I Watched "Khoon Bhari Maang" For The First Time And Let Me Tell You, It Was A WILD Ride
Rekha is the undisputed queen, confirmed.
My entire life, I have believed that "Khoon Bhari Maang" was a movie someone made up for the sole purpose of playing charades. Only very recently did I get to know that it is, in fact, a real film, and is actually hailed as an iconic cult movie. And so, of course, I had to watch it.
Released in 1988, this was a "comeback" film for Rekha, who headlines it, featuring prominently in the movie as well as the poster. This is rare for Bollywood of the 80s, which was the era of macho action heroes. YOU GO, QUEEN! 👏
Personal observation: It takes a long time to convince someone to watch a movie called "Khoon Bhari Maang" with you, but after a lot of persuasion, I finally managed to find a co-watcher. With absolutely no info on the movie other than the fact that it has Rekha and apparently, a crocodile, we sat down to watch this movie which clocks in at a solid 2.5 hours. And, my god what a film this was 🔥 🔥
🚨🚨🚨WARNING: LOTS OF SPOILERS AHEAD!🚨🚨🚨
The credits artwork is really nice, actually.
Rekha looks gorgeous, as usual.
(If you haven't been able to tell by now, I'm a big Rekha simp. Not ashamed.)
We are introduced to Aarti (Rekha), a young widow and we are supposed to believe that simply due to a birthmark on her face, she's not a beautiful woman.
She has two children, Bobby and Kavita (who are quite annoying, tbh).
Aarti is rich. Like, super rich. She has a rich father with a flourishing business, and a rich dead husband who left her all his wealth and property. He also left her a horse, btw, named Raja. And Raja dances whenever he eats sugar.
Same, Raja, same.
And of course, not even five minutes into the movie, we have the first song, "Haste Haste Katt Jaye Raste". KBM has an iconic soundtrack.
Aarti and kids also do the Runaway-Aurora TikTok/Reels challenge.
Okay this film is hella fast-paced. By the tenth minute, Aarti's father is murdered by his colleague, Hiralal, who was cheating him financially.
Aarti actually witnesses this because she's on the phone with her father at the same time, but doesn't realise what happened or the fact that he was murdered. Uncle ji's death is chalked up to a medical issue. RIP 🙏
Aarti is devastated and is comforted by her faithful dog, Jumbo, and her bestie Nandini (who is a supermodel).
She's also a backstabbing betrayer, as we'll see soon...
Jumbo also instinctively knows that Hiralal is the killer and always barks at him. The animals in this movie are the real heroes, actually.
Enter Sanjay Verma (Kabir Bedi), Hiralal's nephew and Nandini's lover/partner-in-crime. He has a plan to marry the now-orphaned and widowed Aarti, bump her off, and inherit her millions.
He manages to convince Nandini, who loves her BFF Aarti but is also madly in love with Sanjay, and so she agrees to his twisted plan. Btw Nandini's entire wardrobe in this movie is so on point, wow.
Song time! Nandini makes it painfully obvious that she wants Sanjay and Aarti to get together...
My notes at this point say "background dancers are dressed like Alpenliebe," and honestly, yes.
Sanjay wears booty shorts and bonds with Aarti's children.
He plays tennis in a way that reminds everyone of Aarti's dead husband. Awww.
Jumbo is the only smart one here, tbh. His powers always tell him who the villain is.
But obviously nobody cares about the opinion of the dog (bad move, as we'll see...)
Sanjay and the kids become besties...
...and Sanjay becomes Aarti's confidant, and eventually proposes to her, which she accepts.
Side note: We're barely half an hour into the film at this point. It's a lot.
Nandini and the children go along with Sanjay and Aarti to their honeymoon at Sitapur Farms. After a lot of song and dance, Sanjay "kills" Aarti (!!!!) by throwing her towards a hungry crocodile.
Aarti apparently dies and all that's left is this pool of incredibly fake-looking blood.
Sanjay soon learns, however, that the law can't declare Aarti dead until her body is found or until seven years have lapsed, which means he can't inherit her wealth before that. Resentful and frustrated, he takes out his anger on Aarti's kids and pets.
He becomes an abusive stepfather and ill-treats the animals too :(
Aarti's not dead, of course. Saved by a fisherman, she is disfigured due to the mauling by the crocodile. Hurt by Sanjay's betrayal, she swears to take revenge.
She vows to kill Sanjay the same way he tried to kill her — using Sitapur Farms' crocodile!
