Karz (1980): Rishi Kapoor, Tina Munim, Simi Garewal

[piyaara]

  Ravi Verma is a millionaire who lives with his mum and sister in Ooty and has just been confirmed as the owner of the house and tea estate in a case against a baddie, Mr Juda. Sir Juda(as he is known) has a cunning plan which is to use Ravi's girlfriend, Kamini, to kill him off after marriage.  He communicates via a form of morse code unknown to man, as he has no tongue.  Kamini(Simi Garewal) agrees knowing that she'll never have to go down the shops for tea again, oh and Sir Juda taps out that she will end up like the lawyer who bungled the case, a bit dead.  Married and returning to the family palace with his new wife, a suprised Ravi is run over several times by Kamini near a roadside shrine, making his mother call upon the Goddess to bring back her son in her lifetime.  Enter Monty(Rishi Kapoor) an orphaned singer, managed to great effect by a Mr Oberoi who is more interested in the money than giving him love.  Monty falls for a servant-maid played by Tina Munim who returns to Ooty while he is still singing a song.  During another concert he starts playing a song that Ravi Verma loved and he gets flashbacks of his previous birth.  His doctor advises complete rest and advised by his friend he chooses Ooty for recuperation but mainly to find Tina.  Whilst he finds and romances Tina, he also realises he is the reincarnated Ravi Verma and with the help of Kabir(Pran) goes about to make Kamini now known as 'Queen' confess to her crime.

 This is an enjoyable film.  Rishi is wonderfully expressive and wears some really silly costumes at times.  Tina was perhaps a bit too young, I mean she's still at school!!  Though she was quite cute, reminding me of Karishma Kapoor at times.  Simi was good as the tragic character(she won an award for Best Supporting Actress), reminding me of a woman who works on the kiosk in my workplace.  I loved her voice and I actually felt sorry for her character Kamini.  Pran reminded me of Gulshan Grover in looks for some reason.

 While the music by Lamikant Pyarelal won an award for best music, it's probably Ek Hasina Thi that stands out.

 Subhash Ghai manages to appear at the beginning and discusses Karz in 'A making of' feature on the DVD with Rishi Kapoor and Amrita Arora. 

 Enjoyable with a bit of melodrama, it just might be your cup of tea...


 The usual pics:

Ravi Varma, a man born to die to live again and probably die again and then...



The lovely Kamini, thinking over the morality of doing a dirty deed for money...oh all right then...



Pinky and Ravi's mum telling the returning Ravi that they'll put the kettle on...   



Just when Kamini thought it was safe, up pops Monty as the reincarnated Ravi...



Monty's inspiration, Tina...



Mr Oberoi. Monty's agent and adopted father...



'Sir' Juda, a Dada with communication problems...



Kabir, Tina's 'uncle' a local gangster who has his own reasons for helping Monty...   



Rishi makes his appearance via a record arm...



Progressive funky graphics...



A dramatic entrance...

   

Guess what the theme is?



Item number time. No idea who it is though...



Yep, they do follow Kabir's instructions...

[CesmiSiyah]

Subhash Ghai manages to appear at the beginning and discusses Karz in 'A making of' feature on the DVD with Rishi Kapoor and Amrita Arora. 

Enh? Why?

Item number time. No idea who it is though...

Looks like Bintu, not sure though.

[piyaara]

 Bintu.  Thanks for the info CS.  I think Amrita as a VJ and actress maybe got to interview both Subhash and Rishi.  Oh, Ok... I don't know...

[CesmiSiyah]

She really seemed random but that makes sense, if she got to inteview them.

[stimpy]

No that's Aruna Irani. I always recognize her by the mole on her jaw. She was one of the Queens of item numbers along with Bintu and the forever H-bomb Helen. She's been in a busload of films.



Here in Bobby.



In later films she often played evil step mothers and the like, but sometimes more sympathetic characters like Madhuri's dance teacher in Dil To Pagal Hai.

[CesmiSiyah]

Gosh, I don't believe I got them mixed up, that's right! Thanks stimpy. She also appeared in Hameesha as Saif's friends nanny and was really creepy IIRC.

[amit]

This was a big hit when it came out and the songs are still nice to listen to. This was inspired by the HW movie The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, which I find a bit amusing since the theme of rebirth/reincarnation is more common and less unpalatable in Indian culture/religion. All in all, a solid, entertaining movie with good performances.

