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Prakash Mehra was responsible for some of the biggest commercial blockbusters ever. We reintroduce you to five of his greatest…
Zanjeer (1973)
This film single-handedly brought about superstardom for Amitabh Bachchan. His angst-filled role of an honest police inspector forced to take the law in his hands due to circumstances beyond his control has been the prototype for most gritty cop roles ever since. The story goes that everyone from Dev Anand, Raaj Kumar to Dharmendra were approached for the role but declined it due to one reason or the other. It fell to Bachchan to enact it and he literally scorched the screen with his smouldering performance. The film was also noted for Pran’s Pathan act, and is also remembered for Ajit’s gentleman villain persona. Yaari hai imaan mera song, picturised on Pran is famous even today.
Hera Pheri (1976)
Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna played two con men who duped gangsters and executed their own brand of street justice. This tale of urban Robin Hoods was accentuated by some great camaraderie between Bachchan and Khanna. Both deadpanned handsomely in this action comedy and came on top. The campiness of the film would have felt cheesy in the hands of other actors but their superlative acting elevated it. The film has a great comic duet, Waqt ki hera pheri hai sung by Kishore Kumar and Mahendra Kapoor.
Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)
Mehra knew the pulse of the masses like no other filmmaker of his era. In this modern reworking of the Devdas story, he turned Devdas from a drunken loser to a street smart tough guy who knows how to throw back a punch or two when life comes knocking. He turned Devdas into Sikandar and even gave him a victory anthem – Rote hue aate hain sab, hasta hua jo jayega, who muqqadar ka sikandar, jaaneman kehlayega… Raakhee played the Paro quotient while Rekha played the Chandramukhi like golden hearted tawaif called Zohra begum. Vinod Khanna was the do-gooder suitor of Raakhee, whose love she reciprocates.
Laawaris (1981)
The film had Bachchan playing a child born out of wedlock who wrestles with his illegitimate status all his life and wants nothing more than to find out his true ancestry. This melodrama had the superstar appearing in drag in the hit song Mere angne mein. It’s still a much loved melody played at most wedding functions.
Namak Halaal (1982)
Amitabh Bachchan played a devoted body guard to Shashi Kapoor in this comic caper. This one line description doesn’t actually do justice to the comic interludes present in this laugh riot. It was all held together by some superlative acting by the ensemble cast comprising Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Waheeda Rahman, Parveen Babi and Smita Patil. It saw the unusual pairing of Amitabh and Smita, the top commercial and art cinema stars of the era. Their raunchy rain song, Aaj rapat jaayen still remains a favourite even after all these years.
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