Oonche Log

Oonche Log is one of those run-of-the-mill stories that are seen in Hindi cinema. The film lacks an original script & just meanders along. Salma Agha is totally miscast as the heroine. They could have chosen Poonam Dhillon or Tina Munium opposite Rajesh.

The chemistry between the lead pair is totally absent.

Direction by Brij is shoddy, but other production vales are good. The villains - Prem Chopra & Danny are menacing, but it does not help that the hero gets beaten up the villains for the most part of the movie.

Rajesh Khanna has done his role sincerely but he cannot rise above the script. He always had an eye for great scripts so it is surprising that he agreed to take up this film.

The only saving grace is the melodious music by R.D.Burman. The Rajesh-Kishore-Pancham combination worked wonders & this is no exception.

However, the songs alone were not enough to save this film in the box office.

Oonche Log is much better in terms of storyline plot, music, performances by the actor in leading role ie.Rajesh Khanna and character actors like Danny, Prem Chopra, Pradeep Kumar , Priti Sapru, Deven Varma than its predecessors like Wuthering Lights and the boring Dil Diya Dard Liya. The Dilip Kumar starring film had lots of mistakes in the plot -how the people agree that Dilip Kumar' character is the long lost king, the mood swings in the hero etc. Oonche Log had all its songs composed by R.D.Burman as big hits but the movie flopped at the box office as Khanna had total 11 films as the lead hero releasing in 1985 and additional 3 films had him in special appearance.If there was some weakness in this film it was Salma Agha's acting, her brown hair and her slim body which does not look nice when she wears sarees but her playback voice suits the mood of the film.Another classic starring Rajesh Khanna in the lead role.May be Tina Munim or Ponnam Dhillon must have been cast opposite Khanna instead of expressionless Salma Agha.Also Khanna did not get along with Agha by the end of the shooting days as he did not like her work.This movie must be telecast more often in TV else a classic will be missed by viewers.

I don't have problems with remakes but I do not care for the stolen material specially when it is badly copied. OOnche Log is an exact line-by-line and word by word copy of a Pakistani movie "Dehleez" released in 1983. Every single character and line in the movie is duplicate but not for the better. A song, "Aaj Tu Gher Sahi", sung by Kishore Kumar is also exact duplicate of the song already sung by Mehdi Hassan. Rajesh Khanna is too old for the character he played in this movie. (Originally played by Nadeem). This is so badly copied that even camera frames, background sets and background theme is copied. This is definitely not an inspiration from Dehleeze but a bad Plagiarism.

Oonche Log review :

A remake of Dilip Kumar Saahab's 'Dil Diya Dard Liya', Oonche Log was one of the last films directed by Brij Sadanah. It starred Rajesh Khanna in Dilip Kumar's role while the pretty Salma Agha stepped in to Waheeda Rehman's role from the original.

A wealthy Thakur adopts an orphan (Khanna), who falls in love with the Thakur's daughter (Salma) when he grows up. Salma Agha's biological brother Danny hates Rajesh Khanna since childhood and then tries to eliminate him.

Danny was impressive as the villain originally portrayed by Pran Saahab. Prem Chopra lend good support. The 'O Sajna' song sung and performed by Salma Agha gained popularity.

This is one of lesser known Kaka films in his second phase in the 80s and audience remember him mainly for hits like Souten (1983) and Avtaar (1983). Oonche Log didnt meet the audience expectations and was an underperformer at the box office.

There were rumours that Kaka had a verbal tiff with Salma Agha over her costume and they were not on talking terms during the making of this film.

I caught this film on YouTube today and found it a decent fare for the 80s.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni

Brij known for Victoria 203, has taken the plot from an old Dilip Kumar movie and used it casting Super Star Rajesh Khanna in the movie. It is a good plot but lacks public liking. Rajesh Khanna looks jaded in the movie but puts in a stellar performance. The excessive use of extras mar the movie. The music by R D Burman could have been a great hit had the movie not bombed. The color technology used in the movie is unattractive and makes the movie look older than its actual release. The plus point of the movie is the portrayal of the dual characters by the Super Star Rajesh Khanna. He tries to put life into a plot used earlier. Salma Agha looks a misfit in the movie- Prem Chopra and Danny are good in their roles. But the reason for seeing the movie is R D Burman, Kishore Kumar and Rajesh Khanna. The trio have given a no of good songs in the movie and it is worth a watch-