‘Karz’ to ‘Om Shanti Om’: Bollywood films based on reincarnation
From the 1980s till today, reincarnation has been the main theme in several Bollywood films.
(From left to right) Simi Garewal, Rishi Kapoor, Pooja Hegde, Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon, Bobby Deol, Kriti Kharbanda, Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan.
MUMBAI: Do you also love those “punar janam” stories in which an actor dies, gets reborn, and returns to his original location in order to seek revenge? Sounds interesting? Punar-Janam stories are fun to watch and entertaining as well.
From the 1980s till today, reincarnation has been the main theme in several Bollywood films. Take a look.
Karz
Poster of 'Karz'
Helmed by the legendary director Subhash Ghai, the musical drama film starred Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim in the lead roles and was declared a blockbuster hit. This reincarnation was a little different. For the first time, the hero was not reincarnated in the same body. Raj Kiran passes away, and Rishi Kapoor rises from the ashes. He then travels to a hill station for a thorough memory recovery.
Karan Arjun
Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan in' Karan Arjun'
Talking about reincarnation films how can someone forget this epic film? Remember the dialogue “Mere Karan Arjun aenge?” This is by far the most popular “punar-janam” narrative, and it featured the deaths of two biggest Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. Helmed by Rakesh Roshan the film was declared a blockbuster hit.
Om Shanti Om
Still from 'Om Shanti Om'
Directed by Farah Khan, the film was released in the year 2007 and starred Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, and Arjun Rampal in the lead roles. The plot revolves around Shah Rukh’s character, Om Prakash Makhija, who dies in a car accident while saving his ladylove Shanti. His soul enters the closest womb it can find, that of the woman in the car. Meanwhile, Deepika dies but does not re-incarnate. Instead, she gets a doppelganger.
Housefull 4
Poster of 'Housefull 4'
Starring Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Bobby Deol, Kriti Sanon, Pooja Hegde and Kriti Kharbanda, the film was a re-incarnation comedy film. Helmed by Farhad Samji, the film didn’t receive positive reviews from the audience and critics. The plot revolves around three couples who were parted because of an evil conspiracy in 1419 and 600 years later reincarnations meet up, but this time each one is marrying the wrong person.
Makkhi
Helmed by the acclaimed director SS Rajamouli, ‘Makkhi’ was not actually a Bollywood film, but among the best re-incarnation films ever made. In the feature, the lead actor reappears as an enraged housefly and seeks revenge in order to get back his beloved. South actors Nani, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Kichcha Sudeep were seen in the lead roles.