Zehreela Insaan (transl. Poisonous human) is a 1974 Indian Hindi-language romance film directed by Puttanna Kanagal and produced by Virendra Sinha. The film stars Rishi Kapoor, Moushumi Chatterjee, Neetu Singh and Pran. It is a remake of Kanagal's own 1972 Kannada film Naagarahaavu which was based on three Kannada novels: Nagarahavu, Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu and Sarpa Mathsara, all written by T. R. Subba Rao.

Zehreela Insaan
Poster
Directed byPuttanna Kanagal
Story byT. R. Subba Rao
Produced byVirendra Sinha
StarringRishi Kapoor
Moushumi Chatterjee
Neetu Singh
Pran
CinematographySudarshan Nag
Edited byV. P. Krishna
Music byR. D. Burman
Production
company
Pragati Chitra International
Release date
  • 20 November 1974 (1974-11-20)
Running time
146 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Plot

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Arjun is an ill-tempered but soft-hearted man whom others view as a bad person. His teacher (Masterji) is the only person who understands him and appreciates his good qualities so Arjun obeys him.

Arjun loves Aarti and wants to marry her, but Aarti's father opposes this alliance and forcibly marries her off to a man of his choice.

Arjun is dejected, and soon finds love in Margaret, his Christian college mate. While on a business trip to another city, Arjun finds that Aarti is a high society call girl.

Margaret's uncle and mother are against her marrying Arjun. Arjun and Margaret flee to the hills; Masterji catches up with them and tries to pacify Arjun, but refuses and accidentally pushes him down the hill to his death. Traumatised, Arjun asks Margaret if she will join him and both jump to their deaths.

Cast

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Production

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Zehreela Insaan is a remake of the 1972 Kannada film Naagarahaavu, itself based on three different novels: Nagarahavu, Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu and Sarpa Mathsara by T. R. Subba Rao.[2] Puttanna Kanagal, who directed the Kannada film, returned to direct the Hindi remake,[3] which was produced by Virendra Sinha under Pragati Chitra International.[4][1] Cinematography was handled by Sudarshan Nag, and the editing by V. P. Krishna.[5] Ambareesh, who played a character named Jaleel in Naagarahaavu, reprised his role in Zehreela Insaan.[6] Much of the film was shot in Chitradurga, with the song "O Hansini" being shot at Chitradurga Fort.[7][8]

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack was composed by R. D. Burman while the lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri.[9] The song "Saanp Se Badhke" is based on "Haavina Dwesha" from Naagarahaavu.[10]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Saanp Se Badhke"Shailendra Singh03:20
2."Mere Dil Se Ye Nain"Shailendra Singh, Asha Bhosle04:19
3."Ye Silsila"Asha Bhosle04:17
4."Suno Kahani"Lata Mangeshkar04:56
5."O Hansini"Kishore Kumar05:23
6."Dum Tumhari Dum"Kishore Kumar04:19

Release and reception

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Zehreela Insaan was released on 20 November 1974,[11] and did not succeed commercially.[12] Rishi Kapoor later admitted it was a "mistake", feeling that he should have accepted a film similar to his earlier Bobby (1973) and not something that was "drastically different".[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Dharap 1974, p. 374.
  2. ^ Deepak, S N (15 July 2018). "Vishnuvardhan classic back in restored avatar". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  3. ^ Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 1998, p. 179.
  4. ^ Kishore, Sarwal & Patra 2016, p. 225.
  5. ^ Zehreela Insaan (motion picture) (in Hindi). Pragati Chitra International. 1974. From 4:57 to 5:01.
  6. ^ Khajane, Muralidhara (26 April 2012). "Ambi-tious he wasn't". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  7. ^ Sarmmah, Surupasree (27 December 2016). "'Any role is challenging'". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  8. ^ Sharma, Devesh (4 September 2016). "Ten songs of Rishi Kapoor that you shouldn't give a miss". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  9. ^ "Zehreela Insaan – EALP 4029 – HMV Colour Label – LP Record". 123sold.in. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  10. ^ Deshmukh, Arunkumar (15 June 2013). "Multiple Version Songs (12): Similar songs in Hindi and Kannada". Songs Of Yore. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  11. ^ "Zehreela Insaan". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  12. ^ "Rishi Kapoor's advice to son Ranbir: Don't let success go to your head or failure to your heart". The Indian Express. 5 June 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  13. ^ "11 khullam khulla confessions by Rishi Kapoor". The Times of India. 10 February 2017. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.

Bibliography

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