Review of the Movie Inquilab- Amitabh, Sridevi

This movie, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi, and Shakti Kapoor, was released during 1983. Reviewed for the IIMB wall-mag by yours truly. Recycled for the good of society-and MBAs.

INQUILAB: The attaché is missing

Refreshing…..when you wake up! –Ambade

Time-pauss- Dazy, Sardie, ROI in unison.

Wished I was in Colombo- Tharan (from Sri Lanka)

Sridevi had such a small role- unfair! – IIM Junta

The film is all about an attaché which is lost- a lost attaché- Khoya hua attaché. What happens when the attaché is lost? Its parents, M/s. VIP and Aristocrat, launch a worldwide search. And guess where they locate it?

Bees saal baad…Delhi’s Palam airport. The attaché is found masquerading with a beard. Not only that, it has cleverly switched its name. The alias is Koya Koya attaché (note the Oh so subtle change of spelling and the duplication of the word K(h)oya).

The distraught parents are about to pounce on their wayward ‘attache’ when it suddenly disappears, and is later found murdered, after swinging to some rock beats with Amitabh in a disco. And VIP and Aristocrat are left wishing they’d never invented the wheel (for the attaché).

Then there are other attaches. One is a young lass Sridevi who is very traditional and believes in rituals. Like getting herself saved by Amitabh from a bunch of grape-growers. And giving a complex to leeches-from the way she attaches herself (literally) to Amitabh, every chance she gets. The leech would probably go red in the face-and not because of sucking blood.

Amit the Ass. Commissioner decides halfway through that the other side of the fence is greener, and turns to smuggling for a couple of politicians. It is only incidental that one of them is Sridevi’s dad (and hence, his pa-in-law).

Halfway through the second half, he again switches roles- this time, to a candidate for the Garibi Hatao party. One may like to ponder over the speedy movements of our hero from one role to another- will it not lead to a role conflict? Or to his mass reducing to zero as he gains speed as per the formula E = mc square.

The Message: The film’s message comes early in the second half, when Koya Koya Attache gives a dying statement. It claims the reason why it ran away from home was the feud between its parents, VIP and Aristocrat.

The message for you, dear budding executives, is as clear as the sky on a clear night- (Price) wars don’t pay!