Shaan

Plot synopsis:
DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police) Shiv Kumar (Sunil Dutt), returns home to his wife Sheetal (Rakhee Gulzar) and their young daughter and announces that he has been transferred to Bombay. He has two brothers, Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) and Ravi (Shashi Kapoor), who live in Bombay. They are intelligent, capable guys but spend their time loafing about the city and swindling unsuspecting people. A mysterious man (Shatrughan Sinha) tries to assassinate Shiv Kumar twice in the city. Shiv survives both the times.
After being swindled by Chacha (Johnny Walker) and Renu (Bindiya Goswami), the twosome decide to join forces with them. They are quickly joined by a glamorous thief Sunita (Parveen Babi). One of their tricks eventually backfires and lands Vijay and Ravi in jail. Shiv bails them out and reads them the riot act at home. After the two attempts on his life, Vijay and Ravi advise him to find a different line of work, arguing that his profession is unpredictable, dangerous and unsuitable for a family man. Shiv stands firm, citing his undying patriotic commitment to his corps and his country.
Shakaal (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) is an international crime lord operating from a remote island outside India. Shakaal is a sadistic villain who rejoices in pain of his enemies and traitors. Shiv gets progressively closer to the root of the crimes in the city. Shakaal has Shiv brought before him. He compliments Shiv on his wits and valour, and offers him to come to the his side. True to his form, Shiv firmly refuses the offer.
Shakaal tries to kill him, but Shiv breaks loose and tries to escape from the island. Shakaal unleashes wild dogs upon Shiv and eventually shoots him dead on the beach from a helicopter. As Vijay, Ravi and Sheetal lament their tragic loss, the mysterious man who tried to kill Shiv shows up. Sheetal angrily identifies him. The man introduces himself as Rakesh, a marksman and former circus performer who used to shoot targets blindfolded. He was recruited by Shakaal to assassinate Shiv, by holding Rakesh's wife hostage.
Rakesh confesses that he deliberately missed Shiv on the two previous instances, hoping it would buy him time to rescue his wife. On realizing this, an angry Shakaal killed his wife. Rakesh sought out Ravi and Vijay so they could work together to bring down Shakaal. The trio seek the aid of a homeless cripple, Abdul (Mazhar Khan) and manage to find and destroy Shakaal's contraband warehouse in the city. Finding that Abdul was providing Ravi and Vijay with information, Shakaal has his men kill him. Enraged with the destruction of his warehouses, Shakaal kidnaps Sheetal and has her brought to his island.
Vijay, Ravi and Rakesh fume, knowing that Sheetal will almost certainly be killed and that they have no clue about the location of Shakaal's island. At this point, Jagmohan (Mac Mohan), another of Shakaal's aides who has been mercilessly crippled by him, offers his help to the group to gain entry to Shakaal's hideout.
Posing as a musical troupe (a familiar stratagem in many Bollywood films), Vijay and Ravi (with Renu, Chacha and Sunita) enter the island and perform for Shakaal. Shakaal, however, reveals that Jagmohan was sent by him to trap them. Jagmohan's fracture was a lie. Their cover is blown and they are captured. An elaborate sequence ensues as the three men escape. The trio and the widow avoid the booby traps and henchmen, ultimately capture Shakaal and finally end his ignominious existence. Shakaal, with his dying breath, sets his island hideout to blow up but the heroes escape via helicopter to safety.

Tags: good versus evil, revenge, murder, violence, flashback

Review:
5 years after the breakthrough success of SHOLAY, director Ramesh Sippy once again teamed up with Amitabh Bachchan - and this time they're taking no prisoners.
SHAAN is a grandly conceived epic of action, adventure, comedy, romance, drama and a bald supervillain who keeps a man-eating crocodile in his underground lair.Amitabh Bachchan and <some other guy> are bad guys!
But their plans of living an ordinary life are foiled when they get caught up in the investigation of super-villain Shakal, a bad guy in the best James Bond tradition played brilliantly by Kulbhushan Kharbanda.
The good bad guys have to go up against the really bad bad guys!SHAAN is like every movie ever made all rolled up into one, and barrelled through at a pace that makes the 195 minute running time seem very brief.
It's not as carefully crafted as the masterful SHOLAY, but it does provide the same kind of fun and thrills that make DON such great entertainment.
It's the kind of movie they just don't make anymore!A movie so grandiose can only work with a cast up to the task, but Amitabh rises to the occasion, oozing cool and commanding the screen most of the time.
As with SHOLAY though, the bad guy nearly upstages the heroes - he definitely has all the best lines (plus an island fortress surrounded by sharks!).SHAAN may borrow most of its elements from other movies (notably the James Bond movies), but it has enough personality of its own to make them seem fresh and special all over again.
One of the best Indian films ever made!.
