''Kaalia'' is a 1981 Indian

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 de ...

-language

action thriller 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 ...

, written and directed by

Tinnu Anand Tinu Anand (born Virender Raj Anand, 12 October 1945) is an Indian actor, director, writer and producer in Hindi cinema and a few Telugu and Tamil films. Early life He is the son of veteran writer Inder Raj Anand, brother of producer Bittu Ana ...

, and produced by Iqbal Singh. The film stars

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

(in the title role),

Parveen Babi Parveen Babi (4 April 1954 – 20 January 2005) was an Indian actress and model. Recognized for her roles in Hindi films throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Babi was known for her "glamorous" acting style, and was one of the highest-paid ...

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 ...

Kader Khan Kader Khan (22 October 1937 – 31 December 2018) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and film director. As an actor, he appeared in over 300 Bollywood films after his debut film in the 1973 film '' Daag'', starring Rajesh Khanna, in which he ...

, Pran, Amjad Khan,

K.N. Singh Krishan Niranjan Singh (1 September 1908 – 31 January 2000), known as K. N. Singh in Indian cinema, was a prominent villain and character actor. He appeared in over 200 Hindi films over a long career stretching from 1936 to the late 1980s. ...

and

Jagdeep Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jaffrey (29 March 1939 – 8 July 2020), better known by his stage name Jagdeep, was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in more than 400 films. He played Soorma Bhopali in ''Sholay'' (1975), Machchar in ''Purana Mandir ...

. The music is 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 ...

, while the lyrics are by

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 ...

. The film was the 8th highest grossing

Indian film The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

of 1981. It was later remade in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

in 1984 as ''Huliyaada Kaala'' starring

Tiger Prabhakar Tiger Prabhakar (30 March 1948 – 25 March 2001), also known as Kannada Prabhakar, was an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Kannada and Telugu cinema, with a few Malayalam, Tamil and Bollywood films. Career Prabhakar started hi ...

and in Tamil in 1987 as ''

Cooliekkaran ''Cooliekkaran'' () is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Rajasekhar and produced by S. Thanu. The film stars Vijayakanth and Rupini, in her Tamil cinema debut. It is a remake of the Hindi film ''Kaalia'' (1981). The ...

'' starring

Vijayakanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...

. The film was another classic from Bachchan's "angry young man" era and helped cement his status as a

superstar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...

. The film is also remembered for having the classic upbeat song "Jahan Teri Yeh Nazar Hai" (sung by

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (); 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He ...

). It continues to be played at parties and nightclubs, along with being considered one of the most iconic songs of the 1980s. This was the only film that featured Amitabh Bachchan and Asha Parekh together, although they were never paired opposite each other.

Plot

Kaalia lives with his older brother Shamu, sister-in-law Shanti, and their little daughter Munni. He is intelligent but spends his time idly playing with the neighbour's kids. His older brother gets into an accident while at work at the mill and loses his arms. He loses his job and needs money for his treatment. Kaalia begs his brother's boss, Shahani Seth, for monetary help, but he refuses. Kaalia breaks into Shahani's safe to get the money, but it proves to be too late as Shamu dies. Shahani then throws Kaalia in jail for nine months, where he meets the men that teach him crime. After his release, Kaalia is a different, stronger man. He and his accomplices steal the gold that the boss had been smuggling at the mill. Then he burns down the mill as retribution for his brother's death. He goes to jail again, this time for two years. His accomplices lie to his sister-in-law by telling her that he is in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

earning money for her and her daughter. They move from poverty to riches. In jail, Kaalia meets the jailor Raghvir Singh, a smart, ethical, strong man, whose daughter was kidnapped by one of the prisoners as a child. After Kaalia is released from prison, he is bent on seeking vengeance and eventually pairs up with a woman names Shalini. The boss kidnaps Kaalia's niece and forces her mother to testify against Kaalia at a murder trial. He is found guilty for a murder he didn't commit and escapes from prison to find his niece. At first, the warden chases him, but once he knows the true story, decides to help him. They go to the boss's place and not only find the little girl, but also the sister-in-law about to die. The boss reveals to the warden that he was the one who had kidnapped his daughter 20 years ago and now it is the grown up Shalini. They fight with him, the boss gets beaten up, and Kaalia finally chops Shahani's arm off.

