Dayavan Movie Review: Dayavan - Vinod Khanna's 'Desi Don' Act

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Essaying a role earlier played by versatile actor Kamal Haasan in the acclaimed Tamil movie Nayagan is no small feat and yet, Vinod Khanna, one of the dashing heroes of '70s, '80s Bollywood, manages to hold his own; if only because of his powerful screen presence in Feroz Khan's Dayavan. The film relates the saga of an immigrant who rises to the pinnacle of the underworld, and yet, maintains a demi-god like status amongst his community.

Rumoured to be based on the life of don Vardarajan Mudaliar, Dayavan is the story of Shakti Velu (Vinod Khanna), who migrates to Mumbai as a young boy after killing a corrupt policeman responsible for his father's death.

Shakti finds a friend in roguish goon Shankar, who befriends the orphan and brings him to the family of benevolent smuggler Karim Baba (Alok Nath), who takes him in and treats him like a son. Shakti grows up to be an honourable young man, who is nevertheless sucked into the vortex of crime when he clashes with the sadistic Inspector Ratan Singh (Amrish Puri), who terrorizes the poor locality in which the protagonist stays. Singh's sadism gets the better of him when he has Karim Baba killed in custody for ostensibly ripping off some local smugglers and an enraged Shakti kills Ratan in a brutal fist fight in the very lanes of the slum which Singh had earlier ruled with an iron fist, thus earning the gratitude of the locals.

The murder elevates Shakti in the social hierarchy and the strapping young man, aided by Shankar (Feroz Khan), soon turns into a saviour of sorts for the slum dwellers, dispensing justice with a fair mind and protecting the interests of the downtrodden, earning himself the title of Dayavan. In between, Shakti also becomes the self-appointed guardian of the slain Ratan Singh's mentally challenged son.

In quite a predictable twist, Shakti falls in love with and ends up marrying a quintessential 'whore with a golden heart' Neelu (Madhuri Dixit) who bears him two children. Before one can say 'Jack Robinson', Shakti has become a force to reckon with - staying in a palatial house and receiving visitors who come to him for help (a la Don Corleone).

However, the road of power is not without pitfalls and Shakti soon loses his beloved Neelu to a gang of killers deployed to assassinate Dayavan. If that was not enough, Shakti's daughter Sarita (Amla) becomes estranged from her father due to his extra-judicial actions and his son gets killed while trying to prevent a rival from testifying against his father.

Things finally start falling apart for Shakti when he discovers that the new ACP gunning for him is none other than his estranged daughter's husband. Finally tired of the life of crime and the toll it has taken on his family and life, Shakti decides to surrender.

In the meanwhile, Ratan Singh's son Ajit Singh (Tinu Anand) discovers inadvertently that his guardian Shakti was, in fact, responsible for killing his father and the mentally challenged cop wannabe shoots down Shakti when he is escorted, amidst cheers, out of the courthouse, which declares him free of all charges.

As mentioned earlier, Vinod Khanna's raw and powerful screen presence is the only factor which makes him believable as Shakti Velu. Though he emotes well in some scenes, Khanna lets the power of his persona carry out the rest. Feroz Khan as Shankar is not too effective as an actor either, but then, the swashbuckling cowboy of Bollywood never did need acting lessons - his style was enough! Madhuri Dixit, though good, has a very small part to play and makes the viewer wish there was more of her in the film.

Same with Tinu Anand who puts in an honest effort as the mentally challenged son of Ratan Singh who loves Shakti with all the fervor of a rescued puppy till he discovers the truth about his father's death.

The songs, especially chahe meri jaan tu le le and aaj phir tum pe pyaar aaya hai are still hummable after so many years.

It might not be The Godfather or Nayagan, but Feroz Khan's Dayavan is the kind of movie which would have attracted some well-deserved whistles and cheers in the '80s.