There's an a-ha! moment when Aarti says, "Usne sindoor ki jagah meri maang mein khoon bhar diya!" Does everyone else love it when actors say the name of the film in the film?
She sells her jewels and gets plastic surgery in an unnecessarily explicit scene where the doctors even use a vegetable peeler to "surgically" remove her skin...
I'm not gonna torture you by putting the visuals here but yeah, as a squeamish person, I had to cover my eyes at this point.
We have an unboxing video where Aarti's new face is revealed. We're supposed to pretend that she looks unrecognisably different and beautiful but really...she just looks like herself.
Creative liberty, blah.
She even attends her children's annual day and they just. Don't. Recognize. Her.
"This lady who looks exactly like our mother whose body was never found? She's obviously not our mother!"
Aarti takes on the name "Jyoti", signs up to the same modelling agency where Nandini works, and slowly becomes a top model and the "It Girl".
Shatrughan Sinha plays JD, the photographer at the agency, who is smitten by "Jyoti" and helps her succeed.
Sanjay sees her photo on a magazine cover and falls in love with her at first sight...
Losing her stardom and her lover to Jyoti, Nandini is jealous...
And as the obvious, logical next step, Jyoti and Nandini have a dance off! It's a gloriously over-the-top and camp-y number...
Meanwhile JD, at whose house Jyoti stays, slowly figures out her true identity.
With his keen photographer's eyes, JD spots Aarti/Jyoti's photos of her kids, and tracks them down, thus finding out who she really is.
Aarti's old domestic worker, Ramu Kaka, overhears Sanjay and Hiralal discussing Aarti's father's murder, so they kill him too.
What is up with villains discussing their misdeeds loudly in areas where anyone can hear them? *insert chilla chilla ke sabko scheme batade meme*
Aarti/Jyoti goes to Sanjay's house (i.e. her own old house) and sees how cruel he is to her children.
As she comforts them later (and they still don't realise she's their mother), they tell her how Ramu Kaka died, in the process revealing to her that her own father was murdered by Hiralal...
She also meets her dog, Jumbo, who instantly recognizes her.
He is so much smarter than everyone else.
Angrily, she reveals her true identity to Hiralal, tortures him, and with some help from Jumbo, kills him.
Woohoo!
Then, Jyoti/Aarti and Sanjay travel to Sitapur Farms (the same place Aarti was "killed"!!!) where she reunites with her sugar-crazy horse Raja and the loyal groom Baaliya.
Nandini, jealous and feeling replaced, shows up (in an absolutely gorgeous dress) and threatens to tell Jyoti about Sanjay's murderous nature.
She regrets her own part in the misdeeds and is determined to bring justice, even if it means that she too will be prosecuted for her crimes.
And then (*drumroll*) Jyoti/Aarti arrives, on Raja the horse, carrying a gun, dressed all in leather, and reveals her true identity to the two people she once loved, but who had betrayed her!
In the ensuing fight, Nandini redeems herself by sacrificing her own life to save Aarti's,
Her beautiful white dress forms the perfect backdrop for the red blood. RIP, Nandini and Nandini's exquisite wardrobe.
Aarti overpowers Sanjay and drags him to the very lake where he tried to kill her.
JD also shows up, for some last-minute action sequence participation.
The crocodile eagerly waddles around and watches the fighting, knowing that whichever way the fight goes, it is assured of a good meal.
Of course, Aarti wins, and Sanjay becomes crocodile dinner. It is rather satisfying, despite the clearly fake blood (again).
No RIP wishes for Sanjay, sorry.
All that is left of him a pool of blood. It is literally the same as the one we had seen during Aarti's "murder" and I'm convinced that they just reused some footage for this.
Aarti and her children reunite, together at last. There is slow-motion running and hugging.
Actually I'm not sympathetic towards the kids at all, tbh. They started this entire drama by falling so easily for Sanjay's gifts and attention and persuading their mom into marrying him.
And while the movie ends with this family reunion, we all know who the real hero is...
JUMBO! ❤️❤️❤️
The best, smartest, most loyal doggo.
In conclusion, as my friend put it...
The verdict: "Khoon Bhari Maang" is a really, really entertaining movie, and I can see why it has become a cult film of sorts. It's WAY ahead of its time, smart with just the right amount of masala, has some great costumes and, of course, it stars Rekha. Five stars 🤩
It's my new favourite movie. Watch it now!