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Zehreela Insaan
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Wikipedia article
'Zehreela Insaan' is a 1974 Indian Hindi-language romance film directed by Puttanna Kanagal and produced by Virendra Sinha. The film stars Rishi Kapoor, Moushumi Chatterjee, Neetu Singh and Pran. It is a remake of Kanagal's own 1972 Kannada film 'Naagarahaavu' which was based on three Kannada novels: 'Nagarahavu', 'Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu' and 'Sarpa Mathsara', all written by T. R. Subba Rao.
The film did not do well at the box office, but the song 'O Hansini' sung by Kishore Kumar attained popularity.
Plot
Arjun is an ill-tempered but soft-hearted man. He always falls into in situations that others take him as a bad person. His teacher, who he calls Masterji, is the only person who understands him and appreciates his good qualities, hence Arjun follows his wishes completely. Arjun loves a woman named Aarti and wants to marry her, but Aarti's father opposes this alliance and forcibly marries her off to a man of his choice. Arjun is dejected, but soon finds love in Margaret, his Christian college mate. As time passes, he overcomes Aarti and devotes himself to Margaret. While on a business trip to another city, Arjun finds that Aarti is now a prostitute. Angered and irritated, Arjun finds himself in a pitiable state. Margaret's uncle and mother are against her marrying Arjun. Arjun and Margaret flee to the hills; Masterji catches up with them and tries to pacify Arjun, but he refuses and instead pushes him down the hill to his death. Traumatised due to killing his teacher, Arjun asks Margaret if she will join him where he goes; she says she will, and both jump to their deaths.
Cast
* Rishi Kapoor as Arjun Singh
* Moushumi Chatterjee as Aarti
* Neetu Singh as Margaret
* Pran as Masterji
* Dara Singh as Pahelwan
* Manorama as Mary
* Dulari as Arjun's mother
* Ratnamala as Mrs. Shyam Lal
* Madan Puri as John
* Iftekhar as Principal Vishamber Nath
* Raj Mehra as Arjun's father
* Sajjan as Shyam Lal
* Asit Sen as Murari Lal
* Paintal as Ranjeet
* Ghanshyam Rohera as Arjun's classmate
* Maruti Rao as Budhram
* Jagdish Raj as Bidre (as Jagdishraj)
* Vijay Kumar
* Nirupa Roy as Shobha
* Ambareesh as Jaleel
* Yogesh Chhabra as Tukaram Phillips
Production
'Zehreela Insaan' is a remake of the 1972 Kannada film 'Naagarahaavu', itself based on three different novels: 'Nagarahavu', 'Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu' and 'Sarpa Mathsara', all written by T. R. Subba Rao. Puttanna Kanagal, who directed the Kannada film, returned to direct the Hindi remake, which was produced by Virendra Sinha under Pragati Chitra International. Cinematography was handled by Sudarshan Nag, and the editing by V. P. Krishna. Ambareesh, who played a character named Jaleel in 'Naagarahaavu', reprised his role in 'Zehreela Insaan'. While the character of the teacher in 'Naagarahaavu' wore a white dhoti, black coat and Mysore turban, the same character in 'Zehreela Insaan' wore a kurta-pyjama and a Nehru jacket. Much of the film was shot in Chitradurga, with the song "O Hansini" being shot at Chitradurga Fort.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by R. D. Burman while the lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The song "Saanp Se Badhke" is based on "Haavina Dwesha" from 'Naagarahaavu'.
Release and reception
'Zehreela Insaan' was released on 20 November 1974, and did not succeed commercially. Rishi Kapoor later admitted it was a "mistake", feeling that he should have accepted a film similar to his earlier 'Bobby' (1973) and not something that was "drastically different".
See also
* 'Kode Nagu'
* 'Raja Nagam'
References
Bibliography
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