Subhash Ghai is well known for his large-canvas dramatic films, namely Karz, Vidhaata, Saudagar, Pardes, Taal etc. But very few people have heard about this one, one of the earliest films directed by Ghai. This was when he used to to make action films (Kalicharan, Vishwanath, Gautam Govinda). Krodhi was conceived in 1977 on a large scale, with a cast of Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor, Zeenat Aman, Hema Malini (Extended appearance), Pran, Ranjeeta, Sachin, Moushumi Chatterjee (Guest appearance) and Amrish Puri in a small role. Ghai was really excited about the project, but constant fights and disagreements resulted in the film getting delayed for nearly 4 years.
Anyways onto the plot- An orphan named Vikramjit Singh "Vicky" (Dharmendra) unaware of his parents, grows up in an environment of hatred. The only bright spot in his life is the companionship of a girl named Aarti (Moushumi Chatterjee). They grow up an gradually fall in love in each other. Vicky goes abroad for studies, although he keeps in touch with Aarti, who on the other was facing torture at the hands of her evil uncle. Soon, Vicky returns to India, and manages to get a job and a small house. He plans to propose to Aarti. However, her uncle sold her off to some people who try to rape her, and she commits suicide and dies in Vicky's arms. Angered, he kills her uncle and his accomplices, which results in him becoming an underworld don with his own private army. One of his trusted associates Neeta (Zeenat Aman) gets bethroed to a CBI officer Kumar Sahani (Shashi Kapoor) who is out to apprehend Vicky. Soon Kumar and his colleagues attack Vicky's den, forcing him to flee. His helicopter crashes and he is presumed dead. But he had survived and had taken refuge in an ashram presided over by an Acharya (Pran). Even though the latter knows who he is, he lets him live in the ashram. A few years later, Vicky replaces Acharya as the head of the ashram. He helps a young couple Raja and Guddi (Sachin and Ranjeeta) in convincing their parents for marriage. He also comes across a cheeky prostitute named Phoolwati (Hema Malini) who tries to seduce him again and again. He crosses paths with a dreaded dacoit named Jagira (Premnath) who tries to convince him to loot the ashram. One day, Neeta and Kumar visit the village, and she is shocked to see Vicky. The latter is now faced with a challenge to either run away or kill Neeta. What happens next?
As mentioned earlier, the film was delayed for nearly 4 years, and this had a negative effect on the final product. Direction by Subhash Ghai was ok. The dialogues had overuse of English which made them look forced. Music was good.
Performance-wise it's Dharmendra as usual who's in the driver's seat, with his intensity, acting and dialogues on point throughout the film. Shashi Kapoor too was good, though his chocolate boy image made him look like a joker in front of Dharmendra. Zeenat Aman does a fine job as Shashi's wife and Dharmendra's accomplice, but it's Hema Malini who steals the show as the cheeky prostitute, who again and again tries to entice Dharmendra. Funnily enough, they got married midway during the shooting. Premnath is menacing as the main antagonist and Pran saab does a brilliant job as the Acharya. Moushumi Chatterjee makes a blink and miss appearance, while the rest of the cast was decent.
At the box office, Krodhi got a decent opening, but it struggled due to negative reviews, and eventually failed to recover it's budget, although it was the 11th highest grossing film of 1981. Still I feel that it is probably Dharmendra's most underrated film from the 80s, and it's a must watch for his fans and also for those who want to see Dharmendra and Shashi Kapoor together.
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