Review of Zanjeer

Zanjeer (1973)
5/10
Really bad movie
3 February 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I managed to watch this entire movie (TCM - 4 stars!) because I kept hoping that it would get better...but it never did. There is so much that's bad about this movie that I don't know where to begin!

The fight scenes: disjointed and senseless with terrible sound effects. The fight with Sher Khan at the beginning of the movie was really bad, no one got hurt but they both got filthy with oily dirt! It was more like adult men having a slap & tickle!

The camera work: Moving camera work was jerky and made my brain hurt. The delivery truck barreling down the road was so contrived, like a bad 'Clutch Cargo' cartoon! And when it runs into the school kids...SCTV did better on their worst days!

Weird camera shots, I remember the camera panning left and showing just the heads & shoulders of people on the ground and a group standing on a ramshackle raised patio - only their legs and feet! Or was the point of the shot the ramshackleness of the construction? Strange quick shots of characters displaying unreadable expressions on their faces occur frequently...

The murder on the train? Some shifty-eyed thug butts out a cigarette on the guy's hand and he falls off the train (the only laugh I got all movie!)

The solo singing number by Mala - no idea what she was singing about! The subtitles didn't make any sense - she was obviously lamenting about something to do with love, but the tears on her face told me that! No subtitles would've been better than what was displayed.

The lighting in the Inspector's "apartment" - really bad during a critical fight scene. The fight scene near the end when Vijay gets thrown off the bridge onto the tracks below...more slap & tickle, but the fall from the bridge would've killed him certainly.

Then out of seemingly nowhere deadly knives are thrown by Mala - who knew?!

Maybe I'm spoiled (well...actually I'm sure I'm spoiled) but I've watched a lot of foreign films over the years and I'm more than willing to overlook minor errors - but this movie is just one big stew of nonsensical plot-chunks! 5 stars because of the dance numbers, the dance number with Sher Khan on the occasion of his birthday is a classic. "Friendship is my Religion; my Friend is my Life!"

((Interesting side note, the lead actor 'Vijay' and the knife-girl 'Mala' were married in real life after this movie and have remained married for 40 years))
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