Hamraaz

Plot synopsis:
Kumar (Sunil Dutt) is a well-known stage actor in Bombay, who performs plays along with his partner Shabhnam (Mumtaz). While on a trip to scenic Darjeeling, he meets and falls in love with Meena (Vimi), the only daughter of a wealthy military contractor, Verma (Manmohan Krishna). Shortly thereafter, Kumar and Meena get married and return home to Bombay. Four years later, Meena's dad passes away after telling her something that he had hidden.
Soon, Kumar notices that Meena does not accompany him to the stage any more, and excuses herself on the pretext of being ill. He finds clues that suggest that she is meeting somebody else on the sly. Suspicious, Kumar makes the excuse of going to Pune, and instead dons a beard and goes by the name of S.N. Sinha. He checks into a hotel, and writes his name in the hotel register. That night, he returns to his home, to find the door open, and before he can investigate anything, he hears a gunshot. Kumar runs into the room and finds Meena dead, shot in her chest.
Enraged, he decides to call the police station, but realizes that he will be implicated in the murder - his fingerprints are on the gun, he is in disguise, and he is next to the body. Kumar returns to the hotel instead, and smokes a lot of cigarettes. The case is assigned to Inspector Ashok (Balraj Sahni), and the next day, when Kumar "returns" to Bombay, Ashok observes that Kumar knows which room the body is in, without being told by anyone.
The coconut seller near Kumar's house says that he saw a bearded man in the area the night of the murder, and the owner of the hotel which Kumar had checked into calls the police, saying that a bearded man had checked into his hotel. The cigarettes that Kumar had smoked are recovered, and handed over to Ashok. When he visits Kumar at his house the next day, Kumar offers him the same brand of cigarette, rousing his suspicion. Soon, more clues surface, pointing at Kumar as the killer.
In a fit of haste, Kumar decides to run away from the growing suspicion of Inspector Ashok. His friend, lawyer Jagmohan (Iftekhar), says that he will now definitely be implicated as the murderer of Meena. Desperate, he finds a clue about the suspected killer from his home - a key with room number of a hotel. Kumar visits the room as a last attempt to clear things before he is caught. There, he meets Captain Rajesh who calms him down and tells him that none of them is the real killer. He tells Kumar that he is his wife's first husband, who was supposedly killed on the front, and how he wanted her to acquire their illegitimate child, Sarika, because she wouldn't be able to raise a child born out of wedlock.
Captain Rajesh tells Kumar that whoever the killer is, he was seen by Sarika because she was present in the room where Meena was murdered while both mother and daughter were playing and their activities being recorded by a video camera. Together, they try to find the girl, eventually tracing her to Ooty. Unknown to them, Inspector Ashok is on their trail. Soon, they both are arrested by him with the help of Ooty Police. Kumar explains his case, and they try to find Sarika, and she is at the house of a man called Tejpal (Madan Puri), who tries to run away from there. Shabnam and Jagmohan arrive with the videotape of the night that Meena was murdered. It is revealed that Tejpal is the killer, but he quickly draws a gun and picks up Sarika, threatening to kill her should any of them try to stop him.
Captain Rajesh manages to save Sarika from Tejpal, but he is shot twice by the latter. Now free to attack him, Ashok draws his gun and shoots Tejpal, and Kumar rushes over to Captain Rajesh. Tejpal is killed by Ashok and Sarika is safe. Captain Rajesh dies, and at the end of the movie, Kumar tells Shabnam that he cannot work - Meena was his only inspiration. Shabnam shows him Sarika sitting in Meena's seat, and he embraces Shabnam.

Tags: romantic, murder

Review:
Wonderful suspense thriller with beautiful songs.
The movie starts with an ordinary love story of a girl with a military man, they marry without telling the girl's father.
The girl's father somehow agrees and asks them to do the marriage again.
War breaks out and the husband dies in the war leaving the girl pregnant.
Father of girl tells the girl that the child was born dead.
The girl marries a stage actor Kumar, played by Sunil Dutt.
First half is full of good songs, and beautiful surroundings of Darjeeling.
No one can even imagine what the second half can be.
The second half is suspense thriller, young Sunil Dutt plays the role of chasing husband very well.
