This is an actual remake of an Alfred Hitchcock classic THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH which starred Peter Lorre and was remade by Hitchcock himself with the same title. Amitabh Bachchan in the role of James Stewart and Moushumi Chtterjee in the Doris Day role. Ironically the Hindi remake has no noteworthy songs though the remake Hirchcock made has the memorable QUE SERA SERA by Day. The other attempt by Bollywood to remake a classic Hitchcock (AETBAAR which was based on DIAL M 4 MURDER) was much better. But this movie is worth seeing. AETBAAR starred Raj babbar, Dimple Kapadia, Danny Denzongpa amongst others and was produces by Romesh Sharma who later made HUM. The movie was the first directorial effort of the late Mukul Anand who would later make Mahasangram, Hum, Agneepath, Khuda Gawah, Dus and many more movies. This movie is not amongst Bachchans best movies ever but thats not Bachchans fault. He is good as always, the script could have been tighter
5 Reviews
A nice thriller with a little bit melodrama, but overall watchable.
apalakchatterjee2 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is the second movie of Amitabh and Mousumi, the first being Roti kapda aur makaan, though they were not paired. A decent thriller, it is one of the rare movies where the villain did not appear before the climax. Prem Chopra was nice in his small role, but the one who threatened both the protagonists pair and the audience was the voice of Kadar khan, who dubbed for Prem Chopra to keep the truth of who is the villain a secret. The chemistry between Amitabh and Mousumi is awesome. Satyen Kappu and Dhumal also gave their best. But the Madan Puri phase was rather unnecessary. It was kept in the script to increase the length. The soundtrack is both nice and underrated, probably because of no Kishore Kumar song, who was the most popular singer at that time. Overall it, s worth watching.
Engaging thriller
coltras358 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Amit and Sheela Srivastav witness an attempted murder as they are driving to a party one night. Their arrival scares off the assailant, whose face they do not see, and they take the unconscious man to the hospital. Here begins their nightmare, as they start to receive threatening phone calls. They start to realize how much danger they're in when their dog is killed. Will their son be next?
An engaging murder-mystery-thriller that is based on Hitchcock's the man who knew too much, but is given an injection of emotional and occasional comedic aspects - Bollywood style. It moves at a good pace, has nice tension and the family life depicted comes across natural, however some of the intensity is eschewed by some comic moments, and it can be slow in places, and could've been tighter, however it's a good enough thriller featuring a great performance from Amitabh, who comes across effortlessly natural, and Mousoumi who plays his wife is great,too. Satyendra Kapoor as the police man assigned to help Amitabh is a good support.
Prem Chopra makes a small appearance and his voice is dubbed with Kader Khan's voice, which is understandable as Chopra has a distinctively sinister voice that would be recognisable during the phone calls that Amitabh recieved.
An engaging murder-mystery-thriller that is based on Hitchcock's the man who knew too much, but is given an injection of emotional and occasional comedic aspects - Bollywood style. It moves at a good pace, has nice tension and the family life depicted comes across natural, however some of the intensity is eschewed by some comic moments, and it can be slow in places, and could've been tighter, however it's a good enough thriller featuring a great performance from Amitabh, who comes across effortlessly natural, and Mousoumi who plays his wife is great,too. Satyendra Kapoor as the police man assigned to help Amitabh is a good support.
Prem Chopra makes a small appearance and his voice is dubbed with Kader Khan's voice, which is understandable as Chopra has a distinctively sinister voice that would be recognisable during the phone calls that Amitabh recieved.
A decent thriller
silvan-desouza4 August 2011
Warning: Spoilers
BENAAM is a lesser known film in Bachchan's filmography and it's a thriller which he rarely did in the masala days.
The movie perhaps started pre-ZANJEER days when Amitabh wa s a struggler or just after that, Post ZANJEER and pre DEEWAAR Amitabh's films didn't do too well though the initial star push due to ZANJEER.