I consider Shaan to be one of the best Indian films ever made.
It looks like a very professionally made film, which is quite rare in Indian Cinema.The fight sequences are very good.
Mr Sippy (the director) wisely chose to use the same style as in his previous blockbuster, Sholay.
This adds a touch of realism to the fights, as opposed to the norm in Indian films, where we get to see the hero beat-up about 20 guys on his own.Another highlight of the film was the music.
Sippy had an original music soundtrack created for this film, as opposed to stealing bits and pieces from other films.
I don't generally like the songs in Indian films, but they were quite good in this film.The cast is excellent, with everyone performing well in their roles.
I find that a lot of films with all-star casts suffer problems as the director tries to give everyone equal screen-time to the detriment of the plot.
Shatrughan Sinha's character is wisely introduced half-way through the story, thus avoiding trying to introduce too many lead-characters at the start od the film.
Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor play well off each other as always.
As usual, the female characters don't have much to do in the film, with the possible exception of Rakhee Gulzar.The villain is brilliantly played by Kulbushan Kharbanda.
It's blatantly obvious that this character (Shakal) is modelled on Blofeld from the James Bond movies, as is much of the film itself.
One gets the feeling that the Sippy was trying to create a villain that would be remembered in Indian Cinematic history in the same way as his earlier creation, Gabbar Singh.
Although Shakal is not remembered as fondly as Gabbar Singh by many people, he's still one of Indian Cinema's more memborable villains.The plot of the movie is sometimes a bit silly (for example, we get the heroes dancing with their girlfriends in a bus soon after they discover that one their family members has been murdered).
However, this is a minor criticism in an otherwise brilliant film.If you like Indian films, Shaan is essential viewing.
James Bond + Bollywood = Great Fun. Shaan is a Big budget movie from the Great Director Ramesh Sippy, who has given us the Best Bollywood film of all time Sholay.
His next film is bigger in budget and star cast.
Shaan is a Highyly enjoyable movie that has lots of comedy with action and fun.
Shaan has a classic villain Shakaal played by Kulbushan Kurbandar in his best movie of his career.
Shakaal is a james bond style villain who has his own island with guns, secret rooms, rotating chairs, sharks and crocodiles.
Shaan in full on entertainment and a must see if you haven't seen it..
Shaan has everything you would want in a film - there's comedy, drama, action, great music, and an all-star cast.
Not only that, but there also is a car chase, a hostage crisis, a shootout, a jewel heist, and a deadly marine animal!Characters include a pair of con-artist brothers who get conned themselves but end up joining their crafty foes (an uncle and niece team), another brother who just happens to be a police officer, his wife and daughter, a mischievous club singer, a hitman who turns good, a diabolical villain and his cronies, and a disabled informant.
As if the movie itself is not enough, the music is excellent as well.
"Pyar Karne Wale" is a hit as well, and fits perfectly into the movie, unlike most songs in Hindi films which just appear out of nowhere (and I must say, Parveen Babi looks great as she "sings" and dances to it in the movie).This film is a 10/10 all the way.
Shaan may be older than I am, but it's a film for the ages, and my father having a rather large video collection, Shaan being among them, I must have seen it at least a half dozen times since I was little.
If you love watching Hindi movies, but haven't seen it yet, put it on your list of ones to watch.
The biggest Indian blockbuster film!!!
Shaan tells the story of an honest inspector named DCP Shiv Kumar (Sunil Dutt) who lives a very peaceful life with his wife (Rakhee Gulzar), daughter and two brothers Ravi & Vijay.
However, later on his two brothers Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) & Vijay (Amitabh Batchchan) was persuade by a circus master and a marks man (Shatrughan Sinha) that a man called Shakal (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) who keeps a man-eating crocodile was responsible for his death.
They, however, after fighting a prolong battle of great difficulty they manage to reach the island where Shakal is holed up and killed him and also have there brother's revenge taken..
After the super duper success of Sholay the Sippy's came up with this lavish James Bond type action flick.
I really can't give the Sippy's enough credit for making Shaan so different to Sholay.
Whilst Sholay was a mesh of different genres Shaan is more or less a straight forward action epic.
You can see it's inspiration from the title sequence, which is reminiscent of the Bond movies.
Amitabh Bachan,Shashi Kapoor and Shatrughan Sinha perform well whilst Sunil Dutt and Rakhee Gulzar provide fantastic support.
Shaan also benefits from having a good number of villain character actors, from what I remember there was Dilip Tahil, Sharat Saxena,Goga Kapoor,Sudhir,Mac Mohan and quite a few more.
Kulbushan Karbanda had a tough job on his hands trying to match upto the tyrant Gabbar Singh but he delivers.
