After completing his graduation with History honours from St. Stephen’s College, Ketan Anand assisted his father Chetan Anand in directing “Heer Ranjha”. He also assisted uncle, Vijay Anand in “Tere Mere Sapne” while Dev Anand introduced him as an actor in a cameo in “Hare Rama Hare Krishna”.
Chetan Anand never gave his elder son a break as a director. Ketan moved on his own to prove his worth in filmmaking. He did not possess the depth and technical expertise of his more illustrious father or uncle yet, in his first film “Toote Khilone”. However, he did show flashes of promise as a director.
Karan (Master Ravi Valecha) the only son of rich Bhanu Pratap (Utpal Dutt) is a lonely child. His father is more interested in his business, earning money and social status. Karan receives motherly affection from his nanny (Urmila Bhatt) whom he addresses as Ma.
Karan is hurt the day Bhanu Pratap brings home a set of new toys and throws away the old ones. It hurts young Karan who is emotionally attached to them. Bhanu Pratap sees Karan only as an extension of himself and his ambitions.
Karan grows up (Shekhar Kapur) to become a sensitive, handsome young man who is afraid of his autocratic father. He applies for the merchant navy while his father using his influence prevents him from pursuing his ambition and expects him to marry his rich friend Jain’s daughter.
Coming of age
Karan finally gathers courage to break free from the shackles of his father. A new drama is thus created involving Karan’s father and his manager (Bharat Kapur). The story takes a different turn when Karan bids goodbye to his father and spends a right in a compound which turns out to be a hub of cotton trading activity. On sheer impulse, Karan involves himself in trading and earns ₹50,000.
Bappi Lahiri
He comes across Shobha (Shabana Azmi) a reserved lady working in a typing pool. When Shobha puts up a fight to save herself from her licentious boss, he throws her out of his car. Rescued by Karan, they develop an emotional bonding.
Based on Erich Segal’s “Tale Of Tiger”, the story carries on with many twists and turns. The climax however goes weird while the film loses grip in the second half.
The screenplay and dialogues by Suraj Sanim render the film unimpressive. While Ketan Anand tries his best, the lacunae in the script keep coming in the way.He lacks the sensitivity required for such an emotional theme. Cinematography by B. V.Ratra is noteworthy while editing by Yadav Rao is not bad either.
Shekhar Kapoor lacks the histrionic perfection and does not impress as an actor. Shabana Azmi, Utpal Dutt, Urmila Bhatt perform with conviction while Bharat Kapoor has little to add to the proceedings.
Songs to rescue
Lyrics by Kaifi Azmi tuned by Bappi Lahiri save “Toote Khilone” from breakdown. The songs “Nanha Sa Panchi”, “Mana Ho Tum Behat” and “Kya Jane Yeh Duniya” rendered by Kishore Kumar, Yesudas, Amit Kumar and Sulakshana Pandit still haunt. With a better screenplay, “Toote Khilone” could have been a memorable film.
