Kalicharan (1976, India)

A story about corrupt people in high places and honest policemen determined to track them down; this was a favourite theme of earlier Indian film work. Over-acting and poor direction abounds in this early Indian film, but Bollywood has come a long way since then.

When a big businessman known as the Lion continues his corrupt activities, there is only one police officer who can bring him to justice, and the Inspector General of police calls him in -- it is Prakhabar (Shatrughan Sinha). But when Prakhabar threatens the Lion with exposure and prison, he has him killed in a road accident. The police investigations look unlikely to succeed now, but there is one last hope. A prisoner now in jail -- known as number 511 -- looks exactly like him. It's uncanny and if only we can persuade him to impersonate Prakhabar, well, we can track down the criminals. Obviously.

Seconds before his death, Prakhabar wrote "Lion" on a piece of paper to ensure that his killer would be brought to justice, but unfortunately the paper was turned top to bottom, and everyone thinks they are looking for "No 17".

But prisoner no 511 -- we now learn that his name is Kalicharan -- is a hardened man, and we need to persuade him to help the police. In an early interview, he tells his life story; it now emerges that bandits killed his wife, and this so embittered him that he turned to a life of violence. So as he is basically a nice man, all we have to do is to introduce him to Prakhabar's widow and everything will work out fine. The widow is on vacation in Simla, and it is really cold there in the hill station -- everyone is wearing balaclava helmets and the like. At first Kalicharan is as aggressive to the widow as he is to everyone else. Will he eventually come round to an honest way of thinking?

Early in the film, we see Prakhabar's children telephoning him at the office, to ask him to be sure to see them off at the railway station when they leave for Simla. There is a small boy and a younger girl, but the girl is played by a little boy, Master Bittoo. He was something of a child acting prodigy, and when they wanted a confident young child, they cast him. He evidently has long hair -- it doesn't seem to be a wig.

Later, after Prakhabar has died, there is a children's concert in the Catholic school in Simla. Prakhabar's children are singing in front of a large chorus.

HF July 2007

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