A film describing the importance and power of TIME in our lives is known as a spectacular trend setter in the Hindi film industry. A film which laid down the basic foundation of all the “Lost & Found” movies was one of the first big & impressive take on the famous Bollywood format. In fact all the major blockbusters (based on the formula) which ruled the box office in the 70s & 80s took their major clues from this classic directed brilliantly by the legendary director Yash Chopra.
Starting with a well written sequence depicting the supremacy of Time, the movie shows us the tragedy faced by a rich man and his family, which in few seconds sends them into the lap of poverty and mercilessly separates them from each other for years. Living their individual lives far away, the characters once again are brought together by the uncontrollable power of Time after a few decades. They get to meet each other unknowingly and with the changing times, find themselves entangled into a new web of relationships beyond imagination. The story which starts as a family drama unexpectedly ends in a courtroom sequence where the whole family unites again accepting the undeniable power of TIME. With a talented ensemble of actors (Sunil Dutt, Raj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Sadhna, Sharmila Tagore, Jeevan, Madan Puri, Moti Lal & more), the classic is a great piece of art, lead by the one & only Balraj Sahni. His splendid portrayal of a proud man refusing to accept the power of time makes you think about the each & every second of our life, which we go on living without knowing anything about the next one. In simple words, the movie deserves to be in the library of every School of Acting and Cinema mainly because of Balraj Sahni alone.
Interestingly, the movie has given a lot to the Hindi Film Industry in terms of content, style and music. First of all it gave the most overused formula of “Lost & Found” to the other film-makers such as Manmohan Desai, who later came out with some brilliant versions of the same in his own unique and entertaining style. It also established Raj Kumar with his incomparable persona and impeccable technique of saying “Jaani” forever. His few dialogues from the movie are still rated among the most famous and imitated dialogues on stage and films till date. Apart from the above, it gave us one of the richest “Film Soundtrack” of Bollywood which has songs precious as gems, including one of the most famous Qawwali of all time, which is still played in every marriage and family get together even in this twenty first century. In fact the qawwali “Aye Meri Zohrazabin” remains the one & only song associated with the Old Age Romance by every lover of Hindi Films living anywhere in the world.
Lastly the movie gave us the most romantic director of Bollywood, Yash Chopra, who later came up with several Unforgettable Romantic Gems with never before kind of content on Indian Silver Screen. It was one of his first movies which must have given him the much required confidence and command over the art which later resulted in many equally precious masterpieces for the movie lovers. Hence “Waqt” is an important movie from all angles, not to be missed by any person of any age who loves Bollywood and its magic.
Directed By Yash Chopra
Starring : Balraj Sahni, Sunil Dutt, Raj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Sadhna, Sharmila Tagore, Jeevan, Madan Puri, Moti Lal & more.
