''Jaani Dushman'' () is a 1979 Indian Hindi-language horror film directed by Rajkumar Kohli. It features an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

of big stars

Sunil Dutt Sunil Dutt (born Balraj Raghunath Dutt; 6 June 1929 – 25 May 2005) was an Indian actor, film producer, director, and politician known for his work in Hindi Cinema. He acted in more than 80 films over a career spanning five decades and was t ...

Sanjeev Kumar Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. Considered as one of the greatest actors of Indian Cinema, he is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. ...

Jeetendra Jeetendra (born Ravi Kapoor ; 7 April 1942) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Hindi cinema. He is noted for his acting, style and dance. He has worked in more than Je ...

Shatrughan Sinha Shatrughan Prasad Sinha (born 15 July 1946) is an Indian actor and politician. He is a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Asansol constituency as a member of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Earlier he was elected as Member of Parliament ...

Vinod Mehra Vinod Mehra (13 February 1945 – 30 October 1990) was an Indian actor in Bollywood, Hindi films. He started out as a child actor in the mid 1950s before starting his film career as an adult in 1971. He acted in over 100 films from the 1970s thr ...

Reena Roy Reena Roy (born Saira Ali), is an Indian actress. She made her film debut as a teenager with B R Ishara's '' Zaroorat'' (1972), but gained wider public recognition with ''Jaise Ko Taisa'' (1973) and the romance-action film '' Zakhmee'' (1975). I ...

Rekha Bhanurekha Ganesan (; born 10 October 1954), better known by her mononymous stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in mo ...

Neetu Singh Neetu Kapoor (née Singh; born Harneet Kaur; 8 July 1958) is an Indian actress who is known for appearing in Hindi films throughout the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. In 2012, Kapoor was inducted into the Walk of the Stars, an entertainmen ...

and

Bindiya Goswami Bindiya Goswami (born 6 January 1962) is an Indian former actress, who is best known for her works in Hindi cinema throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Film career Bindiya was discovered at a party, when she was a teenager, by Hema Malini's mother. ...

. The film revolves around a plot concerning a

monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

who kidnaps and murders women wearing red bridal attire. Jaani Dushman was released worldwide on 25 May 1979 and received mainly positive reviews from critics. Commercially, it was declared a "Super Hit" at the box office. In 2002,

Rajkumar Kohli Rajkumar Kohli (14 September 1930 – 24 November 2023) was an Indian film director. He was famous for directing several popular Bollywood films like ''Lootera'' (1965) starring Dara Singh and Nishi (Nishi later married Kohli) as well as Punj ...

directed another film with an identical name starring his son, Armaan.

