In the Hindi film industry, the thriller/espionage genre took a long time to find respect. Although “Farz” in 1967, “Aankhen” in 1968 and “Apradh” in 1972 were worthy attempts, the genre came into its own only in 90s and thereafter. Amongst the early attempts, “Saazish”, directed by Kalidas, and written by the bankable Ranjan Bose, was a significant step. Though the screenplay penned by Ramesh Pant was peppered with smart dialogues, “Saazish” could have been better crafted.
Kalidas, who enjoyed a rather long stint in Bollywood as a director, took a creditable risk by producing “Saazish”. The attempt to make a product that is ahead of its times – shooting some scenes in foreign locations, others on a cruise ship and some well executed action sequences – is sincere, even though there are glaring lapses in production. The art director, Shanti Dass, could have shown more maturity and vision while designing the sets. Also, editing by Waman Bhosle and Guru Dutt could have been more astute.
Able shoulders
The film rests on the able shoulders of Dharmendra who was at the peak of his stardom at this point and could portray action, emotions and comedy with equal ease. As undercover Interpol agent Jaideep, who is assigned the perilous task of breaking an international gold smuggling syndicate, he looks crediblein action sequences.
The film also banks heavily on the admirable performance of the support cast, including David (as Interpol agent/captain of the cruise ship Jalvihar) and Iftekhar (Interpol officer). Madan Puri, as Wong, chief strategist of the main villain, Boss/Hansui, is very suitable for the role. Helen, as dancer Miss Lola shows her talent and grace. Boss and Hansui are played by Dev Kumar. As Boss, his face looks like that of an alien, with a bald pate, mercury colour skin and red eyes.
The one character introduced unnecessarily in the narrative is Rajendranath as P.K.Murray who is quite jarring with his antics.
For Saira Banu (as Sunita, Jaideep’s love interest), who by this time had acted with Dharmendra in a slew of films, “Jwar Bhatta”, “Pocket Maar”, “Resham Ki Dori”, acting doesn’t come easily. In “Saazish”, she goes through a few hiccups in the beginning before she is able to find her feet, albeit shakily.
Essentially, the story is a cat and mouse game in which Boss/Hansui and Wong manage to get their contraband gold loaded onto Jalvihar on which Jaideep, who, by this time has fallen in love with Sunita, is also travelling undercover. During an encounter on the ship, Sunita is told by a stranger about the contraband wherein Wong goes on a mission to get her eliminated using Jaideep as would be assassin. Therein follow a strings of misunderstandings, murders on the ship and action on the high seas before the mission is accomplished.
The songs written by Hasrat Jaipuri, and music composed by Shankar-Jaikishen are bit of a let-down, although “Na Takht Chaahiye, Na Taaj Chaahiye” (Asha Bhosle) and “Woh Bade Khush Naseeb Hote Hain” (Suman Kalyanpur and Mahendra Kapoor) are hummable.