Although half of that credit goes to writers Salim Javed for creating such a fantastic villain in the form of Shakaal Let me take this opportunity to mention an interesting fact, I had seen Kulbushan Karbanda in many movies as a child and had seen Shaan over 30 times yet failed to recognise him as Shakaal because I had never seen him bald.
The songs by R.D. Burman were great, especially Pyar Karnewale and Yamma Yamma.
Salim Javed had a tough job on their jobs trying to write a script to rival their previous movie Sholay but they delivered.
The script was good but the action scenes were fabulous.
Shaan is further proof that with Amitabh on board the Sippy's can create classics, even further proof was their next venture Satte Pe Satta..
Indian James Bond film!.
If you like James Bond, you'll love it!!!Pure action, good roles, good songs!
The only good thing about this movie is that it gave us Kulbhushan Kharbanda.
Poor Ramesh Sippy tries every trick in the book but was never able to come even close to his 'Sholay (1975)' success.Watch this movie if you like rubber crocodiles..
no Sholay but definitely a good movie.
If you compare this movie with other Ramesh Sippy movies like Akayla (Amitabh, Meenakshi, Amrita, Jacjie and Aditya), Bhrashtachar (Rekha, Rajnikant and Shilpa in her debut role), Zamaana Deewaana (Shah Rukh, Raveena, Shatru and Jeetendra), Andaz (Hema, Rajesh and Shammi) this is an absolute classic.
Ramesh Sippy as a director is in good form (not topform).
R.D. Burman gave a better soundtrack than in Sholay which songs like Jaanu meri Jaan, Yamma Yamma and others.
Amitabh Bachchan is THE HERO with support from Shashi kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Sunil Dutt (in a special appearance) , Raakhee, Jhonny Walker, Parveen Babi and Bindiya Goswami.
Kulbhushan Karbanda makes a mark as Shakal bur he is no Gabbar Singh.
This movie can be best describes as Sholay in the city.
If you don't expect a Sholay this movie certainly entertains.
The story is about three brothers Sunil Dutt ( a police officer), his wife Raakhee, his two brothers Amitabh and Shahsi who are two conmen.
They get unexpected help from Shatrughan who has become a good man.
No super plot but like almost all Ramesh Sipy films the execution is perfect.
Definitely worth a watch and far far much better then the crap action movies that come out now.
Definitely worth a watch, not only for Amitabh Bachchan -the only great Indian Actor (except for Rishi Kapoor) but the supporting cast is good as well.
Watch out for the scene with Amitabh and Prakash Mehra's Raquela Padmini Kapilla in a special appearance.
All in all a very good movie.
"If you have read my reviews for Elaan-e-Jung or Return of Jewel Thief, you already know that I survived the end of Shaan.
Yes, Sippy and I had planned a sequel - Shahkaal vs Gabbar - but the box office put paid to our plans of world domination." - Shahkaal circa 2005.Ramesh Sippy is among the best Indian directors of the 70's and 80's but has had a very sporadic output in the late 80s and 90s.
Like many other directors of his time, he was caught in the downward spiral of Amitabh Bachchan's box office draw in the late 80s and 90s caused by the star's increasing desire to not allow himself to be overshadowed by other actors or a plot.Shaan was the first film to be a victim of this phenomenon.
Technically, it is among the most slickly filmed and edited films of its time, and has a very good case - Amitabh, Shatrugan, Sunil Dutt, Kulbhushan, etc.
The film has an excellent soundtrack and the first hour is very good with Sunil Dutt subduing a desperado aptly named Durjan by his parents.
However, the film is a little too long and Bindiya Goswami puts in a very cloying performance.The most important flaw is that fans did not react well to Kulbhushan Kharbanda's breakout portrayal of the villain Shahkaal.
The neighborhood kids laugh at his baldness and ironically shout "Shahkaal" behind his back and run away - not knowing that he is actually an aged super villain.
The same thing happened to Amitabh - but alas no TV comebacks for Shahkaal.
If anyone reads this, and is looking for a genuine super-villain, Shahkaal still has his chops.
The Indian blockbuster pays James Bond a visit !.
Ramesh Sippy is an excellent director.
So since his start he was determined on marring his commercial homeland cinema with the western in (Sholay), or James Bond in (Shaan).
For the first half it runs as a crime comedy, with schemes and heists, then for the second as an action about a war between 3 heroes and one super-villain imported from many Bond movies; he lives on an island (Dr. No), has an office with sharks around it (The Spy Who Loves Me), disposes of a failure henchmen by exploding his chair (You Only Live Twice), and he's bald (Blofeld).
Come with that some "Bondy" touches here and there : opening credits that roll while showing parts of the movie's events on a sexy girl's dancing body (From Russia With Love), the good guy fights a monster and beats it underwater (Thunderball), survives an alligator (Moonraker), and – sure – a theme song at the start and a ticking bomb at the end (nearly all of Bond movies !).The cinematography did grand.
