Zamaanat

Release Date:

9 December 2008 (India)

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Vijayashanti, Arshad Warsi, Karisma Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Tinnu Anand, Ayub Khan, Aarushi, Shivaji Satam, Sharat Saxena, Baby Shana, Prankash Raj, Satyaprakash & Babban Yadav.

Director: S. Ramanathan

Music: Viju Shah

Producer: S. Ramanathan

Screenplay: Prayag Raj and MD Sunder

Lyrics: Sameer & Majrooh Sultanpuri

Music: Viju Shah

Story: Om Shree

Action: Vikram Dharma

Visual Effects: Paul Sims

Choreography: Chinni Prakash & Jojo Khan

Synopsis: An unfulfilled love story of a prominent lawyer, ‘Shiv Shankar’ who loses his vision in an accident and is thrown into a life of seclusion. He also loses contact with his beloved (Vijayshanti) a doctor by profession. Shiv starts leading the life of a recluse. Years later, a college girl (Karisma Kapoor) knocks at his door seeking his help to secure justice for her beau (Arshad Warsi) who is falsely implicated in a murder case and put behind bars. He first turns her down stating that he had quit practice but later takes up the case as the young lovers reminded him of his amorous youth. In the climax Shiv reveals the truth and makes a key witness confess the truth before the judge. The trial is carried out in public as the case had snowballed into a major public issue.

Trivia

• There was huge controversy over Amitabh's sunglasses (which were said to be worth 2.7 lacs) which he used to portray his blind character.
• This movie has been over 10 years in the making. The film was launched in mid-1996 and has been put on hold for numerous reasons, varying from Karisma Kapoor's attitude, to the makers running into financial crisis. It was considered to be shelved, throughout its production phase. However the makers sorted all the hurdles and completed the project.
• This movie will have Amitabh seen appearing clean shaven for a short fight scene.
• S. Ramanathan wanted to start the movie as early as 1986 but it was shelved for "unknown" reasons. Ten years later it was decided to work on the movie again.
• The makers were considering changing the movie's title to "Godfather", but thought better of it.
• Newcomer Aarushi was spotted by S. Ramanathan walking out of producer Pahlaj Nihalani's office. She caught the attention of the veteran filmmaker, who instantly decided to cast her in a key role.
• S. Ramanathan stated when the shooting was complete, that the movie was delayed due to certain problems including a distributor's demand for dropping Arshad Warsi from the film. He decided to go through the financial struggle but not to drop the actor.
• The movies tag line 'And Justice for all' is taken from Al Pacino movie ...And Justice for All (1979), incidentally the movie was also a courtroom drama.
• The initial movies working title was 'Aaryaman', throughout production it was changed to Zamaanat.
• Amitabh Bachchan got busy with his other projects and couldn’t spare date’s to dub for the film, Director S Ramanathan decided to rope in Sudesh Bhonsle to dub Amitabh’s remaining portion. This caused some friction between the two which has been recently sorted out, insistent on dubbing for his own role. Currently (Jan 08), the actor is trying to fit the dubbing shifts into his busy schedule.