''Achanak'' () is a 1973 Indian Hindi-language film, directed by

Gulzar Gulzar (born Sampooran Singh Kalra; 18 August 1934) is an Indian Urdu poetry, Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this era. He starte ...

, written by

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and journalist in Urdu, Hindi and English. He won four National Film Awards in India. Internationally, his films won the ( Golden Palm Gr ...

, and starring

Vinod Khanna Vinod Khanna (6 October 1946 – 27 April 2017) was an Indian actor, film producer, and politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Hindi cinema. Recognised as a style and fashion icon, he wa ...

. Gulzar received a Filmfare nomination as Best Director for this film. Even though Gulzar is an accomplished lyricist, this film did not have any songs in it. K. A. Abbas earned a Filmfare nomination for best story. It is inspired by the real-life sensational 1958 murder case K. M. Nanavati v State of Maharashtra. The actual messages conveyed by the movie are more sublime than simple

cuckold A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife (or partner for unmarried companions); the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not geneti ...

ry. First and foremost is the futility of a doctor's efforts to save life of an already condemned person. Tragically, the doctor saves the life of a person, who is already condemned. After months of untiring efforts of doctors, nurses and all paramedical staff, the condemned person finally meets his fate at the gallows. Ethics of human killing is another message. While on one hand the protagonist is awarded a

Vir Chakra The Vir Chakra (pronunciation: ʋ iː ɾ a tʃ a kɾa, ) is an Indian wartime military bravery award presented for acts of gallantry on the battlefield, on land or in the air or at sea. It is third in precedence in wartime gallantry awards and ...

for killing several humans, on another he is punished to death for killing just two humans. 1963 movie ''

Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke ''Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke'' () is a 1963 Hindi crime drama film starring Sunil Dutt and Leela Naidu in the lead roles. This film was Sunil Dutt's debut production, directed by R.K. Nayyar, with music composed by Ravi. Dutt's favourite writer ...

'' was also based on the same case. Akshay Kumar starrer 2016 movie Rustom is based on the same case as well. The film had no songs, the background score is composed by

Vasant Desai Vasant Desai (1912–1975) was an Indian film music composer, most remembered for his score in V. Shantaram films like '' Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje'' (1955), ''Do Aankhen Barah Haath'' (1957), Vijay Bhatt's '' Goonj Uthi Shehnai'' (1959), ''Samp ...

Plot

Major Ranjit Khanna loves his wife Pushpa, who loves him equally. His commanding officer, Lt. Col. Bakshi, is his father-in-law. Ranjit is happy in his married life, until he finds out about his wife's affair with his best friend. On realizing this, however, he kills both of them and surrenders himself to the police. Then, he escapes from the police in search of the river Ganga, as he wants to fulfill his wife's desire to leave her Mangalsutra in the river Ganga. However, in that attempt, the police shoot him, and he is injured. He is then admitted to the hospital, where he becomes emotionally attached to the doctors and nurses. So, when he is finally sentenced to death, they also move to tears.

Cast

Production

The entire film production was completed in 28 days.Chatterjee, Saibal: "Echoes & Eloquences: The Life and Cinema of Gulzar", page 95. Rupa & Co, 2007. Achanak was based on a Khwaja Ahmed Abbas story, ''The Thirteenth Victim'', which had appeared in the magazine called Imprint.Chatterjee, Saibal: "Echoes & Eloquences: The Life and Cinema of Gulzar", page 93. Rupa & Co, 2007. In 1973 N.C Sippy's sons, Romu Sippy and Raj Sippy collaborated with partner

Hrishikesh Mukherjee Hrishikesh Mukherjee (30 September 1922 – 27 August 2006) was an Indian film director, editor and writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema. Popularly known as ''Hrishi-da'', he directed 42 films during his car ...

to produce ''Achanak'' and they approached Gulzar to direct it. Gulzar approached Vasantrao, a

marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

background score composer to compose the score for this film since it would have no songs otherwise.

Soundtrack

Background music was composed by

References

External links

* {{K. A. Abbas 1973 films 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s Indian films Films directed by Gulzar Films with screenplays by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Indian romantic drama films Indian films based on actual events Hindi-language films based on actual events Indian legal drama films Films about juries Films about adultery in India