BENAAM didn't do too well alongwith several lesser known films like KASAUTI which released in 1974. The only hits in 1974 of Bachchan were MAJBOOR(semi-hit) and the blockbuster multistarrer ROTI KAPDA AUR MAKAAN
The movie is a thriller which starts off well, the initial family scenes and the tension is well carried out, The film keeps you on the edge throughout except perhaps it tends to get lengthy at times
The film has several thrilling moments which keep you on the edge till the end A flaw perhaps is the climax after the riveting pre-climax, the climax leaves behind loopholes, One fails to understand why the Villain wanted the torn invitation card? It's not explained at all
Direction by Narender Bedi is good but the script could be tighter towards the end Music is decent
Amongst actors Amitabh excels in his role, his expressions towards the end especially are flawless Mousumi does a good job too in her part though her diction is a bit faulty at times Prem Chopra doesn't get much scope, one fails to understand why his voice was dubbed by Kader Khan Amongst rest Satyen Kapuu, Iftekar are as usual Sharat Saxena gets no scope
The movie perhaps started pre-ZANJEER days when Amitabh wa s a struggler or just after that, Post ZANJEER and pre DEEWAAR Amitabh's films didn't do too well though the initial star push due to ZANJEER.
BENAAM didn't do too well alongwith several lesser known films like KASAUTI which released in 1974. The only hits in 1974 of Bachchan were MAJBOOR(semi-hit) and the blockbuster multistarrer ROTI KAPDA AUR MAKAAN
The movie is a thriller which starts off well, the initial family scenes and the tension is well carried out, The film keeps you on the edge throughout except perhaps it tends to get lengthy at times
The film has several thrilling moments which keep you on the edge till the end A flaw perhaps is the climax after the riveting pre-climax, the climax leaves behind loopholes, One fails to understand why the Villain wanted the torn invitation card? It's not explained at all
Direction by Narender Bedi is good but the script could be tighter towards the end Music is decent
Amongst actors Amitabh excels in his role, his expressions towards the end especially are flawless Mousumi does a good job too in her part though her diction is a bit faulty at times Prem Chopra doesn't get much scope, one fails to understand why his voice was dubbed by Kader Khan Amongst rest Satyen Kapuu, Iftekar are as usual Sharat Saxena gets no scope
A subpart remake of Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much".
planktonrules16 March 2014
"Benaam" is an Indian remake of the famous Alfred Hitchcock films "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (Hitchcock remade the film himself, hence I used the word 'films'). However, it lacks subtlety and conviction and comes off as a poor substitute for the original. Much of this is probably due to when it was made. Indian films of the 1970s were not nearly as professionally made as they are today--and overacting and a lack of subtlety were not uncommon back in the day. So, while the annoying and hateful performance by the neighbor ruins every scene she's in, I chalk it up to the times in which "Benaam" was made.
Instead of Leslie Banks or James Stewart, the leading man is a guy who is every bit as famous as Stewart is in his native land. A young Amitabh Bachchan stars as a nice, normal guy who gets sucked into a crazy world of violence and assassination. He and his wife are driving to a party one night when they come upon a man by the road who was stabbed and left for dead. Not surprisingly, they take the guy to the hospital but like the expression 'no good deed goes unpunished', soon some unknown folks are threatening the family. Apparently these unknown mobsters THINK the dying man might have said something or given his benefactors some paper incriminating them--and they use threats, kidnapping and poison to get the family to cooperate--even though they really do know nothing and cannot cooperate even if they want!
The basic story isn't bad and the film is fair to watch today. But, as I already mentioned, the overacting neighbor is very distracting plus the director and screen writer did little to make you actually care about this poor family. A clear miss and there are many, many better Indian films that are worth your time.
Instead of Leslie Banks or James Stewart, the leading man is a guy who is every bit as famous as Stewart is in his native land. A young Amitabh Bachchan stars as a nice, normal guy who gets sucked into a crazy world of violence and assassination. He and his wife are driving to a party one night when they come upon a man by the road who was stabbed and left for dead. Not surprisingly, they take the guy to the hospital but like the expression 'no good deed goes unpunished', soon some unknown folks are threatening the family. Apparently these unknown mobsters THINK the dying man might have said something or given his benefactors some paper incriminating them--and they use threats, kidnapping and poison to get the family to cooperate--even though they really do know nothing and cannot cooperate even if they want!
The basic story isn't bad and the film is fair to watch today. But, as I already mentioned, the overacting neighbor is very distracting plus the director and screen writer did little to make you actually care about this poor family. A clear miss and there are many, many better Indian films that are worth your time.
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