{"id":297,"date":"2021-05-26T22:51:43","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T02:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/totallyfilmi.toutes-directions.com\/totallyfilmi-wp\/?p=297"},"modified":"2021-05-26T22:51:44","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T02:51:44","slug":"dharam-veer-dir-manmohan-desai-1977","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totallyfilmi.toutes-directions.com\/totallyfilmi-wp\/2021\/05\/26\/dharam-veer-dir-manmohan-desai-1977\/","title":{"rendered":"Dharam Veer (dir. Manmohan Desai, 1977)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This post first appeared on Totally Filmi on July 15, 2017.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post is part of the Swashathon<\/a>, a blogathon devoted to the swashbuckler adventure genre of films, hosted by Fritzi at Movies Silently.  Be sure to check out all the posts!)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"DharamVeerPoster\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s probably true for many that when one thinks of \u201cswashbuckling\u201d, one thinks of films such as The Mark of Zorro<\/strong> or The Three Musketeers.  B<\/strong>ut Indian cinema is no stranger to a type of film that gives us a hero, a villain, damsels in distress, and swordfights a-plenty \u2013 only there, it\u2019s considered masala filmmaking with a healthy dose of \u201cdishoom-dishoom<\/a>\u201d.  The master of masala, of course, was the great Manmohan Desai, and his Dharam Veer<\/strong> is an excellent example of Indian swashbucklia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a mythical kingdom, princely suitors send gifts in order to woo the princess Meenakshi (Indrani Mukherjee).  A mysterious suitor sends the gifts of flowers and a sword, along with a note, all delivered by his falcon (Sheroo the Wonderbird!) — gifts symbolizing love for the princess and the power to protect her.  He is rejected, of course, because he is a mere hunter (though one, his note tells us, \u201cwell versed in samurai\u201d). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the princess Meenakshi is out hunting, and is set upon by a group of attackers organized by her brother Satpal Singh (Jeevan), who is determined to get rid of her because of a prophecy that he will be killed by his eldest nephew.  No Meenakshi, no pesky nephew, is his thinking.  But the hunter Jwala Singh (Pran) is informed of the attack by Sheroo, and he rescues the princess.  She offers him anything as a reward \u2013 he asks to marry her.  She agrees, and they are married, but the next morning, Jwala Singh goes out to deal with a tiger that threatens to harm the princess.  In a mix-up, another man is killed by the tiger, and before he ends up going over the cliff fighting the tiger, Jwala Singh places his fringed poncho over the man.  Meenakshi assumes this body is Jwala Singh\u2019s, and believing him dead, she ends up in an unconscious state until the moment she is married to the king of another kingdom, at which point she comes to her senses, reveals that she was already married, and, to top it all off, she is pregnant with her presumed dead husband\u2019s child.  The king is nonplussed; he takes Meenaskhi in, promises to make her son his heir, but he has a condition:  no one should know the truth about the prince in order to preserve his family\u2019s honour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The king also takes in Meenakshi\u2019s brother Satpal Singh and his pregnant wife \u2013 Satpal Singh pretends to be truly remorseful about the attack on Meenaskhi, but when Meenakshi\u2019s babies are born \u2013 of course there are twins, because that\u2019s the perfect way to set up a trademark Manmohan Desai \u201clost and found\u201d theme \u2013 Satpal Singh tosses the eldest off the parapets, and switches the younger brother with his own child, born the same day.  In an interesting twist, Satpal Singh\u2019s wife switches the babies back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About that parapet toss \u2013 of course, Sheroo the Wonderbird happens along just at the right time, snatches the baby before it can fall to the ground, and delivers it to the home of the blacksmith and his wife who have been nursing Jwala Singh since his fall.  Jwala Singh regains consciousness just as the baby is delivered, seen as a good omen all around.  The baby is raised by the blacksmith and his wife, and grows up to become Dharam (Dharmendra).  Dharam\u2019s twin brother, Veer (Jeetendra) is, of course, raised in the palace and is set to become king one day.  The two, with their shared birthday, are the best of friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, while out celebrating their friendship (on display in the song \u201cSaat Ajube Iss Duniya Mein\u201d \u2013 \u201cThere are seven wonders in the world, but the friendship of Dharam and Veer is the eighth\u201d), they meet the haughty princess Pallavi (Zeenat Aman). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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