''Naya Kadam'' () is a 1984 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

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- ...

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 ...

. The film stars

Rajesh Khanna Rajesh Khanna () (; born Jatin Khanna; 29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012) was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who worked in Hindi films. He is called as the "First Superstar of Hindi cinema", he consecutively starred in a record ...

Jaya Prada Jaya Prada Nahata (born Lalitha Rani; 3 April 1962) is an Indian actress and politician. She is hailed as one of the most iconic and influential actresses in both Telugu and Hindi film industries in late '70s, '80s and early '90s. Jayaprada ...

Sridevi Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan (13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), professionally credited with her stage name Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Fem ...

and

Padmini Kolhapure Padmini Kolhapure is an Indian actress and singer, who works primarily in Hindi films. She began her acting career in 1972 at the age of seven, and her early works include ''Zindagi'' (1976) and ''Dream Girl'' (1977). She had her breakthroug ...

Kader Khan Kader Khan (22 October 1937 – 31 December 2018) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and film director. As an actor, he appeared in over 300 Bollywood films after his debut film in the 1973 film '' Daag'', starring Rajesh Khanna, in which h ...

Ranjeet Ranjeet Bedi (born 13 September 1942 as Gopal Bedi) popularly known as Ranjeet, is an Indian actor and film director born in Jandiala Guru near Amritsar (Punjab), best known for his work in Bollywood.Singh, Nonika (1999)Ranjeet's triple love", ...

and

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 ...

are featured in supporting roles. This film is a remake of

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 ...

film ''

Trishulam ''Trisulam'' () is a 1982 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao in screenplay written by Satyanand. The film stars Krishnam Raju and Sridevi. Jayasudha, Raadhika, Prabhakar Reddy, Gollapudi Maruti Rao and Rao Gopal ...

'' (1982). The film deals with the social issues of

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

women empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several ways, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, and training.Kabeer, Naila ...

and

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

and comments on the importance of literacy in the Indian villages, which is important for the progress of the country. In the film, Madhukar and Jaggu are Hitler-like tyrants who rule over a small community with an iron hand. They prefer to keep the inhabitants illiterate, so that they can continue to oppress and abuse them over time. But one young lad, Ramu, educates himself secretly with the help of the local school-master, Srikanth. Years later, Ramu has grown up and is now a formidable force to reckon with. Madhukar and Jaggu see him as a threat and soon spin a web of lies and deceit around him, leaving him with no alternative except to retreat, leaving the poor villagers once again at their mercy of their oppressors.

Plot

Alok Madhukar and Jaggu are tyrants who rule over a village named Guptgaon, where most of the inhabitants are illiterate. Madhukar and Jaggu do not allow anyone to educate the children of the village. A villager named Srikant decides to start teaching the children. Madhukar tells him that he can only teach the children of the rich. He will not be allowed to teach the children of the workers or the children born into lower castes. This way Madhukar can continue to oppress the poor people. He threatens Srikant with dire consequences if his orders are not followed. A boy named Ramu lives in the village along with his widowed mother, who works as a servant in Madhukar's Bungalow with another an orphaned girl named Chanda. Ramu starts frequenting Madhukar's house and befriends his daughter Laxmi. Laxmi starts to study as she is the daughter of the rich Madhukar and seeing her, Ramu also wants to study. Ramu leaves the village with Master Srikant and goes to the city to educate himself. Years later, Ramu grows up and returns to the village. He starts to teach the villagers the importance of getting an education. He urges them to let their children to go to school. Laxmi, who has become a college graduate, starts helping Ramu in his efforts. She also falls in love with Ramu and hopes to marry him. Laxmi is unaware that Chanda has also been in love with Ramu since childhood. Chanda takes care of Ramu's wellbeing whenever he is in the village. To bridge the gap between her and the educated Ramu, Chanda decides to learn how to read and write Hindi from Laxmi. One day she reads the diary of Laxmi and finds out about Laxmi's love for Ramu. Chanda decides to sacrifice her love as she thinks that Laxmi is more suitable for Ramu. Chanda learns that Madhukar has ordered his goon Gangu to kill Ramu. Gangu always harboured a wish to possess Chanda. Chanda offers to marry Gangu in return of Ramu's life. They secretly get married in the village temple, without telling Ramu and Laxmi. When Ramu learns of the marriage, he is worried and disappointed as Gangu is a bad person. Madhukar decides to accept his daughter's wish to marry Ramu as he wishes to use this alliance as a way to control Ramu. Jaggu sees Ramu as a threat to his political power. He starts creating doubts in the minds of the villagers regarding Ramu's intentions as he is set to marry Laxmi who is of a higher caste. Ramu wishes to prove to the villagers that he is not using his marriage to further his social status. He decides to marry Bijli, a rape survivor who lost her mental balance as a result of the trauma of rape. This act convinces the villagers of his good intentions. Master Srikant wants to challenge Jaggu's political power by taking part in the election as a candidate, supported by Ramu and the villagers. Madhukar, angry that Ramu did not marry his daughter, orders Gangu to murder Master Srikant. Jaggu, who had originally orchestrated the rape of Bijli, tells Gangu to abduct Bijli and bring her to him so that he can rape her and put the blame on Madhukar. Gangu injures Master Srikant. Ramu decides to take the injured Srikant to the city for treatment. After Ramu leaves for the city, Bijli is kidnapped by Gangu. Chanda tries to stop Gangu, but he stabs her to death. Bijli commits suicide as she couldn't bear the trauma of being raped again. When Ramu returns to the village, he finds both Chanda and Bijli dead. Laxmi tells him the truth behind their deaths. Ramu decides to take law in his own hands and kills Madhukar, Jaggu, and Gangu. Ramu is sentenced to prison. Laxmi continues his work in educating the villagers.

Cast

as Ramu *

as Bijli *

as Chanda *

as Laxmi *

as Hitler Alok Madhukar *

as Gangu *

as Jaggu *

Satyendra Kapoor 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'' ( ...

as Master Shrikant *

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 Ramu's Mother *

Dinesh Hingoo Dinesh Hingoo (born 13 April 1940) is an Indian actor who plays comic & supporting roles in Hindi films. He had appeared in over 300 films, from ''Taqdeer (1967)'' to ''Be Careful (2011)'', and is known for his laughter and impersonations incl ...

as Chief Education Officer

Music

The songs were composed by

Bappi Lahiri Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

References

External links

* {{K. Raghavendra Rao 1984 films 1980s Hindi-language films Indian drama films Films directed by K. Raghavendra Rao Films scored by Bappi Lahiri Films about the education system in India Films based on Indian novels Hindi remakes of Telugu films Fictional portrayals of the Maharashtra Police 1984 drama films Hindi-language drama films