Qurbani

Looking for a cool, stylish, action-packed Bollywood flick with some memorable musical numbers? "Qurbani" fits the bill.

I rented this from an Indian video store in town, on the advice of my wife. The DVD is pretty easy to find and has English subtitles.

The music is exceptional. Several of the tracks were lifted for the cult-classic compilation "Bombay the Hard Way," and I was shocked at how much of that album came directly from this film. There are at least three musical numbers which will leave a vivid impression on you - particularly a disco number with trippy visuals.

The action also doesn't disappoint, and there's a leg-breaking scene that's surprisingly intense. This is one Bollywood classic that I actually think is worth owning.

Qurbani means 'sacrifice' and here it's about one man's sacrifice of his love for his friend (never mind if the girl, he loves ,

was in any case already in love with the friend!)

Anyways, the movie was a big hit of the year, primarily because of the music and a pleasantly surprize performance from Amjad Khan who plays a gum-chewing inspector constantly on the heels of both the heroes in the movie. Feroze khan carries on his Clint-Eastwood hangover in this movie as well, but does not disappoint. Vinod Khanna , highly under-rated in his times, comes up with a good performance. Zeenat is supposed to look sexy and she does that with aplomb.

Music of this movie, was a huge factor in it's success. It introduced a new singer Nazia-Hassan (a brit-pakistani) to hindi filmdom and she was an overnight star. The music director 'Kalyanji Anandji' got a new lease of life and it was also a stepping stone for 'Viju Shah' (I think he's the son of Kalyanji) to jump into the big league albeit temporarily.

Overall, a good entertainer, that was a big hit. I'd give it a 7.0/10.0.

First of all, (Amrish Puri) wore such a wig that you will never forget for the rest of your life. As a leading man, I didn't like (Feroz Khan); (Vinod Khanna) is more charismatic and persuasive in comparison. I didn't like the story either; it had lots of forced and illogical matters. And there wasn't much to pay off, or rather make you forget. For instance, just one song caught my attention; "Kya Dekhte Ho", and no action scene did.

(Feroz Khan), as a director and producer, maintained a formula of action, romance, and sex in all of his movies. With the emphasis of sex. This round, he enjoyed putting his leading lady (Zeenat Aman) in a bikini, and risqué outfits, let alone putting the disco dancers in swimsuits! For decades, the Indian cinema used to be demure and bashful when it comes to titillation. Hence what (Khan) was doing was an event. Sure he saw this as historical and profitable. However, for me, this is a shameful way whether to go down in history, or to make money!

On the other hand, the cinematography is incredibly vivid, the colors are dazzling, and the image is crystal, DVD crystal. You will notice something about the costumes of the leads, or all the cast for that matter; they are all so chic to say the least, even their sunglasses. The movie looks like a long ad about Armani (Well, the Indian Armani then!). Mostly in Bollywood, the music numbers are what used to be taken care of chromatically, but this time it's the whole movie.

While the movie got some stars, (Amjad Khan) was the one who beat them all. He did a nice role nicely, looking like a smart version of Insp. (Clouseau). Loved the moment when he was playing the drum while disguising as a hippie, or regulating a car by his bare hands while praying God.

(Qurbani) is cops and robbers stuff, with a story of a friendship. It's brainless, elegant and sexy. Smashing all box office records when it was released assures that sometimes what a movie needs to be successful entertainment is nothing but being brainless, elegant and sexy. A mix that you, along with millions, would love. But not necessarily me.

That Firoz Khan was a suave filmmaker was proved by Dharmatma which he made in the seventies. Qurbani confirmed the debonair director's skills.

Qurbani is essentially a story of friendship and sacrifice. Firoz himself and Vinod Khanna play the friends while Zeenat Aman is their common romantic interest. The story revolves around friendship, love, and there is a sub plot of underworld excesses affecting the lives of the three protagonists.

The film ends with the sacrifice of one friend. Vinod Khanna dies thus uniting Firoz Khan and Zeenat Aman forever. One of the film's songs {Aaap jaisa koi} sung by Nazia Haasan almost became a national anthem and made Nazia a legend.

Review By Kamal K

The movie serves its purpose well i.e. Entertainment...

The star cast is power packed ..be it the good guys or the bad guys... It has action , eye catching sequences and comedy And Beautiful Songs.