''Caravan'' (; ; ) is a 1971 Indian

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Nasir Hussain Mohammad Nasir Hussain Khan (16 November 1926 — 13 March 2002), better known as Nasir Hussain, was an Indian film producer, director, and screenwriter. With a career spanning decades, Hussain has been credited as a major trendsetter in the ...

and produced by his brother

Tahir Hussain Mohammad Tahir Hussain Khan (19 September 1938 – 2 February 2010), better known as Tahir Hussain, was an Indian film producer, screenwriter, actor and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. Personal life Tahir Hussain ...

, under the Nasir Hussain Films and T.V. Films banners. The film stars

Jeetendra Ravi Kapoor ( ; born 7 April 1942), known mononymously by his screen name Jeetendra, is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He also serves as the chairman of the Balaji Telefilms and Balaji Motion Pictures. Early life ...

and

Asha Parekh Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is a retired Indian actress, film director, and producer who appeared in many commercially successful films throughout her career. She was the highest paid actress of her time and was one of the most successful ...

. Three Hussain fixtures were involved in the music production: composer

R.D. Burman Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work ...

, lyricist

Majrooh Sultanpuri Asrar ul Hassan Khan (1 October 1919 − 24 May 2000), better known as Majrooh Sultanpuri, was an Indian Urdu poet and lyricist in India's Hindi language film industry. He wrote Hindustani lyrics for numerous Hindi film soundtracks. He was ...

, and singer

Mohammad Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...

. The film's plot was loosely inspired by '' Girl on the Run'' (1953). ''Caravan'' was a superhit domestically in India. It found even greater success abroad in China when it released there in 1979, becoming the highest-grossing foreign film in China. The film is estimated to have sold over tickets in Asia, mostly in China. Adjusted for inflation, it is still one of the highest grossing Indian films of all time.

Plot

The film is an action thriller about a young woman, Sunita (

) and her father Mohandas (

Murad Murad or Mourad ( ar, مراد) is an Arabic name. It is also common in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Turkish, Persian, and Berber as a male given name or surname and is commonly used throughout the Muslim world and Middle East. Etymology It ...

), who finds out that his trusted employee, Rajan (Krishen Mehta), has been embezzling money from him. He confronts him but Rajan attacks him, flinging him out of the window of the multi-storyed building, but the police think that the death was accidental. This leaves the coast clear for Rajan to wed Mohandas' only daughter, Sunita. Sunita is distraught and ends up married to this "wrong" man, Rajan. Shortly after the wedding, Sunita finds out the truth. She thinks that Rajan has conspired with his girlfriend Monica (

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

) to murder her. So she runs away to find her father's old friend in Bangalore, who may be able to help. On the way, she experiences an accident and ends up with a band performing gypsies. She meets caravan van-driver Mohan (

) and she is attracted to him. Sunita does not know that she has put herself in danger again - this time at the hands of knife-thrower, Nisha (

Aruna Irani Aruna Irani (born 3 May 1946) is an Indian actress, who has acted in over 500 films throughout Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati cinema, playing mostly supporting and character roles. She has won two Filmfare Awards for Best Supporting Act ...

), who loves Mohan, and will kill anyone who gets in her way. To make matters worse, Rajan has not given up his search for Sunita.

Cast

as Mohan *

as Sunita / Soni *

as Nisha *

Mehmood Jr. Naeem Sayyed (born 15 November 1956) popularly known as Mehmood Junior is an Indian actor, singer and Marathi film director. The name Junior Mehmood was given to him by Mehmood Ali. Career Mehmood Junior has acted in 265 movies in 7 different ...

as Monto *

as Monica * Krishen Mehta as Rajan *

Ravindra Kapoor Ravindra Kapoor was an Indian character actor in Hindi and Punjabi language films. He was the brother of Nandkishore Kapoor and veteran actor Kamal Kapoor. Career Some of his popular films are “ Caravan” in 1971 where he played veteran ...

as Johny *

Madan Puri Madan Puri (30 September 1915 – 13 January 1985) was an Indian actor of Hindi and Punjabi films. His brothers were actors Chaman Puri and Amrish Puri. As a character actor mainly in negative roles (villain), he acted in about 430 films in a ca ...

