Review of Yaarana (1981) by Shailen S — 15 Dec 2010

Produced by F.A. Nadiadwala, music by Rajesh Roshan and directed by Rakesh Kumar, this movie is supposed to be about the strength and edurance of friendship. The plot starts off with a the story of two little boys who are great friends, maybe too much so, which is a little concerning. In the process of their childhood, they create the main villain of the movie (Ranjeet) by constant bullying, such as having off his head.

The main movie storyline in not bad, but the script suffers from too many subplots, seems like the director wanted to create drama for drama's sake, and in the process, the 2 main characters' family and their friends are put in all sorts of perilous situations, needlessly so.

Amitabh Bachchan was known for sitting down with directors to change scenes for dramatic effect and it seems to have been done with class in this movie, resulting in several memorable scenes. The metal asylum scene was classic, especially the one with Bachchan playing fantasy cricket with a bunch of other patients. Sadly this does not prevent the movie from going off on tangets.

The songs are good, but their placement throughout the movie is horrendous. For example, the "Sara Zamana" as the chart-busting single presented by an awkward dancing, singing Bachchan was painful to watch.

All in all, an ok movie to watch but will not be classed in Bachchan's best works. The direction and story line are the 2 major victims of this movie.