Muqaddar ka sikandar (1978)

मुक़द्दर का सिकन्दर

Like many great masala films, the plot of Muqaddar ka sikandar is not easy to summarize.  It has a little of everything - orphans, gangsters, mean rich dudes, time bombs, a dashing hero, a mysterious, beautiful courtesan, dream sequences, long lost mothers, a wild psychedelic dance club, and more.  But it's also a little sadder and bleaker than much contemporaneous masala fare.

The title means "Conqueror of destiny," but it is also a play on words - the word "sikandar," conqueror, derives from the name of Alexander the Great, and is also the name of the film's main character.  The wordplay is not without irony; destiny arguably conquers Sikandar rather than the other way round.  At the start of the film Sikandar is a young orphan who suffers a series of misfortunes.  The disheartened boy meets a mystic who advises him to change his outlook on life by laughing the in face of his troubles.  Cut to twenty-some years later, where the boy has grown into a tough but honest businessman (Amitabh Bachchan).  Sikandar has harbored a love for a girl who was kind to him when he was a boy, and pines after her now that she is a grown woman (Rakhee), though she despises him as a result of one of those aforementioned boyhood misfortunes.  He meets and befriends an unemployed lawyer-cum-tough-guy named Vishal (70s heartthrob Vinod Khanna).  He also meets a nautch-girl named Zohra (Rekha), who falls madly in love with him though he has little interest in her.  Zohra's jealous patron, the notorious criminal Dilawar (Amjad Khan) sets his sights on Sikandar; Vishal unwittingly falls for the girl that Sikandar has been pining for his whole life; and the masala train chugs satisfyingly along. 

Amitabh Bachchan was an icon of Hindi film in the 1970s and its elder statesman today.  The first time I saw him, in Amar Akbar Anthony, he quickly became my favorite classic filmi star, and he is in fine form as the emotionally scarred Sikandar.  He gives life to the brilliant songs in the film's wonderful soundtrack.  His long limbs and wild charm fill the screen as he rides his motorcycle through Bombay in the film's energetic title song, and his handsome face turns sad and wistful in the reprise of the film's melodic hit "O saathi re."  Rekha, a Bollywood icon in her own right, turns in a typically smoldering, breathy performance - Zohra is not her meatiest character ever, a kind of bargain basement Umrao Jaan, but she's passable and provides suitable pathos to the film's masala, as well as a couple of pretty good dances.  The film's villain, Dilawar, in contrast, is a whole lot of fun.  Amjad Khan, who plays Dilawar, was bone-chilling as the sadistic Gabbar Singh in Sholay; here, he is more cerebral and witty, a thinking man's thug, and one of the best characters in the film.

At the time that I first saw Muqaddar ka sikandar it was one of the best Hindi films I had seen.  I am not sure that's still true - I've been on an astonishingly good run of films, thanks to everything I've learned from my friends over at the BollyWHAT? forums - but it is still one of the most entertaining, and its soundtrack remains a solid favorite.  I recommend Muqaddar ka sikandar heartily to anyone with a taste for masala, an interest in Bollywood's classics, and the willingness to shed a tear or two. 

Comments

[Daddy's Girl]

I really like this movie and agree with you on most points. The soundtrack is lovely - I still listen to 'O Saathi Re' very very frequently - one of my all-time favourites. Amitabh Bachchan, Amjad Khan, Rekha and Vinod Khanna all did well acting-wise. Bachchan in particular I think is brilliant in the way he interprets this character. I felt Rakhee was quite weak in this film though. I didn't 'feel' her character at all - I just despised her (I suppose that's feeling something, but not in a way I appreciated) and felt she was shallow and two-dimensional. What do you think?

[carla]

Yes, Rakhee was definitely the film's weak link - she didn't have much of a character, and she didn't do much in her performance to compensate for that. Still, she came to life a little after meeting Vinod's character.

The truth is that both of the women seem a little extraneous in the story. Rekha's character is not even necessary for the main story, and is there only as a masala device, a way to get a big star in screen and shoe-horn in an item number. Rakhee is central to the plot, but only as a love object, not as a person - there's nothing specific about her character that drives the story.

Most masala films don't stand up to the kind of scrutiny and analysis that I've just given to *Muqaddar ka sikandar* - that's why none of it really detracts from my enjoyment of the film. It's no longer a top top favorite, as it's not as rich as *Sholay* or other films that manage to be both masala and meaningful. But it's still a film I enjoy greatly.

[Beth]

First, Rekha's character is TOTALLY "a bargain basement Umrao Jaan"! Vah vah! Second, what say you about Vinod?

[maxqnz]

This was a very good movie, for my money. Not perhaps outstanding, except for the *truly* outstanding O Saathi Re. I simply can't get enough of this beautiful song, which is a constant reminder of why I prefer the younger sister. :-)

The movie itself was enjoyable, mostly for being one of Amitabh's better performances, while he was still an actor and not a "star". But who cares about the film's weaknesses when it gives one an opportunity to get "Brimful of Asha"?

[maajhi]

maxqnz, coincidentally this song was playing at a restaurant I was at yesterday. And I was humming it for hours afterwards. A very nice, serene and very hummable song. Sometimes you surprise me with your taste ;).

[maxqnz]

"Sometimes you surprise me with your taste ;)."

Sometimes I surprise myself with my taste. ;-)

I work with a Punjabi friend studying for her Master's in nursing, helping her with sentence structure and vocabulary for her assignments, and we normally listen to filmi music while working. When "O Saathi Re" last came on, she asked me stop it, rang her husband, and played it down the phone to him. Now *that's* sweet, na?

[the ppcc]

For shame! The "pretty good dances" link is dead now, and I shudder to imagine that you had possibly described the sublime Salaam-e-ishq in such a way! But mayhap this is the previously mentioned Rekha gap between us.

Anyway, loved this movie, for however much I think it's manipulative and obnoxious a la Devdas. The music is good and yeah, lots of Kleenexes required.

[carla]

I'm sorry, ppcc, and I hope you can forgive me, but "Salaam-e-ishq" it was, and it's far from one of my favorite kathaks. Rekha danced much better in *Umrao Jaan* - she seems so stompy to me in "Salaam-e-ishq," and that Pepto-Bismol colored outfit is a no-go.

maxqnz: I love "O saathi re" as well, such a lovely song. Though as much as I adore Asha I like the Kishore version a tiny touch more. Perhaps this is because I find it easier to sing - my alto-mezzo vocal range overlaps his tenor more than her soprano. :p