Dilip Kumar is often referred to as Tragedy-King.However, he has displayed histronics in every type of role.In Mashaal as ANGRY OLD MAN he lights up the screen and makes the excellent movie a classic.

The story involves Vinod Kumar(Dilip Kumar) who is a fearless journalist trying to clean the city of Bombay from crime.He resides in a chawl with his wife(Waheeda Rahman). There is a gang of goons who live by the street and proclaim it proudly in the song ''FOOTPATHON KE HUM...''(A sentiment echoed 10 years later in ''Yaaron Sun Lo Zara...'' from RANGEELA).The gang is headed by Raja(Anil Kapoor) who is a wayard guy and the rest of the gang comprises of Gulshan Grover and Madan Jain.Enter the bad men the Puri brothers with Vardhan(Amrish Puri) the chief and Tolaram(Madan Puri, Amrish's real life elder brother)as his assistant.What follows is a fight of good v/s evil but the story takes many interesting twists and aided by some great script and remarkable performances make it a worth watching movie.

Yash Chopra is known mainly for his Switzerland based love stories but he did made some hard-hitting cinema like the trilogy of DEEWAR,KAALA PATTHAR and TRISHUL with Amitabh, Shashi Kapoor and SALIM-JAVED.In Mashaal Yash shows his class in handling such a intense movie.The direction is absolutely amazing.The backbone of the movie is a superb story,gripping screenplay and excellent dailogues by Javed Akhtar,who by now had split with Salim.The movie shows his ability to create ANGRY OLD MAN alongwith his trademark ANGRY YOUNG MAN.The dailogues whenever Dilip Kumar and Anil kapoor come face to face are brilliant.Mashaal remains one of the best movies written by Javed Akhtar after he broke away from Salim.Another high point of the movie is its excellent music.Hridyanath Mangeshkar has never been a big music composer but in Mashaal he gives a superb sound track.All the songs ''Footpathon ke hum...'',''Holi aayee..'' and ''Mujhe tum yaad..'' are very pleasant on the ears.The tunes are aided by some fabulous lyrics by Javed Akhtar who proves his ability as a lyricist also.However,the icing on the cake is the song ''Leeye sapne nigaahon mein...'' which opens infront of Bangalore's Vidhan Sabha.The song is excellently sung by Kishore Kumar and aided by some fantastic lyrics and melodious music make it one of the best songs ever picturised on Anil Kapoor.The echoes of the feeling conveyed in the song can be heard in ''Chaand Taare..'' from Yes Boss which incidentally was penned by Javed again. The film breaks many new grounds like working of press, the threat to fearless journalists from underworld,the life in slums,the lives of a gang of goons who are not that brute,changing of sides after the interval between the 2 male protagnists(there is even a mention of football match).The sets showing the slums are very real.The topic of a gang of goons wandering aimlessly came later in movies like Arjun(again written by Javed Akhtar) and Ankush.The slum life again came on the screen in underworld sagas like Angaar and Vaastav.It was much later that films on press like New Delhi,Surkhiyaan and Main Azaad Hoon came into light.Although the concept of male protagnists first appeared in Roti,Kapda aur Makaan, it was with Mashaal that it got famous and an entire movie called Lakshman Rekha was beased on the concept.The film does not have many light sequnces and people expecting over the top comedy will be disappointed.The character of Dimple Kapadia in Krantiveer where she portrays a journalist who wants to reform the society and stays in slums has strong shades of Dilip Kumar's role in the first half of this movie.Infact a few years ago a film called Laawaris(the one with Jackie and Akhsaye Khanna) was made which was a poor copy of Mashaal.

Anil Kapoor as Raja delivers one of his best performances till date.In a role which initially was supposed to be written for Amitabh bachchan(evident from the language he uses)and first offered to Kamal Hasan,Anil shines throghout the movie.His honesty in his performance is so much present that u miss such honesty in his later films.Although,Anil later admitted of developing cold feet on the thought of acting opposite Dilip Kumar,he stands on his own very well in everyframe.It is said that a Feroze Khan and Subhash Ghai signed Anil for Jaanbaaz and Meri Jung respectively just after watching the movie's premiere. Infact Anil Kapoor somehow got trapped in a tapori image for a long-long time after Mashaal.His characters in Andar Bahar,Tezaab,Ram Lakhan to the recentnt dud-Rishtey all have shades of Raja of Mashaal.Anil Kapoor again worked with Dilip Kumar in the blockbuster KARMA.His other refined performance in a Javed Akhtar scripts are Meri Jung and the recent Armaan.Anil kapoor won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor In A Supporting Role for Mashaal. Somehow I miss the Yash Chopra,Anil Kapoor and intensity of Javed Akhtar, the way they were in Mashaal.

