Diamonds in the Dust. Review on Five Best Bollywood Films of the 1980s

The noughties or the 00's, has seen some really excellent stuff comming from Bollywood. Younger movie makers like Farhan Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap, Vishaal Bharadwaj, Navdeep Singh, Sriram Raghavan, Ashutosh Gowariker, Nagesh Kukunoor, Madhur Bhandarkar have been pushing the barrier with some excellent movies. Films likeDil Chahta Hai, Lagaan, Lakshya, Manorama 6 Feet Under, Black Friday, Maqbool, Swades, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, 3 Deewarein, Iqbal, Chandni Bar typify the new breed of movie makers who are willing to go beyond the obvious.

However there was a time in the 80's, when the movie makers we looked forward to where Mehul Kumar, Anil Sharma, K.C.Bokadia, Pahlaj Nihalani, who without exception unleashed their torture fests on us come Friday. The quality of movies during the 80's hit the rock bottom, in the first half, we had all those Jeetu-Sridevi-Jayaprada classics, with pots and pans, navel shows, lyrics that went "Taka Dina" and music that was more of noise. And just as we were celebrating the demise of that genre, the second half saw Bokadia, Nihalani and co, unleash their Aag, Jaladoonga, Paap tortures that guaranteed a splitting headache. And add to it, the Rafi clones Anwar, Shabbir Kumar unleashing their vocal talents on us, the misery was complete.

Fortunately there were some excellent movie directors in the 80's, who came out with some great stuff, and ensured that the decade did have some memorable movies. These movies stood out amidst the overall rubbish that flooded the theaters during those days. So here is to those Diamonds in the Dust.

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro: To date I have not yet seen a comedy, that is as dark and subversive in nature, than this. A true cult classic, the movie was a collaboration of 3 FTII batchmates-Kundan Shah who directed this, and Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Sudhir Mishra who wrote the script. In fact that also explains the names of the two main characters Vinod( Naseeruddin Shah) and Sudhir( Ravi Baswani), the out of luck photographers, who unwittingly stumble on a conspiracy. The movie was a biting satire on the builder-politician-bureaucrat nexus in Mumbai and the corruption. Pankaj Kapoor and Om Puri as the rival builders Taneja and Ahuja were awesome, as were the other supporting characters. And nothing to beat the Mahabharat scene. The best movie of the 1980's IMO, and one of the best Indian movies ever made.

Arjun/Dacait: Rahul Rawail and Sunny Deol together combined to deliver 2 of the decade's best movies. Betaab was the biggest hit of course, but as a movie it was just okayish, IMO. Arjun was a brilliant portrayal of the angst of an unemployed youth, and how he ends up being exploited by political leaders for their own selfish purpose. The camera work, the shot taking was way ahead of it's time, especially in the shot, where Sunny Deol's friend is killed, as also the one which shows him taking his frustration out on a carrom board. While Arjun dealt with the chawls in Mumbai, Dacait as the title suggests was about the Chambal. Again the movie effectively captured the transition of a young, educated, peaceful hero into a fierce dacoit. What stood out for the movie was it's realism, as well as some fabulous action scenes.

Jalwa: Much before the 6 pack mania, Naseer Sir, actually took off his shirt, went to the gym, pumped up his muscles, for his role as a cop in this desi version of Beverly Hills Cop. But then Naseer Sir being a perfectionist and method actor, nothing less could have been expected. Pankaj Parasher who shot the wonderful Karamchand, came up with an action thriller, that was sleek, slick, and leagues ahead of the normal Bollywood movie. Add to it some great music, a sizzling Archana Puran Singh, wonderful comedy from Satish Kaushik and Johnny Lever, this was one helluva entertainer. Sadly both Pankaj Parasher and Rahul Rawail could not really deliver on their promise, and their later movies went down.

Ardh Satya: Govind Niahalani's hard hitting look at the police system, through the eyes of a honest cop, and his attempts to deal with a dreaded gangster, was a classic. Om Puri as usual was top notch as Anant Velvankar, the honest cop, while Sadashiv Amrapukar in his debut as the gangster Rama Shetty gave one of his career's best ever performances. Dark, hard hitting, intense, the movie never lets you go, and does not shy away from showing the darker side of the hero.