Ayyaash (1976)
Cast: Yusuf Khan, Neelo, Ilyas Kashmiri, Bahar, Munawar Zareef, Meena Chaudhary
Director: Iqbal Kashmiri
Music Director: Sardar
Synopsis: Rampaging serial rapist finally comes acropper in this formula drivel
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

 

Ayyash (1974)

Ayyash tells the story of an ogre-like Chaudhary whose long-suffering wife abandons him, taking their infant daughter with her after finally reaching the end of her tether. Her husband is an insatiable serial rapist who insists on having a fresh village girl supplied to him on a regular basis, a task enthusiastically undertaken by the ever-dastardly Mustafa Qureshi.

One day, however, the pair meet more than their match in the form of the fiercely independent Bahar. Rather than submit to the Chaudhary's advances, she plants a resounding slap across his face and sends him packing in no uncertain terms. When he returns for a second attempt, Bahar takes the extraordinary step of setting her own house ablaze while remaining inside it, preferring death to dishonour.

Meanwhile, Bahar's equally upright husband, played by Afzal Khan, is framed for murder and dispatched to prison, although at least his wife's honour remains intact.

Time inevitably passes and Bahar's young son grows up to become Yusuf Khan, who is now busy romancing a voluptuous village beauty blissfully unaware that her estranged father happens to be the very same serial rapist who has been preying upon girls her own age for years.

Running alongside the main story is a lengthy comedy subplot involving Munawar Zareef and a genie he accidentally summons from an ancient ring. While mildly amusing in places, it occupies almost a third of the film's running time and does little to advance the central narrative.

The remainder of the picture unfolds as yet another familiar revenge saga, with betrayals, confrontations and melodramatic revelations leading towards the inevitable climactic showdown. The Chaudhary eventually procures yet another beautiful young woman for his own depraved pleasures, only to discover that this latest victim is considerably more than he had bargained for.

Ayyash contains all the familiar ingredients of vintage Punjabi masala cinema, but they are assembled with surprisingly little imagination or enthusiasm. The film lacks the crackling electricity and manic energy upon which the genre so often thrives. The action sequences feel flat, the dialogue never acquires the gloriously demented flair that usually elevates even the most ridiculous Punjabi potboilers, and the entire production suffers from an overwhelming sense of routine.

The uninspired soundtrack does little to lift proceedings, while Yusuf Khan proves rather wooden in the leading role. Neelo springs to life during her one genuinely dramatic scene but otherwise has precious little to do beyond looking attractive and lip-syncing to a succession of distinctly forgettable songs. Munawar Zareef raises the occasional smile during his encounters with the oversized genie, but even his considerable comic talents are unable to inject much life into the proceedings.

In the end, Ayyash emerges as a disappointingly drab slice of Punjabi masala. It possesses all the right ingredients but none of the sparkle, fizz or delirious energy needed to make them work.

A routine effort with very little to distinguish it from dozens of similar films of the period.