I truly feel that the movie should be watched for Kader Khan’s dialogue delivery and the way he goes about reciting ‘Bol Ambe', Bol jagdambe’ and his evil business. (I shall prove my point when I discuss Himmatwala and add a screen capture of Sridevi dancing before another low placed camera).
The camera angle (and this is what I noticed in all Padmalaya films) is ridiculously low for all such ‘thumkas’. Yup, our very own Pakistani import who sings in such a heavy nasal voice that all Dimple Kapadia fans are left to wonder that what financial crisis forced Dimple to even accept this song let alone dance to it. Nirupa Roy does a cameo as the Ramu’s ever woeful ‘Maaaa’ and Dimple Kapadia makes a guest appearance gyrating as if she has hurt her backside (supposedly seductively) to a song that goes ‘Chumma chumma –2, mujhko bana le Priya-tamma’ sung by none other than Salma Agha. Jeetendra is wearing a cape and flying, no running like superman and jumping around with all his latka-jhatkas. There are typical geometrical formations and scores of ‘extras’ running in the background and lying down in circles, standing in circles and even swimming in circles. The choreography is bound to get you rolling in laughter. Amjad Khan excels in his fancy dress show and Jeetendra is at his dancing best (don’t chuckle). Pataal Bhairavi is fun to watch if you are a little forgiving about the details that the director failed to take care of. Though most of these movies would now seem either heavily laden with fake emotions and thin plots or exceedingly funny (specially on the costumes, dances and dialog deliveries), the fact remains that these movies had a mass appeal as per taste of the people who used to visit cinema halls in the 80s. Jitendra, I feel displayed immaculate market and commercial sensibilities when he headed south and became a favorite with Padmalaya studios and gave many commercially successful movies like Himmatwala, Tohfa, Pataal Bhairavi, Mawali amongst others even in the era of video and VHS invasion. The commercial formulas were repeated with heavy doses of melodrama, unreal situations and bleak storylines and plots. The formula films of this decade hardly gave the actors a chance to break the stereotype moulds that they had been cast in. I personally think that the decade of 80s was the creatively the worst decade of Indian cinema. However it is Amjad Khan who actually excels as ‘Vishvanath Chanchal’ with his comic timing and buffoonery in his endeavors to marry the princess Indumati played by the gorgeous Jaya Prada.
Kader Khan does well as a comic villain and Shakti Kapoor plays an able sidekick to Jeetendra. The difference here is that Goddess Pataal Bhairavi keeps repeating nonchalantly ‘Manav, bol kyaa ichchaa hai teri?’ (What do you desire, human?) till the time the wish to be granted is not mentioned which is kind of funny. The genie is replaced by a Goddess – Pataal Bhairavi (played by another regular in the Padmalaya camp – Shoma Aanand) who is invoked by uttering the magic words ‘Jai Pataal Bhairavi’ when holding the statue of the Goddess in hand -an easy substitute for rubbing the magic lamp. This movie is essentially an Indian mythological adaptation of the story of Aladin.
What I did not know until recently was that this movie was a remake of a Telugu movie by the same name (‘Patala Bhairavi’) which featured screen icon N.T. I had immensely enjoyed Pataal bhairavi as a kid and still love Kader Khan’s rendition of the evil magician in the movie. Ramu kills the evil Mantrik in the end and marries princess Indumati.Ĭlick HERE for a complete plot summary and storyline. Sadajappa resurrects Mantrik and what ensues is a battle between the good and the evil. He lures Ramu by promising his riches, however Ramu gets to know Mantrik’s evil intentions and beheads Mantrik. An evil magician Mantrik along with his disciple Sadajappa in pursuit of the power of the Goddess Pataal Bhairavi wants to sacrifice Ramu before the Goddess. He falls in love with the princess Indumati and desires to marry her. Ramchandra aka Ramu is the son of a lowly gardener who lives in the city of Ujjain with his mother and a friend, Hanuman. Click HERE for a complete listing of Cast & Crew