''Zehreela Insaan'' () is a 1974 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

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

directed by

Puttanna Kanagal Shubraveshti Ramaswamiah Seetharama Sharma (1 December 1933 – 5 June 1985), known popularly as S. R. Puttanna Kanagal, was an Indian filmmaker known for his work in Kannada cinema. He is often considered one of Kannada cinema's most influent ...

and produced by Virendra Sinha. 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 ...

Moushumi Chatterjee Moushumi Chatterjee (born Indira Chattopadhyay) is an Indian actress who is recognised for her work in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. She was one of the highest paid actresses in Hindi films during the 1970s. She joined the Bharatiya Janata ...

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 Pran. It is a remake of Kanagal's own 1972

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

film ''

Naagarahaavu ''Naagarahaavu'' () is a 1972 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Puttanna Kanagal, based on T. R. Subba Rao's three novels ''Nagarahavu'', ''Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu'' and ''Sarpa Mathsara'', and starring Vishnuvardhan, Aarathi , K. S. As ...

'' which was based on three Kannada novels: ''Nagarahavu'', ''Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu'' and ''Sarpa Mathsara'', all written by T. R. Subba Rao. The film did not do well at the box office, but the song ''O Hansini'' sung by

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 ...

attained popularity.

Plot

Arjun is an ill-tempered but soft-hearted man. He always falls into in situations that others take him as a bad person. His teacher, who he calls Masterji, is the only person who understands him and appreciates his good qualities, hence Arjun follows his wishes completely. Arjun loves a woman named Aarti and wants to marry her, but Aarti's father opposes this alliance and forcibly marries her off to a man of his choice. Arjun is dejected, but soon finds love in Margaret, his

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

college mate. As time passes, he overcomes Aarti and devotes himself to Margaret. While on a business trip to another city, Arjun finds that Aarti is now a prostitute. Angered and irritated, Arjun finds himself in a pitiable state. Margaret's uncle and mother are against her marrying Arjun. Arjun and Margaret flee to the hills; Masterji catches up with them and tries to pacify Arjun, but he refuses and instead pushes him down the hill to his death. Traumatised due to killing his teacher, Arjun asks Margaret if she will join him where he goes; she says she will, and both jump to their deaths.

Cast

as Arjun Singh *

as Aarti *

as Margaret * Pran as Masterji * Dara Singh as Pahelwan * Manorama as Mary * Dulari as Arjun's mother * Ratnamala as Mrs. Shyam Lal * Madan Puri as John *

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 ...

as Principal Vishamber Nath *

Raj Mehra Raj Mehra 20 May 1913 1993), was an Indian character artist and film actor in Hindi language films, especially known for his role as a father of leading actors. During his career, he worked in over 300 Hindi films. Some of his popular roles a ...

as Arjun's father * Sajjan as Shyam Lal * Asit Sen as Murari Lal * Paintal as Ranjeet * Ghanshyam Rohera as Arjun's classmate * Maruti Rao as Budhram *

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 ...

as Bidre (as Jagdishraj) * Vijay Kumar *

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 Shobha *

Ambareesh Malavalli Huchchegowda Amarnath (29 May 1952 – 24 November 2018), known by his screen name Ambareesh, was an Indian actor, media personality, politician from the state of Karnataka. Alongside Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, he is counted in ...

as Jaleel * Yogesh Chhabra as Tukaram Phillips

Production

''Zehreela Insaan'' is a remake of the 1972 Kannada film ''

'', itself based on three different novels: ''Nagarahavu'', ''Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu'' and ''Sarpa Mathsara'', all written by T. R. Subba Rao.

, who directed the Kannada film, returned to direct the Hindi remake, which was produced by Virendra Sinha under Pragati Chitra International. Cinematography was handled by Sudarshan Nag, and the editing by V. P. Krishna. Ambareesh, who played a character named Jaleel in ''Naagarahaavu'', reprised his role in ''Zehreela Insaan''. While the character of the teacher in ''Naagarahaavu'' wore a white

dhoti The dhoti, also known as veshti, vetti, dhuti, mardani, chaadra, dhotar, jaiñboh, panchey, is a type of sarong, tied in a manner that outwardly resembles "loose trousers". It is a lower garment forming part of the ethnic costume for men in the ...

, black coat and Mysore turban, the same character in ''Zehreela Insaan'' wore a

kurta A ''kurta'' is a loose collarless shirt or tunic worn in many regions of South Asia, (subscription required) Quote: "A loose shirt or tunic worn by men and women." Quote: "Kurta: a loose shirt without a collar, worn by women and men from South ...

pyjama Pajamas ( US) or pyjamas (Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as nightwear or while lounging or performing remote work from hom ...

and a

Nehru jacket The Nehru jacket is a hip-length tailored coat for men or women, with a mandarin collar, and with its front modelled on the Indian achkan or sherwani, a garment worn by Jawaharlal Nehru, the prime minister of India from 1947 to 1964. History ...

. Much of the film was shot in

Chitradurga Chitradurga is a city and the headquarters of Chitradurga district, which is located on the valley of the Vedavati river in the central part of the Indian state of Karnataka. Chitradurga is a place with historical significance which is locate ...

, with the song "O Hansini" being shot at

Chitradurga Fort Chitradurga Fort, or as the British called it Chitaldoorg, is a fortification that straddles several hills and a peak overlooking a flat valley in the Chitradurga District, Karnataka, India. The fort's name ''Chitrakaldurga'', which means 'pictur ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack 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 ...

while the lyrics were written by

Majrooh Sultanpuri Asrar ul Hassan Khan (1 October 1919 − 24 May 2000), better known as Majrooh Sultanpuri, was an Indian Urdu poet and lyricist in India's Hindi language film industry. He wrote Hindustani lyrics for numerous Hindi film soundtracks. He was ...

. The song "Saanp Se Badhke" is based on "Haavina Dwesha" from ''Naagarahaavu''.

Release and reception

''Zehreela Insaan'' was released on 20 November 1974, and did not succeed commercially. Rishi Kapoor later admitted it was a "mistake", feeling that he should have accepted a film similar to his earlier ''

Bobby Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constabl ...

'' (1973) and not something that was "drastically different".

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* {{Puttanna Kanagal 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s romance films 1974 films Films based on adaptations Films based on Indian novels Films based on multiple works Films directed by Puttanna Kanagal Films scored by R. D. Burman Hindi remakes of Kannada films Hindi-language romance films Indian romance films