Raakhee Movies
Director Subhash Ghai also dreamed up the story of the Indian Ram Lakhan. Raakhee plays a widowed mother who lives for revenge. She raises her sons Ram (Jacki Shroff) and Lakhan (Anil Kapoor) with hatred in their hearts. It is her wish that her sons avenge the murder of their father. To that end, both boys become police officers, though one is far more committed to honesty than the other. Like most Indian films, Ram Lakhan is something of an endurance test for western audiences, unfolding its simple tale in an epic 186 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
The East Indian Ilaaka stars Sanjay Dutt as a young bootlegger. Orphaned at an early age, the bootlegger was raised by a criminal, thus he knows no other life than crime. Even so, he's an affable sort, and as such becomes good friends with police inspector Mithun Chakraborty. Once the inspector discovers what the bootlegger is up to, he attempts to reform the boy. Ilaaka was one of three Indian films released in 1989 to feature the precociously talented young actor Sanjay Dutt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Shiv Kumar is a responsible man who takes care of his wife and children, and devotes himself tirelessly to his job as a police officer. He also lives with his two directionless brothers, Ravi and Vijay, who eek out a living as con-men. Everything changes, however, when Shiv is killed. Angry and broken hearted at the loss of their brother, Ravi and Vijay turn over a new leaf, giving up their waywardness in order to hunt down the man who took Shiv's life. What they find, however, might be even more than these two ruthless men can handle. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Three men become unlikely heroes in the midst of a disaster in this grand-scale drama from India. Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) is a former Naval officer who, after a deadly episode at sea, was forced to leave the military in disgrace; humiliated and suicidal, Vijay has taken a job in a coal mine, relishing the dangerous work with an attitude that borders on the suicidal. Mangal (Shatrughan Sinha) is a convicted felon who escaped from custody and found work in the mine along side Vijay. And Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) is an engineer who is attempting to improve the deplorable conditions of the coal mines, but runs into severe interference from the mercenary owners of the facility. When disaster strikes at the mine, trapping hundreds of men below the surface, Ravi must devote all his strength, imagination, and courage to find a way to bring the men back to safety, while Vijay and Mangal struggle to help rescue their co-workers and find redemption under trying and perilous circumstances. Kaala Patthar was inspired by a real-life mining catastrophe, and director Yash Chopra brought in top-rank special-effects men from the United States to give the mine sequences the necessary realism. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, (more)
- 1977
Filled with difficult plot twists, Daag tells the story of a young Indian couple, who experience an uncommon number of reverses and setbacks in the course of their lives. When the husband accidentally kills a man bent on ravishing his wife, or at least ruining her honor, he is carted off to jail. Before he can arrive safely in jail, he has an accident which leads everyone to believe he must be dead. The wife, now pregnant with their child, earns her living for some years as a schoolteacher until the administration all of a sudden decides that having the wife of a murderer teach their children is not a good idea. She is taken in by a friend, who has been married all this time to the first woman's theoretically dead husband -- who now lives under a new identity. Soon, even more things happen to this fateful couple. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, (more)
- 1974
Sanjay (Raakhee), the young man in this film, reminisces about his life during a pilgrimage journey to Benares while he is on the train from Bombay. Given a love of railroads early in his life by his father, when family circumstances force him to abandon his quest to become an artist, he is quite happy to support the family as a train conductor. This film is noteworthy for accurate and humorous images which accurately depict everyday life in India. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Reshma and Shera is a romantic drama from India. Well received by the critics, it tells a Romeo and Juliet-like love story and along the way sheds light on the plight of Indian widows, who are not allowed to remarry. This film is beautifully photographed and is filled with colorful insights into Indian village life. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
