On August 8, Subhash Ghai’s Karma turned 38. For many cine-goers, this high-octane action-thriller remains fresh in their memories. It was on August 8, 1986, when the film hit the cine screens and immediately found a resonance with the audiences.
First things first. Ghai had managed an ensemble not many could think of at the time – Karma featured a star cast that included, above all, the towering Dilip Kumar. It had Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Naseeruddin Shah, Sridevi, Poonam Dhillon, Nutan, and Anupam Kher in the other main roles.
The movie mainly revolved around the story of – who else but – the one and only Dilip Kumar aka Rana Vishwa Pratap Singh, a high-ranking cop in charge of a jail that successfully reforms criminals. His run-ins with Dr Michael Dang (Anupam Kher), the head of a major terrorist organisation, were one of the highlights of the film, especially the thappad ki goonj dialogue where Dr Dang swears revenge on the police officer after being smacked black and blue by him.
The film, made at a budget of Rs 26.5 million in those days, raked in Rs 130 million at the Box office.
There were two other noteworthy aspects to the film – one, it reunited Subhash Ghai and Dilip Kumar after the success of their last film together Vidhaata (1982). Two, the film also marked the first time that Dilip Kumar was paired with veteran actress Nutan, as in their heydays, they were never featured together despite belonging to the same era of Hindi films.
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah – who’s made a mark in art films – also played a stellar role in this commercial film.
The film’s music was composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and the songs became quite popular at the time so much so that some of the songs are still played at events.
