''Dharam Kanta'' ( Balance of Piety) is a 1982

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

-language

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

, produced and directed by Sultan Ahmed under the Sultan Productions banner. It stars

Raaj Kumar Raaj Kumar (born Kulbhushan Pandit; 8 October 1926 3 July 1996) was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi films. He appeared in the Oscar-nominated 1957 film '' Mother India'' and starred in over 70 Hindi films in a career that spanned over fo ...

Waheeda Rehman Waheeda Rehman (born 3 February 1938) is an Indian actress and dancer. Regarded as one of Hindi cinema's finest actresses, Rehman's accolades include a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. Rehman was honoured with the Padma Shri by G ...

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 lif ...

, Rajesh Khanna,

Reena Roy Reena Roy (born Saira Ali; 7 January 1957), is an Indian actress. At the age of 15, she made her film debut with the drama ''Zaroorat'' (1972), but gained wider public recognition with her roles in the romantic comedy ''Jaise Ko Taisa'' (1973) a ...

, Sulakshana Pandit, Amjad Khan in the pivotal roles and music composed by

Naushad Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian music director for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the ...

. The movie was a hit on its release and completed silver jubilee

Plot

Thakur Bhavani Singh heads a gang of dacoits, who have spread terror and fear in the region. Bhavani has a family, consisting of his wife, Radha, and two sons, Ram and Laxman, and a daughter named Ganga. One day, Bhavani kidnaps the son of wealthy Harnam Singh and will release him for a hefty ransom. Harnam agrees to all the conditions, and hands over the money to Bhavani. Unfortunately, Harnam's child is killed, and his wife, devastated, curses Bhavani and his family. Subsequently, Bhavani is separated from his family due to heavy rains and floods, and decides to turn himself into the police, and is sent to prison. His wife has been unable to locate any of their children. Ram and Laxman are taken in by two bandits and turn to a life of crime, and ironically Ganga is adopted by Harnam Singh. Years later, Bhavani is released from prison, and comes to meet his wife, and is devastated to know that he may never get to see his children again. Bhavani starts living an honest life, not knowing that his estranged sons are leading a life of crime and that his daughter is now living with the family, whose son he killed.

Cast

as Thakur Bhavani Singh *

as Thakurain Radha Singh *

as Laxman Singh / Shiva * Rajesh Khanna as Ram Singh / Shankar *

as Bijli * Sulakshana Pandit as Chanda *

Heena Kausar Heena Kausar is an Indian actress who appeared in several Hindi language films in the 1970s. She is the widow of dreaded Indian gangster and underworld don Iqbal Mirchi. Biography Kausar is the daughter of filmmaker K. Asif, famous as the pr ...

as Ganga Singh * Amjad Khan as Chandan Singh / Jwala Singh (Double Role) *

Satyendra Kapoor Satyendra Kappu (born Satyendra Sharma; also credited as Satyen Kappu; 7 February 1931 – 27 October 2007), was an Indian character actor in Bollywood films. He has acted in 390 films. His most remembered role is Ramlal in the movie ''Sholay'' ( ...

as Thakur Harnam Singh *

Purnima Pūrṇimā () is the word for full moon in Sanskrit. The day of Purnima is the day (''Tithi'') in each month when the full moon occurs, and marks the division in each month between the two lunar fortnights (paksha), and the Moon is aligned exa ...

as Mrs. Harnam Singh *

Gajanan Jagirdar Gajanan Jagirdar (2 April 1907 – 13 August 1988) was a veteran Indian film director, screenwriter and actor. He worked in Hindi Cinema, also called Bollywood, as well as Marathi cinema. The period of 1942 to 1947, saw his rise as a film direct ...

as Mukhiya *

Om Prakash Om Prakash (born Om Prakash Chibber 19 December 1919 – 21 February 1998) was an Indian film actor. He was born in Jammu as Om Prakash Chibber and went on to become a well-known character actor of Bollywood. His most well-known movies are Na ...

as Fakira *

Nazir Hussain Nazir Hussain (15 May 1922 – 16 October 1987) was an Indian actor, director and screenwriter. He was famous as a character actor in Hindi cinema and acted in almost 500 films. Dev Anand starred in a large proportion of the films he acted i ...

as Priest *

Mukri Mohammed Umar Mukri (5 January 1922 – 4 September 2000), popularly known as Mukri, was an Indian actor, who worked as a comedian in Hindi films. Born as Muhammad Umar Mukri in Uran, in Kokani Muslim Family. He started his film career with th ...

as Shiva's Foster Father * Nisar Ahmad Ansari as Jailor

Soundtrack

All songs composed by

and all lyrics by Majrooh

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0379250 1980s Hindi-language films 1982 films Films scored by Naushad