[filmifan]

ok, Piyaara has already given a great synopsis of the Kali Ma reincarnation plot, so my reactions…

i knew i’d get a decent timepass out of this movie when the villain was shown tapping out his dialogues on a drinking glass and Simi Garewal was cast as the vamp (aka 'the Queen').

i knew i’d really like this movie when the opening credits--the song 'Paisa Ye Paisa’--showed Monty (Rishi) wearing a gold lamé outfit while doing naach-gaana in front of a huge 1-rupee coin, to music which i think includes a Caribbean steel pan.

i knew i’d LOVE this movie when the ‘Om Shanti Om’ song began. the stage floor is a large rotating record and Rishi--again, in a sparkly gold outfit--comes in the frame on the record player tone arm!! then Pran is introduced and thankfully he’s a good guy; one who also loves couplets and--during a favorite part which Piyaara screencapped--tells Monty and Tina (Tina Munim) that it’s time for them to go do a duet, which of course leads into the next song.

the Laxmikant-Pyarelel soundtrack is a strong one; the only negative may be that ‘Main Solah Baras Ka’--with its underage theme and Rishi factor--reminded me of Bobby.

but beyond the shiny gold outfits and disco balls, Karz has a solid story. Monty is not only an incarnation but an orphan, and he laments early on to a friend that he’s always felt this intense emptiness from never having a mother’s love. so i read the story as being more about Monty finding his own familial bond--particularly maternal--than it is revenge for all the evil-doings done to his family in his past life (not that that isn't a theme as well). this could be said for many reincarnation films, but Ghai really lays on the Mother symbolism/mythology here. be sure to check out the artwork throughout the film; there are several mother-and-child paintings, one of a mother breastfeeding her baby which Subhash Ghai purposely frames in the shot with Monty twice, and a rather risqué nude that is spliced in during a violent moment.

the performances are pretty compelling. Tina is mostly cute, but Rishi gets to play romance, angst, and cruelty. i can understand why Simi won a Filmfare for this. you do feel slightly for her when it comes down to the revenge plan in the latter part, and i think that empathy is solely due to what Simi brought to the role.

Other brief points:

- Ooty is a beautiful area.

- Raj Kiran was also one of the idiot brothers in Dariya Dil, where i found him completely unappealing. but for Karz --filmed a few years earlier--he was a great casting choice for Monty’s previous identity. if you slapped a moustache on Rishi there’d be a strong resemblance between their manner and physical build. And honestly, casting two different actors for reincarnation plots is more ‘realistic’ (not that I don’t love watching certain people playing dual roles ).

- this is easily my favorite Subhash Ghai film so far.

- in how many films did Rishi play a frame drum, for heaven’s sake?

[Poonam]

Jo - Ooty (full name :Ootacamund as bestowed by the Brits, decolonialised as Udhagamandalam by the State govt, but best known as Ooty to ordinary Indians) used to be abeautiful hill-station, I've been there several times and once witnessed a film shooting - a song sequence by Sridevi! It became the favoured spot for romantic duets by BW after militancy made Kashmir too dangerous. The British used to move there during the summer months from Madras (Chennai). It has lots of lovely heritage homes though sadly many have now given way to 'modernisation'. If I'm not mistaken , another wonderful film, 'Sadma', starring Kamalhasan and Sridevi was also shot there almost completely.

[filmifan]

yeah, Ooty was really lovely with the lakes, hills, and lush tea gardens. Sadma is on my watch list as well so i hope it was shot there.

one other thing i was thinking about with this movie and its Ma theme is the scene where Ravi Verma dies.

Spoiler (hover to show)

on first watch, i found it funny that the poor guy's last thought was seeing the large heart-shaped 'Just Married' sign on the front of the jeep repeatedly coming at him to smash him into the Kali Ma murti. but considering that Kamini was preparing to kill him as he lectured her on how to touch his mom's feet when they got to his house, it's almost like Ravi's death is a tongue-in-cheek statement that a bride's first wifely act is to destroy her husband's bond with his mother.

or maybe i'm still discombobulated by all the glare-inducing gold costumes. 

[Darshana]

I haven't seen this one but it sounds as if this is a prime piece of homework for OSO.

[Specsy]

I haven't seen this one but it sounds as if this is a prime piece of homework for OSO.

Yes, but I think more for any references Farah might make because the words "Om Shanti Om"  are associated with Karz then because of any common reincarnation or stylistic themes. And of course Rishi Kapoor's performing outfits.

[Usha]

song and dance sequens from Karz

http://youtube.com/watch?v=r5BjJrTffO0

[Dil Bert]

I haven't seen this one but it sounds as if this is a prime piece of homework for OSO.

Yeah, I wished I'd seen Karz before OSO.  I just watched the old one in preparation for the new Karz. 

The second half was much more enjoyable than the first as the pace picked up quite a bit.