Betaab (1983)

"Betaab" was a big box office hit of 80s, which launched a new star in Bollywood, Sunny Deol. Well, story-wise, there is nothing new in this film. Heroine comes from a very affluent family and hero is poor. The rich father of the heroine declines their relationship and starts tormenting the hero. There are villains, a loyal maid, a loyal dog, and a final fight sequence after which the lovers meet and the villains are punished. Perhaps, you have seen the same story for hundreds of times in Hindi movies. But it still works in this film which is still entertaining and refreshing to watch. The stunts, music, good photography, and freshness of the stars still make it entertaining though not very memorable.Rating: 2 stars out of 4

Betaab is a very entertaining film. It is a love story involving a young poor, simple, humorous and romantic guy called Sunny and a spoilt, rich girl called Roma. They quite coincidentally were childhood friends, and their parents were close friends until Sunny's dad went bankrupt and everything changed. It is portrayed beautifully and simply. Sunny is a hard-working guy who owns a farm-house in a small rural town with his mother. Roma lives in a big mansion, and when her father buys an estate which is near Sunny's farm, she enthusiastically goes to visit it. That's how they meet, and that's how begins their "hate-to-love" romance. The story later takes more shape as Roma's father disapproves of their relationship. Betaab is benefited from breathtaking locations and extraordinary, timeless songs composed by R.D Burman. Songs like "Jab Hum Jawan Hoge", "Apne Dil Se Badi" and "Badal Yun" are unforgettable. Where acting goes, Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh perform brilliantly in their debut roles, and Shammi Kapoor and Nirupa Roy provide great support. The film has comedy, drama and action, and many sequences in it were enjoyable and quite fun to watch while there were also several touching and exciting moments. I did not like everything about this film, but I mainly loved it for its simplicity, for the well-written characters and for portraying the beauty of the light and rural India, which was authentically done thanks to the sets and efficiently aided by all the different animals, including Sunny's livestock and particularly his cute pet dog. This is a heartwarming film and according to me one of the better Hindi love stories of the 1980s.

Betaab is the story of Sunny (Sunny Deol) who lives a middle class life with his mother Sumintra. They make a living with there poultry farm. However, he met a girl called Roma/Dinky (Amrita Singh) who was his childhood companion and thought she was the same way. However, they met, fight & fell in love with each other. But her father Dinesh did not want Roma to marry Sunny since he had forgotten all about Sunny's family since sunny's father is no more alive. But Sunny's and Roma's love is so strong that no family ties could broke a bond that make between the two. This is actually one of the best films I have ever seen. I must say the Director must have take his time in putting this story together.

Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew forms the plot basis for Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh's entry into Bollywood. Sunny Deol's character Sunny lives on a farm with his widowed mother Sumitra(Nirupa Roy) and dreams of his childhood sweetheart Roma (Amrita Singh). They meet, fight, fall in love and after the usual showdown with her father and the villains, live happily ever after.Betaab also has an award winning soundtrack from RD Burman with lovely songs like "Tumne Di Awaaz","Badal yun garjta hai","Apne dil se badi","Teri tasveer mil gayi" and "Jab hum jawan honge"...The performances though raw are charming particularly Amrita Singh's feisty Roma....All in all....worth a watch for the fresh lead pair