Khaan Dost

So, yet another film where the otherwise great Raj Kapoor is typecast as the simple-minded, kind-hearted and innocent man. In most films of this kind, Kapoor would meet a smart sophisticated woman who would change his life. Here, the twist is that it's his friendship with a man that carries the narrative. And it is a weird friendship at that - Kapoor is a policeman who befriends an imprisoned criminal named Khan. The latter actually uses Kapoor's innocence to escape from jail by emotionally manipulating through fake stories. A middle-aged Raj Kapoor looks like Kader Khan looked in the 1990s - he plays the role with sincerity and inevitably attracts empathy from the viewers. The devious prisoner is played by a very young Shatrughan Sinha, who is good but loud. Now to the film itself, Khaan Dost is a very poor movie, almost unwatchable to be frank, and I wonder what made Kapoor take up this role at this stage of his career when he was hardly acting in movies and his production house did so well. The story is highly melodramatic and sentimental, and the director just can't make it cohere and resonate with a thinking viewer. A shame because had it been handled by a better director, this story could have been made into a much more absorbing human story.

Cinema is the greatest manifestation of dramatic art. Although, poetry is often considered as the real art among all departments of literature but as far as entertainment is considered dramatic art has larger acceptability. Through the Celluloid portrayal, drama has attained higher octave. In India, cinema had been the only medium of round the year crowd entertainment. In this digital age, cinema has retained relevance despite change in the perspective and presentation.

But Indian Cinema has certain unique characteristics. Satan transforming into Saint is a much experimented theme in India. Salvation has always been one of the favourite themes of Indian film makers. The film Khaan Dost starring Raj Kapoor and Shatrugan Sinha is such a film. One of the reasons behind its popularity is of course Raj Kapoor; the greatest showman who defined Indian Cinema both as an actor and a producer.

However, question is not about Raj Kapoor alone. The Movie has a brilliant storyline. The humanistic appeal with a larger message is its hallmark. The action is straight forward that depicts the relationship between a Police constable and a convicted criminal. This unique bonding ultimately makes the criminal repent for whatever he has done. Apart from Raj Kapoor and other actors, Shatrugan Sinha has made one of his best performances of his career in this Movie. This film obviously shows the grand legacy of Hindi Cinema of the bygone era. A must watch film indeed.

If you are a Raj Kapoor fan, see this one. His performance is natural. I always had an feeling that his talent, as an actor, was never fully explored. He just had 'Teesri Kasam', 'Jaagte Raho' and few other movies to his credit. Though I remain in doubt regarding his directorial abilities. His career graph as a director may have been very successful, but there is hardly any movie worth remembering, except 'Aag', 'Aawara' or 'Shri 420'. He was without any doubt multi-talented, but his later directorial efforts, though successful, remained mediocre.

This movie also has Shatrughan Sinha's one of the very few fine performances. As always though, he is loud, yet believable. He and Raj Kapoor has chemistry, that works. Dulal Guha's direction is okay, but the main attraction remains Raj Kapoor, an policeman and a simpleton! 7 out of 10.