Balraj Sahni is, as always, at the top of the affairs, as a police inspector.
Balraj Sahni's styles eventually suggest that probably Amitabh copies him a lot of times.
Suspense goes on till the last 7-8 minutes of the movie.
Raaj Kumar is not so good, but Dutt sahib has done phenomenally well.
A must watch movie.
I still remember when I was a child I saw this movie first time on Vishal cinema in New Delhi, and my father when I told him that I saw Humraaz, he embraced me.
Its a far far better movie than today's suspense thrillers..
great film.
I feel this movie is awesome.
It had a very 60's Hollywood suspense theme.
The background music helped create the mood of suspense while viewing Sunil Dutt's goal to sidetrack the police.
The camera shots were awesome, especially when Sunil Dutt is in the hotel room and he has his hands on his face and the white lighting hits his face.
The film had a great glamor to it with actors like Sunil Dutt and Raj Kumar.
The main actress (Meena) was very elegant and high maintenance.
Sunil Dutt did an awesome job in the film of being the lovable husband to the suspicion husband.
It appears that he is already in the interrogation room of the police station.
I wish they made Bollywood films like this today..
excellent songs and interesting story.
First off i must say that this movie soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks of the 60's.
The story is very catchy and will keep you entertained through the entire movie.
Most of the cast acted well, Sunil Dutt being the best.
Sunil Dutt is very convincing as kumar, while vimmi could have been better.
I felt as if a better actress was casted as her character the movie would have been better (ex.
asha pareh, sadhana or saira banu).
Raaj kumar did well in a short but sweet role and Mumtaz as always was very pleasant to watch.
Anyone who likes mysteries will love this one....will all the being said i believe that the movie is worth a watch...i give it 7/10.......very good..
one of b r chopra's best!.
Hamraaz meaning confidante is a suspense movie directed by B.R.Chopra, known for his movies like Naya Daur,Sadhna,etc.Hamraaz is one of his best movies.It is about Meena,daughter of an army general who secretly marries Rajesh an army officer without telling her father about it.On the day of their marriage Rajesh has to leave to the border upon declaration of emergency.Later she gets the news of his death.She becomes pregnant with his child which supposedly dies after birth.She is then married of to Kumar,a renowned actor from Mumbai.Four years later Meena's past seems to have come back to her life and one day she get's murdered.The solving of this murder forms the rest of the story.The direction is good.The camera work,music and art direction stand out.
Amongst the actors,Sunil Dutt,Raaj Kumar and Mumtaz stand out.Vimi is unimpressive.The supporting cast comprising of Achala Sachdev,Jeevan, Madan Puri,Iftekhar,Jagdish Raj,Nana Palsikar,Manmohan Krishna,Balraj Sahni,etc are all good.Madhumati and Manohar Deepak have danced extremely well in the song 'Na mooh chupake jiyo'.The movie could have been faster.Though not boring,the appearance of all the songs within the first one hour becomes quite monotonous.But the songs are very melodious.They have been well sung and well composed.Overall,the movie is good and a must watch..
An outstanding mystery follows classic songs.
Hamraaz (1967) is my most favourite suspense-thriller which was a blockbuster in its time and re-released several times thereafter.
I had seen this great movie in theatre in Kolkata (then Calcutta) in 1989.
This excellent movie is the brain-child of the legendary director - late B.R. Chopra.
If you want to watch an edge-of-the-seat genuine suspense-thriller with an excellent musical score, this masterpiece starring Sunil Dutt, Raaj Kumar, Vimi, Mumtaaz and Balraaj Saahni is there for you which, in my opinion, is the best musical suspense-thriller ever made in Bollywood.Hamraaz (someone who knows your secret) starts with the hidden marriage of Vimi, the daughter of a military contractor at Darjeeling who finds herself pregnant after hearing the news of the death of her husband, Raaj Kumar in the 1962 war.
After delivery, her father informs her that she had delivered a dead child.
Time passes and Sunil Dutt, a famous theatre artist, enters her life, proposes her, marries her and takes her to Bombay without knowing about the secret marriage and delivery issues of his wife's life.
