Deewaar

Deewaar, Bollywood film, released in 1975, that is considered to be a masterpiece in Indian cinema. It was directed by Yash Chopra, written by Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan (Salim-Javed), and starred Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor. Deewaar is remarkable for its social commentary and evocative storytelling, and several scenes and dialogues from the film have become deeply entwined with Indian popular culture.

Plot

Deewaar chronicles the divergent lives of two brothers, Vijay (Bachchan) and Ravi (Kapoor), who end up on opposite sides of the law. The title of the film refers to the divide that emerges between them. As children, Vijay and Ravi were abandoned by their father, an honest trade union leader who was forced to renounce his principles by circumstance. They are raised by their mother in extreme poverty and hardship, and Vijay, the elder brother, makes sacrifices to ensure an education for Ravi, who eventually becomes a police officer. Vijay, meanwhile, works his way up from bootblack to dockworker; he eventually joins a crime syndicate as an enforcer and a smuggler and becomes a wealthy man. Many emotional upheavals follow, and Vijay is disavowed by his mother and brother. Deewaar ends with Vijay crashing his car and dying after being shot by Ravi, who is honored for his achievements in fighting crime.

Characters

• Vijay Verma (Amitabh Bachchan): antihero who gains wealth but loses his ideals and family
• Ravi Verma (Shashi Kapoor): Vijay’s police officer brother, who is tasked with capturing him
• Sumitra (Nirupa Roy): Vijay and Ravi’s mother, who sides with Ravi
• Anita (Parveen Babi): a sex worker and Vijay’s love interest
• Veera (Neetu Singh): daughter of the police chief and Ravi’s love interest
• Samant (Madan Puri): crime lord who is at odds with Vijay
• Mulk Raj Daavar (Iftekhar): Vijay’s criminal boss
• Anand Verma (Satyen Kappu): Vijay and Ravi’s father

Themes

Deewaar was very much a product of its time. The conflict between the two brothers is underscored by a subtext that reflects the socioeconomic challenges of India in the 1970s, a decade in which the country fought a war (with Pakistan in 1971) and endured the curtailing of civil liberties during the Emergency (1975–77). Price increases, food scarcity, and other hardships led to an increase in organized crime and the rise of urban areas marked by overcrowding and squalor. Deewaar presents a bleak view of morality and corruption: Vijay’s rise out of impoverishment corresponds to his descent into iniquity.

Deewaar’s Vijay is the foremost example of the “angry young man” character—a morally ambiguous symbol of discontent—played by Bachchan in several films. The film’s most emotionally turbulent scenes center on Vijay: as a boy, he is forced to have the words “Mera baap chor hai” (“My father is a thief”) tattooed on his arm; having shined someone’s shoes, he refuses to accept payment when the coins are flung at his feet—an attitude he expresses again when embarking on his career of crime; he has a complicated approach to religion and goes inside a temple for the first time when his mother falls severely ill.

The defining moment, however, is the confrontation in which Vijay lists his ill-gotten gains and asks Ravi if he has riches that Vijay does not. “Mere paas maa hai” (“I have our mother”), Ravi replies, in what has become one of Bollywood’s most memorable cinematic vignettes.

Legacy

Deewaar was a critical and commercial success on release and won seven Filmfare Awards, three of which went to writing team Salim-Javed. The film is noted for its antiestablishment narrative and sympathetic treatment of flawed characters. Also remarkable is the character Anita, who is unapologetic about her profession of sex worker and becomes pregnant out of wedlock (she is eventually killed by Vijay’s enemies). In addition to the many dialogues and scenes that have become part of the public consciousness, Bachchan’s costumes—one featuring a badge with the number 786, another a knotted shirt—are now iconic.

Deewaar has been remade several times. N.T. Rama Rao and Rajinikanth starred as Vijay in the Telugu (Magaadu [1976]) and Tamil (Thee [1981]) versions, respectively. The film’s screenplay was taught at the Film and Television Institute of India for many years.

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