''Gehri Chot'', also released as ''Door-Desh'', is a 1983 Indian-Canadian

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 crime-drama film directed by Ambrish Sangal, starring

Shashi Kapoor Shashi Kapoor (pronounced �əʃi kəpuːɾ born Balbir Raj Kapoor; 18 March 1938 – 4 December 2017) was an Indian actor and producer known primarily for his work in Hindi films. He is considered as one of the greatest and most successful acto ...

and

Sharmila Tagore Sharmila Tagore (; born 8 December 1944) also known by her married name Begum Ayesha Sultana, is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali films. Widely recognized as one of the gre ...

in the lead roles with

Raj Babbar Raj Babbar (born 23 June 1952) is an Indian Hindi and Punjabi language, Punjabi film actor and politician belonging to Indian National Congress. He is a three-time member of the Lok Sabha and a two-time member of the Rajya Sabha. He was the sta ...

Parveen Babi Parveen Sultana Wali Mohammad Khanji Babi (; 4 April 195420 January 2005) was an Indian actress and model, who worked in Hindi films. One of the highest-paid actresses of the 1970s and the 1980s, she appeared in over 70 films and was the first ...

, David Abraham, Nadeem Baig, and

Bobita Farida Akhtar Poppy, known by her stage name Babita, (born 30 July 1953) is a Bangladeshi film actress. She is best known for her performance in Satyajit Ray's ''Distant Thunder (1973 film), Distant Thunder'', a novel adaptation about the Benga ...

in supporting roles. This was both Pakistani actor Nadeem and Bangladeshi actress Bobita's only appearance in a

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

film. This was also the last time veteran actor David Abraham appeared in a movie, filmed shortly before his death in 1982. A lot of the film was shot in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada. It was later dubbed into Bengali in Bangladesh.

Plot

Arun Khanna (

) is an NRI from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

who marries a traditional Indian woman Shobha (

). They have a son named Raju (

) and a daughter named Pinky (

). Shobha finds it difficult to fit into the Western lifestyle in Canada and eventually separates from Arun after suspecting him of an affair with his secretary. Shobha decides to take her son Raju back with her to India while Arun stays in Canada with his daughter Pinky. 20 years pass by and the family is reunited when Pinky is kidnapped by some gangsters led by psychopathic killer Tony ( Nadeem Baig). Tony develops an obsession with Pinky and falls in love with her. Pinky initially resists him but eventually she too falls in love with him. Raju is brought to Canada by his mother Shobha, unaware of Arun being his father. He is told by Shobha that Arun is an old family friend who needs help finding his daughter. Raju enlists the help of Renu (

) to help find the gang who kidnapped Pinky. Raju soon discovers Arun is actually his father and Pinky is his sister. Raju is contacted by the kidnappers and hands over the ransom money to Tony. Tony's boss ( David Abraham) realising that Tony is getting too close to Pinky decides to have Pinky killed. Tony intervenes and kills his boss and runs away with Pinky. Tony and Pinky hide out at a cottage and his boss's henchman find them and surround them, armed with guns. Raju and his family also arrive and fight off the henchmen. Pinky sees her father and runs out, while a shootout is ensuing between Tony and the henchmen. Tony runs out to save Pinky from the gunfire and is shot several times by the henchmen. Raju and Renu kill the goons and Pinky admits she loves Tony before he dies. In the end, Pinky reunites with her father, mother and brother.

Cast

as Arun Khanna *

as Shobha *

as Raju *

as Renu * Nadeem Baig as Tony *

as Pinky * David Abraham as Head of Kidnapping gang

Music

The music was composed by

Usha Khanna Usha Khanna (born 7 October 1941) is an Indian music director in Hindi cinema. She is the third female music director to enter the Hindi film industry, after Jaddan Bai and Saraswati Devi and is one of the most commercially successful music d ...

(and Kamal Joshi) and featured the following songs: All lyrics are written by Indeevar. *"Yaaron Mere Yaar Se Milo" -

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

, picturised on

*"Aap To Aise Na The" -

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

& Yesudas, picturised on Parveen Babi &

*"Dushmani Na Karo Sanam" - Lata Mangeshkar, picturised on Nadeem Baig &

*"Ruk Jaa Saathi" (Male) - Anwar, picturised on Shashi Kapoor & Sharmila Tagore *"Ruk Jaa Saathi" (Female) - Lata Mangeshkar, picturised on Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore In the Bengali dub, the music was composed by Golam Hossain Litu. *"Tumi Amare Bhalobaso" - Sabina Yasmin and Syed Abdul Hadi ("Aap To Aise Na The") *"Dushmoni Korona Priyotomo" - Sabina Yasmin ("Dushmani Na Karo Sanam") *"Jeona Saathi" - Sabina Yasmin and Syed Abdul Hadi (male and female versions of "Ruk Jaa Saathi")

Reception

Critical reception

Gautam Chintamani from ''

Firstpost Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Network18 Group, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18. It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions. The Network 18 group was originally owned by Raghav Bahl. In January 2012, the gro ...

'' wrote that "Gehri Chot failed to sow the seeds of the poignancy that the films of Mira Nair and, to some extent, Deepa Mehta, displayed when it came to the diaspora".

References

External links

* 1983 films 1980s action drama films 1980s crime action films 1983 crime drama films Indian crime action films Indian crime drama films Films about Indian Canadians 1980s Hindi-language films 1980s Indian films Films set in Toronto Films scored by Usha Khanna Films shot in Toronto Canadian crime drama films 1980s Canadian films {{1980s-Hindi-film-stub