Random review: Khoon bhari maang

So I convinced Viv and my mom-in-law to watch Khoon Bhari Maang on TV with me. I had seen it when I was a kid and sold it to them as the 'ultimate 80s' revenge saga'. And boy, was it entertaining as hell (though not quite in the same way as a regular entertainer).

Here are my random thoughts after watching the movie:

• Does anyone remember how popular the song 'Hanste hanste' was? We used to sing it in all the time in singing competitions in school, because it was an easy-to-sing, suitable-for-family-audiences kind of a song.

• I quite like the song 'Jeene ke bahaane laakhon hain' too.

• It was really Rekha, wasn't it, who was pushed into the lake? Crocodile or no crocodile, it takes guts to be pushed into a random lake by a fellow actor. *Respect* to Rekha for not using a body double!

• Speaking of body doubles, I was wondering why Rekha had her hair open like Kali Mata in the last scene, because it totally didn't go with the rest of her outfit (black leather). And then I realised that they needed a body double to do all the jumping and somersaults and the long hair just helped to conceal the fact that it was a guy doing the jumps.

• I was glad to see that Rekha spoke to her plastic surgeon in English. Warna aaj kal toh... even policemen abroad seem to speak Hindi in some of the movies today! Of course, Rekha had to do the obligatory 'face the camera and translate in Hindi' act - "Ek naya chehra... jise koi pehchaan na paaye..."

• The surgery scene was quite graphic, huh? And the blood they used both in this scene and the one with the crocodile was such a dhinchak red! I am glad that shade is not used anymore.

• Tom Alter was, as usual, the staple Hindi-speaking Caucasian in all movies in the 80s. Though in this movie, thankfully he only spoke two words in Hindi.

• Hell, I had completely forgotten that Shatrughan Sinha was in this movie! So Rekha marries like three guys?!

• Kader Khan was soooo annoying in the scenes with the vet. And his dialogues were so bad I am sure he wrote them himself. I am so glad they have stopped doing a completely independent comedy track in today's movies.

• One must say Kabir Bedi cut quite a dapper figure. And amazingly, he still looks the same today!

• I knew that one of Sonu Walia and the Baaliya guy was there to run between the shooter and 'shootee' and save the shootee's life, but had forgotten who it was. Glad it was Sonu Walia.

• Why oh why did they have to shoot the horse in the climax scene? And Rekha's character being an avid animal-lover, asking the wounded horse to carry on because "izzat ka sawaal hai"??

• Towards the end of the movie, when Rekha drags Kabir Bedi to the same lake with the crocodile, I turned and asked Viv, "So do you think she will push him in, or will Shatrughan Sinha appear and say, 'Kanoon ko apne haath mein mat lo, Aarti'?", he said it would obviously be the latter. Heh heh, I thought to myself. (She actually does push him down.)

• And lastly, if there ever was an award for the ghastliest costumes used in a song, it has to go to this one!