Be-Shaque was released in 1981, the golden age of horror and thriller. I remember, my uncle would listen to Be-Shaque songs on his gramophone before heading to office every morning, and I enjoyed the tracks like 'Haseen Haseen Wadiyon' sung emotionally by Anwar and a pleasant duet 'Preetam Tum Mere Rahoge Sada' by Suresh Wadkar and Usha Khanna while I played with my cousins. Recently the film got aired on a movie channel at an odd time slot. Since I wasn't sleepy and the following day was Sunday, I decided to give it a try. Here is what it's all about.
A woodcutter Lakkhi (Mohan Choti) is out in the forest to collect some woods. He witnesses the murder of a wealthy youth Shyam Sunder (Vinod Mulani) and decides to break the news in the village. He gathers everyone and takes them to the murder spot. He is bewildered to see that what was Shyam Sunder's corpse moments ago, has now miraculously changed into a dead bear. The police arrive and begin investigating the case. The police officer (Suresh Chatwal) has no clues about the murder as he only manages to scrap some samples of human blood from the site of incident. The inspector questions Shyam's widowed step-mom Nirmala (Sonia Sahani) about Shyam's lifestyle, but gets little help from her. Nirmala tells him that Shyam was fond of hunting and was more of a rolling stone. Her daughter Roopa (Yogeeta Bali) is a loner and loves to spend most of her time roaming in the fields and woods with Khokhu (Master Prakash), the son of Nirmala's old and trusted servant Gopal (Amrish Puri). Nirmala is secretively involved with Mishra ji (Jalal Agha), a wretched and cunning neighbor. Mishra usually sneaks into Nirmala's palatial house at night so as to keep his illicit affair with Nirmala a secret.
Some days after the murder, we meet Prakash (Mithun Chakraborty), who has just arrived in the village for Shyam. He meets Nirmala and tells her that he owes some money to Shyam and has come all the way long to return it. Nirmala is suspicious about Prakash, but has nothing against him. Soon Prakash and Roopa begin meeting each other and Khokhu becomes their trusted messenger. Gopal doesn't like Prakash and always keeps an eye on him. We also come across an abandoned house at the outskirts of the village, which is believed to be haunted. Nobody knows who sealed the house and why. As the mystery deepens, we see various hidden facets of the entire story. Here, something is not as it seems to be.
Be-Shaque boasts lush cinematography, and a murder mystery set up in the backdrop of rural India surely deserves a watch. Kashinath has showcased his directorial abilities accurately. Mithun and Yogeeta (the real couples) are nice on screen and go quite amicably. Amirish Puri, Mohan Choti, Jalal Agha, Sonia Sahani and above all Shakti Kapoor need an honorable mention for their shares. The sharpest edges of this thriller cum murder mystery are the locations and versatile acting by all the characters. During the early 80s, the common theme of murder mysteries revolved around urban locales, where a masked killer would continue to murder hapless victims to satisfy his/her sinister urges. Here we don't have a masked assailant with a drenched raincoat and a mean nifty hat or a cheroot to pronounce the killer's vicious identity, but rather a very simple and easy setup. Be-Shaque has a plenty of atmosphere (Ah..Did somebody say 'Gehrayee'?) and the simple lifestyle of the village-men has been used as a deadly cover-up. You always bet on the simplicity of the village-men. A clumsy person is labeled 'Desi' sometimes. Now here, you've got to face the same Desi stock that is far clever than your imagination (Oh..Did somebody say '2000 Maniacs?). As far as I am concerned, I never grew up beyond the early 80s. Be-Shaque has a complex plot, but the director knows to put it simple. Overall Be-Shaque can be watched for its lead pair, bunch of versatile actors, melodious songs, lifelike cinematography, active plot and atmosphere. Oh...Did I cover everything?
