Sunny Deol in Ghayal (1990)

Cast: Sunny Deol, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Raj Babbar, Moushumi Chatterjee, Amrish Puri

Director: Raj Kumar Santoshi

Music: Bappi Lahiri

Lyrics: Anjaan, lndivar

Capsule Review: A revenge saga with a difference. Raj Kumar Santoshi’s blood- splattered debut showed him to be a craftsman of unforeseen devices. Though Ghayal is a routine revenge drama, the entire framing of the narrative and the editing pattern are so unique as to give the plot a look of innovative bravado. Sunny Deol, controlled and sinewy as a man seeking revenge on his brother’s killers is in splendid shape. The taut plot trotted forward and at a breakneck though even speed culminating in an unexpected climax. More than the narrative it was the way Santoshi told the age-old story which made it many cuts above the rut. Ghayal was designed by Sunny Deol’s production house as a vehicle to exploit his image as the strong and silent hero. It was a smash hit and clearly indicated where the future of mainstream Hindi cinema lay.

Dacait (1987)

Cast: Raakhee, Sunny Deol, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Paresh Rawal

Director: Rahul Rawail

Music: R.D. Burman

Lyrics: Javed Akhtar

Capsule Review: Dacait takes us into the ravines of Chambal Valley to show the class persecution of Deol’s character and his family to the extent that he becomes an outlaw. Rawail’s treatment of the dacoit drama is singularly striking. Never before have the crust-brown deserts and the parched-yellow ravines looked so threatening and symbolic of the persecutions of the downtrodden. There are harrowing moments of violence, more damning for their emotional than physical impact. The implosive impact of Deol’s performance was complemented by Paresh Rawal’s portrayal of the loutish law-defying cop who is as unscrupulous as he is avaricious. Dacait painted a landscape of abject desolation and despair.