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» » Adventures of Tarzan (1985)

Short summary

Ruby Shetty lives a wealthy lifestyle with her widowed dad, who would to travel to the deep jungles of India to find a fabled tribe in the Shakabhoomi region, where others have gone - but never returned. Ruby also decides to follow her dad, and meets up with him near the jungle's edge, where she is introduced to a man named D.K., who her dad like her to get married to. The following few days Ruby has a number of misadventures and is rescued by an ape-like man who is called Tarzan, and both fall in love with each other. Tarzan cannot speak any language but is intrigued by Ruby, much to the chagrin of D.K., whose task is to capture Tarzan and take him to work for Krishnakant Verma, who owns Apollo Circus. Before Tarzan and Ruby's romance could take wing, Tarzan is captured, chained and taken to the circus - where he may spend the rest of his days performing various acts, leaving D.K. free to get married to Ruby.

Mahesh Anand was first approached for Hemant Birje's role. But B .Subhash wanted a fresh face for the lead role.

Debut film of Hemant Birje he earlier worked as security outfit. After three months of training, he looked like a convincing ape man.

After success of Disco Dancer 1982 and Kasam Paida Karnewale Ki 1984 Mithun Chakraborthy became a huge star and the busiest actor of that time, B Subash had then approached him for his next film Dance Dance 1987 Mithun Chakraborthy told him to wait for six to seven months so that he could complete the films which are in his hands and allot him fresh dates for Dance Dance 1987,wondering what to do B Subash got and idea of making the film Adventures Of Tarzan 1985 until Mithun Chakraborthy got free from his other projects and the film turned to be a huge hit.

Mahesh Anand was the first choice then B Subash taught he wanted a complete new face for the film as Mahesh Anand had acted in film Karishma 1984 and done dance sequence to title song of Sanam Teri Kasam 1982, B Subash went to Pune where he found Hemant Birje in a local wrestling ring (Kushti Akhada).

Rajendra Kumar and B Subhash took morning walks on the beach together and when the latter had first confided in the star his plans of making 'Tarzan', Rajendra Kumar had admonished him, wondering why after two big hits he had chosen such a "C-grade subject". B Subhash assured him that he would turn this "C-Grade subject" into an "A-class film". "And after its release Rajendra Kumar admitted that B Subash kept my word.

Those days, a film had to be delivered to distributors on video.There was a leak and suddenly there was a huge buzz in the trade about the film. The year 1985 had three huge hits Raj Kapoor's 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili' released in July 1, Manmohan Desai's Mard released in November and Tarzan released in Decembet.All three films were huge hits. But while no one was surprised by the success of the other two given that they had the backing of big banners, the reception to Tarzan with two newcomers took many by surprise.

Kimi Katkar was introduced to B Subash by his friend Danny Denzongpa.

Tina Misquitta a former Hindi film dancer in 60s and mother of Kimi Katkar would accompany her daily on the sets of the film.

On the first day of a shoot, a circus tiger instead of jumping into its cage, clambered on the high bench Kimi Katkar was perched on and was seated right behind her as the studio quickly emptied. Fortunately, the beast didn't attack and that experience emboldened her. After that she was unfazed when a herd of wild elephants crossed her path in Madhumalai and cobras slithered by when they were shooting in the jungles.

B Subash wanted to shoot the film in 3D he found Romu Sippy renting out his camera to the many producers waiting in queue for three four hour schedules. he knew that wouldn't work for him, so he returned to Mumbai and told his scriptwriter Dr Rahi Masoom Reza that he had decided to shelve the project," reminisces the film's director who was assured by Dr Reza that this was a subject which if mounted well, would work even in CinemaScope."His words booted by confidence and this followed by the keen interest of the distributors, urged him to go ahead and make the film.

For a particular scene Hemant Birje got badly beaten up by the action director and the stuntmen. He showed B Subash the scratches and bruises on his back and told him that his captivity in the circus would look natural and convincing.

Kimi Katkar has a nip slip when she falls in the water and meets Tarzan.

Dev Anand discovery Atlee Brar auditioned for the film.

B Subbhash offered the film to Salma Agha as a formality. He knew that Salma did not suit the role due to the exposure requited.

Kimi Katkar found the film a fun experience. But during the patch work, she had to do a bra less scene. This made her upset as she was not told about this in the beginning.

Alisha Chinai's first break as a singer .She became famous after the song Tarzan My Tarzan was a big hit.

