Betaab

Betaab (1983) : Brief Review -

A super hit romantic masala by Rahul Rawait works as the perfect launch vehicle for Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh. Quite a day to review Betaab, Sunny Deol's debut film; he was 26 then, and he turns 67 today. A career spanning across 4 decades and still running, and I still feel no other Sunny Deol super hit has been this lighthearted and entertaining. He has had bigger hits and better classics, but most of them were in an intense zone. Betaab, for a change, is a very delightful and colorful film. It's a perfect definition of romantic action masala entertainer from the times when this combination was celebrated in cinemas. Rawail gave a similar start to Kumar Gaurav and Vijayta Pandit with Love Story (1981), and he did it again with Betaab, but this time heroism was much stronger. The music plays a great part in making the narrative even more lovable. You need a perfect theme song that can be played in 3-4 different situations, and Betaab got "Jab Hum Jawan Honge" at work to do the job well. Baadal Yu Garjta Hai adds a seductive touch to this romantic drama, which was anyway trying to be sexy with fancy clothes and getups. Isiliye Maine Tumse Dosti Ki Thi is a perfect breakup song, while Tumne Di Awaj and Teri Tasveer fit perfectly in their situations. Sunny Deol is presented like a modern hero. You know, you see him half open, showing off his body, with shorts on, and that horse training scene when he arrives in Clint Eastwood style wearing the heroine's pink scarf around his neck-such a sexy vision to present the male hero. Amrita, on the other hand, starts off as a spoiled rich girl and then turns into a mature girl, a wannabe woman. Rawail's drama was maybe typical, but the mixture of multiple cliches actually looks fresh. Whoever spread the rumor that Betaab was based on Shakespeare's "The Taming Of The Shrew" needs to be bitten by Buzo. Overall, a superb romantic masala film with high repeat value, fancy frames, and super hit music.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Review By Kamal K

Superbly made film. Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh are fantastic in their first film. Sunny Deol looks lovely and yet dynamic! His horse riding and horse stunts are amazing. Amrita looks beautiful Punjabi kudi.

Rahul Rawail is master in introducing new kids. Movie remains catchy and watchable throughout. Story is narrated in a very simple manner. Camera work is beautiful.

A must watch movie.

Rahul Rawail's Betaab is memorable and wholesome entertainment. It is a love story involving a young poor, simple and humorous guy named Sunny and a spoilt, bratty rich girl called Roma. Sunny is a hard-working guy who owns a farm-house in a small rural town with his mother; Roma lives in a big mansion, and when her father buys another expansive estate, which happens to be near Sunny's farm, she eagerly rushes to check their new property. That's how they meet, and that's how begins their hate-turns-to-love romance. Little do they know that they were actually once childhood friends, and their parents maintained a close friendship until Sunny's dad went bankrupt and the families fell apart (a very stupid reason, indeed). The story takes more shape as Roma's father disapproves of their relationship. While the romantic portions are indeed the main highlight in the story, successfully resting on the youthful and refreshing presence of the two leads, the film has this persistent touch of authenticity that makes everything easy to get involved in.

Beautifully portrayed and filmed, Betaab is benefitted from breathtaking locations and extraordinary, timeless songs composed by R. D. Burman. Songs like "Jab Hum Jawan Hoge", "Apne Dil Se Badi" and "Badal Yun" are unforgettable. Where acting goes, Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh, both highly appealing, perform convincingly in their debut roles, and Shammi Kapoor and Nirupa Roy provide great support. Deol in particular is outstanding in his natural simplicity and easygoing sophistication. Betaab is a charming love story which has comedy, drama and action, and many sequences in it were enjoyable and quite fun to watch while there were also several touching moments. I might not have liked everything about this film, but I loved it for its engaging simplicity and for capturing so well the calm beauty of the rural parts of India, achieved through the tremendous setting of Sunny's farm, and efficiently aided by the many different and lovely animals, including his livestock and especially his cute pet dog. This is a heartwarming film and according to me one of the better Hindi love stories of the 1980s.

Hindi film viewer's from late 80s to early 2000s were used to staple of films starring Sunny Deol, were he portrayed numerous roles of angry young man fighting against the establishment/corrupt businesses which were lapped by the masses. Before becoming an action star with films like Arjun, Dacait & Ghayal, Sunny Deol acted in number of romantic films with Betaab being his debut film along with Amrita Singh. The plot of the film is simple and is the one that we see in majority of romantic films of its time. The film's highlight are it's scenery, melodious songs and earnest performance from all its actors (including strong performance fron its debut pair) and the director (Rahul Rawail) with this film had mastered the art of making Romantic films (with Love Story being another trend setter).

On the whole this a must watch for the fans of Sunny Deol and for the one's who would like to see him in a different role then Betaab tops the list.

Betaab hit the box office and overnight Sunny Deol became a sought after actor. Although the story by Javed Akhtar is romantically adventurous and studded with action by Rahul but the main credit must go to R.D. Burman for composing great lyrics and unforgettable songs. All of its songs are super hits and beautifully pictured especially, "Jab Hum Jawan Honge" that is filmed in a verdant valley farm house and scenic locations. The humorous content injected by the director as light comedy by Sunny and Amrita boosts the interest of the audience.

It is definitely a memorable love story which introduced and established Dharmendra's elder son as a Bollywood icon.