Long, long before he changed rules of television entertainment in India with the unmatched success of his “Ramayana”, Ramanand Sagar had displayed a penchant of making films which satiated the appetite of the all important box office to the hilt. Made within diktats of the commercial matrix, these films were in the genre of action-thriller, inspired, as many will vouch, by the Bond format; and Sagar kept the budget large and the span overreaching.
“Charas” with lavish sets and parts of it shot abroad, falls in this category. However, the art direction by Shanti Dass could have been a bit more subdued and less loud. The editing by Lachmandass is tight and keeps the screenplay moving at a steady pace.
After the widespread acclaim of their chemistry in the 1975 hit, “Sholay”, the pair of Dharamendra and Hema Malini must have become a natural choice of the lead pair for Sagar. And the two did not let him down.
Apart from the obvious proximity which the pair displayed, and which charged the screen with its intensity (at least in some scenes), it was Hema Malini’s unblemished beauty that comes forth like the first blooms of spring. Her presence is enchanting, and in some song sequences, especially the superlative number, “Aaja teri yaad aayi (Mohammad Rafi, Anand Bakshi and Lata Mangeshkar) she is unbelievable, exuding elegance and dignity that is nothing less than ethereal. The magnitude of her screen persona is such that it eclipses the shortcomings in her histrionic abilities endearing her to the masses, as well as the classes, as a ‘dream girl’.
The story starts with the misdemeanours of Kallicharan (Ajit), who, along with his henchman Robert (Amjad Khan) indulges in nefarious activities like smuggling of gold (Rs.50 lakhs in 1976 must have been lot of money as that much value of gold leads to bouts of celebration) for people like Sheikh (Sujit Kumar). Not satisfied with such meagre success, Kallicharan decides to venture into the big bad world of narcotics (charas) smuggling.
Kallicharan plans to acquire the money required for high value transactions through embezzlement of funds belonging to his expatriate boss, Seth Brindaban (Nasir Hussain) who lives in Africa with his son Suraj (Dharamendra) and daughter Nimmu (Aruna Irani). However, his well thought out strategy is about to unravelled when Sethji decides to return to India. He is forced to flee from his estate in Africa as political upheaval leads to social unrest, whereby Indians are persecuted and made to abandon their homes and businesses. Scared that Sethji’s arrival will put a spanner in the works, Kallicharan puts Robert on the job of eliminating the entire Brindaban clan before they embark on their trip to India. However, unknown to Robert, Suraj and Nimmu survive the onslaught (albeit they are separated from each other), while Sethji is killed.
As a parallel track, there is Seema (Hema Malini), who enters the scene with a song sequence “Mera nam ballerina” (sung by Asha Bhosle). Seema is an innocent dancer who is forced to align with Kallicharan in his nefarious activities by an act of blackmail.
Meanwhile, Suraj reaches India, and soon comes face to face with Kallicharan’s perfidy, who again tries to eliminate him. However, while escaping the dragnet his path crosses with that of Seema, as they are chased by Kallicharan’s goons. In a twist of fate, a stranger fends for Suraj by driving away the thugs. The stranger, who claims to be a rival of Kallicharan, exhorts Suraj to join his gang; alluring him to take revenge from Kallicharan. But Suraj swears by his honesty and spurns the offer.
Who is the stranger? Will Suraj continue on the path of honesty as he moves through some exotic locales in Rome and Malta? Will Seema be able to prove her innocence and escape the dragnet laid by Kallicharan? The dénouement of the story, penned by Ramanand Sagar, along with Ved Rahi (who has also written the dialogues), is interesting, although a bit predictable.
Dharmendra is restrained in his portrayal of Suraj and looks dashing as the macho hunk; a gun in hand, he is the original he-man, with looks to kill and physique to match. Certainly an inspiration for later day beefcakes. Of the support cast, Ajit is good, although it is certainly not his best (or meanest) performance. The film has a bevy of character actors including Asrani, Jairaj, Keshto Mukherjee, Aruna Irani and Sujit Kumar who are all competent in their assignments.
Almost all the songs (lyrics by Anand Bakshi and music composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal) are chartbusters and retain their lure to this day, including “Kal ki haseen mulaqat ke liye” by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar.