Waheeda Rahman as Dilip Kumar's wife gives a superb performance.It was after 16 years that she acted opposite the thespian the last being Aadmi(1968).Rati Aghinotri as Anil's love interest also gives a decent performance.Amrish Puri as the bad guy delievers another good performance. Incidentally,Amrish acted opposite Dilip Kumar in almost all his later movies where he played the Angry Old Man and puri the baddie.Vidhaata,Duniya,Shakti and Saudagar are other movies where both of them clash.The performances by Madan Puri,Gulshan Grover and Madan Jain are well enacted.Yash Chopra uses some great stage actors -Saaed Jaffery,Nilu Phule, Alok Nath and Mohan Agashe in this movie and extract some fine performances from them. Although when released in 1984 the film flopped but it was slowly and steadily that it became famous and acclaimed.Now thanks to several re-runs it enjoys a classic status.

Last but not the least,Dilip Kumar delivers a knockout performance.From a fearless journalist to a man running a crime syndicate the legend shows amazing verstality in his performance.His eye expression,dailogue delivery and usage of hands makes this performance of his one of his best ever.Whenever we see any actor mimicking Dilip Kumar,most of the times they enact the sequence from this movie where he tries to stop car on the street hoping that someone might help his dying wife.That speaks volumes of the impact he made in that scene.A similar scene apperaed in Ghayal and later in the dud-Yaadein.Yash Chopra is said to have shot the entire scene in 4 nights on Bombay streets and according to him the thespian maintained the same emotional graph throghout all 4 days. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING DEDICATION!!

Only a team of Torchbearers of Indian cinema could have justified this splendid piece of work, which goes by the title "Mashaal (Torch)". At a time when most of the filmmakers were cashing on India's newly developed taste for action packed entertainers, Yash Chopra took a daring move by bringing the subject of freedom of press to the silver screen and by roping in Dilip Kumar he also made sure that this directorial venture of his gets the attention it truly deserved. Yash Chopra succeeds in delivering this message that "when there is darkness everywhere, then the best and the only weapon one needs is a source of light i.e. Torch (Mashaal)". In this movie the newspaper is portrayed as the torch for the society and to win the marathon of life it's the ultimate responsibility of the elders of the society to make sure that the Torch that they have been carrying all their life is passed on to the mentored youth of the nation - The Ultimate Torchbearers. This movie is about hope that, even a hopeless man on a path of immorality can turn a new leaf if shown hope of a brighter future (a role brilliantly performed by Anil Kapoor). This movie also tells you that even an honest and optimistic man could become a monster if made helpless and robbed off the only thing that he lived and cared for (Dilip kumar's sensational performance as an honest reporter and a vengeful bootlegger is a treat to watch). A man's desperate attempt to save his dying wife, which I guarantee is one of the best scenes in the history of Indian cinema, will leave your heart bleeding for days.

Time will never succeed to cast its shadow upon this eternal beauty!

Disclaimer - While rating this movie I have considered the fact that this movie was made in 80's, much before The Post, Spotlight, Nightcrawler and many more of Hollywood's spectaculars which dealt with a very important subject of freedom of the press and how politicians and other influential group of people try to influence on what a common citizen gets to know.

Dilip Kumar with his mind-blowing performance proved again that he is unmatchable and undoubtedly the legend of Indian cinema. All the characters, such as of Waheeda Rehman, Anil Kapoor, Amrish Puri fit perfectly in their roles. Another great film from Yash Chopra, recommended to everyone.

Yash Chopra after classics like DEEWAAR, KABHIE KABHIE, TRISHUL, KAALA PATTHAR and the flop SILSILA which was ahead of it's time returned with MASHAAL(1984) the film flopped too but yet got great critical acclaim

The film is widely remembered for Dilip Kumar's powerful outburst on the rainy streets when his wife is dieing and he cries for help saying ARRE KOI GAADI ROKHO.

In 80s after flops like BHAIRAAG(1976) Dilip Kumar returned to acting with KRANTI(1981), VIDHAATA(1982) and many more films and his position in Bwood was like Big B nowdays, and each of his film was praised though all were not hits.

MASHAAL can be called a film which could've been a classic but falls short as it falls for predictable masala and unbelievable moments yet the film does make you sit back, enjoy and also has a superb story which was a hallmark of Yash Chopra films those days.

A film called "Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool" based on the same marathi play (but presented in a different manner) was released in 1969 which was directed by Satyen Bose. It starred Ashok Kumar, Debu Mukherji and Pran in key roles. MASHAAL was supposed to star DK and Bachchan(in Anil's role) but Amitabh didn't sign it perhaps due to the reason that DK supposedly overshadowed him in SHAKTI(1982) which was speculated by the media when DK got best actor award while Amitabh was nominated for 3 films that year. Bachchan would look too old for the role as he was in his 40s by then Even Kamal Hassan was supposed to play the role before Akhtar felt Anil would suit it This was one of the films after SJ split and Javed wrote the film alone Back to the movie The film's first half is superb, the scenes between DK and Anil are treated superbly, DK's idealistic values, his spat with Amrish Puri are several scenes which are canned beautifully, Anil's outburst to DK after DK goes to apologise to him is another superb scene The romance between Anil and Rati Agnihotri is also superb and treated with care, DK's begging for help after Waheeda passes away is superb but post that the film slides downhill when DK suddenly becomes a liquour baron, the film then becomes filmy with DK in his old age fighting with goons and taking over Amrish Puri's liquour estate, sounds good and forgiven for 80s films but for a film for such calibre it looks odd, Saaed Jaffrey and the gang suddenly becoming henchmen is hard to digest but something that saves the film is the comeback of Anil Kapoor who becomes a journalist and their clash in other sides is superb and the film ends on a filmy 80s style yet the execution is good

