''Bairaag'' () is a 1976
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
-language film. Produced by the duo Mushir-Riaz, it is directed by
Asit Sen. The film stars
Dilip Kumar, who received a
Filmfare nomination for Best Actor for playing a triple role. ''Bairaag'' also stars
Saira Banu,
Leena Chandavarkar,
Ruma Guha Thakurta,
Prem Chopra,
Helen,
Sujit Kumar,
Madan Puri
Madan Puri (30 September 1915 – 13 January 1985) was an Indian actor of Hindi and Punjabi films. His brothers were actors Chaman Puri and Amrish Puri. As a character actor mainly in negative roles (villain), he acted in about 430 films in ...
,
Paintal,
Kader Khan,
Asit Sen and
Sachin. Its music is by the duo
Kalyanji Anandji, who received a
Filmfare nomination for Best Music. The film received a
Filmfare Award for Best Sound for
P. Harikishan. The film failed to perform at the box office. It was Dilip Kumar's third consecutive failure at box-office, the first and only time in his career since ''
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
'' (1946). After this film, he went on an indefinite hiatus and returned after 4 years in ''
Kranti'' (1981).
Plot
Kailash loses his eyesight after a car accident. His wife gives birth to twin boys, one of them blind. Before his wife gains consciousness, he asks the doctor to get rid of the blind baby, because he doesn't want his son to live a life where he can't see at all. The doctor's wife leaves the blind baby in a Hindu temple, where he is discovered by the temple priest who raises the boy, now called Bholenath. Kailash feels guilty about what he did to the blind baby and confesses it to his wife several years later. She becomes so distraught that she dies.
Kailash raises his other son Sanjay, who turns into a spoiled rich boy. Although Sanjay is engaged to Sonia, he continues to have an affair with Lucy, who has a rich dangerous boyfriend Grasco. Sonia's greedy brother Kunwar Pratap Singh agrees to marry a country girl Tara but wants a Rs. 3,00,000 dowry. She doesn't want to marry him, because she is in love with Bholenath, even though he is poor and blind.
Bholenath thinks that his status is beneath hers and that she deserves a rich suitor. He steals the money from the Hindu temple to give to Kunwal for her dowry. His pet snake tries to stop him from giving the money by biting him. He regains his sight and vows to the temple priest and Tara to bring the money back from Kunwal. Once he reaches the city, people mistake him for Sanjay, who in turn, is hiding out with Lucy after she leaves Grasco along with Rs. 15,00,000. She is found dead with the money missing. Sanjay is the suspect. The film is resolved with the real culprit getting caught, the two brothers reunited with their father, and then marrying their sweethearts.
Cast
*
Dilip Kumar as Kailash / Bholenath 'Bhola' / Sanjay (Triple Role)
*
Saira Banu as Tara
*
Leena Chandavarkar as Sonia
*
Prem Chopra as Kunwar Pratap Singh
*
Sujit Kumar as
*
Madan Puri
Madan Puri (30 September 1915 – 13 January 1985) was an Indian actor of Hindi and Punjabi films. His brothers were actors Chaman Puri and Amrish Puri. As a character actor mainly in negative roles (villain), he acted in about 430 films in ...
as Grasco
*
Helen as Lucy
*
Kader Khan as Superintendent Of Police
*
Nasir Khan as Dr. Mishra
*
Nazir Hussain as Priest
*
Paintal as
*
Ruma Guha Thakurta as Pushpa
*
Mukri
Mohammed Umar Mukri (5 January 1922 – 4 September 2000), popularly known as Mukri, was an Indian actor, who worked as a comedian in Hindi films.
Born as Muhammad Umar Mukri in Uran. He started his film career with the film ''Pratima'' along ...
as Vimla Father
*
Kumari Naaz as Vimla
*
Purnima as Saraswati Chandrabhan
*
Leela Mishra as Tara's Aunty
*Praveen Paul as Mrs. Mishra
Reception and Release
''Bairaag'', released in 1976, was the last film of Dilip Kumar as hero, after which he took a five-year break from films and returned to play character roles thereafter. Although it failed at the box office, the critics appreciated it. Dilip Kumar was acclaimed for his triple role and received a
Filmfare nomination for
Best Actor.
His next films were ''
Kranti'' directed by
Manoj Kumar
Manoj Kumar (born Harikrishan Giri Goswami; 24 July 1937 – 4 April 2025) was an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema.
He is regarded as one of the greatest and most successful actors in t ...
, ''
Shakti
Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; 'energy, ability, strength, effort, power, might, capability') in Hinduism, is the "Universal Power" that underlies and sustains all existence. Conceived as feminine in essence, Shakti refer ...
'' (directed by
Ramesh Sippy) and ''
Vidhaata'' (directed by
Subhash Ghai), where Kumar played role of mature characters, leaving romantic roles for younger artists.
Awards
;
24th Filmfare Awards:
Won
*
Best Sound Design – P. Harikishan
Nominated
*
Best Actor –
Dilip Kumar
*
Best Music Director –
Kalyanji–Anandji
Soundtrack
The music was composed by
Kalyanji-Anandji. The lyrics were by
Anand Bakshi.
References
External links
*
1976 films
1970s Hindi-language films
1970s Indian films
Films scored by Kalyanji Anandji
{{1970s-Hindi-film-stub