Cast

as Kallu / Kaalia *

as Shanti (Kallu's sister-in-law) *

as Shalini / Rani Singh *

as Shamu (Kallu's brother) * Amjad Khan as Shahani Seth / Jaswant * Pran as Jailer Raghuvir Singh (Shalini's estranged father) *

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 exact ...

as Shalini Step Mother *

as Convict * Sajjan as 2nd Defense Attorney *

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 IGP Officer *

Sudhir Sudhir is an Indian given name, Indian masculine given name. The Sanskrit word ' means "very wise", "resolute". Notable people with the name include: *Sudhir (Pakistani actor) (1922–1997), Pakistani actor *Sudhir (Hindi actor) (1944–2014), ...

as Rawat * Baby Khushboo as Rina ,Shalini's Step Sister * Brahmachari as Gopal *

Ram Sethi Ram Sethi (born 15 November 1938), also known as Pyaare-laal, is an Indian actor who works in the Bollywood industry. Sethi has worked in many films as a main or supporting character in his long career of 6 decades. Biography Ram Sethi (Pyarel ...

as Crippled Prisoner * Brahm Bhardawaj as Judge *

Ranjit Chowdhry Ranjit Chowdhry (19 September 1955 – 15 April 2020) was an Indian character actor, known for his roles in television, movies, and theatre. He appeared in two episodes of ''The Office'', as Vikram, a telemarketer who worked with Michael, and w ...

as Boot polisher *

Yunus Parvez Yunus Parvez (1931/1932 – 11 February 2007) was an Indian actor who played supporting roles in over 200 films from the late 1960s to the 2000s. He is best known for his roles in films like ''Garm Hava'' (1974), ''Deewaar'' (1975), '' Trishul' ...

as Abdul, Factory Mill Worker *

Dev Kumar Dev Kumar (born 4 February 1972) is a Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varn ...

as Convict *

Hiralal Hiralal is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Hiralal (actor), Indian film actor *Shirish Hiralal Chaudhari, member of the 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly *Hiralal Datta (born 1959), Indian cricketer *Hiralal Gaekwad (1923� ...

as Convict *

as car dealer *

Bob Christo Robert John Christo, was an Australian-Indian civil engineer and actor in Hindi films. Starting with Sanjay Khan's ''Abdullah'' (1980), he went on to act in over 200 Hindi films in the 1980s and 1990s, including '' Qurbani'' (1980), ''Kaalia'' ( ...

as Michael *

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 Kallu defence Lawyer *

Raza Murad Raza Murad (born 23 November 1950) is an Indian actor who appears primarily in Hindi films. He has over 250 Bollywood film credits. Murad has also appeared in Bhojpuri and other regional-language films and on Hindi television. Early life He i ...

as Public Prosecutor *

Mushtaq Khan Mushtaq Khan is an Indian film and television actor and comedian who has worked in several Hindi films in a career spanning three decades. He is best known for his roles in films like ''Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke'' (1993), '' Jodi No.1'' (2001) an ...

as Ram Deen *

Anjan Srivastav Aanjjan Srivastav (born 2 June 1948) is an Indian film, television and stage actor, associated with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) in Mumbai of which he remained Vice-President for several years. Outside theatre, he is best known as ...

as Constable in Central Jail (Guest Role)

Soundtrack

Lyrics were by

Notes

* The song "Jahan Teri Yeh Nazar Hai" influenced the song " Palat – Tera Hero Idhar Hai", featured in the 2014 film ''

Main Tera Hero ''Main Tera Hero'' () is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language romantic action comedy film, directed by David Dhawan and produced by Shobha Kapoor Shobha Kapoor (born 1 February 1949) is an Indian television, film and web series producer. She is ...

''. * This film was remade in Sinhalese as ''Jaya Apatai'' in 1986, but with different songs. This version stars Vijaya Kumarathunga, Geetha Kumarathunga and Cleetus Mendis.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0082594 Films scored by R. D. Burman 1981 films 1980s Hindi-language films Hindi films remade in other languages 1980s masala films