''Khel Khel Mein'' () is a 1975 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

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

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

Ravi Tandon Ravi Tandon (17 February 1935 – 11 February 2022) was an Indian film director and producer. He also worked as an assistant director and story writer. He is the father of actress Raveena Tandon. Ravi Tandon directed a number of hit movies, th ...

. It was an adaption of the English novel ''Good Guys Don't Kill'' written by Louis Thomas. The film music was composed 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 ...

and the lyrics written by

Gulshan Bawra Gulshan Kumar Mehta, popularly known by his pen name Gulshan Bawra (literally: "Gulshan The Mad") (12 April 1937 – 7 August 2009), was an Indian songwriter and actor in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning 42 years, he has to his credit about 2 ...

. The film stars

Rishi Kapoor Rishi Raj Kapoor (4 September 1952 — 30 April 2020) was an Indian actor, film director and producer who worked in Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry base ...

Neetu Singh Neetu Kapoor (born Harneet Kaur), is an Indian actress who is known for appearing in Hindi films throughout the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. In 2012, Singh was inducted into the Walk of the Stars, an entertainment hall of fame at Bandra ...

and

Rakesh Roshan Rakesh Roshan (born 6 September 1949) is an Indian film producer, director, screenwriter, and actor who works in Hindi films. He is the son of Indian music director Roshan and Indian Bengali singer Ira Roshan. He had appeared in 84 films throu ...

as college students, who play a prank and get involved with a notorious criminal. The film turns quickly from fun and frolic to a taut thriller.

Iftekhar Sayedna Iftekhar Ahmed Sharif (22 February 1924 – 4 March 1995), often mononymously credited as Iftekhar, was an Indian actor who mainly worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for his role as a police officer. Career Iftekhar was born in ...

, Dev kumar and

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 ...

also star in the film. The film was remade in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

language as ''

Aruthu ''Aruthu'' () is a 1976 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by Ravi. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Sumithra (actress), Sumithra, M. G. Soman and Kaviyoor Ponnamma in the lead roles. The film has musical score by G. Devarajan. The film was a ...

'' (1976). The 1992 film '' Khiladi'' was reported to be a rehash of this movie.

Plot

Ajay joins a college in Shimla for further education. He meets Vikram and Nisha, two slackers in the college who just love playing pranks. Ajay is way different from them and an easy target. But after some initial hiccups, Ajay becomes friends with them. Soon, the trio are playing pranks on unsuspecting people. One day, they spot a stingy Seth (a wealthy man) and send him a fake typewritten extortion note, hoping to relieve him of his money. However, the next day, they find out through the newspaper that the man is dead. Based on the circumstances, they realize that they might end up as prime suspects in the case. They decide to destroy their incriminating typewriter, only to find it missing. Also, they realize that a stranger (

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 ...

) is stalking them. Ajay and Nisha decide to tell police the truth, whether they believe it or not. But even before they can tell the truth, they are horrified to find Vikram dead. They meet Inspector Rajendra Singh, who is investigating the case. The Inspector is sceptical, but gives them one chance to prove their innocence. From Vikram's personal belongings, they find out about a club singer named Sherie. Anticipating that Sherie may know why Vikram was killed, they go to meet Sherie. But when they go to her dressing room after her performance, they find her dead. The duo realize that Sherie was involved in some shady deals and Vikram was her partner. After trying to find out some information, they learn that Sherie acted as a middleman between a dreaded criminal named Black Cobra and the people who paid him. After learning that Black Cobra is an extortionist and the dead man was also on his payroll, blocks suddenly start falling into places. Ajay and Nisha deduce that the Seth thought the note was from Black Cobra and confronted him. The Seth thought that Black Cobra became more greedy and threatened to expose him, following which he was killed by latter. Black Cobra thought that Vikram and Sherie were extorting people in his name, behind his back, so he killed them. He also stole the typewriter to frame Ajay and Nisha. It becomes clear that the person following them is either Black Cobra himself, or his henchman. Though they have no concrete information about Black Cobra, they find some information secretly hidden by Sherie, that might unmask Black Cobra. The stranger confronts them, but the duo overpower him and escape. They inform the Inspector about their findings. The Inspector calls them to meet him in an abandoned place. Ajay gives him all the incriminating evidence, but to his astonishment, the Inspector burns all of it. He shocks him by telling that he is none other than Black Cobra himself. Suddenly Ajay realizes that he played right into his hands. Black Cobra coolly goes on to declare that since he knows pretty much everything, he has to kill him and pin the blame of all the killings on him. He denies that he sent any man behind them. Just he is about to pull the trigger, the stranger makes an entry and after some fight the Black Cobra is put behind bars. To a bewildered Ajay and Nisha, the stranger reveals that he is Charlie, an undercover police officer working on the murder cases. He tells that he suspected Vikram and Sherie of running the extortion racket much before the first murder. He already knew about the prank, but was unsure of the killer's identity. So he stole their typewriter. Then Cobra killed Vikram and Sherie to keep his secret intact. Then he knew that Cobra is behind all this and used the duo to track down Cobra. He reassures Ajay and Nisha that even though Black Cobra destroyed all the proof, there is no proof against the duo either. He tells the duo to collect the typewriter from him the next day. The duo oblige, vowing never to play such pranks again.

