Laawaris (transl. Orphan) is a 1981 Indian masala film directed by Prakash Mehra. The film became known for its song "Mere Angene Mein Tumhara Kya Kaam Hai" (roughly translated as: "In my courtyard, what is your purpose?") rendered twice: the first time by a young Alka Yagnik, who earned her first Filmfare nomination as best female playback singer, and the second time by Amitabh Bachchan. The second version became very popular due to Bachchan's comedic performance in drag. The lyrics pay tribute to every type of wife, be they fat, tall, short, dark, or fair skinned. Even today, the song is popular among audiences.
| Laawaris | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Prakash Mehra |
| Written by | Shashi Bhushan Kader Khan Prakash Mehra Din Dayal Sharma |
| Produced by | Prakash Mehra |
| Starring | Amitabh Bachchan Zeenat Aman |
| Cinematography | N. Satyen |
| Music by | Kalyanji-Anandji |
Release date |
|
Running time | 189 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Box office | ₹9 crores (equivalent to ₹166 crores in 2020) |
Laawaris starred Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Amjad Khan in lead roles. The story revolves around an orphan who stumbles over reality in search for his parents.
The film was declared "super-hit" at box-office according to Box Office India. It was the fourth-highest grossing Bollywood film of 1981.[1] It earned additional Filmfare nominations for Best Actor (Amitabh Bachchan) and Best Supporting Actor (Suresh Oberoi).
Plot
editIn 1951 Vidya (Raakhee) is a famous singer and she is in love with Ranvir Singh (Amjad Khan), a leading businessman. She discovers she is pregnant with his child but Ranvir Singh wants it to be aborted. Vidya who doesn't want to abort her child decides to break up with Ranvir Singh and she leaves with her brother without informing Ranvir Singh. Vidya dies while giving birth to a baby boy but her brother takes away the baby and gives it to his driver, Gangu Ganpat, asking it to be killed. Meanwhile, Gangu Ganpat, a drunkard decides to raise the baby on his own instead of killing with the intention of making some money with the help of baby. He names the baby as Heera. 30 years later in 1981 when a grown-up Heera (Amitabh Bachchan) refuses to give Gangu liquor, an angry Gangu reveals his status as an orphan and an angry Heera leaves him.
Heera gets a job in a factory which is owned by Mahendar Singh (Ranjeet), who happens to be the son of Ranvir Singh (with his legally wedded wife and half-brother of Heera). It is shown that Ranvir Singh leads an unhappy life with his wife in an estate. He feels guilty about his betrayal to Vidya thinking she is dead.
Once employed at Mahendar Singh's factory, Heera understands that workers are not paid properly in Mahendar Singh's factory and decides to fight against it which angers Mahendar Singh. Mohini (Zeenat Aman) the daughter of Kailashnath, falls in love with Heera without knowing his true identity. Mahendar Singh transfers Heera to work in his estate present at a hill station with plans of killing him. Heera meets Ranvir Singh in the estate and gets into his good books. During a function, Mahendar Singh plans to kill Heera, but accidentally Ranvir Singh gets hurt. In the climax Ranvir Singh accepts Heera as his legitimate son and unites with his whole family.
Cast
edit- Amitabh Bachchan as Heera[2]
- Zeenat Aman as Mohini[2]
- Raakhee as Vidya (Special Appearance)
- Ranjeet as Mahendra Singh[2]
- Bindu as Kamini Singh
- Amjad Khan as Ranveer Singh[2]
- Suresh Oberoi as Ram Singh
- Padmini Kapila
- Jeevan as Lala
- Om Prakash as Dr. Goel
- Satyen Kappu as Kailaash
- Mukri as Gafoor
- Shreeram Lagoo as Gangu Ganpat
- Ram Sethi as Harnava
- Preeti Sapru as Chanchal
- Yunus Parvez
- Viju Khote
- Goga Kapoor
Soundtrack
editThe music of this movie was composed by Kalyanji–Anandji, while the lyrics were written by Anjaan and Prakash Mehra. Vocals are supplied by Kishore Kumar (for Bachchan), Asha Bhosle (for Aman), Alka Yagnik (for Raakhee) and Bachchan. The movie features some popular songs like "Apni Toh Jaise Taise" sung by Kumar and "Mere Angne Mein", whose male version was sung by Bachchan.
The song "Apni Toh Jaise Taise" was recreated by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy in the voice of Mika Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan in the 2010 film Housefull. The song "Mere Angne Mein" was recreated by Tanishk Bagchi in the year 2020 in the voice of Neha Kakkar and Raja Hassan. Both the music videos starred Sri Lankan actress Jacqueline Fernandez.
| Song | Singer |
|---|---|
| "Mere Angne Mein" | Amitabh Bachchan |
| "Mere Angne Mein" | Alka Yagnik |
| "Jiska Koi Nahin" | Manna Dey |
| "Jiska Koi Nahin Uska Tau Khuda Hai Yaaro" | Kishore Kumar |
| "Apni To Jaise Taise" | Kishore Kumar |
| "Kaahe Paise Pe Itna Ghuroor Kare Hai" | Kishore Kumar |
| "Kabke Bichhde Hue Hum Aaj Yahan Aake Mile" | Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle |
Remakes
editLaawaris was remade as
- Naa Desam, in Telugu in 1982, starring NTR, Kaikala Satyanarayana and Jayasudha.
- Panakkaran, in Tamil in 1990, starring Rajinikanth, Vijayakumar and Gautami.
Both films were massive hits in their respective languages.
Awards and nominations
edit| Award & Category | Artist | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Best Actor | Amitabh Bachchan | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Suresh Oberoi | Nominated | ||
| Best Female Playback Singer | Alka Yagnik | Nominated | for song "Mere Angne Mein" | |
References
edit- ^ "Boxofficeindia.com". 15 January 2013. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Laawaris (1981 film), a film review". Indian Cinema, The University of Iowa website. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.