Khud Daar

Plot

Govind (Amitabh Bachchan) and Rajesh (Vinod Mehra) are two brothers who are happy being brought up by their considerably older stepbrother Hari (Sanjeev Kumar). However, when Hari has to leave home for two months to complete his law degree, his newly married wife Seema (Tanuja), jealous of her husband's excessive affection for the two, illtreats them, forcing them to leave home and escape to Mumbai.

After days spent doing menial labour, the two brothers are finally given a home by the widower Rahim (A. K. Hangal), who has a son Anwar and daughter Farida. Govind takes on the responsibility of providing for his brother's education by becoming the taxi-driver Chhotu Ustad. Rajesh, however, is ambitious and foppish, and spurns his brother and the latter's pride by marrying the rich Seth Verma's daughter Manju (Bindiya Goswami) and staying at his father-in-law's mansion.

Verma's brother Bansi (Prem Chopra), who has actually been instrumental in fixing up this marriage, employs the unsuspecting Rajesh to carry on a drug-smuggling trade using the vehicles of the Verma Transport Company, owned by the Seth. One such operation is foiled by the police, and Anwar, also mixed up in his business, is left seriously injured. Bansi's men attempt to kidnap Anwar to destroy evidence when Govind is not at home. In the skirmish that ensues, Rahim is shot fatally.

In the aftermath of the tragedy and Rajesh's realisation of how he has been used by Bansi, Rajesh seeks his brother's mercy. However, at this very moment, Bansi murders Seth Verma and tries to frame Rajesh for it. However, it is Govind who is found at the scene of the crime and accused of murder. The judge at his trial is Hari, who is now one of the leading legal eagles in the city. In the course of the trial, the real identity of the accused and his brother are revealed to Hari. Hari now steps down as judge and becomes Govind's defense attorney. Through a series of astute investigations, he unearths the truth. Bansi, cornered, attempts to shoot Hari and escapes the courtroom, but is finally tracked down by Govind in his beloved taxi 'Basanti'. As the smuggler is arrested, the three brothers are reconciled.

Cast

Production

Anwar Ali had met and became good friends with Amitabh Bachchan during their time working together in "Saat Hindustani", Bachchan's debut film. It was this friendship that was responsible for Bachchan landing the lead role in "Bombay to Goa", a 1973 movie that was made by Mehmood, Anwar Ali's elder brother, and in which Ali also starred.

In 1980-81, Ali had fallen into substantial financial difficulties after Mehmood threw Ali out of his house, his production company, and even took away his car keys. A friend of Ali's eldest brother Usman Ali agreed to help him financially if he succeeded in getting a confirmation letter from Amitabh Bachchan for a film.

Gathering his wits, Ali went to meet Amitabh and explained his situation. Amitabh immediately agreed to work for him, even agreeing to foregoing his signing amount. His only condition was that the scriptwriter would be of his choice. Amitabh's first pick were the writing pair of Salim-Javed, who had penned many of Bachchan's superhit films. But the writing duo's price was too high for Ali to afford and so Amitabh approached another of his writer friend, Kader Khan. Khan agreed and after Ravi Tandon was picked as the director, work on "Khud-Daar" began.

The female lead was originally intended to be a Maharashtrian woman, with Rekha being the prime candidate for the role. But things didn't work out and Parveen Babi was signed. With Babi's involvement, the female lead character was changed to a Christian woman. Ali also signed his elder brother Mehmood for a small role in the film, for which Mehmood demanded and was paid his full market price. In contrast, Bachchan, the star of the movie settled for only a fraction of his normal price.

The production first hit a snag when Parveen Babi left the movie halfway after she became a follower of Rajneesh (Osho), a spiritual guru who had an ashram in Pune and who had many followers, including Bollywood star Vinod Khanna.

Later the movie ran into financial trouble, and after Mehmood refused to help Ali with the financing, he resorted to parterning with F.K. Rattonsey who provided the money to complete the film.

During shooting of the song "Mach Gaya Shor", at the insistence of the dance director, Amitabh tried to break the earthen pot (matki) with his head and ended up getting a nasty cut on his forehead which required several stitches.

Release and Reception

"Khud-Daar" was completed and released in 1982, the same year that also saw the release of four other movies starring Bachchan, namely "Namak Halaal", "Shakti", "Satte Pe Satta", and "Desh Premee".

"Khud-Daar" however was released during the month when Amitabh was admitted in Breach Candy Hospital after suffering a life-threatening accident on the sets of "Coolie".

The movie performed extremely well, running to packed houses and becoming one of the highest grossing movies of that year.

Soundtrack

All the songs were composed by Rajesh Roshan and lyrics were penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The song "Maa Ka Pyar" was recorded but did not appear in the finished film. The song "Mach Gaya Shor" was originally recorded in Amitabh's voice, but was later redone with Kishore Kumar helming the vocals