Tawaif

Tawaif review :

The late BR Chopra's last film directed for an outside banner which turned out to be a surprise box office hit. Rati Agnihotri, playing the titular role, not only looked beautiful but also gave the best performance of her career.

The story revolved around Dawood (Rishi Kapoor) who is forced by a local goon (Kader Khan) to provide accommodation to Sultana (Rati Agnihotri) in his absence. The neighbourhood mistakes Sultana to be Dawood's newly wedded wife. Meanwhile, Dawood falls in love with Kainaat (Poonam Dhillon), a writer who in turn forms love interest of her publisher and Dawood's boss Suleiman (Deepak Parashar).

BR Chopra's direction is effective as ever and the dialogues by Rahi Masoom Raza deserve special mention.

Of the cast, Rishi Kapoor was perfectly suited to play Dawood (Dont remember any other movie with this name for a hero!!). Poonam Dhillon looked pretty. Deepak Parashar, a BR Chopra staple since Nikaah (1982), had a small part in the film and if rumours are to be believed, accused Chopra Saahab of cutting his role at the editing table.

The film however, belonged to Rati Agnihotri who was simply brilliant and it earned her a Filmfare award nomination that year (she lost to Dimple in Saagar).

I saw Tawaif on VHS sometime in late 80s. To be frank, I found it at par if not better than Chopra Saahab's Nikaah (1982), another Muslim social starring Salma Agha which was a bigger hit.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.