Vidhaata

Plot synopsis:
Shamsher Singh (Dilip Kumar), his son Pratap Singh (Suresh Oberoi), and daughter-in-law lead a happy life in an Indian village. Shamsher works as an engine driver with his friend Gurbaksh Singh (Shammi Kapoor). Pratap is appointed as the new inspector-in-charge of the village but is killed brutally by Jagawar Chaudhary (Amrish Puri), a notorious local smuggler, after Pratap refuses to help Jagawar in his illegal activities. Seeing his son dead, Shamsher Singh is enraged and he kills some of Jagawar's goons whom he had seen throwing his son's dead body in the forest. When he is about to inquire from one of Jagawar's men about the person behind his son's murder, he is stopped by the police and is asked to surrender; Shamsher somehow manages to escape. His daughter-in-law dies while giving birth to Kunal Singh (Sanjay Dutt).
Shamsher takes his grandson Kunal and leaves his village to hide from the police. In the hope of making quick money, to secure his grandson's future, Shamsher starts working for Sir Mizya (Shreeram Lagoo), a powerful underworld don, and takes on a new identity as Sir Shobraj. Over the course of time, he becomes a wealthy and powerful smuggler and the chairman of the Mizya Group.
Meanwhile, Kunal grows up under the strict supervision of Shamsher's loyal employee Abu Baba (Sanjeev Kumar). He falls in love with Durga (Padmini Kolhapure), a beautiful slum girl and the daughter of one of Shamsher's old employee Ganpat. However, things take an ugly turn when Shamsher Singh disagrees to let Kunal marry Durga because of her being from a poor background; he instead warns Durga's mother (Sudha Shivpuri) to leave the city with her daughter or else face serious consequences.
Although Durga is unwilling to leave at first, she later agrees to sacrifice her love and leaves with her mother in a ship to Goa where Shamsher's men try to rape her. Abu Baba comes to their rescue and saves them but is killed by Shamsher's men with the help of Jagawar, who has become a powerful smuggler of Goa. Kunal is devastated after seeing Abu Baba's dead body and promises to take revenge. His investigations into Abu Baba's death eventually lead to the true identity of his grandfather and about his father's killers.

Tags: revenge, murder

Review:
Excellent performances by one and all. Vidhaata is a very enjoyable Hindi movie of its time. Subhash Ghai gathers some of the greatest talents of those times, including Dilip Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Sanjeev Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, and Amrish Puri. The story is quite an interesting one, and the development is very well brought out. The film does veer into formulaic caricature from time to time. Much of the action borders on the fantasy, but then it is well made up for by some intriguing twists. One scene between Amrish Puri and Dilip Kumar, which involves the explosion of a car, is greatly entertaining. Unfortunately the second half is marred by proceedings which are uncalled for. Similarly, the love story involved is not very convincing and contributed little to the story.The main high-point of this picture is unquestionably the acting. No one can ever doubt Dilip Kumar's extraordinary acting prowess, and in this film he turns in what I consider his best work of the decade (along with Shakti). He is tremendous as Shamsher, a simple working man who turns into a mafia don. This is one of the few Hindi movies where such a transformation is credible and, without question, due credit for this should go to the actor himself for his renowned ability to portray complex characters with rare, natural ease and realism. As his character adopts a new name and identity, he appears greatly stylish and sophisticated, but his immense love for his grandson and the pain over the loss of his son are utterly convincing. This is just another understated performance, which never fails to leave a lasting impact on the audience.The rest of the cast are there to support the screen legend in his author-backed role, and all do well. Sanjeev Kumar is unsurprisingly dependable in a small supporting role, and Amrish Puri is excellent in a villainous part which is slightly better than his usual parts of this sort. Sanjay Dutt makes a confident debut, and he is well paired with the beautiful Padmini Kolhapure, even if the two are the least impressive here. The one who almost, if not totally, manages to steal the show, however, is the wonderful Shammi Kapoor, whose well-etched comic part provides the main glimmer of relief in an otherwise heavy story. He is simply brilliant as Shamsher's age-long and loyal friend, soulfully portraying the wholesome, admirable kindness of the character and exuding warmth at all levels.Vidhaata is like many films of its kind but at the same time it is a cut above the usual fare presented at the time. In this sense, it is a very good film well worth seeing. Ultimately it is the acting, particularly by Dilip Kumar and Shammi Kapoor, which elevates it to an altogether different level and more than makes up for its flaws.. Dilip Kumar and Ghai numero uno jodi. In 1981 Dilip Kumar made a comeback with Kranti which was a blockbuster, it was followed by Shakti which got him acclaim, Vidhaata too released in same year in 1982 and was directed by Subhash Ghai who was also in top form that time. The film is well handled by Ghai and has several great dramatic moments, the clash between DK and Amrish Puri is awesome The film also had Sanjay Dutt in his 2nd film, in the time when his drug phase was on an all time high which caused Ghai several problems anywayz back to the film the film is superb and was a huge hit when released..Direction by Ghai was awesome, DK and Ghai worked again in Karma,Saudagar.etc Music was goodDilip Kumar is exceptional in his role,which only he could portray. Sanjay Dutt in his 2nd film is awful, his unsteady body language,awful dialogue delivery plus his drug addiction took a toll on his career that time Padmini Kolhapuri is good, Amrish Puri is superb, he mostly played the villain in films with DK in post 80s. Madan Puri is good,Sanjeev Kumar,Shammi Kapoor are all superb