Himmatwala (1983 film)

This article is about the 1983 film. For the 1998 film, see Himmatwala (1998 film). For the 2013 film remake, see Himmatwala (2013 film).

Himmatwala (transl. 'The brave one') is a 1983 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The film stars Jeetendra and Sridevi in the lead roles, with G. A. Seshagiri Rao producing under the Padmalaya Studios banner and Krishna presenting the film. It is a remake of the 1981 Telugu film Ooruki Monagadu, which was also directed by Raghavendra Rao and starred Krishna.

Himmatwala
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	K. Raghavendra Rao
Written by	Kadar Khan (dialogues)
Screenplay by	K. Raghavendra Rao
Story by	Satyanand
Based on	Ooruki Monagadu (1981)
Produced by	G. A. Seshagiri Rao Krishna (Presents)
Starring	Jeetendra Sridevi
Cinematography	K. S. Prakash Rao
Edited by	Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Music by	Bappi Lahiri
Production company	Padmalaya Studios
Release date	25 February 1983 (1983-02-25)
Running time	150 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Box office	₹11.5 crore (equivalent to ₹195 crore or US$23 million in 2023)[1]

Upon release, Himmatwala became a massive commercial success, grossing ₹5 crore and emerging as one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of the 1980s.^[2] The film marked a breakthrough for Sridevi in Hindi cinema, propelling her to stardom. Her performance in the popular song "Naino Mein Sapna" was widely appreciated, with Rediff noting that while the water pots dominated the frames, it was Sridevi's bejeweled outfits and headgear that captivated the audience.^[3]

Plot

Master Dharam Murti witnesses Sher Singh Bandookwala murdering a man. Bandookwala manages to get exonerated by using his money and influence. He wants to get revenge on Murti, and falsely accuses him of sexually assaulting a female teacher named Menaka. Murti becomes very demoralized by this incident and leaves the village abandoning his wife and children lest they also face the stigma of being related to him.

His wife, Savitri, toils to make her son, Ravi, an engineer. Ravi grows up and returns to the village as the chief engineer for the village's new dam building project. Meanwhile, Bandookwala has been terrorizing the villagers. His daughter Rekha has been following in his footsteps and harasses people. Ravi's sister Padma gets involved with Munimji's son Shakti and becomes pregnant. Bandookwala wants to use this situation to torment Ravi.

Shakti marries Padma according to Bandookwala's plan and starts torturing her. Rekha eventually understands how cruel her father is and falls in love with Ravi seeing his honesty and goodness. She pretends to be pregnant so that Bandookwala faces the same situation as Ravi had with his sister. Ravi suddenly finds his father among the workers of the dam and brings him back to prove his innocence in front of the village panchayat. Bandookwala is held responsible for all of his evil doings and is set to be punished by the panchayat, but Dharam Murti asks everyone to forgive him, on the condition that he mends his ways. Bandookwala promises to become a better person and his daughter Rekha is married to Ravi.

Cast

• Jeetendra as Ravi
• Sridevi as Rekha Singh Bandookwala
• Waheeda Rehman as Savitri
• Shakti Kapoor as Shakti Gopaldas
• Kader Khan as Munim Narayandas Gopaldas
• Amjad Khan as Thakur Sher Singh Bandookwala
• Asrani as Bhushan
• Arun Govil as Govind
• Shoma Anand as Champa
• Swaroop Sampat as Padma Gopaldas
• Satyendra Kapoor as Dharam Murthy
• Sulochana Latkar as Govind's Grandmother

Soundtrack

The music album was composed by Bappi Lahiri and the lyrics were penned by Indeevar.

Song	Singer
"Nainon Mein"	Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
"Ladki Nahin Hai"	Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle
"Taki O Taki"	Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle
"Wah Wah Wah"	Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle
"Imtihan Imtihan"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam

Remake

Main article: Himmatwala (2013 film)

A remake of the film starring Ajay Devgn and Tamannaah and directed by Sajid Khan, released under the same title on 29 March 2013. The film opened to negative reviews and became a box-office bomb.^[4][5]