Plot

Thakur Jwala Prasad is murdered by his wife on their wedding night. His spirit returns to earth as a malevolent force who seeks revenge by killing newly wedded brides who wear traditional red bridal sarees. To do so, he has to possess a human body which turns into a monstrous being in the presence of brides. The possessed person appears to be normal otherwise so no one actually knows that the person is under the evil spirit's control. The only way to eliminate the spirit is by stabbing the possessed person in the chest, but destroying the spirit completely proves hard to do as he cunningly keeps transferring into new bodies before he can be vanquished. At a remote estate, newly wedded brides are going missing when their palanquin reaches a particular temple and even their corpses cannot be found. The estate is ruled by the benevolent Thakur Saab. His only son, Shera, has turned out to be an arrogant roguish person which causes him distress. Shera is constantly butting heads with the villager, Lakhan, who is a good courageous man. Lakhan is in love with a village belle Reshma who is also in love with him. Shera lusts after Reshma which causes further friction between him and Lakhan. Shera's younger sister Shanti also loves Lakhan whereas another village girl named Champa loves Shera despite his errant ways. Meanwhile, the disappearance of the brides causes everyone to be suspicious of everyone else. Some suspect a local vagrant who has mental health issues, others suspect the local priest as the brides go missing from near the temple, and finally many suspect the wayward Shera. After witnessing Thakur Saab have a breakdown at the sight of a red dress some even start to be suspicious of him. Lakhan's younger sister Gauri goes missing from her own bridal procession. Her earring is found near the priest's shoes which causes the entire village to accuse him of the murders. He, however, proves his innocence. Lakhan also suspects Gauri's former boyfriend, Amar, for doing away with her. However, it turns out that they both actually committed suicide because they could not be together. So, it turns out that this entire incident actually had nothing to do with the case of the missing brides. Shera wishes to marry Reshma and asks his father to approach Reshma's father, the blind Vaidji, with the proposal which Reshma rejects. Shera eventually finds out that Vaidji is not actually blind and is also a thief. Shera tries to blackmail him using this information to compel Reshma to marry him, but Vaidji comes clean in front of everyone instead so that Shera has no leverage against him or Reshma. He also asks Lakhan to marry Reshma and both readily agree. Meanwhile, Thakur Saab's daughter Shanti's marriage is fixed and she agrees to it as she realizes Lakhan loves Reshma and not her. Lakhan accompanies her palanquin to safeguard her. She reaches her destination safely, but this is actually due to her not wearing the traditional red bridal saree because of her father's phobia. Eventually, everyone's suspicion turns towards Thakur Saab as his own daughter Shanti was spared whereas every other newly wedded bride went missing. Additionally, he was one of the only people, other than Lakhan, who knew of the plan to safeguard Shanti. Thakur Saab tries to commit suicide, but his wife reveals that their son, Shera also knew of the changed plans. Thakur Saab assures everyone that no matter who is guilty he would ensure their punishment, even if it is his own son Shera. Shera tries to escape after kidnapping Reshma, but he is stopped by Lakhan and when he is about to die after a fire nearly engulfs him, Champa jumps in to save him. Eventually, Shera understands his folly and accepts Champa's devotion to him. Lakhan and Reshma get married. Reshma's palanquin reaches the temple and she is abducted by a monstrous looking man. Lakhan chases them into a cave. He spots Shera in there too, but realizes Shera also gave chase to the same monster. They both see the local vagrant is also there and they capture him. However, it turns out that the mentally unstable vagrant is actually a policeman in disguise who was working on the case of the missing brides. They fight with the monstrous looking man and Lakhan stabs him on the chest. It turns out that it was indeed Thakur Saab who was the monster all along, but since he is actually a good man his own spirit tries to hold off the evil spirit of Jwala Prasad from possessing someone else before the latter agrees to let go of his vengeful ways. Finally, Thakur Saab dies after ensuring the evil spirit is gone forever.

Cast

as Lakhan *

as Thakur *

as Amar *

as Shera *

as Inspector *

as Champa *

as Reshma *

as Gauri: Lakhan's younger sister *

Yogeeta Bali Yogeeta Bali (born 13 August 1952) is a former Indian Bollywood actress. She was active from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. Biography Yogeeta Bali was born on 13 August 1952, to actors Syed Irshad Hussain and Hardarshan Kaur. A cousin of ...

as Thakur's Bride *

as Shanti: Shera's younger sister *

Sarika Sarika (born 5 December 1960) is an Indian actress and costume designer. In 2005, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for the English-language film '' Parzania''. She was also awarded the National Film Award for Best Costume Des ...

as Bindiya * Vikram Makandar as Shankar *

Premnath Premnath Malhotra, better known as Prem Nath (21 November 1926 – 3 November 1992) was an Indian actor and director, who was best known for his works in Hindi films. Nath made his debut with the film ''Ajit'' (1948), and went on to appear in ...

as Pujari *

Amrish Puri Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Cinema of India, Indian cinema and Theatre of India, theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himsel ...

as Man Who Kidnapped Geeta (Bride) *

Raza Murad Raza Murad (born 23 November 1950) is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Hindi films. He has acted in over 250 Hindi films and has also appeared in Bhojpuri, Punjabi and other languages and on Hindi television. Early life He is the so ...

as Thakur Jwala Prasad *

Shakti Kapoor Shakti Kapoor (born Sunil Kapoor; 3 September 1952) is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Bollywood films. Known for his villainous and comic roles in Hindi films, he has featured in over 700 films. In the 1980s and 1990s, Kapoor team ...

as Man On A Horse With A Bride *

Mac Mohan Mohan Makijany (24 April 1938 – 10 May 2010), popularly known as Mac Mohan, was an Indian actor, who worked in Hindi cinema. He was known for his villainous roles in films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He appeared in over 200 films, in ...

