Faraar (1975)

Directed by: Shankar Mukherjee

Starring: Sharmila Tagore, Amitabh Bachchan, 

Sanjeev Kumar,Master Raju, 
Sulochana, Agha

1975 was a great year for Amitabh. Even if his films received a mixed reaction at the box-office (Sholay and Deewar were mega-hits; Mili and Chupke Chupke did better than average business; Zameer and Faraar were average though they more than recovered their investment.) his roles were completely different in each film. Slowly, surely, he was carving out a place for himself that would entrench him as a mega-star in the decade to come. Fresh on the heels of Deewar and Sholay came Faraar, his first film with Sharmila Tagore.

The film opens (promisingly) with a court scene. Tarun Kumar (Rajan Haskar), a rich and notorious playboy is in the docks for having raped and killed his secretary Geeta. Despite the public prosecutor’s valiant efforts and the circumstantial evidence against him, the defendant’s wealth and his battery of lawyers overturn the case – they cast Geeta as a woman desperately in love with her employer, who, when her attempt to seduce him fails, commits suicide by drowning. Her brother makes his own attempt to bring the case back on track, but his impassioned pleas fall on deaf ears. The jurors, giving the defendant the benefit of the doubt, bring a verdict of ‘Not Guilty’.

Distraught at the verdict, Rajesh returns home even as Tarun Kumar walks out a free man. His mother tries to console him, but Rajesh cannot forget his sister’s fate. And the deliberate miscarriage of justice. It haunts him until he takes an oath to clear his sister’s reputation and avenge her murder.

From then on, he is like one obsessed, dogging Tarun Kumar’s footsteps. Tarun Kumar is more than a match for him, though, and his first attempt ends in disaster. His luck turns, however, and Tarun Kumar is finally at his mercy. Rajesh has no mercy to offer, and Tarun Kumar dies at his hands.

As he hears footsteps approaching, Rajesh runs away leaving the body behind. Meanwhile Inspector Sanjay (Sanjeev Kumar) is planning on a duty-free evening with his wife Mala (Sharmila Tagore). Unfortunately, duty is a hard task mistress and murder does not wait.

While his wife is annoyed but resigned to a usual occurrence, his man (Agha) is terrified by the fact that the murder occurred in the vicinity. Inspector Sanjay launches a manhunt in the neighbourhood. The murderer is wounded and cannot, must not be allowed to escape. Rajesh is a hunted man, and he too knows that he cannot run very far. However, two loose-lipped constables give him an idea.

Inspector Sanjay gets a clue about the deceased; he visits Tarun Kumar’s alleged mistress. As he searches her rooms, she picks up the telephone. Only things do not turn out quite as she expected.

Mala is putting their son Bobby (Master Raju) to bed. As she finishes singing him a lullaby and is putting off the lights, she hears the news of the murder and the murderer.

Before she has time to worry, he is in the house. He forces her at gunpoint to take him on a tour of the house so he can reassure himself that they are quite alone. Holding her son hostage, he forces her to remove the bullet from his arm. His first sight of her shocks him. He tries to hide his face from her, but yells out a name in pain.

When Sanjay comes home, Mala cannot hide her distress. The murderer is their house, and is holding their son hostage. The inspector is livid, but Mala is terrified. What if he hurts their son? And when they hear a shot from inside the room Mala breaks down.

For their son’s sake, Inspector Sanjay is forced to turn away the policemen who come in hearing the shot. As the murderer, face masked, comes out, Sanjay keeps him engrossed in conversation hoping that his little boy will be able to escape. Unfortunately, a gun is a very persuasive argument.

Even as a helpless Sanjay is fuming downstairs, little Bobby and his captor are forging an unusual friendship.

Sanjay and Mala discuss the unbearable situation, but they are no closer to finding an answer. What can they do?

A child’s world is remarkably black and white. When Rajesh asks him what he would do to anyone who took his gun away and broke it, Bobby says simply ‘I’ll kill him!’ Rajesh smiles sadly – that is just what he did. Bobby is sympathetic – he will protect anyone who tries to take Rajesh away. His whole-hearted acceptance melts Rajesh’s heart. And he readily agrees to sing a song to put Bobby to sleep. 

And he is not the only one surprised when he begins to sing.

The song draws Mala inexhorably toward her son’s room. As the song ends in a question, she unconsciously answers…

When the door opens, she sees a face from her past. As Rajesh shuts the door in shock, Mala's remembers how she had been on the verge of committing suicide. Rajesh had saved her and had taken her home to his mother and sister; as days pass, their acquaintance ripens to affection, and then to love.

She breaks down sobbing. Sanjay has not given up; as night falls, he tries to enter the upper rooms through the windows, only Mala stops him. She begs him to forget his duty just once. He is adamant. Now, it is not just his duty that will keep him on this track; it's also his pride.

Mala doesn't care; she wants her son’s life at any cost, even if she has to pay with her life for it. Sanjay is stunned at the solution which appears in front of him – the murderer must also have someone who loves him? Maybe he could strike a deal?

In the meantime, there has been an order from above to lift the police blockades. Will Inspector Sanjay agree? Where will this end? Will Mala ever know why Rajesh turned to murder? What will happen when Sanjay begins to delve deep into Rajesh’s past? Who is Asha? Will Rajesh let Bobby go free? Old sins have long shadows – it is not only Bobby’s life that is at stake here.

As an outlaw on the run from the police, eventually hiding out in the house of the very police officer deputed to hunt him down, Amitabh’s stunning (and extremely sympathetic) performance had the audience rooting for him; and there was an audience outcry when he died in the film. This was his third successive death onscreen, in the same year. Unlike Sholay, they actually shot two endings – one where he is shot, but removed to hospital; the other, where he is shot and killed. The latter was a more believable end, and a more apt one. (Even though, personally, I didn’t want ‘believable’ at the time; I just wanted Amitabh to live.)

While script and direction could have been better, this film is worth watching solely for the performances of the leads – Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmila Tagore and Amitabh Bachchan. This is definitely one film where the performances lifted a lacklustre film and made it better than average. However, the shots where the police inspector and the murderer face off were shot very well. One can feel the tension between the two men as, constrained by their respective circumstances, try to achieve a compromise.

Sharmila's Mala was a strong character; her disturbance when she realises who it is who has taken refuge in her house; her deeply buried feelings for him; her refusal to compromise either her own dignity or her husband's self-respect; and later, her cutting response to her husband's accusations - there was more to Mala than just eye-candy. Wonderful, wonderful characterisations, but that is only to be expected - it's Gulzar's story.

My only quibbles? It could have been tauter; a couple of songs and dances could have easily been cut without making any difference to the film (in fact, it would have made it better); Jayashree T's character was totally unnecessary (except for the above mentioned two songs); and the whole sister's track, while integral to the plot, was shoddily done. Still, definitely worth a watch.