Released in 1974, Khote Sikkay which literally means Fake Coins in English is one of the most popular movies of the Indian cinema during 1970s. The movie is a mix of many popular genres like action, romance, comedy, drama and adventure. The movie is directed by Narendra Bedi with a stellar cast starring Feroz Khan, Narendra Nath, Danny Denzongpa, Sudhir, Ranjeet, Rehana Sultan, Alka, Paintal and Ajit. The lyrics is by Majrooh Sultanpuri and the music is provided by RD Burman.
Jhanga (Ajit) is a ruthless dacait who has terrorised the entire countryside, kills Ramu’s (Paintal) father out of suspicion that he has informed the police about his whereabouts. To avenge his father’s death, he goes to the city to his cousin Jaggu (Narendra Nath) who hires his four friends to help him, who are all petty criminals like him with expertise in different arts for combating. In the movie it is also joined by the unknown horseman portrayed by Feroz Khan who helps them in the movie. The movie is inspired by the western genre which features ponchos and horses. The plot is quite similar to that of Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa as well as The Magnificent Seven. The plot also explores the societal views on prostitutes, widows and the struggle of ex cons who are desperately trying to get accepted in the society.
Characters of Jaggu and Danny which is portrayed by Narendra Nath and Danny Denzongpa respectively, have given a really good performance. Paintal who plays the role of Ramu has given a fine performance with his perfect comedy timings. The most iconic character I liked in this movie is that of Feroz Khan who portrayed the role very splendidly on screen of ‘the unknown horseman’ which is inspired from Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone’s Dollar trilogy. His dialogues were not much compared to rest of the cast but whenever he appeared on the screen his expressions speaks everything, which is a sign of great acting. The character of Jhanga played by Ajit is very compelling, showing him as a cruel and heartless dacait. The director Narendra Bedi has done excellent job with story being well structured. From the beginning of the movie each and every characters are introduced really well with character’s intention being stated instantly without wasting time and along with obstacles being introduced gradually.
In music direction, hats off to RD Burman who did an excellent job with the background score which sets the perfect tone for introducing all characters along with the action sequences which are well crafted. Songs are really good which has been sung by the legends like Asha Bhosle and Usha Mangeshkar who sung Pyaari Pyaari Suratwali and Kishore Kumar who sung Jeevan Mein Tu Darna Nahin which is played many times in the movie. The cinematography is really good as the action sequence are well timed along with the locations chosen. The only problem in cinematography was that of heavy camera zooms which is really confusing when Danny (Danny Denzongpa) and Rita (Alka) are introduced where the latter’s partner is giving a belly dance performance. Instead the director could have inserted a song on belly dancing performance to cover the mistake which could have really entertained the audience.
Overall, the movie was really entertaining to watch with perfect plot and really gripping action scenes. For film enthusiasts who wants to learn and explore the Indian cinema as it has inspired the popular Indian cinema blockbuster Sholay (1975). For the people who are bored at home and are surfing online for good movie to entertain yourself, just go and watch this movie.
MALAV CONTRACTOR 