Cast

: Ajay Anand *

: Vikram *

: Nisha *

Satyen Kappu 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'' ...

: Lecturer *

Jankidas Jankidas Mehra (1910 – 18 June 2003) was an Indian actor of Hindi cinema, cyclist, production designer, and writer. He made over 1000 film appearances between the 1930s and 1997. Biography Sports Jankidas served as the only Indian member of ...

: Ghanshyam Das, Jewellery Store Owner *

: Inspector Bhupendra Singh / Black Cobra *

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' ...

: Charlie *

Preeti Ganguly Preeti Ganguly ( hi, प्रीति गाँगुली; 17 May 1953 – 2 December 2012) was an Indian actress who played several comic roles in Bollywood in the 1970s and 1980s. She was the daughter of veteran Indian actor Ashok Kumar, a ...

: Uma *

: Sherry *

: Inspector Sood *

Kamal Kapoor Kamal Kapoor (22 February 1920 – 2 August 2010) was an Indian actor and producer who acted in around 600 Hindi, Punjabi and Gujarati films. Early and personal life Kamal Kapoor was born in 1920 in Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province, Brit ...

: Ajay's Father *

Chand Usmani Chand Usmani (3 January 1933 – 26 November 1989) was an Indian actress in Hindi films from the 1950s to the late 1980s. She won the 1971 Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is best remembered for playing self-sacrificing wives an ...

: Ajay's Mother *

Lalita Pawar Lalita Pawar (18 April 1916 – 24 February 1998) was a prolific Indian actress, who later became famous as a character actress, appearing in over 700 films in Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati cinema. She holds a Guinness world record of longest ac ...

: Warden D'Costa *

Hari Shivdasani Hari Shivdasani (1909–1994) was an Indian character actor in Hindi cinema from 1930s-1980s. Personal life Hari Shivdasani was a Sindhi Hindu from Karachi and had moved with his family to Mumbai at the time of the partition of the British Raj ...

: Vikram's Father *

Moolchand Moolchand was a prolific character actor in Hindi and Panjabi cinema, who was active from 1950 to his death in the late 1980s. He appeared in over 250 films. These films spanned the parallel cinema of Guru Dutt to the wrestler films of Dara Sing ...

: Murli Manohar *

Jagdish Raj Jagdish Raj Khurana (1928 – 28 July 2013) was a Bollywood actor who holds a Guinness World Record for being the most type-cast actor. He played the role of a police inspector in 144 films. Early life and career He was born in 1928 in the tow ...

: Police Inspector (uncredited)

Awards

;

23rd Filmfare Awards The 23rd Filmfare Awards were held on March 30, 1976. ''Sholay'' led the ceremony with 10 nominations, followed by '' Amanush'' and ''Deewaar'' with 9 nominations each, along with ''Aandhi'' and ''Sanyasi'' with 7 nominations each. ''Deewaar'' ...

: Nominated * Best Music Director –

* Best Female Playback Singer –

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 ...

for "Sapna Mera Toot Gaya"

Soundtrack

The music for the film was directed by

penned the lyrics for the songs.

Shailender Singh Shailendra Singh is an Indian playback singer and actor. He sang several Hindi and a few Marathi songs during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was very close to Mehmood Ali. Early life Shailendra Singh was born on 4 October 1952 in Mumbai, I ...

has sung one song for Rishi Kapoor and

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 ...

throughout this film backs the voice of Kapoor.

himself has also sung one song "Sapna Mera Toot Gaya". The theme music used in the film was later used to compose the song "Tere Bina Mein Kuch Bhi Nahin" in the 1983 film '' Jaane Jaan''.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0073236, Khel Khel Mein 1975 films 1970s Hindi-language films Films scored by R. D. Burman Indian buddy films Indian thriller films Films with screenplays by Sachin Bhowmick Films directed by Ravi Tandon 1970s buddy films 1970s thriller films Hindi-language thriller films