A few years later, Vimi is informed about her child living in an orphanage of Bombay by her father when he is on his death-bed.
Vimi meets her child (daughter), takes her to her home and requests Sunil Dutt for her adoption which is refused by Sunil Dutt on the plea that she won't treat that child as her own when she herself delivers his child later on.
Since then the activities of Vimi start creating suspicion in the mind of Sunil Dutt and the suspense begins.
Sunil Dutt spies on his wife only to find herself as murdered and himself becoming a suspect in the eyes of the investigating officer, Balraaj Saahni.
These and the following events, the thrill and the unfolding of the mystery; everything combines to a very very big treat for the suspense-thriller fans.Music is a great strength of the movie and the first hour is dedicated to music and romance only.
Saahir Ludhianvi has written five great songs for this movie and Ravi has composed great music for them.
Four are Mahendra Kapoor's all time great solos - 1.
O Neele Gagan Ke Tale, Dharti Ka Pyar Pale, 2.
Na Munh Chhupa Ke Jiyo Aur Na Sar Jhuka Ke Jiyo, 3.
Kisi Patthar Ki Moorat Se Mohabbat Ka Iraada Hai, 4.
Tum Agar Saath Dene Ka Vaada Karo, Main Yun Hi Mast Naghme Lutaata Rahoon.
And the fifth one is a Mahendra Kapoor-Asha duet - Tu Husn Hai Main Ishq Hoon, Tu Mujhme Hai Main Tujhme Hoon - in which classic love stories from the history have been shown as a theatre-play.
The melodious compositions coupled with the meaningful and touching lyrics make the album very precious.
The picturization of the songs is also laudable.The beauty of the narrative is that all these five songs are over within the first one hour of the movie and immediately thereafter the viewer finds himself enveloped in a non-stop suspense drama lasting for more than two hours.
But the length of the movie does not allow the viewer to get bored even for a single moment.
It is thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end.
The speed of the narrative after the songs are over, is so fast that the viewer keeps on watching holding his / her breath without getting any time to pause and think from the master storyteller.The screenplay of Hamraaz is simply brilliant and when the viewer is out of the theatre (or finished with the VCD / DVD or the satellite telecast), then only he / she realizes what a hypnotic state he / she has been in for the previous few hours.
Through the spellbinding narrative, B.R. Chopra has been able to clarify with conviction the difference between reading a mystery and watching a mystery.
It underscores the superiority of the visual medium in presenting a mystery over the medium of words.
It's a suspense-thriller in which the spectator not just watches the mystery but lives the mystery shown on the screen.
The white-shoes of the mysterious person whose identity is revealed just before the climax, is something unforgettable for the spectators.All departments of the movie are up to the mark.
The scenic beauty of Darjeeling has been very well captured by the cinematographer.
Production value is quite high according to the repute of the prestigious B.R. Films banner.The heroes have done exceedingly well, especially Sunil Dutt.
Vimi does not show any acting talent in her debut movie but she looks extremely beautiful and that has made up for her acting deficiency.
Mumtaaz also looks very pretty.
Herself alongwith the complete supporting cast, has performed satisfactorily.
We can also see Sarika in this movie as a child artist and hers is also a heart-winning performance .Considering the plot, the acting, the tight screenplay with excellent direction and above all, the music; the movie easily finds itself in the list of all time great suspense-thrillers of Bollywood.
Any mystery-fan who has not seen Hamraaz, should not miss it.
However this movie is equally recommendable for the audience of romantic musicals also.
It's truly outstanding and nothing short of a textbook of filmmaking for the contemporary filmmakers..
an OK movie.
This movie has a good cast and songs(Tum Agar Sath Daine Ka Vaada Karo)(Naa Mun Chuppa Ke Jiyo).Although the movie was a hit at its time but the main flaw is its direction.Initially the film seems to be a love story which then changes to an unfaithful type story and then to a mystery type of movie.Sunil Dutt gives a good performance as a man trapped under a mystery.Raaj Kumar also gives a good performance though his character is of no appeal or anything.The end of the movie is very strange and the presence of Raaj Kumar was not even needed in my opinion.On the whole the movie can be given 6 because of its good songs and some appealing thrilling moments but still direction really decreases it value.