Amitabh Bachchan is a walking movie industry, with unbelievable charisma and wit.
The ambition to overtop (Sholay), the most successful hit up to that point, is felt.
While (Sholay) remade (The Seven Samurai) to Indianize a western movie, now (Shaan) remade many points of Bond to westernize an Indian blockbuster and give it another flavor.
Thus it had a more than enough foreign atmosphere, looking strange sometimes, missed the human dimension, with light pain and more fun, and – unfortunately – suffered a load of cheese !Bone Cheese : There is absolutely no difference between Kapoor's and Bachchan's characters; they're the same happy-go-lucky guy, just one taller than the other !
The leading dual fight Shakaal, a *super* bad guy, the same way Sholay's leading dual was fighting Gabbar Singh; without appropriate advanced gadgets !
The villain has a secret way to release the bonds around his victims' hands hidden under his main table, why ?!
The villain dies right beside the secret key to destroy his island (strange coincidence).
While Shatrughan Sinha's character is a circus man, he can run a helicopter cleverly ?!
In terms of writing, the best addition this movie came up with was dividing James Bond, the forever *one* hero, into 3 guys.
It's someway the opposite of what Sippy did in (Sholay), when he remade the 7 Samurais with purely 2 guys.
While making 2 ends for (Sholay); one where the violence wins which was canceled by the censor, then one where the law wins which was used, this round as if he wanted to revenge, declaring that killing must be faced with nothing but killing, and he did it rightly : Shakaal tries to kill the 4 leads, so they act naturally with self-defense, finish him with 3 bullets, and make Sippy eventually happy !It's an Indian good vs.
bad blockbuster that visited Bond to borrow some super bad material.
Though, despite (Shaan)'s faults it is better than many of Bond movies (at least it has a plot !).
I had seen Shaan a lot of times on TV, since my childhood.
Coming to the film, its a very well made, long, big-budgeted, multi-starer, total blockbuster entertainment-action movie, though not being a typical bollywood one.
Its a movie of international standards (of that time).
It was directed by Ramesh Sippy after basking in the super-success of Sholay.
Its sets were humongous and like bond flick, specially the don's den.
Its direction is brilliant and Ramesh Sippy has really shown his great filmmaking skills, which only could have been done, with ample budget and no creative restrictions.
Even the music is somewhat different than typical bollywood movie.
Also, all the songs are great, specially Jaanu meri jaan and Yamma yamma, which are really evergreen.
Well, of course there were a lot loopholes in script, scenes, etc but was a daring film of 1980, trying to match up with Bond flicks, and it surely reached up a great level.
Few exceptional scenes were Sunil Dutt's capture, chase and death (best), Abdul's death and the final climax..
After SHOLAY, Ramesh Sippy returned after 5 years with SHAAN(1980) with Amitabh, Shashi, Shatru(sources say that he wanted Dharam in lead role again but things didn't work out).
The film has a decent story, starts off with Amitabh and Shashi who play conmen(in DO AUR DO PAANCH released same year too they played conmen) Sunil Dutt is their brother who is killed(in a stupid death scene) and then revenge starts.
Similar to SHOLAY, here too Shakaal the main villain is given lot of prominence,SHAKAAL is based on James Bond type films, he has an island of his own and some weird gadgets(it was very expensive set of it's time).
The first half is spent establishing characters and things take a turn when AB and Shashi alongwith Shatru seek to avenge death of Sunil Dutt.
The problem with the film was it's comparisons with SHOLAY The film may not be as epic as it but yet its quite watchable.
Also scriptwise it's not too tight yet it does seem entertaining The scenes are quite good like Amitabh bashing Goga Kapoor, the final showdown too is good, at times the film doesn't make sense too though it's forgiven for such a genre Direction by Ramesh SIppy is good Music by RD Burman is good, Yama Yama(RD BURMAN and Rafi) is exceptional, Pyaar Karnewala is a good song by Asha while Jaanu meri Jaan though oddly placed yet it's a good number with Kishore singing for Bachchan.Amitabh Bachchan is as always charismatic and cool in his role, Shashi Kapoor compliments him well,though he looks tired and older, Shatrughan Sinha's role was reportedly not in the original script yet he does well, Raakhee is as usual(for once she ws cast as Amitabh's Bhabhi),Parveen Babi and Bindiya Goswami are okay.
Khulbushan Kharbanda had done small roles before but this was his like a relaunch for him, he shaved his head bald and played his role superbly, he is simply perfect, sadly he never played roles of such calibre later Sunil Dutt is there for 1 hour in the film though he is credited as a special appearance and is okay, Amongst rest Mcmohan, Sudhir, Sudhir Pandey, Dalip Tahil, Goga Kapoor are okay, Mazhar Khan is good as Abdul Johny Walker is his usual self rest are okay