Faraar review :
A fugitive on the run takes shelter in a cop's home where his wife turns out to be this runaway criminal's ex-lover. Things get complicated when the cop gets to know about the hidden truth!!
Amitabh Bachchan played the fugitive on the run while Sanjeev Kumar- Sharmila Tagore were the couple. Faraar released towards the end of 1975 which was otherwise Bachchan's year with Deewaar and Sholay turning huge blockbusters that year. Faraar wasn't that lucky and didn't last long in theatres despite its taut execution and some wonderful performances from Big B and Sanjeev Kumar.
The basic plot point itself, was already made earlier as 36 Ghante (1974) where Sunil Dutt and Danny were simply chilling in negative roles. Later, a major sub-plot of Rajkumar Santoshi's Ghayal (1990) where Sunny and his fellow jailmates take refuge at the police commissioner Kulbhushan Kharbanda's house, was also inspired from the same movie.
Of the cast, Amitabh Bachchan was outstanding as the painter who loses his lady love and later, avenges his sister's rape by killing the culprit (Rajan Haksar) and escapes the arms of the law. Sanjeev Kumar was equally effective as the tough cop for whom the case gets personal when he gets to know about his wife's prior romance with this escaped criminal. Sharmila looked elegant and classy as ever but somehow, never paired well with Bachchan. All their movies as a couple from Faraar (1975) to Besharam (1978) and Desh Premee (1982) were underperformers at the box office.
Not many know that Faraar had two endings - the theatrical release had Amitabh Bachchan getting shot by the cops and dying in the end. Another ending was filmed where he is shot in same manner but lives after getting admitted to hospital. The Doordarshan version which I saw in mid '80s with my grandparents, was the theatre version while many years later, I got to watch the other version in a UK dvd. Out of the two, the original ending where Bachchan dies was better and I really enjoyed this movie then on our black and white television with my dear grandpa who was also a Bachchan fan like me. Fond memories indeed!!
Faraar is not a great movie per se but it gives us Bachchan with his trademark raw anger and simmering intensity in full form. Deserves a watch just for that!!
Regards,
Sumeet Nadkarni.
