Producer: Parvesh Mehra
Director: Umesh Mehra
*ing: Dilip Kumar (double role), Rekha, Mukul Dev, Mamta Kulkarni, Malay Chakrabarty, Smita Jaykar, Satish Kaushik,  Raajeshwari 
Music: Anand Raaj Anand

Released on : April 10, 1998

Reviewed by: Tanmeet Kumar
tanmeet@indolink.com

out of 

Qila (Fortress Of A Family's Honour) may not be a film that one would expect from Dilip Kumar but it is an excellent entertainer. Director Umesh Mehra has proven his worth by making a great film. Qila has veteran actor Dilip Kumar in a double role. He plays twin brothers. One brother is an evil miser who treats his peers and family with disrespect and the other is a good and hearty lawyer.

Jagannath Singh (Dilip Kumar 1) is an evil thakur with all the qualities of a gunda. He is a womanizer, a sadist, an abusive husband, and a drunk. He constantly harasses his wife before throwing her out of the house for good, forcing her to move into a slumish area of the village with her son Amar (Mukul Dev). Amar becomes a poor truck driver and falls in love with his boss' daughter Neeta (Mamta Kulkarni). One night, Jagannath is murdered and who the killer is, is a mystery until the end. Jagannath's twin brother Amarnath (Dilip Kumar 2) tries to unravel the mystery with the help of his beautiful daughter (Raajeshwari) and the targets of Jagannath's wrongdoing. So who's the killer? Is it the distressed Yamini (Rekha), the distressed cabaret dancer who was raped by Jagannath? Or is it her crippled bhaiya? Could it be the hurt Suman? Or perhaps her son Amar is avenging his mother's honor. You'll have to watch the film to find out.

Qila is a very good film. This appealing mystery movie will leave you hungry for more. Dilip Kumar does quite well in his double role (as was expected). While the other performers are great, Dilip Kumar steals the show with his excellent villainous role. Rekha is amazing in the dance sequences and pulls off a great performance. Raajeshwari is great as Amarnath's daughter and has given a good performance after an excellent one in Sardari Begum (for which she won a National Award). Mamta does not have much of a scope to perform and is only in the film for glamour. Though she has put on tons of pounds, she still oozes sex appeal. Her next film is another suspense thriller entitled "Chhupa Hai Kya Dil Mein", with Jackie Shroff, Arshad Warsi, and Sharbani Mukherjee (of Border fame). Mamta, herself, is in a negative role. Mukul Dev has done well for his second film after Dastak. He has two more films which are soon to be released: "Iski Topi Uske Sarr" and the ABCL venture "Naam Kya Hai". Music by Anand Raaj Anand is enjoyable. The tracks that really shine, though, are "Wah Bhai Wah" and "Ankhiyan Ye Ankhiyan", which has fantastic singing by Asha. The script is taunt and will keep you on the edge of your seat with many plot twists until the killer is finally revealed. Many people said that Qila dragged on and on but I found it very enjoyable. Direction by Umesh Mehra is okay. He has done a better job than his previous venture Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (which, ironically, was a hit).

Qila has all the trappings of a hit. It has Mamta for glamour and sex appeal, the dancing sensation Rekha, and catchy music by Anand Raaj Anand. The story is entertaining and sellable. But most importantly, it has Dilip Kumar times two. So why wasn't Qila a hit? Who cares? It's an enjoyable movie and that's all that matters, right? Besides, if hit status makes a movie good, then Ishq would be worthy of Best Picture nomination. And we all know that's a laugh.

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