Bollywood's vintage spy films: Part II
Discover the wacky and wonderful world of sassy secret agents, outlandish villains, cool gadgets, fun disguises, and the all-important secret FAARMOOLA in this two-part series.
The first part of the article can be read here.
With code names like Bond 303 (1985), Agent 077 (Golden Eyes, 1968), or Agent 707 (Khilari, 1968; Inspector, 1970), the James Bond influence on our desi agents was right down to the nomenclature. They were cheeky and Casanova, much like the famous spy, and faced off against adversarial nations, anti-national outfits, and delusional despots who craved global dominance. Here are a few more interesting titles from the spy thriller genre.
Bandish (1969)
Bombay CID’s super sleuth, Anand, is intercepted by a terror gang while travelling on a train carrying classified material. Another passenger, Shabnam, gets caught in the crossfire and joins Anand on the run. Wrestler-actor Dara Singh’s eldest son, Parduman Randhawa (credited as Shailender in the film), debuts as Anand while Sonia Sahni plays Shabnam. The actor had a short film career, and interestingly, his other prominent project was another spy flick—Ramanand Sagar’s Ankhen (1968).
Shatranj (1969)
Gemini Studios scored a win with this Rajendra Kumar and Waheeda Rehman-starrer. Kumar, the star of many mushy movies, plays a hotshot military agent whose brains and bravery baffle the enemy nation—modelled on China. Interestingly, in his book Insurrection to Agitation: The Naxalite Movement in Punjab, professor Paramjit S. Judge points out that upon its release the film drew the ire of Indian communist revolutionaries who protested violently against this “anti-China” film.
Puraskar (1970)
Professor Das invents an electronic sound wave instrument that can destroy faraway targets. An anti-national gang planning to sell his invention to a rival country kidnaps the scientist and appoints his evil twin brother in his place. CID agents Rakesh (Joy Mukherjee) and Sumesh (IS Johar) are committed to solving the mystery of the missing professor. Puraskar is everything that you expect from a campy caper: a mysterious, pipe-smoking silhouette commanding his loyal henchmen, cabaret numbers, and low-budget sets with blinking transmitters and walkie-talkies that scream “spies at work.”
Inspector (1970)
Joy Mukherjee’s yet another outing as an intelligence officer. Terrorists are in possession of a poisonous gas, and Indian Secret Services’ top agent, 707, Inspector Rajesh, is entrusted with bringing the group down. With flying cars, gloriously loony escape sequences, and a Salma Sultan-inspired villain with a flower perched perfectly on his hat, Inspector checks all the boxes of unintentional hilarity.
Keemat (1973)
Dharmendra takes over the mantle of Agent 116 from Jeetendra and frankly makes for a far more stylish spy. He is seen pursuing a human trafficking racket and joining his quest is Sudha (Rekha), whose sister has also gone missing.
Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973)
Priya Rajvansh plays a mole planted by the Indian side to track an enemy radar in this Chetan Anand-directorial based on the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
Agent Vinod (1977)
A renowned scientist gets kidnapped (yet again!) and the investigation is assigned to Vinod, a flamboyant secret service agent played by Mahendra Sandhu. Known for family entertainers, Rajshri Productions’ gamble on this non-starry venture paid off as Agent Vinod became a surprise hit. This retro thriller with a massive Bond hangover and led by a stocky, cocky protagonist has since become a cult classic. Moreover, the film’s title serves as the inspiration for Sriram Raghavan’s spiffy 2012 spy thriller.
Surakksha (1979)
Ravikant Nagaich’s gleefully campy and immensely watchable Surakksha gave the audience a cult Bollywood character, the nattily-dressed super agent Gunmaster G-9 (Mithun Chakraborty). Dramatic car chases, poisonous snakes, an evil scientist with an eye patch and a steel arm, and his intriguing creation Jango—the human robot—it doesn’t get any better than this for the connoisseurs of camp. Surakksha was a box office triumph and spawned a sequel, Wardat (1981), where G-9 follows the mystery of massive locust attacks on farmers and farmlands.
The Gold Medal (1984)
The trio of Ravikant Nagaich, Jeetendra, and David collaborated one final time. A labour leader is murdered, and the riot erupting at his condolence meeting is given a religious colour. Agent Gopal must uncover the nefarious gang orchestrating this with the single clue at hand: a gold medal with the gang’s insignia.
Bond 303 (1985)
Jeetendra assumes a covert role once more. He’s Bond 303 this time, and his job is to uncover a terrorist network waging war on India. Parveen Babi co-stars in the double role of a geeky scientist and an assassin. This wildly watchable lowbrow flick features canny moments such as unearthing a secret microfilm within a false toenail, evil foreigners, and shady scientists plotting to destabilise India with the absurdly named mission Project Cosmos. Topping it all is the cheeky lead, who spouts awful lines like “Chhutti mein no job taking only love making.”
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