Karz (film)

Summarize Fact Check

The film begins with Ravi Verma winning a court case against the villian Sir Judah, who had unjustly usurped the wealth and property of Ravi's father, Shanta Prasad Verma, after his death. Ravi calls his widowed mother and younger sister to share the good news and that he is marrying his girlfriend, Kamini, who is actually a gold-digger working for Judah, unbeknownst to him. On their way home to Coonoor, Kamini in a well planned murder using a jeep slams Ravi over the cliff to his death near a small temple of the Goddess Kali. Distraught at the sudden death of her son, Ravi's mother demands justice from the Goddess Lakshmi to allow her son to pay his mother's debt for dying prematurely at a very young age. While Kamini the girl friend inherits everything that is Ravi Vermas wealth and palatial home.

Two decades later, Ravi is reborn as Monty, who is an orphan raised by the wealthy person G.G. Oberoi and Monty is a professional singer. He begins to have visions of Ravi's memories triggered by a tune that used to be Ravi's favourite song (Ek Hasina thi) .

Monty's doctors jokingly states that maybe he could be Ravi's reincarnation, and he should just take a short vacation and rest in all seriousness. Monty travels to Ooty (coincidentally near Coonoor) where Tina lives and they fall in love. Tina tells him that she was brought up by a woman she addresses as Rani Sahiba, and her uncle, Kabira, who is released from prison after having served ten years for murder. As Monty explores the area and he learns the story of the Verma family from the locals, including that Ravi's mother and younger sister were banished from their palatial home by Kamini, he starts to experience more of Ravi's old memories which become more intense with time. He is later shocked to find out that Tina's - Rani Sahiba and Kamini are one and the same person.

Kabira then reveals to Monty that Tina's father was murdered by Kamini's brother after overhearing a secret involving Ravi and the temple of Kali. In retaliation, Kabira killed Kamini's brother which is why he was arrested by the police. Pretending to be aware of Kamini's secret, Kabira blackmailed her in prison to raise Tina with a proper education. Monty in kind reveals to Kabira his connection to Ravi Verma, and that they must find Ravi's estranged family, with whom Monty is united. His old mother recognises him as her own son when they meet, inspite of being born in another body and as a different person and accepting that he is Ravi's reincarnation, Monty is able to piece together Ravi's murder.

To set things right, Monty and Kabira gradually trick Kamini into believing that Ravi's ghost is seeking revenge from her. In their final trick, Monty and Tina perform at a local school opening function attended by Kamini, where they dramatise Ravi's story on stage performance.

Kamini is horrified to hear the old song that Monty sings on stage with Tina, reminding her of Ravi. She also sees Ravi's mother, sister and escapes in fear, agonised by her own past. When Monty confronts her, Kamini confesses to Ravi's murder, which is recorded by the police. However, Judah holds Tina hostage and offers her in exchange for Kamini. Just as the exchange is about to take place, Tina jumps on Kamini causing a melee (hand to hand combat/ confusion) Kabira and Monty gain the upper-hand but Judah locks Ravi's mother and sister in a house and sets it ablaze. Monty saves them, and kills Judah in the fire. Kamini escapes in a jeep but Monty pursues her. She tries to throw Monty off the cliff at the temple of Kali the same way she killed Ravi, but this time Monty jumps away safely, causing Kamini to drive off the cliff and meet her death. In the end, the Verma wealth and property is returned back to Ravi's family and Monty marries Tina.

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

The soundtrack of the film includes tracks composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi, who received two Filmfare nominations for the songs, "Om Shanti Om" and "Dard-E-Dil". Laxmikant-Pyarelal won the trophy for Best Music Director of the year.

Kishore Kumar supplied Monty's singing voice in all of the songs, except "Dard-E-Dil" (performed by Mohammed Rafi).

At the box office, the film grossed ₹55 million (US$6.98 million).^[3]

In a 2008 interview, film director Subhash Ghai said the film was ahead of its time and was thus panned by critics of the times, and flopped at the box office. It was only years later that it started being considered a classic and even remade several times over.^[4]

Though the theme of reincarnation was earlier handled in Madhumati (1958) and Mehbooba (1976), and later Kudrat (1981), the modern twist with the murder and revenge angle in Karz was a contemporary pot-boiler.^[5] Film critic Anupama Chopra also cites The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975, J. Lee Thompson), an adaptation of a 1974 novel of the same name by Max Ehrlich, as an influence on the film.^[6]

Karz went on to inspire several other Indian remakes, notably Yuga Purusha (1989) in Kannada, Enakkul Oruvan (1984) in Tamil, Aatmabalam (1985) in Telugu, Baazi (1999) in Odia, Main Ek Din Laut Ke Aaunga (2007) in Pakistan, and the Hindi film Karzzzz (2008), starring Himesh Reshammiya. Karz may have also inspired the American film Chances Are (1989).^[5]

The songs of the film inspired several film titles, notably Dard-E-Dil (1983), Paisa Yeh Paisa (1985), Main Solah Baras Ki (1998), Ek Hasina Thi (2004), Aashiq Banaya Aapne (2005) and Om Shanti Om (2007), which was seen as a light-hearted tribute to the film, as it borrowed many elements from it.^[7]

28th Filmfare Awards:

Won

• Best Music Director – Laxmikant–Pyarelal

Nominated

• Best Supporting Actress – Simi Garewal
• Best Lyricist – Anand Bakshi for "Dard-E-Dil"
• Best Lyricist – Anand Bakshi for "Om Shanti Om"
• Best Male Playback Singer – Kishore Kumar for "Om Shanti Om"
• Best Male Playback Singer – Mohammed Rafi for "Dard-E-Dil"