Karz (1980)

People are voting emotionally.

hyped garbage

Good concept, poorly executed.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Karz is one of the most famous Subhash Ghai films, but according to me it is nowhere among his best. The execution is uneven and at places the film does not flow well. The story is very interesting, but the script lets it down. The film spans for a period of something like three decades (Monty's age was specified as almost 30 in the film), but the characters do not even age appropriately during this time. Some of the dialogues and the proceedings are overdone and some sequences are amateurishly done. Despite the flaws, Karz does have entertainment value, mainly due to the fantastic music and some successfully shot moments of suspense. Songs like "Dard-E-Dil", "Om Shanti Om" as well as the instrumental theme of the movie are beautiful. The entire reincarnation track could have been better done. Rishi Kapoor is Monty, a top singer who was named Ravi at his previous birth. Ravi was killed by his wife Kamini and eventually reborn as Monty, probably in order to take revenge. Kapoor did his part well, but at some points he overdid it. The vibrant Tina Munim played his love interest, and her overly childish attitude really got on my nerves. The show was stolen by the awesome Simi Garewal, and she played her elegant vicious Kamini with style. Karz is an okay film, quite watchable and enjoyable, but basically nothing particularly good.

After almost 26 years, I watched this film again and it still had its charm. Tina Munim, now Mrs Anil Ambani, looked absolutely gorgeous as does Simi Garewall. Rishi Kapoor, who stunned his fans then, still has the same affect.Karz, meaning in-debt, Directed by Subash Ghai, was originally released in the early 1980's. A poor maid servant falls in love with a man, Raj, who is from a very rich family. She's persuaded to do this further when her boss, Judah, explains to her that if he helps her to gain control of the wealth, which he had been denied in a court case, he would ensure that she will have some of the estate but that this would only be done on the basis that she marries him and that four days later she murders him. Judah also promises her that hew would ensure that she is not held responsible for this. She agrees and gets married to Raj, who decides to take her to visit his family. Enroute, as planned, he is murdered and a faithful servant, Kabbira, takes the blame Years pass and Monty a singer has nightmares - which he finds out may be related to his previous birth. But he doesn't believe it and decides that he wants to perform on stage as much as he can.The movie stars Raj Kiran, Tina Munim, Rishi Kapoor, Simi Garewall, Pran, Premnath and Durga Khote.One of the most remembered scenes in this movie are between Simi and Rishi Kapoor. Karz is a most memorable movie based on reincarnation and the songs are just memorable - "Om Shanti Om" by the late Kishore Kumar and "Darde Dil" by the late Mohd Rafi.A worthwhile movie to watch and especially if you like good old movies.

Karz is a goosebumps inducing tale of revenge that spans lifetimes. Sir Juda (Prem Nath in an over the top villainous role) plots with a brother sister duo to trap and kill Ravi Verma (Raj Kiran) so he can take over the Verma family fortunes in Ooty. Who needs villains when you have Simi Garewal, playing the loving wife Kamini. She marries Ravi, there is joyous listening to his favorite guitar music, and then she crushes him to death with her jeep within days of the marriage! Then she ousts Ravi's mother (a suitably weepy Durga Khote) and sister, and sets out to rule the empire. Of course the strings are being pulled by Sir Juda (what a weird name but it was the 80s!). Cut to modern times where a young pop star Monty (Rishi Kapoor in a youthful avatar) begins to have hallucinations that seem to come from a past life and are associated with a musical guitar riff, yes that one. He is in love with Tina (the beauteous Tina Munim) and follows her to Ooty. Tina's uncle (Pran) knows part of Kamini's secret and Monty fills in the gaps. Then they hatch a scheme to terrorize her and scare her into confessing her crime. The final song sequence where Kamini finds out that all is known is the stuff of legends.Subhas Ghai was still in his magical phase of film making pre-Khal Nayak, Taal and Kisna! The story is well written, the cinematography is quite innovative for its time, and he is able to get decent performance out of all concerned. Particularly noteworthy is Simi as the greedy Kamini - the role of a lifetime, beautifully done. She is sleek, beautiful and yet sinister. Rishi Kapoor does a decent job as Monty, at close to 30 he still manages to carry off the 21 year old Monty really well, without being handicapped by his short stature. Tina Munim sizzles in looks, is okay in acting and the role is that of a young ditzy girl - a bit silly. BTW - did anyone else worry about a 16 year old marrying a 21 year old man? I mean she was 16 - why was she getting married? Pran is great, Prem Nath is a caricature and he does it well. Raj Kiran is quite good as Ravi.Karz is the film it is because of 2 outstanding music numbers by Laxmikant Pyarelal. The starting number Meri Umar Ke Naujawanon (Om Shanti Om) is flawless in the singing (dancing leaves much to be desired). Ek Haisna Thi - this is a goosebumps inducing number, amazingly sung and performed on stage. This song is the heart and soul of Karz. Forgettable are Paisa Yeh Paisa, Main Solah Baras Ki, and Kamal Hai (even Aruna Irani sizzling cannot save this atrocious number). Darde Dil Darde Jigar is very sweet but not that relevant to the story.The bad - parts of the film are amateurish to the extreme, why are random people with scarred faces, or dressed as skeletons shown to be scaring Kamini. That stuff was laughable. Sir Juda and his cohort were quite silly. Tina Munim acting the super naive girl and then they get married - that was disturbing. No one really seemed to age appropriately in 21 years.But overall Karz is more than a timepass film. It does reach out to the viewer and captures your imagination. The idea of revenge that can be had even past one life time is very empowering. It is sort of like a karmic wheel that got compressed by the wronged.

A brilliant entertainer, which after two decades since its initial release still, has the potential to deliver its entertainment package.Three hours of song, excellent music and a story revolving around re-incarnation and divine justice. The music is as great as the audience has come to expect from the team. The direction is snappy and the characters in the plot are all alive and vibrant with each and every one of them fitting in to the story line as vital pieces of the picture.The guitar lead-in, which forms a prelude to the title song, is used effectively in a few instances in the movie and is instantly recognizable by anyone anywhere who has heard it just once.The story is effective and easy for the Indian psyche to accept and appreciate since there has always been a feeling of mysticism and awe in the Indian mind when it comes to matters supernatural and the triumph of good over evil.