''Rivaaj'' is a 1972

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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

T. Prakash Rao Tatineni Prakash Rao (24 November 1924 – 1 July 1992) was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked in Telugu cinema, Telugu, Hindi cinema, Hindi, and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. In a career spanning nearly four decades, he directed ov ...

, and produced by K. C. Bokadia. The film stars

Sanjeev Kumar Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thriller ...

Farida Jalal Farida Jalal (born Farida Sami; 18 May 1950) is an Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi films. In a film career spanning almost fifty years, Jalal appeared in over 200 films. Best known for her character-driven roles in independent cin ...

and

Mala Sinha Alda Sinha (born 11 November 1936), better known by her stage name Mala Sinha is a former Indian actress who has worked in Hindi, Bengali and Nepali films. Initially starting her career with regional cinema, she went on to become a top leading ...

Synopsis

The movie Rivaaj, meaning custom, starts with the melodious resounding of the voice of a young widow Lakshmi played by

, singing in the precincts of the famous temple,

Jagdish Temple, Udaipur Jagdish Temple is a large Hindu temple in the middle of Udaipur in Rajasthan, just outside the royal palace. It has been in continuous worship since 1651. A big tourist attraction, the temple was originally called the temple of Jagannath Rai but ...

, praises of love for God Shri

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

Meera Meera, better known as Mirabai and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition. Mirabai was born into a Rathore ...

. She stays in the temple with her father Pujariji or temple priest played by

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 ...

. In the temple itself she meets Shekhar,

, where both fall in love and want to get married, when opposition comes from Shekhar's mother,

Pandari Bai Pandari Bai (1930 – 29 January 2003) was an Indian actress who worked in South Indian cinema, mostly in Kannada cinema during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first successful heroine. She has acted as both heroi ...

, who is against child widow's re-marriage. She gets her son married to a woman of her choice played by Zeb Rehman. Lakshmi starts leading the life of a widow. Shekhar's is blessed with a daughter Rajji and starts leading a contented married life, when destiny jolts him with loss of his job and death of his wife with cancer. Rajji happens to witness him lighting the pyre of her mother by Hindu custom, is unable to understand, and suffers a psychological shock thinking that her father had burnt her mother alive and would burn her too! She starts hating him and is scared of him, which further deepens the pain and loss of Shekhar. Here respite comes for Rajji when her grandmother tells her that her mother will come back in the form of a plant or take up another woman's form and return to her beloved daughter from God. Rajji goes to the cremation grounds again and sees a plant where her mother had been cremated. She starts talking to it as if it was her mother. Lakshmi who had come to the river near by, chances to hear Rajji talking to the plant and filled with emotion starts talking back from the back of a small temple of God

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

, pretending to be her mother. Rajji is overjoyed and the ritual is repeated everyday with Lakshmi being unaware as to whose daughter Rajji is. Meanwhile Shekhar saves the life of the wheel chair ridden sister and heiress

Sulochana Latkar Sulochana Latkar (born 30 July 1928) known by her screen name Sulochana, is a well-known actress of Marathi and Hindi cinema and has acted in 50 films in Marathi and around 250 films in Hindi. She is most known for her performances in Marathi ...

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 ...

, who appoints him as her estate manager, much to the chagrin of her brother. He is involved in saving her assets from her rogue brother many times which creates ill-will amongst them. Shekhar is also told by his mother that Rajji meets some woman pretending to be her dead mother and Shekhar discovers that she is no other than Lakshmi who loves his daughter as her own now. Again Lakshmi is derided by Shekhar's mother as well as her own father Pujari ji for dreaming of having a family. Shatrughan Sinha kidnaps Rajji and there ensues a bloody struggle which however nasty, brings back and unites Rajji, Lakshmi and Shekhar, bringing them back to the precincts of the holy Jagdish Ji Temple, the bells resounding the power and glory of God.

Cast

... Lakshmi *

... Shekhar *

... Shekhar's Mother *

Soundtrack

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0254737, title=Rivaaj 1972 films 1970s Hindi-language films 1972 drama films Films scored by Shankar–Jaikishan Films directed by T. Prakash Rao