Retro Review: Qurbani

The year 1980 saw the entry of one of the biggest hits of its time.It is said that the music of this movie ushered in the "Disco Revolution" in India which lasted for many years to come and the remnants of it can still be seen today.

Published: Monday,Feb 25, 2013 19:37 PM GMT-07:00

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The year 1980 saw the entry of one of the biggest hits of its time. It is said that the music of this movie ushered in the "Disco Revolution" in India which lasted for many years to come and the remnants of it can still be seen today. It boasted of a popular cast such as Feroz Khan, Vinod Khanna, Zeenat Aman, Amjad Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Aruna Irani, Amrish Puri, and Kader Khan, and exposed Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor and Amrish Puri to mainstream Hindi cinema.

We, of course, are speaking of Qurbani.

Directed and produced by Feroz Khan (under the banner of FK International), Qurbani quickly catapulted to the top of the box office and reigned at the top

spot for a very long time. It's direction, urban setting, music and foreign locales, as well as upmarket images, made it stand out amongst its contemporaries upon its release.

The film is about Rajesh (Feroz Khan), a thief who is caught by Inspector Amjad Khan (Amjad Khan) right at the beginning of the story. At this time, Amar (Vinod Khanna), a member of Rakka's (Amrish Puri) gang, is introduced and he has a daughter. He meets Sheela (Zeenat Aman) and falls in love with her, though she loves Rajesh. In jail, Rajesh is hired by Vikram (Shakti Kapoor) and Jwaala (Aruna Irani) to raid Rakka's treasury and steal back their money. Meanwhile, Amar has left Rakka's gang. When Rajesh is released from jail, he meets Vikram and refuses to perform the job. Amar comes across this conversation and engages in a fight with Vikram which eventually chases him away, thus, Rajesh and Amar meet for the first time and become friends. However, Vikram kidnaps Amar's daughter and assaults Amar which leads to Rajesh agreeing to do Vikram's job. Rajesh and Amar carry out this robbery but due to unfortunate consequences, they call their friendship quits. The rest of the story centers around the robbery and eventually climaxes around it as well..

Qurbani garnered a lot of success and earned itself the title of a blockbuster hit. It's songs were popular and sold the most number of records and tapes that year. The movie received several nominations and two awards. Nazia Hassan received a Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for "Aap Jaisa Koi" and P. Harikishan won a Filmfare Best Sound. Vinod Khanna received a nomination for Filmfare Best Actor, Amjad Khan for Filmfare Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Kalyanji-Anandji for Filmfare Best Music, and Kanchan for "Laila O Laila" for Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer.

Did You Know?

The role of Amar was initially offered to Amitabh Bachchan but he refused and so it was offered to Vinod Khanna
To draw shock from the audience during a time when not many people in India had seen a Mercedes, a Mercedes Benz was decimated in an underground parking lot
UK stunts were designed and arranged by James Dowdall, photographed by Eric Van Herren and produced by Nick Farnes who, along with James Dowdall, wrote the UK scenario
Qurbani was remade in Tamil as Viduthalai in 1986 by producer K. Balaji and was shot in USA but the film flopped

It has been 33 years since the movie released and while it may be forgotten, its songs are still quite popular today. Remixes of "Laila O Laila" and "Aap Jaisa Koi" are still heard in clubs and parties and the song "Qurbani Qurbani" is a favourite of many friends and their parties.

Author: Shreya S.
Editor: Jenifer Y.
Graphics: Virina R.