Direction by Yash Chopra is superb Music is superb, Mujhe Tum Yaad Karna is still remembered, sung brilliantly by Kishore/Lata while the Holi song too is fab Zindagi Aa Raha Hun Main sung by Kishore shot all over Bangalore front of Vidhan Soudha is superb and comes at the apt place while Footpathon Ke Hum is also another winner

Amongst actors Dilip Kumar excels in his role, His best part is that he lives his role and delivers a flawless performance Anil Kapoor in perhaps his first Tapori role plays the streetsmart guy who later transforms into a Journalist superbly, This is one of Anil's first films and he does a superb job, standing out amongst DK with whom he had shared some space before in SHAKTI(1982) and then again in KARMA(1986) Waheeda is excellent while Rati Agnihotri is likable Saeed Jaffrey is excellent, Neelu Phule too does a good job Amrish Puri is superb as the villain, while his brother Madan Puri is good too, The rest are all good

This movie is all about Performance , Story line , Dialogs and Music .

Director : Yash Chopra Mashaal : (1984) Release date : 12 January 1984 ******One of the Medieval Classics of Indian Cinema . A Must Watch Movie . ***** Yash Chopra has directed a superb movie . The whole movie is about characters , dialogs , expressions. Dialogs are written by Javed .

Story and the dialogs are intense.

About Dilip Kumar in his role : Dilip Kumar has been portrayed as an Angry old Man .

His role is about a transformation from a Loyal , fearless Journalist to a angry Old Man (Don) .

His acting is all about Expressions . He is able to express himself very well and he is very natural .His on screen presence created a greater impact . His dialogs , facial expression , body language were powerful and created a on screen impact . He is a Superb Actor . (no 2nd thought about it ) . No other actor would have fitted in this role. His role is about a transformation from a Loyal , fearless Journalist to a angry Old Man (Don) .

About Anil Kapoor in his role : His role is also about a transformation from a Street goon to a Loyal and honest man . The credit for this transformation in the movie goes to Dilip .

Anil was able to match his frequency with Dilip and was able to stand up with Dilip in his role . His Performance in both the role ( raja a local goon and the new honest man ) were superb .

Dilip Kumar and Anil Kapoor On screen presence was Dynamic . Truly Fantastic Performance by both the actors.

Waheeda Rahman , Rati Aghinotry and Amrish Puri were great too . They fited in their role very well.

Now Coming to Music : Music was also one of the factor which added success to the movie .

2 of the Songs are Super Hit : (A) A lovely romantic number : Mujhe tum Yaad karna ( Kishore and Lata) (B) Liye Sapne Nigahon Mein ( Kishore Kumar) The film was based on the well-known Marathi play "Ashroonchi Zhali Phule" written by famous Marathi writer playwright Vasant Kanetkar.

Recommendations: 1. Anil Kapoor Other Best Movies are Parinda , Ram Lakhan , Teezab , Who Saat Din , Mr India , Lamhe , sahib and many more .

Brilliant performance in Parinda , Teezab , who saat din and Saheeb 2. Dilip Kumar other Best movies : Shakti , Karma , Kranti , Gopi , Ram aur Shyam , Ganga Jamuna , Saudagar , and many more . The list is Endless.

3. Yash Chopra : Other Great movies in his direction are : Deewar , Kapa Pathar , trishul , Silsila , Kabhi Kabhi and many more.

There are very few Hindi films that impress me and Mashaal is one of those few. The highlights were, of course, a powerhouse performance by Dilip Kumar, a well-grounded finely etched portrayal of a youth from the slums by Anil Kapoor and a sinister yet commendable performance by Amrish Puri as SK Vardhan. But what really stood out for me, personally, in this movie were the very real and strong female characters played by Waheeda Rehman and Rati Agnihotri. I strongly feel that there was a genuine effort on the part of these two versatile actresses to break away from the quintessential Hindi film stereotypes of MAA and HEROINE. So, while you had a very pregnant Waheeda standing by her husband in his fight against injustice, you also had an educated Rati Agnihotri encouraging her beau Anil Kapoor to continue his further education while she stays back and helps Dilip Kumar in his fearless journalistic pursuits. I mean, how many contemporary Hindi movies can you remember where the women characters had such a purposeful and strong portrayal of the all-important roles of mother and fiancée. Sadly, such roles and performances are scarce in our industry. The directors of today ought to take a leaf out of Yash Chopra's directorial life and give back to Cinema some more of these powerful female characters and maybe help the medium which has been reduced to commercial glorification of such strong influences on the life of the male species.