as Taxi Driver *

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 Vaidji: Reshma's father *

Jagdeep Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jaffrey (19 March 1939 – 8 July 2020), better known by his stage name Jagdeep, was an Indian actor and comedian who appeared in more than 400 films. He played Soorma Bhopali in ''Sholay'' (1975), Machchar in '' Purana Mandi ...

as Nathuram * Kanwarjeet Paintal as Gangelal *

Roopesh Kumar Roopesh Kumar (born as Abbas Farashahi; 16 January 1946 – 29 January 1995) was a character actor in Bollywood films, especially known for his role as a villain in over 100 Hindi films from 1965 to 1995. He is widely remembered for his comic ...

as Shera's maternal uncle "Mama" *

Aruna Irani Aruna Irani (born 18 August 1946) is an Indian actress, who has acted in over 500 films throughout Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati cinema, playing mostly supporting and character roles. She received two Filmfare Awards for Best Support ...

as Aruna: Gangaram's daughter * Jayshree T. as Nathaniya *

Sulochana Latkar Sulochana Latkar (born Rangu Diwan; 30 July 1928 – 4 June 2023), better known by her screen name Sulochana, was an Indian actress of Marathi and Hindi cinema, who acted in 50 films in Marathi and around 250 films in Hindi. She was most known ...

as Lakhan and Gauri's mother *

Indrani Mukherjee Indrani Mukherjee is an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films during the 1960s and 1970s and starred in over 70 films. After playing the heroine in some films, notably ''Usne Kaha Tha'' (1960) and ''Aakhri Khat'' (1966), she moved to playin ...

as Thakurain * Neeta Mehta as Bride * Shobhini Singh as Bride * Anwar Hussain as Dacoit Sardar * Sheetal as Mrs. Jwala Prasad * Aarati as Aarati (Bride) * Murad as Shanti's father–in–law * Surendra Rahi as Inspector

Production

The majority of the scenes in this movie were filmed in locations such as

Chenani Chanani or Chenani is a town and tehsil in the Udhampur district, in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is governed by a notified area council (city council). Before 1947, it was an internal jagir ruled by a Chandel (Rajput) ...

and

Patnitop Patnitop is a hill station, located, between Ramban Town and Udhampur city in the Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is in located on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (which is part of National Highway 44, formerly 1A), ...

hill stations of the

Udhampur Udhampur (ˌʊd̪ʱəmpur) is a city and a municipal council in Udhampur district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters of Udhampur District. Named after Raja Udham Singh, it serves as the district capit ...

district,

Jammu region The Jammu division (; ) is a revenue and administrative division of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kash ...

in the Indian union territory of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079355/trivia/

Soundtrack

All lyrics by:

Verma Malik Verma Malik (13 April 1925 – 15 March 2009) was a Bollywood film songs lyricist. He was an active freedom fighter during the British Raj. He wrote many patriotic songs and bhajans and recited them immediately prior to penning lyrics for ...

Trivia

Two of the movie songs were listed in Binacca Chart of 1979; "Oh Meri Jaan" by

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born Abhas Kumar Ganguly; ; 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of modern India ...

and

Anuradha Paudwal Anuradha Paudwal (born 27 October 1954) is an Indian playback singer and politician who works predominantly in Hindi cinema and Odia cinema. She has been described in media as one of the most prominent Bhajan singers and also as one of the m ...

and "Chalo Re, Doli Uthao Kahaar" by

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice ...

In Popular Culture

In the 2022 Indian

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

horror comedy film Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

Bhediya, after Prakash is attacked by a wolf, and is admitted to a hospital, some friends are contemplating on what must have happened the previous night. Jomin r Jorubbishes off the story of wolf attack by saying that Prakash must have seen Jaani Dushman. He even clarifies after a query, that he was talking not of Akshay Kumar's film, but of Sanjeev Kumar film. The allusion is clear, because of similar transformation of Sanjeev Kumar in this film.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0079355, Jaani Dushman 1979 films 1979 horror films 1970s ghost films 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s Indian films 1970s horror thriller films 1970s supernatural horror films Films about shapeshifting Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal Films shot in Jammu and Kashmir Indian ghost films Indian haunted house films Indian horror thriller films Indian supernatural horror films