''Dharma'' is a 1973

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

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 life ...

directed by Chand. The film stars Pran in the title role. The rest of the cast includes Ajit,

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 ...

, Bindu and the pair

Navin Nischol Navin Nischol (18 March 1946 – 19 March 2011) was an Indian actor. He made his debut with the Hindi film ''Sawan Bhadon'' in 1970. In 1996 he worked in Pyar Zindagi Hai along with Rita Bhaduri and Raj Mohammed. The film was shot in Hyderabad. ...

Rekha Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in more than 180 fil ...

. The film became a "Superhit" at the box office. It was remade into the Telugu film ''Na Pere Bhagavan'' (1976). The film ''Dharma'' is also known for its music composed by the duo of Sonik-Omi and is especially famous for the qawwali sung by

Mohammed 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 ...

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...

in the sequence between Pran and Bindu. A few other songs were also nicely tuned and presented.

Plot

Sevak Singh Dharma is a dreaded dacoit living in isolation with his followers Bhairav Singh (Rajan Haksar), Mangal Singh (Madan Puri) and his wife Parvati (Geeta Siddharth) amongst others. He kills Bhairav for betraying his trust during a police encounter. While escaping in a boat, both his young son, Suraj, and wife are hit by gunfire by inspector Ajit Singh (Ajit) and considered drowned, while he survives and lands up in a city as the feared dacoit, Chandan Singh. Chandan Singh takes revenge on Ajit Singh's family and abducts his wife Asha and daughter Radha (both played by Rekha). Asha gets killed accidentally while Radha is rescued by a prostitute. Flash forward: Ajit Singh is now the Inspector General of Police; Chandan Singh is impersonating Nawab Sikander Bakht. Radha is a dancer who flips for Raju (Navin Nischol) Chandan's second-in-command. In time, Chandan tells Ajit that she is his daughter, and he should take charge of her. Even though Ajit suspects Raju's true identity, he admits him into the police force with the explicit duty of arresting Chandan who, after the truth about him comes in the open, is on the run. Bottles of blood and bullets run amuck in sequences leading towards the climax; the truth about Raju (or Suraj), now a police inspector, is revealed in the encounter between father and son. Chandan gives himself up to the police.

Cast

* Pran as Sevak Singh / Dharam Singh "Dharma" / Chandan Seth / Nawab Sikandar Mirza *

as Suraj / Raju *

as Asha Singh / Radha (Double Role) * Ajit as Inspector Ajit Singh *

as Mangal Singh *

Rajan Haksar ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

as Bhairav Singh *

Ramesh Deo Ramesh Deo (30 January 1926 – 2 February 2022) was an Indian film and television actor who worked in more than 285 Hindi films, 190 Marathi films and 30 Marathi dramas with over 200 showings in his long career. He also produced feature films, ...

as Chaman Singh *

Mohan Choti Mohan Choti (1935 – 1 February 1992) was an Indian actor who worked as a comedian in Hindi films. The name Mohan Choti came from a fictional character of the same name from the 1957 film '' Musafir'', in which he plays a tea shop delivery boy ...

as Car Mechanic * Asit Sen as Seth Garibdas * Anjali Kadam as Parvati Singh *

Chandrashekhar Chandrasekhar, Chandrashekhar or Chandra Shekhar is an Indian name and may refer to a number of individuals. The name comes from the name of an incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva. In this form he married the goddess Parvati. Etymologically, the nam ...

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 ...

as Seth * Bindu as Bindiya *

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, ...

as Cabaret Dancer #1 *

Faryal Faryal was born on 3 November 1945 in Syria. She is an actress and dancer of mixed Indian and Arabic descent working in Hindi films. She was a popular Bollywood cabaret dancer and actress in the 1960s and 1970s. Early life and background Far ...

as Cabaret Dancer #2 *

Sonia Sahni Sonia Sahni is an Indian actress who worked in Hindi language films. Her debut film was '' Johar-Mehmood in Goa'' with actors I. S. Johar and Mehmood. Her other notable films are '' Maalik (1972 film)'', '' Buddha Mil Gaya'', '' Bobby'', ''Dhara ...

as Cabaret Dancer #3 *

Jayshree T. Jayshree Talpade (born c. 1953) is an Indian actress and dancer who mostly plays in Bollywood films. Career Talpade began her career at age 5 in 1958 with ''Goonj Uthi Shehnai''. She gained popularity when she started performing item dances i ...

as Cabaret Dancer #4

Crew

* Stunt - A. Gani * Art - D. S. Malvankar * Choreography - Surya Kumar * Audiography - Harbans Singh

Soundtrack

Lyrics written by

Verma Malik Verma Malik (13 April 1925 – 15 March 2009) was a Bollywood film songs lyricist. He was an active freedom fighter during the British Raj. He wrote many patriotic songs and bhajans and recited them immediately prior to penning lyrics for fi ...

& music composed by Sonik Omi.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0355374, title=Dharma 1973 films Films scored by Sonik-Omi 1970s Hindi-language films 1973 action films Hindi films remade in other languages Indian action films Hindi-language action films