirit takes over the body of his killer so the slaughter can continue.

Seeing red is taken to the whole next level in this delicious horror film, given plenty of Bollywood spice and an all-star cast that reads like a who's who of 1970's Indian film industry. Sunil Dutt, Shatrughan Sinha, Sanjeev Kumar, Reena Roy, jeetendra - I could go on. But what makes this chiller work is great characters and conflict between them which is entwined in to the story, adding to the suspense. Of course, there's a strong mystery element- the film quietly invites you to guess who the monster is, and throw a red herrings along the way.

The songs are great, one of them is quiet melodious and haunting - the special effects are workmanlike, the monster simply a monster in a suit, but I remember being scared of this film, and I still find it so - it's sheer masterclass of the horror genre, and successful adding action, romance, conflict and misunderstandings to the mix. Amrish Puri appears in the eerie opening sequence on the train.
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Multi Starer Horre Movie
basheer4474 September 2010
Jaani Dushman was a Horrer Suspense movie with huge multi star cast, the negativity of the film is poor special effects as usual in 1970's movies, action stunts were not well composed, In the entire film Sunil Dutt dominated & sidelined Shatu, Reena Roy side lined Rekha, Vinod Mehra turns from mad beggar to CBI Officer his role is not heavy, Prem Nath as Pujari always confused to audience, Plus point of this movie is 3 songs 1. by Mohammed Rafi CHALO RE DOLI UTHAI 2. TERE HAATOON MEIN PEHNAKE CHOODIA 3.Kishore Kumar. Jeetendra dance number & his acting was superb natural Neetu Singh acting was too good, Sanjeev Kumar as usual give power packed performance, Bindy Gu Swami & Sarika wasted, Dialogues between Shatrughan Sinha & Sunil Dutt are good still I remember that KYUN SHERA TAYARI KARKE AYE HO- TAYARI ANARI KARTE HAI KHILADI NAHI, After all it can be watchable movie.
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8/10
One of the most popular Bollywood horror
zkzuber7 July 2023
As a kid i remember watching the posters of this movie at VT station and feeling sad not able to see this movie being a minor i loved horror movies since my childhood thankfully VHS arrived and saw this movie still in school. This movie had a huge starcast and was a big hit the biggest plus point was also the songs which were block buster. If you watch this in 2023 it will be laughable but for 70's this was a complete entertainer. The film doesnot have any logic like any other movies of that time specially kohli was master in it so don't look for logic. Today you won't even find it scary. But it brings back the old memories how Bollywood movies were the only source of entertainment and how much we loved it. Rekha is one of my favourite but i dont understand why she accepted this movie even though she was on top in that period her screen presence is very less her role is weak and it just look like a small character role. Still I feel you should watch this movie and have some fun time.
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