''Kranti'' () is a 1981 Indian

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

film, produced and directed by

Manoj Kumar Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...

, with the story and screenplay written by

Salim–Javed Salim–Javed were an Indian screenwriting duo, composed of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, working in Bollywood. They are noted for being the first Indian screenwriters to achieve star status, becoming the most successful Indian screenwriters o ...

. It stars an ensemble cast, consisting of

Dilip Kumar Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from lat ...

in the title role along with

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ (born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and film producer who is best known for his work in Hindi films. A recipient of several accolades, including four Nation ...

Shatrughan Sinha Shatrughan Prasad Sinha (born 9 December 1945) is an Indian actor and politician. He is a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Asansol (Lok Sabha constituency), Asansol constituency as a member of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Earlier he ...

Hema Malini Hema Malini (born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films. Known for starring in both comic and dramatic roles, she is one of the most popular and successful ...

, Parveen Babi in pivotal roles. The film also marked the return of

after a five-year hiatus. This film celebrated golden jubilee in many centres across India. It ran for 67 weeks straight in the theatres including a theatre where it was housefull for 96 days. It ranks among the top 10 highest grossing Indian films of all time, when adjusted for ticket-price inflation. It was one of the most expensive Indian films of the time and it went on to become the highest grossing Indian film of the 1980s decade by a distance, when adjusted for inflation. ''Kranti'' is the biggest patriotic hit ever seen in India. It was the second highest grossing Indian film ever behind '' Sholay'' (1975) at the time of its release. However, it did higher business than ''Sholay'' in its original/first run. It grossed ₹20 crore as compared to ₹15 crore of ''Sholay'' in the original run''. Sholay'' did exceptionally well in re-runs earning more profit during the mean period. At the time of release it was the fastest earner of all time setting first run records in practically all circuits barring

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

. It celebrated a silver jubilee in 26 centres and even in places like

Mirzapur Mirzapur () is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India, 827 km from Delhi and 733 km from Kolkata, almost 91 km from Prayagraj (formally known as Allahabad) and 61 km from Varanasi. It is known for its carpets and brassware industries, and the folk ...

( UP) and Junagadh (

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

) where jubilees were very rare. There are hardly ten films in history that are estimated to have celebrated jubilees in over 25 centres. The craze of the film was such that in places like

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

, UP and

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

there were shops selling ''Kranti'' T shirts, jackets, vests and even underwear. The collections in all major centres of UP did not see a drop even weeks after its release. The collections after ten weeks in places like

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

, Gorakhpur and

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

were still competing with new releases. ''Kranti'' grossed 1.25 crore nett in Delhi / UP in ten weeks and then went on to do over 3 crore nett in its full run and before '' Hum Aapke Hain Kaun..!'' released in 1994 (marking major changes in business of films), there were only three films in history to cross 3 crore nett in Delhi / UP. The film was finally declared a Golden Jubilee Hit. ''Kranti'' is widely regarded as a

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

film.

Synopsis

The film takes place in the 19th Century British India and is the story of the fight for independence from the British between 1825 and 1875. The film tells the story of men that lead the war against British Rule: Sanga (Dilip Kumar), Bharat (Manoj Kumar) known as Kranti, a prince (Shashi Kapoor) and a freedom fighter (Shatrughan Sinha). Sanga is an honest and dedicated employee in the kingdom of Ramgarh, owing allegiance and loyalty to no one except Raja Laxman Singh. When Laxman Singh conditionally permits the British to use the port for trading purposes, Sangha finds out that the British are taking out gold and jewellery and bringing in ammunition, and puts a stop to this. He goes to report this outrage to Laxman Singh, only to find him stabbed to death. Sanga is charged with treason and of killing Laxman Singh. Sentenced to death, he escapes and forms a group of revolutionaries who have only one goal - to drive the British out of India. This group multiplies into several armies, all united with one slogan - an Independent India, also known as Kranti. The film is known for a nude scene of Parveen Babi.

Cast

as Sanga *

as Bharat *

as Shakti *

as Karim Khan *

as Rajkumari Meenakshi * Parveen Babi as Sureeli *

Nirupa Roy Nirupa Roy (born Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara; 4 January 1931 – 13 October 2004) was an Indian actress who had appeared in Hindi films. Noted for her portrayals of tragedy and sorrow, Roy was known for her acting ability, and was uncharitab ...

as Radha * Pradeep Kumar as Shamsher Singh * Prem Chopra as Shambhu Singh *

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 Sher Singh * Shashikala as Rani Charumati * Preeti Ganguly as Sureeli's Friend *

Sarika Sarika Thakur is an Indian actress and costume designer. In 2005, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for the English-language film ''Parzania''. She was also awarded the National Film Award for Best Costume Design for her work i ...

as Sheetal * Sudhir Dalvi as Bheema *

Kunal Goswami Kunal Goswami is an Indian actor and business person who acted in films and television. He is the son of Indian film star and producer-director Manoj Kumar. Biography Goswami made his debut in Bollywood with his father's 1981 film ''Kranti (19 ...

as Bharat & Meenakshi's Son * Agha as Sanga's Kranti Group Member * Birbal as Sanga's Kranti Group Member * Paintal as Bharat's Kranti Group Member *

Bhagwan Bhagavan ( sa, भगवान्, Bhagavān; pi, Bhagavā, italics=yes), also spelt Bhagwan (sometimes translated in English as "Lord"), is an epithet within Indian religions used to denote figures of religious worship. In Hinduism it is us ...

as Allah Rakha *

Manmohan Manmohan means 'Winner of the heart'. It is another name of Krishna, the Hindu deity, one of the "avatars" (or "incarnation") of Lord Vishnu. Manmohan may also refer to: *Man Mohan Adhikari (1920–1999), former Prime Minister of Nepal *Manmohan (a ...

as Darmiyan Singh * Tom Alter as British Officer *

P. Jairaj Paidi Jairaj (born 28 September 1909 – 11 August 2000) was an Indian actor, director and producer known for his works majorly in Hindi; few Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu language films, and Telugu theatre.Luminaries of 20th Century, Potti Sreeram ...

as Maharaj Laxman Singh * Dheeraj Kumar as Prince * Gurbachan Singh as British Indian Soldier

Soundtrack

The music is scored by Laxmikant Pyarelal and lyrics written by Santosh Anand. The music was popular with some hit songs like "Zindagi Ki Na Toote Ladi" and "Chana Jor Garam". Laxmikant Pyarelal used famous singers

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 ...

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

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 ...

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhen ...

Mahendra Kapoor Mahendra Kapoor (9 January 1934 – 27 September 2008) was an Indian playback singer. In a long career spanning decades, his repertoire included popular songs such as ''Chalo ekbaar phir se Ajnabi ban jayen hum dono'' ( Gumrah) and ''Neele Gaga ...

, Shailender Singh and Nitin Mukesh to sing for the actors.

Box office notes

* Net gross of approximately Rs.10-crore. * The top-grossing Indian film of 1981. * It ran for 67 weeks in theaters. * It was a Golden Jubilee HIT, and entailed good profits for all Indian distributors despite a heavy price tag (2 Crore) attached. It was among the costliest Indian movie ever at that time with many estimates of it being the costliest.Top Earners 1980-1989

References

External links