Khaufnak (1975)
Cast: Neelo, Munawar Zareef, Anita, Mustafa Qureshi, Afzal Ahmed, Nazli
Director: Rehmat Ali
Synopsis: Sequel to the smash hit Khatarnak—this is more vengeance and intrigue.
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

Khaufnaak was the third in a sequence of similarly themed films—the first being Khabardar, the second being the smash hit Khatarnaak, and finally, Khaufnaak. The film contains many of the same ingredients the director used for Khatarnaak. It is a similar tale of revenge and intrigue, with more than a fair share of lewd dances performed by the director’s favourite mascot, Anita. They say that the producers of the three films mentioned above managed to get away with largerthan-usual doses of smut, owing to their connections with political bigwigs of the time.

The film opens very promisingly with a maniacal Mustafa Qureshi discovering a treasure chest, and offing his master to steal the loot for himself. However, Mustafa’s wife, Najma Mahboob, doesn’t want anything to do with stolen goods and shrieks a long and stinging lecture at her husband when he returns home with the loot. Qureshi shows what he thinks of the rants and moralizing by pouring kerosene on her. With his wife aflame, he sets off into the night with one of his young sons as an accomplice. During his escape, Mustafa Qureshi damages his leg permanently.

Years later, he has graduated into a silver-haired wheelchairbound super-criminal whose gang of goons are looting and pillaging when and wherever they please.

Meanwhile, Mustafa Qureshi had left one son behind with Najma Mahboob, who has grown into the handsome and moronic Munawar Zareef. At the same time, the other son (also played by Zareef), has remained with his evil father but doesn’t even know that the person he calls Boss is his father. Then we learn that Neelo, the girl who has the hots for Asim, the Zareef who lives with his mother, discovers that she isn’t, in fact, an orphan but was an heiress to the fortune that the dastardly Mustafa Qureshi murdered.

The plot slowly entangles: lost brothers discover one another, separated parents confront one another, and vengeance-filled orphans achieve their designs.

The film shares much of the crackling energy evident in Khatarnaak. However, the tension is severely watered down due to the excessive scenes devoted to supposed comic relief aimed at the brain-dead frontbencher. Munawar Zareef is given too much scope and panders to the audience in a moronic manner. At the same time, Neelo looks pretty as a picture and well-rounded if a touch elderly to be playing the role of somebody celebrating her 21st birthday!

As the villain’s moll, Anita shows that she has no equal when performing those sleazy dance numbers, and her forte of flashing her underwear remains very much in evidence this time. Her catfight with Neelo, complete with Karate chops and hair pulling, is one of the movie’s highlights.

Mustafa Qureshi steals the show as the maniacal, lusting supercriminal epitome of cold-hearted evil. He is totally at home in the part of the demented megalomaniac. In this film, he lords over a fabulous villain’s lair (which doubles for almost every other location in the

Khaufnak movie). It comes with a custom-made torture chamber, helpful in disposing of failed accomplices by deep frying them like one of Bobby’s legendary Pakoras. State-of-the-art electromagnetic coils are employed for this purpose, leaving the person as a dangling skeleton within minutes of entering the chamber.

In a chilling climax scene, the evil genius in the wheelchair comes face to face with his own dastardly devices with horrifying results. There is also an extraordinary scene where Zareef comes across a rather batty old warlock, who uses all his considerable talents to empower Zareef with a terrific defence mechanism by which he can turn anyone to stone whenever he likes! The film is the usual tale of vengeance. You guessed it, “the peeo-da qatil” (father’s murderer) syndrome yet again. Yet, though it suffers from large excesses of comedy, it does contain enough farcical masala to make it an endurable experience, if only just.

Mala provides some sultry numbers in her shrill voice, Pyar Karan Tenoo being the pick, while Anita follows up her raunchy dances from Khatarnaak with more of the same, if not quite as raunchy as before.

Munawar Zareef fails to impress, though Mussarat Shaheen makes a glorious appearance in hot pants, performing a sleazy dance as only she can. It was evident even then what a “talent” this lady was. We hope that one day she will be elected as the country’s leader—it’s the least we deserve as a nation.

Najma Mahboob shouts and wails in her typical manner, and Afzal Ahmed is idiotic as the Christian railway man and Neelo’s surrogate father. Khaufnaak is not a classic by any means and not as entrancing as Khatarnaak, but mildly engaging and suitably intriguing. The film failed to fire up at the Box Office, and further sequels were left on the shelf. Fans of Anita should try to get hold of a movie called Aakhri Goli, where Rehmat Ali casts her as the heroine.