Maalik

A 1972 Hindi film of the then hit jodi.. Rajesh Khanna & Sharmila Tagore. It was the second box office flop of Rajesh Khanna. His consecutive hits from 1969 to 1971 had given him the title of Super star. He was really that & some more. Nobody has gotten even close to it!

His hair style, clothes, Impala car, walking or talking style just everything was revered. But he was the ultimate lover boy, a softy. The age of the angry young man was yet to come. Amitabh Bachchan brought in the anger & the issues of unemployment, the poverty & the arrogance. Rajesh Khanna’s hero was like a dream come true.

In this film he has the tilak of his forehead. He is extremely pious. Everything happens due to the almighty. He is the ultimate controller. This Rajesh gets married to Savitri, Sharmila Tagore. She believes in her husband but never in the Lord Krishna, who is worshipped by her husband.

Their son is born with paralysis. Many doctors later, someone suggests them to go on a pilgrimage. They visit various temples & worship deities. Once when the child is all alone, a snake comes. The mother shouts for help & her lips utter the name of Krishna. A peacock comes & takes away the snake. She rushes to the temple to relate the events to her husband.

A miracle happens & their son starts waving his hands & feet. The film is a loose remake of a Tamil Film which was a hit. But the same story did not do well with the national audience.

Sachin’s film in Marathi, Ashtavinayak, was a hit because the Marathi audience worships Lord Ganesha. Everyone aspires or dreams of going to the eight Ganesh temples in & around Pune. People have experienced some miracles. But if remade in Hindi it may not be a hit.

Let’s take a recent example. In 2016, ‘Sairat ‘ a Marathi film by Nagraj Manjule broke many records. It was remade in Hindi as ‘Dhadak’ by Zee studios. With a budget of 4 crores Sairat earned 110 crores. Interestingly Dhadak earned the same. It broke the record of the earlier film, “Student of the year’ also a Karan Johar flick. But it cannot be called sensational as “Sairat”.

It is the being at the right time , at the right place! Lady Luck is sure to smile then.