Ghulami (घुलमि) 1985

Published on November 2, 2012 in Cinema

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Banner	Nadiadwala Sons,Bombino Video Pvt. Ltd.
Director	J.P.Dutt
Writer	O.P. Dutta
Producer
Orginal music	Laxmikant,Pyarelal
Cinematography	Ishwar Bidri
Film Editing
Art Director
Camera Operator
Assistant Cameramen
Playback Singers	Shabbir Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar,Suresh Wadkar,Manhar Udhas

Character	Actor / Actress
Ranjit Singh Choudhary	Dharmendra
Javar	Mithun Chakraborty
SP Sultan Singh	Naseeruddin Shah
Moran	Reena Roy
Sumitra Sultan Singh	Smita Patil
Tulsi	Anita Raj
Havaldar Gopi Dada	Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Fatehpur's Thanedar	Raza Murad
Bade Thakur	Om Shivpuri
Shamu	Avtar Gill
Thakur Shakti Singh	Bharat Kapoor
Makhan Singh Choudhary	Rajan Haksar
Thakur Jaswant Singh	Mazhar Khan
Mrs. Makhan Singh Choudhary	Sulochana Latkar
Masterji	Ram Mohan
Bade Thakur's Munim	Anjan Srivastav
Persian Singer	Huma Khan
Daku	Surendra Pal

Ghulami has music and lyrics by Laxmikant Pyarelal and Gulzar respectively. The film focuses on the caste and feudal system in Rajasthan and a rebellion started by the Jats under Ranjit Singh Choudhary (Dharmendra), against the Thakur landlords. And it was based on a real story of a school master Ranjit Singh Choudhary.

Ghulami was the maiden venture of now well-known filmmaker, J.P. Dutta. It's a thought-provoking movie, baring the bitter truth of the slavery of the downtrodden Indian poor peasant to the heartless Indian caste system as well as poverty. The poor peasant (mainly belonging to a lower caste in the discriminatory caste system) takes birth in a loan which had been taken by his ancestors and dies in loan, leaving it for his next generation; his land and belongings are always under the threat of confiscation due to non-payment of the loan and worstly the honour of the ladies of his family is under constant threat from the lusty landlords, still enjoying the undesirable benefits of the feudalistic landownership system continuing for centuries in the rural India. On 15 August 1947, our country got independence but the poor peasants are still accurst to bear the brunt of the slavery of the mighty.

Ghulami (1985) was the maiden directorial venture of J.P. Dutta whose story was written by his father, O.P. Dutta. He has presented the story of a well-educated and but full of self-respect peasant (Dharmendra) who unfortunately finds himself on the lower rung of the ladder of the social structure because of his birth. The daughter of the supercilious landlord, though, possesses a different nature and outlook and she (Smita Patil) is a close friend of him. The police of the village, as usual, is sold in the hands of the landlord (Om Shivpuri) and join hands with him and his arrogant and lustful sons (Bharat Kapoor and Mazhar Khan) to oppress and humiliate the already victimized by misusing the power of the uniform. A like-minded ex-serviceman (Mithun Chakraborty) join hands with him and a lower-caste kind-hearted Hawaldar (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) also comes to his side after losing his son in an confrontation with the upper caste and rich mighties who don't allow the lower caste grooms to ride a horse. The main protagonist has to become a bandit in the eyes of the law to save the land and the honour of the hundreds of peasants, leaving his pregnant wife (Reena Roy) behind. The husband of his friend (the landlord's daughter) is a senior police officer (Nasiruddin Shah) who also becomes his enemy on personal level after knowing about his friendship with his wife. The violence-ridden climax underscores this harsh reality only that the rebels die, the cruel and unjust system doesn't.

The complete background and the milieu is highly realistic and impressive - the sand dunes, the Hawelis, the village lanes, the tattered houses of the poor and even the Police Chowki. The narrative is in complete synchronization with the milieu nowhere the movie renders an air of being an imaginary story. Almost everything looked real.

The narrative is spellbinding. Right from the very first frame to the very last frame, the movie is able to keep the viewer tied to his seat with his eyes glued to the screen. The screenplay swiftly moves from scene to scene and J.P. Dutta has demonstrated his better sense by keeping the movie completely free from meaningless comedy and unrealistic romance. The love-angles are touching, not titillating.

The music of Laxmikant Pyarelal the meaningful songs (only three) having been penned by Gulzar. The best one is definitely Jeehaal-e-Muskin Mukon Ba-Ranjish Bahaal-e-Hijra Bechaara Dil Hai (picturized on Mithun and his love-interest Anita Raj). Mere Pee Ko Pawan is an underrated excellent song. The third one is Pee Le Pee Le which is also good to listen and better to watch.

The impressive, meaningful and touching dialogues are another highlight of this movie. The production value is quite high and the cinematographer has marvelled in not only capturing the beauty of rural Rajasthan but also creating impact through the shadows in certain scenes.

J.P. Dutta possess the knack to extract the best from his caste. All the main characters - Dharmendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Nasiruddin Shah, Kulbhushan Kharbanda etc. have delivered their best. Leading ladies- Smita Patil, Reena Roy and Anita Raj also have done pretty well in their low-profile roles in this male-dominated movies. Supporting caste (Sulochana, Om Shivpuri, Bharat Kapoor, Mazhar Khan, Raza Murad etc.) has also done justice to the respective roles assigned. Except the over-the-top Anjan Shrvastav (the accountant of the landlord), all look flesh and blood human-beings.

Ghulami is an outstanding movie which was a box-office hit also. To understand the caste-ridden class-conflicts and related dynamics in India, this movie can be used just like a textbook.