In 2008 Heman Birje had launched the film Return Of Tarzan.Himself playing Tarzan again with totally new cast.Film never released after shooting some portions in South Africa.

Director B Subash makes an appearance in the film during the name credits.He is seen hunting in jungles and the credit roles as directed by B Subash.

Inspired by Hemant Birje's macho physique many youngsters had taken gym seriously.

Gorilla Pehlwan real name R.Mallick played tribal leader in the film.He got noted for his role and further did many such tribal roles or henchmen roles by the name of Gorilla.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Rocky Basilisk
    This right mess of a film only conjures up Mowgli on acid, not Tarzan. It seems to be greatly influenced by the next worst Tarzan film which starred Bo Derek. Other unauthorized versions such as those made in Spain with Steve Hawkes or Richard Yestaran come off much better than this one. Mr. Birje, though looking pretty good, has little to do but act as a prop for Ms. Kimi's posing and silly inappropriate production numbers until the last half hour of the film. The pacing drags tediously with the few action sequences shot in slo-mo making them devoid of interest to match the rest of the tedium until the grand finale. I don't know which of the main characters dropped the most acid, but they all seem bizarre, especially Kimi as "Rubi" (don't take your love to town) who spends most of her time screeching like Olive Oyl or singing goofy ditties to Tarzan even including "Do-Re-Mi" from the Sound of Music. Even the jungle is weird since its denizens include both wild Indian tigers and African lions. The snake that bites "Rubi" is a cobra, so the lion would seem a bit de trop. The (welcome) finale is almost worth sitting through the first 3/4 of the film which would be greatly improved by aggressive cutting. And yes, Ms. Kimi certainly does win the wet shirt contest, hands down. But if the producers wanted to "ape" a Tarzan film they should have paid more attention to the Barker and Scott films for models.
  • comment
    • Author: Zinnthi
    Yup, this one is as bad as it sounds. A remake of Tarzan in a Hindi film. Hemant Birje is the muscle-bound stud with nary an acting muscle in his body. He is matched in the non-acting department by the sexy Kimi Katkar. Admittedly, there are some nice scenes of these two rolling around and getting naughty in the jungle. However, the bulk of the film is atrocious with next to nil production values, jungle natives who seem to have stepped right out of the 1930s and a screenplay clearly written by a four year old. There is a little campy fun to be had, but its just too long to suffer through. Avoid.

    Overall 2/10
  • comment
    • Author: EXIBUZYW
    Apart from being a typical bollywood movie of the 80s(with disco music) this one dares more than others. Intead of thinking about the dumb muscled Tarzan u gonna be quite impressed with the saucy girl Kimi, who is pretty bold for an Indian movie. See through tops of luscious Kimi are worth the average movie. A landmark in boldness in an Indian movie, this one has good songs though. Tarzan is again unintentionally funny but entertaining nevertheless. An overall happy movie, no disturbing violence, only romance in the jungle.
  • comment
    • Author: elektron
    Apart from the last half an hour of the film,where Tarzan was dragged to the circus, overall the film was Entertaining. Song videos were shot at good locations but the songs itself seemed to have been prepared at the last minute, not catchy at all. They were worst. As required Tarzan character played dumb throughout. Some realistic grunts and animal sounds could have been added if properly directed. In all Tarzan films chimps played an important role but there was no interaction with them here. Only elephants seemed to be leading. Lions and tigers appearing only in songs and last half hour and again no interaction with Tarzan. Kimi suited her role but the first half hour of Kimi's appearance was definitely unsuitable for family audience and more aiming towards some low class audience. Actor Hermant fitted into his 'Tarzan' character perfectly more than any other actor could have both looks and physique wise. His script and acting could have been more productive.
  • Complete credited cast:
    Kimi Katkar Kimi Katkar - Ruby Shetty
    Dalip Tahil Dalip Tahil - D.K.
    Om Shivpuri Om Shivpuri - Shetty
    Hemant Birje Hemant Birje - Tarzan
    Narendra Nath Narendra Nath - Krishnakant Verma (as Narinder Nath)
    Raja Duggal Raja Duggal
    R.S. Malik R.S. Malik
    Suresh Suresh
    Narinder Anand Narinder Anand
    Durga Prasad Durga Prasad
    Gautam Sarin Gautam Sarin - Raina
    Sunita Sunita - Raina's Wife
    Sudhir Sudhir - Press Photographer
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