as Mithalal Tota *

Sanjana Sanjana is a common Indian female name. It may refer to: People * Sanjana Sanghi , Indian actress and model * Sanjana Kapoor, Indian actress * Sanjana Singh, India film actress * Sanjana Sarathy , Indian actress and model * Sanjjanaa Galrani, I ...

as Tara * Manorama as Mrs. Tota * Anwar Ali as Bhola *

as Mohandas * Dulari as Mohan's mom *

Shivraj Shivraj ( hi, शिवराज; 1920 - 3 June 2017) was an Indian actor. Selected filmography *''Singaar'' (1949) *'' Andolan'' (1951) (He played a key role) *'' Patita'' (1953) *''Devdas'' (1955) *'' Seema'' (1955) *''Dekh Kabira Roya'' ( ...

as Karamchand

Production

The film was largely a Khan–Hussain family production, directed by

(father of future filmmaker

Mansoor Khan Mansoor Hussain Khan is an Indian film director and producer known for his works in Hindi cinema. Early and Personal life He is the son of film-maker Nasir Hussain. Khan attended IIT Bombay, Cornell University, and MIT before making his for ...

) and produced by his brother

(father of future superstar

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...

), under the Nasir Hussain Films banner. The film's plot was loosely inspired by the 1953 film '' Girl on the Run'', a little-known

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

set against the backdrop of a

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

show, which was changed to a

gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

show in ''Caravan''.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film is one of the hit compositions by

R. D. Burman Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work w ...

. The lyrics of the songs are provided by the veteran poet

Box office

''Caravan'' was declared a "Super Hit" domestically according to ''

Box Office India Box Office India is an Indian film website. Its traffic ranking in India is 83,665 . A new Box Office India website went live on 20 January 2014. About Box Office India was launched on 10 June 2003. Its uses Whois privacy to anonymize its owne ...

''. The film grossed () in India. It was the sixth highest-grossing film of 1971 at the domestic Indian box office. Adjusted for inflation, the film's domestic box office gross is equivalent to in 2017. Overseas, ''Caravan'' released in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 1979 and became a blockbuster there, surpassing

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (pronunciation: �aːd͡ʒ kəpuːɾ born Shrishti Nath Kapoor; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered one of th ...

's ''

Awaara ''Awaara'', also written ''Awāra'', ur, , Āvārā, group=n, name=HindiUrdu and known overseas as ''The Vagabond'', is a 1951 Indian Hindi crime drama film, produced and directed by Raj Kapoor, and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. It stars Raj ...

'' (1951). ''Caravan'' became the highest-grossing foreign film ever in China up until then, with 88million box office admissions in its initial run. It reportedly sold a total of nearly 300million tickets including re-runs, the highest for any foreign film ever released in China. At an average ticket price of , the film grossed an estimated , equivalent to (). Adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to () in 2017. In total, the film grossed an estimated () in Asia. Adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to in 2017, or in . In terms of footfalls, the film sold an estimated million tickets in India, and nearly 300million tickets in China,for an estimated total of nearly million tickets sold in Asia.

Legacy

Along with ''Awaara'' and ''

Noorie ''Noorie'' is a 1979 Indian romance film produced by Yash Chopra, and directed by Manmohan Krishna; this is his only film as director. The film stars Farooq Shaikh, Poonam Dhillon, Madan Puri and Iftekhar. The film's music is by Khayyam and the ...

'' (1979), ''Caravan'' left a strong impression on Chinese audiences in the 1980s. It took decades before Tahir Hussain's son

later had a similar impact in China, with films such as ''

Lagaan ''Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India'' () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language sports drama film written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film was produced by Aamir Khan, who stars alongside debutant Gracy Singh and British actors Rachel Sh ...

'' (2001), ''

3 Idiots ''3 Idiots'' (stylized as ''3 idiots'') is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Adapted loosely from Cheta ...

'' (2009), '' PK'' (2014), and '' Dangal'' (2016). During his visit to China, Aamir Khan said his father's film ''Caravan'' is still fondly remembered there.

Awards and nominations

; 19th Filmfare Awards: Won * Best Female Playback Singer – Asha Bhosle for "Piya Tu Ab To Aaja" Nominated * Best Supporting Actress –

* Best Music Director –

R. D. Burman Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work w ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{Nasir Hussain 1971 films 1971 crime drama films 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s thriller drama films Films directed by Nasir Hussain Films scored by R. D. Burman Indian crime drama films Indian remakes of American films Indian thriller drama films