Today’s post is dedicated to Subhash Ghai (born: 24th January, 1945), often called as the (second?) showman after Raj Kapoor. I remember watching Aradhana (1969) and noticing a young Subhash Ghai in a scene. Starting as an actor, he moved to direction and launched his own banner Mukta Arts. It would be safe to say he left his mark on the 1980s and 90s with a slew of movies like Hero, Meri Jung, Karma, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Khalnayak, Pardes and Taal. And most of them can be termed as “grand” movies for their big budgets, star power, hit music and blockbuster status.

Kalicharan was the directorial debut of Subhash Ghai. While the movie may not be perfect, it shows his craft, perhaps indicating the grander scheme of things to come.

The Plot

Kalicharan has a simple plot. We are introduced to the villain at the very beginning. Meet Seth Deendayal (Ajit). He is fondly called as Lion (also pronounced Loin) by the whole city. The country is reeling with inflation and foodgrain prices have hit the roof. Lion has managed to hoard huge quantities of wheat through is “baniya” friends. The Government is importing wheat and the ship is expected to arrive soon. Lion assures his cronies that the ship will never reach the country. Next, a blast occurs, the ship is destroyed and the grain is gone. The titles start rolling.

Prabhakar Srivastav (Shatrughan Sinha) is a capable and non-corrupt police officer. He has managed to capture a truck driver Raghu who works for Lion’s organization. But Raghu is not ready to reveal his real boss’s / owner’s name. Raghu has a sister Sapna Mathur, who studies in Simla. Sapna thinks Raghu is a hardworking and rich man but does not know the reality and the kind of work he is associated with. Upon some emotional blackmail by Prabhakar, a desperate Raghu reveals the name of the villain as Lion. Prabhakar is aghast as Lion is Seth Deendayal , a respected big shot in the city. Later, Raghu gets shot by Lion’s men and dies in the jail.

A disturbed Prabhakar prepares his report for submitting to the Inspector General (IG) P. N. Khanna (Premnath). Prabhakar is like a foster son for Khanna. Prabhakar’s 2 children (Chinky, Pinky) are like his grandchildren. Khanna has a daughter Anju (Alka) who treats Prabhakar as her brother and is attached to the children. The children are traveling to Simla (where they study) and Anju is accompanying them on the train journey.

A confused Prabhakar goes to Khanna’s cabin but Khanna is on the phone talking to none other than Lion, who is his best friend. He considers Lion and Prabhakar as the people closest to him. Prabhakar is unable to speak and reveal his suspicions about Lion. Khanna reminds him to reach the station on time to see off his children.

In a wrong move, Prabhakar goes and directly confronts Lion, who obviously refutes all allegations. Prabhakar threatens him with some wonderful dialogue delivery. Lion counters with one of the most iconic dialogues of Hindi cinema… Saara sheher mujhe Lion ke naam se jaanta hai. He holds the same status in the city as a lion in the jungle. Prabhakar warns that a man-eater lion also gets killed and to be ready for his fate.

Prabhakar leaves for the railway station. As fate would have it, Lion arranges a hit and run accident. Prabhakar is seriously injured. Khanna receives the news at the railway station. He is unable to share the news with Anju or the children. He sees them off with a heavy heart and rushes to the hospital as soon as the train departs.

Khanna is at the hospital hoping for some positive news about Prabhakar, who may not survive the accident. He meets an old friend, retired jailor (David) at the hospital. Prabhakar dies. (But before dying, he manages to write “LION” on the hospital chart by his bedside. As it is written in reverse on the paper, it is wrongly misinterpreted as “No. 17”).

David is shocked when he looks at Prabhakar. Apparently, there is a prisoner in the New Delhi prison whose face resembles Prabhakar – a carbon copy. This is Qaidi number 511 – Kalicharan (also Shatrughan Sinha). Khanna makes some quick plans. Prabhakar’s death is kept secret. Khanna goes to New Delhi and meets Kalicharan. After lot of convincing, he manages to bring Kalicharan with him to Simla.

Kalicharan is accommodated in a guest house. Khanna tells the truth to Alka. She supports him on his mission to transform Kalicharan into DSP Prabhakar to take on the people who had killed Prabhakar. But it is not going to be easy as Kalicharan has only one mission – to escape at the earliest.

Its time for the heroine’s entry. Sapna (Reena Roy) has reached Simla for participating in a youth festival. Kalicharan manages to escape and takes a ride on top of Sapna’s bus. Through some funny scenes, Sapna manages to “capture” him and hand over to the police. Sapna is Anju’s friend and comes to meet her and Khanna. She informs Khanna about the thief she caught who calls himself Kalicharan and insists that he is a friend of Khanna. Upon hearing this, Khanna rushes to get Kalicharan released and confines him to the guesthouse. Sapna is apologetic when she comes to know this is DSP Prabhakar who Anju considers as her brother and so on.

Sapna performs a song “Jaa re jaa o harjai” in the youth festival. The lyrics seem as if she is singing for Prabhakar. Kalicharan is entertained and joins her in the dancing.

Next day, Kalicharan manages to run away again on a horse but Khanna chases and nabs him. So its back to the house and confinement. Kalicharan is frustrated. Now its time for Anju to deal with Kalicharan and make him change his ways. In filmy style, she tries to tie a rakhi to him as his sister. Kalicharan is moved and narrates his life story involving his sister. We come to know that his sister was raped and committed suicide. The culprit was Shetty (Shetty) and his friends. Kalicharan kills the friends but Shetty escapes. Anju tells him about Prabhakar’s tragic story. Finally, Kalicharan melts and agrees to be DSP Prabhakar. Khanna is relieved at the news.

But its not an easy job. Kalicharan has to meet Prabhakar’s children and behave as if he is their father. The children sing the song “Ek batta do, do batte chaar” in school and are overjoyed to see him after so many days.

Then there are other obstacles like Shaaka (superbly performed by Danny Denzongpa). He is lame in one leg and fights with a trishul (trident). And we come to know Sapna is none other than Raghu’s sister, who plans to avenge his death.

All this leading to the revelation about the No. 17 puzzle. But will Khanna be convinced that his best friend Lion is the main villain responsible for Prabhakar’s death? And will Lion remain silent? He is arranging to get rid of Prabhakar with the help of some bad men like Madan Puri, Manik Irani and last but not the least Shetty, with whom Kalicharan has old scores to settle.

The Music

The songs are written by Ravindra Jain and Inderjeet Singh Tulsi, music by Kayanji Anandji. There are only 4 songs but Jaa re jaa o harjai and Ek batta do are more famous. They were heard often on radio and TV.

My Thoughts

As mentioned, Kalicharan is a simple story but Subhash Ghai manages to make an entertaining movie primarily with a combination of the acting and dialogues. The director focuses on the story avoiding diversions like unnecessary songs and a long romantic track.

The biggest credit is perhaps to Shatrughan Sinha, who shines in the brief role of Prabhakar and then the lengthier character of Kalicharan. He is good in the emotional and action scenes, and is convincing in the comedy scenes as well. His dialogue delivery is phenomenal. He was normally associated with multi starrers and negative characters. This was his first hit as a solo hero movie.

Ajit nails it as as Lion. He portrays the menacing villain by his convincing dialogue delivery, expressions and body language. Danny Denzongpa impresses in a small but effective role. The rest of the cast pales in comparison. Reena Roy plays the typical heroine and appears in some weird costumes. Premnath talks loudly with exaggerating actions and keeps on swearing for no reason.