''Pratiggya'' () is a 1975

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

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 comedy film Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of actio ...

. Produced by

Dharmendra Dharam Singh Deol (born 8 December 1935), also known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer and politician who is known for his work in Hindi films. Known as the first " He-Man" of Bollywood, Dharmendra has worked in over 301 ...

and B. S. Deol, the film is directed by

Dulal Guha Dulal Guha (1929–2001) was an Indian film director of Bollywood films in the 1960s and '70s. He was born in Barisal city. His father Ruhini Guha died when he was one month old after which he was cared for by his uncle Harendra Lal Guha. He di ...

. The music was by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and the lyricist was Anand Bakshi. It stars

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 ...

, Ajit, Johnny Walker,

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 ...

Mukri Mohammed Umar Mukri (5 January 1922 – 4 September 2000), popularly known as Mukri, was an Indian actor, who worked as a comedian in Hindi films. Born as Muhammad Umar Mukri in Uran, in Kokani Muslim Family. He started his film career with th ...

Mehar Mittal Mehar Mittal (24 October 1934 – 22 October 2016)The ...

and

Keshto Mukherjee Keshto Mukherjee (7 August 1925 – 2 March 1982) was an Indian actor and comedian. He was born in Kolkata,Bengal Presidency, British India. He specialised in comic drunkard roles in Hindi films. Though he was famous for his drunkard typecast ...

. The story revolves around Dharmendra out to avenge his parents' brutal murder by Ajit in this "violent revenge" story. Along with its strong action scenes it also had a significant comic track in the form of "

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

" comedy getting the film referred to as a "masterpiece in comedy". The film was a big commercial success at the box-office and among the top 3 grossers for the year in India.

Plot

Ajit Singh (

), an illiterate truck driver, learns from his dying adoptive mother, that he is the only surviving son of an honest cop who was killed and his entire family obliterated by the dreaded dacoit Bharat Thakur ( Ajit) and so, he swears revenge. On his way to Dinapur, the dacoit's hideout, he meets a grievously injured cop, Inspector D'Souza, (

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'' ...

) who dies protecting his stash of ammunition from local dacoits. Inspector D'Souza was en route to the village of Dinapur to set up a police station with his men and the ammo, and he leaves the weapons at Ajit Singh's disposal before succumbing to his wounds. Ajit Singh uses this new found stash of machine guns and grenades to pose as a cop and sets up a police station in the aforementioned village with the help of the villagers. His love interest is the feisty and pretty village belle Radha (

), who is the niece of dreaded dacoit Bharat Thakur but hates his ways and supports Ajit Singh. Bharat Thakur himself is a cunning man and he sets up his man, the village drunkard Chandi (

) as a spy within the village police station nexus. The rest of the film follows the struggle between Ajit Singh and Bharat and how he goes about taking his revenge and thus fulfilling his Pratigya (Promise).

Cast

as Inspector Devendra Singh / Ajit Singh / Thanedaar Indrajeet Singh (Double Role) *

as Radha Thakur * Ajit as Bharat Daku * Johnny Walker as Birju Thekedaar *

as Kanha *

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 Habibullah *

Abhi Bhattacharya Abhi Bhattacharya (20 November 1921 – 11 August 1993) was an Indian actor of Hindi and Bengali cinema, who is most remembered for his roles in films of the 1950s and the 1960s, such as ''Yatrik'' (1952), ''Jagriti'' (1954), '' Anuradha'' (1 ...

as Inspector Abhijeet Singh *

Nazir Hussain Nazir Hussain (15 May 1922 – 16 October 1987) was an Indian actor, director and screenwriter. He was famous as a character actor in Hindi cinema and acted in almost 500 films. Dev Anand starred in a large proportion of the films he acted in ...

as Sipahi Shivcharan *

as Chandi *

Sapru Sapru is a clan of Kashmiri Pandits. The majority of them are now living in diaspora outside the Kashmir Valley. Most Saprus are Hindus while some are Muslims. Notable people *Tej Bahadur Sapru, lawyer, political and social leader *Muhammad Iqba ...

as Purohit *

as Inspector D'Souza * Kanwar Ajit Singh Deol as Truck driver * Rammohan Sharma as Bhiku *

Mehar Mittal Mehar Mittal (24 October 1934 – 22 October 2016)The ...

as Dinapur Resident * Sunder as Barber Dinapur Resident * D. K. Sapru as Purohit * Imtiaz Khan as Raghu, Bharat Thakur's Brother * Brahamchari as Sidhu *

Leela Mishra Leela Mishra (1 January 1908 – 17 January 1988) was an Indian actress. She worked as a character actor in over 200 Hindi films for five decades, and is best remembered for playing stock characters such as aunts (''Chachi'' or ''Mausi''). She ...

as Ajit's foster mother *

Urmila Bhatt Urmila Bhatt (1 November 1933 – 22 February 1997) was an actress of Hindi cinema. She started acting in Drama Theatre. She joined Sangeet Kala Academy in Rajkot as a folk dancer and singer. It was during that time that her famous Gujarati dra ...

as Mrs. D. Singh *

Birbal Birbal (; born Mahesh Das; 1528 16 February 1586), or Raja Birbal, was a Saraswat Hindu Bhatt Brahmin advisor and main commander (''Mukhya Senapati'') of army in the court of the Mughal emperor, Akbar. He is mostly known in the Indian subcon ...

as Dinapur Resident *

Ramayan Tiwari Ramayan Tiwari was a Bollywood actor who was more famous by his surname Tiwari. He worked in approximately 125 movies in his 36 year long film career. He has worked in Bollywood movies like ''Madhumati, Yahudi, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai ...

as Shambhu Prasad *

Bhushan Tiwari Bhushan Tiwari or Chandrabhushan Tiwari (12 February 1935 - 3 October 1994) was an Indian character actor in Hindi films, who largely played negative roles in many Bollywood movies. e.g. of a villain's henchman in films, like '' Zanjeer'' (1973) ...

as Daaku *

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 ...

as Ajit Passenger

Music

The music direction was by Laxmikant-Pyarelal with lyrics written by

Anand Bakshi Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March 2002) was an Indian poet and lyricist. He was nominated for the Filmfare award for Best lyricist a total of 40 times, resulting in 4 wins. Early life Anand Bakshi (Bakshi Anand Prakash Vaid) was born ...

. The playback singing was by

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The song "Main Jat Yamla Pagla Deewana" became a popular song remaining so till date. The song's opening line was used as a title for Dharmendra's home production starring him and his two sons,

Sunny Deol Ajay Singh Deol (born 19 October 1956), better known by his stage name Sunny Deol, is an Indian actor, film director, producer, politician and current Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur (Lok Sabha constituency) of Punjab, India. As an actor, ...

and

Bobby Deol Vijay Singh Deol (born 27 January 1967) popularly known as Bobby Deol, is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema and web series. A member of the List of Hindi film families#Deol family, Deol family, he is the younger son of veteran actor Dhar ...

first in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, then in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, and then in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Song list

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0216110, Pratigya 1975 films 1970s Hindi-language films Indian action comedy films Indian films about revenge Films directed by Dulal Guha 1970s action comedy films