Absolutely brilliant

A Brilliant Conflict

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Vijay Anand, who had previous directed such masterpieces like Guide, Jewel Thief and Johnny Mera Naam returned in 1980 with his most commercial movie starring two of the biggest stars at the time, Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachan. Whilst it is good to see the pair return after Sholay, the movie itself isn't really upto scratch. It is a very typical masala movie with the usual lost and found formula. The story as it is revolves around Japatpal (Ajit) who falsely claims himself to be the illegitimate brother of two wealthy brothers and kills them. Then he drowns their wife, leaving him with all the wealth and the responsibility of bringing up the sons of the brothers, Ram and Balram. He decides to make Ram a cunning thief whilst Balram becomes a policeman. They get into all sorts of scrapes, meeting their leading ladies (Rekha and Zeenat Aman), getting involved with crooks before being reunited with their mother and how they seek vengeance against Japatpal forms the rest of the story leading upto a prolonged finale. It does have some strong points, the music is superb, particularly the song Ek Raasta Do Rahee (lifted off Bee gees song That's the way I like it). It also has the distinct advantage of having not one but 4 villains in the form of Ajit, Sujit Kumar, Prem Chopra and Amjad Khan in supporting roles.The leads are perfectly fine but it is Ajit as the evil Jagatpal who steals the show. I remember seeing this movie as a young child and being completely terrified of him.The only other significant movie Anand made after this was Rajput, which like Ram Balram took a long time to get made because of the star's busy schedules. All in all one might consider this movie to be a forgettable fare from a director of Vijay Anand's calibre.

Ram Balram(1980) was known as the comeback of Amitabh-Dharam jodi after SHOLAY, CHUPKE CHUPKE(1975). In the former films Dharam had the main lead while Big B had the supporting role(as Dharam was a bigger star when both films were being made) but when the film released things got changed. Big B became the numero uno of Bollywood. RAM BALRAM had for once both in equal roles. The story is quite good with Evil Ajit making use of his 2 nephews to become rich, Not entirely convincing though like films of 70s and 80s but yet the film is quite well handled. There are several clapworthy scenes and good dramatic scenes. Amitabh and Dharam's chemistry makes for a good song Ek Rasta Do Raahi where both are seen driving a car, sitting over it and having a joy time, just like Yeh Dosti. The film has all the typical formula of 70s like long lost brothers, sisters and a dead mother who comes back to life and happy endingDirection by Vijay Anand is quite good, he had to face a lot of ego hassles between both the stars notwithstanding. Music by LP is fantastic, Ek Rasta is terrific with Kishore(for Big B) and Rafi's vocals suiting both, Ladki Pasand Ki, Humse Bhool Ho Gayi and other songs are fabDharmendra as usual entertains and does his role very well Amitabh Bachchan is apt in a tailormade role, he has done such roles many times Rekha and Zeenat Aman are the heroines and are good Amongst rest Ajit is suitabily villainy while Amjad Khan, Prem Chopra do well as the villains Helen is good(surprising she played Zeenat's mom when Dharam was 4 years older to her)At The Box Office, the film opened well but finally was declared semi-hit which was disappointing, after this film Amitabh and Dharam never worked again in their haydays, except guest appearances in some films,Dharam in Andha Kanoon for e.g. They re-united recently in Hum Kaun Hai?(2004)

This movie is my all-time favorite movie but i still didn't give it a 10 only because realistically it did average at the box-office and it wasn't as good to most people as was Sholay. The directors tried to recreate another Sholay but most of the audience did not accept it as anywhere close to Sholay. However, I loved the songs and the story had constant action from scene to scene and to me, it had no dull moments at all. I loved this movie more than Sholay and I thought Sholay was a classic. So maybe this might give all of you an insight into how good this movie was. If you guys and gals love the classic Amitabh Bachchan movies and haven't seen this one, then take it from me, this is a classic Amitabh Bachchan movie with all the drama and action that he became famous for. There's no harm in checking it out, if you don't like it, then it's only $1 wasted. If you do, and I'm sure most of you will enjoy it, then maybe you might end up buying it on DVD like i have. Another point, do check out the DVD version of this movie because most VHS tapes will have bad quality. Do check out this movie and you wont be disappointed!!!

Okay, I guess if you're a Dharmendra or an Amitabh fan...and if you were really impressed with Sholay (like me), you should see this movie.Jagatpal (Ajit) causes a misunderstanding between two brothers who he claims as relatives (but obviously not). While they were arguing, Ajit shoots both of them from the window, and frames them for murdering each other. Meanwhile he kills Ram's mother Saraswati who also raises her brother in-law's son Balram as her own (supposedly, but she pops up at the end somehow). Jagatpal forcefully raises Ram to be a thief, and Balram to be educated without the accompaniment of his brother/cousin. He does this with sharp-pointy objects on the ends of his crutches...if they don't listen he threatens to stab them.Ram (Dharmendra) ends up being a car mechanic, and Balram (Amitabh Bachchan) ends up being a police officer. Jagatpal shares his plan, for Ram to be the best smuggler, and for Balram to be the best police officer. Balram tries to argue, but those annoying pointy things are once again a threat.The first half of the movie (excluding the evilness of their evil uncle) was pretty entertaining ~ Dharmendra and Amitabh are first shown together and then shown in different scenes separately to show the differences and similarities in their life. Balram falls in love with Shoba (Rekha - a good couple I must say) and Ram falls in love with Madhu (Zeenat - she is very ugly in this movie and her a Dharam don't match). The part where they display their own girls to each other is pretty funny.But I mean the VIOLENCE is just TOOOO much! I watch action movies, but this was ridiculous! After the first half, one who is watching this movie won't even be able to see the nice acting of the Dharmendra and Amitabh! It's like shooting and blowing up things all the time. And Jagatpal's evilness gets to be too much. It's hard to believe that it was so hard for toughies like Dharmendra and Amitabh to beat up a cripple.I only rate it a nine because I am an ardent fan of Dharmendra as well as Amitabh and I wasn't particularly disappointed with their powerful performance combo. I recommend this movie if you like the actors, and if you're a fan of Laxmikant Pyarelal who made good songs (like Ek Rasta, Hama Maafi Dai Do, Yaar Ki Khabar, and Ladki Pasand). But if you're not then don't waste your time. I was thoroughly angry with Vijay Anand's violent and perverted direction.Stick with Sholay.