''Nishana'' () is a 1980 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 ...

-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 by M. Arjuna Raju, A. S. R. Anjineelu under Roja Movies banner and directed by

K. Raghavendra Rao Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao (born 23 May 1942) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema besides having directed a few Hindi films. He has garnered four state Nandi Awards and fiv ...

. Starring

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 ...

Poonam Dhillon Poonam Dhillon (born 18 April 1962) is an Indian actress and politician. A former Femina Miss India (1977), she is best known for her 1979 film '' Noorie.'' Some of her well-known films include '' Red Rose'' (1980), '' Dard'' (1981), ''Romance' ...

and music composed by

Laxmikant–Pyarelal Laxmikant–Pyarelal were an Indian composer duo, consisting of Laxmikant Shantaram Patil Kudalkar (1937–1998) and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born 1940). He is known by the nickname “Pyromaniac” due to his flaming style of music. Laxmikan ...

. The film is remake of the

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

film ''

Vetagadu ''Vetagadu'' () is a 1979 Indian Telugu-language action film, produced by M. Arjuna Raju and K. Sivarama Raju under the Roja Movies banner and directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and Sridevi, with music composed by Chakrav ...

'' (1979). Both the movies are made by same banner & director. The film partly inspired the 2010 comedy '' Housefull''.

Plot

The film begins in a forest ''Abhayaranyam'' where Thakur Pratap Singh a royal, constructs a palace. Thakur dynasty possesses a heritage antique charm ''Rajkamal Necklace'' which his wife Janki Devi always wears. Sivanand their Diwanji a thorny purport as trustworthy ploys to sacrilege and kidnaps Janki Devi. However, she escapes when Surya Prakash friend of Thakur Pratap Singh seeks to save her but Diwanji slays him. In between Janki Devi hands over the necklace to a tribal, and asks him to decorate it for their goddess until her return. Now Diwanji misplaces Janki Devi and her whereabouts are not known. He also incriminates Surya Prakash for the cause, thereby, rivalry arises. Pratap Singh attributes the misfortune to the new building, orders to ruin it, and shifts to the city. Years roll by, and Raja a valiant, son of Surya Prakash is a fascinating hunter and moves to the ''Abhayaranyam''. On the way, he squabbles and falls for Kalpana daughter of Pratap Singh. Besides, Diwanji undertakes manifold enormities along with his son Premee undercover in the screwed palace which is rumored as a demonic house. Every night Raja listens to a sad song from the palace which is supposed to be Janki Devi’s voice. So, twice he enters the house and encounters evils. Meanwhile, Raja & Kalpana back to the city and meets Pratap Singh. At that juncture, Diwanji reveals Raja’s identity as he yearns to knit Kalpana with Premee when enraged Pratap Singh knocks out him. Then, Raja learns pledges to prove his father guiltless. Hence, he rebounds to the forest and rescues a tribal girl when their leader same tribal honors Raja. Thereby, he discovers ''Raj Kamal Necklace'' on the neck of their deity. So, he solicits the leader for reality and comprehends the truth. Now, Raja makes a play and breaks out the mystery that Janki Devi is alive and has been seized in the palace. At last, Raja ceases Diwanji, when Pratap Singh pleads pardon and fairly submits the necklace to the tribal goddess. Finally, the movie ends on a happy note with the marriage of Raja & Kalpana.

Cast

The cast is as follows: *

as Raja *

as Kavita *

Prem Chopra Prem Chopra (born 23 September 1935) is an Indian actor in Hindi and Punjabi films. He has acted in 380 films over a span of over 60 years. He has a soft-spoken diction despite being a villain in most films. His 19 films, with him as antagonist ...

as Premee *

Asrani Govardhan Asrani (born 1 January 1940), popularly known simply as Asrani, is an Indian actor and director whose Bollywood career has spanned five decades. He has acted in over 350 Hindi films. Asrani has played the lead roles, character roles ...

as Ganesh *

Shreeram Lagoo Dr.Shriram Lagoo (16 November 1927 – 17 December 2019) was an Indian film and theatre actor, in Hindi and Marathi, in addition to being an ENT Surgeon. He was known for his character roles in films. He acted in over 250 films including Hind ...

as Thakur Pratap Singh *

Utpal Dutt Utpal Dutta () (29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little Th ...

as Diwanji *

Rajendra Nath Rajendra Nath Malhotra (8 June 1931 − 13 February 2008) was an Indian actor and comedian in Hindi and Punjabi films. Early life and family Rajendra Nath was born on 8 June 1931 in Tikamgarh, which is now in Madhya Pradesh. His family was ...

as Bansilal *

Pradeep Kumar Pradeep Kumar (born Sital Batabyal; 4 January 1925 – 3 November 2001) was an Indian actor who is recognized for his work in Hindi, Bengali and English-language films. Career When Kumar was 17 years old, he decided to take up acting. He sta ...

as Surya Prakash *

Om Shivpuri Om Shivpuri (14 July 1938 – 15 October 1990) was an Indian theatre actor-director and character actor in Hindi films. A National School of Drama, New Delhi alumnus, Shivpuri became the first chief of the National School of Drama Repertory Co ...

as Adivasi *

Jayshree Gadkar Jayshree Gadkar (21 February 1942 – 29 August 2008) was a noted Marathi and Hindi movie actress and a star of Marathi cinema from the 1950s up to the 1980s. Personal life Jayshree was born into a Konkani-speaking family at Kanasgiri ( Sa ...

as Janaki Devi *

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 ...

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 ...

Soundtrack

Lyrics: Anand Bakshi

Reception and legacy

Upon release, in November, '' Sunday'' reported the film to be in the third place among the biggest hits of the week. According to

Box Office India Box Office India is an Indian film website. Its traffic ranking in India is 83,665 . A new Box Office India website went live on 20 January 2014. About Box Office India was launched on 10 June 2003. Its uses Whois privacy to anonymize its ow ...

, the final verdict of the film's box-office performance is "below average". The film was touted by the same newspaper to be among a new wave of Hindi films made by filmmakers from South India, which "revitalised the production of Hindi extravaganzas at Madras". ''Film World'' magazine was critical of the pairing between Jeetendra and Dhillon and warned the latter that "One more film like ''Nishana'' and there you will be in the dumps". Author Manisha Mishra accused the film of

colourism Discrimination based on skin color, also known as colorism, or shadeism, is a form of prejudice and/or discrimination in which people who share similar ethnicity traits or perceived race are treated differently based on the social implications ...

in a 2021 research paper. Film director

Sajid Khan Sajjad Khan (born 28 December 1951) is an Indian actor and singer. Born into poverty in the Bombay slums, he became the adopted son of Bollywood filmmaker Mehboob Khan, founder of Mehboob Studios. He worked in a handful of Indian films, debuti ...

said that the film "has stayed with me for three decades now", and that it subconsciously inspired him while writing the script of the 2010 comedy '' Housefull''.

References

External links

{{K. Raghavendra Rao 1980 action films 1980 films 1980s Hindi-language films Films directed by K. Raghavendra Rao Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal Films set in forests Hindi remakes of Telugu films Indian action films 1980s masala films