Jay Om Prakash‘s Aap Ki Kasam turned out to be a sad, despondent movie that spirals down the rabbit hole into an incessant pit to a place from where there was no return. It tries to justify its final line as if that very line was imagined first before a movie was built around it.
“Tera shak tujhe kha gaya. Ek chingari aag bani aur ek insaan jal gaya.”
The movie centres on a man’s insecurities about his wife and how he begins blaming her for what he himself suffers from: his own spite and misgivings. Jealousy gnaws at his soul as he begins to mistrust a person he was once utterly in love with. You can understand this human emotion coming from a time when it used to be difficult for a person to trust another – when you are young and naive. Resentment, anger and malice have done no one any good. You see it take form and destroy everything. The movie literally and figuratively ends in flames, and you know exactly what was responsible for it.
Plot of Aap Ki Kasam Movie
The backdrop you can immediately fathom: deliberately chosen to be young love coming out of college, a sane man utterly mesmerised by a girl and marrying her. Yet marred by mistrust owing to that girl’s beauty and people’s perception of it, he is immediately affected by the overwhelming attention she begins to get and especially the one from his very good friend.
When a seed of doubt fills a mind, even the sanest of all people lose it. The movie banks on this very verity, almost unbelievable at times, that Rajesh Khanna’s Kamal Bhatnagar, who seemed so normal and happily in love with his wife, could too become such a hurtful and resenting person.
But when you think about it, that’s how life really is. It stops making sense after a relationship’s walls start to tremble. It becomes so hard to believe that it all ends so quickly and a perfectly normal relationship could turn to ashes that it appears to be the very fairy tale that appeared so in the beginning of the relationship.
Direction and Screenplay
J. Om Prakash’s direction is good. Not the best, I would say, but he manages to show these characters in completely contrasting situations. The first half is devoted to how a man falls in love. It is full of all the good things that come with it. The remaining half becomes a series of unfortunate events. The contrast makes it very clear what the director wanted to show.
The strange thing about this contrast is that, while the director is building everything up positively, some viewers might feel that the movie is too positive. Only when things begin to veer off course do you realise that there is more to it than the opening suggests. My mother seemed disinterested after watching half of the movie and went to sleep. For me, the actual movie started after that. It does give you a sense that this movie is not for everyone.
Amid that cheerful mood, there are also some bold lines that quietly made it into the final cut. Those might not be for everyone either.
The editing is good, and there are some good lines of dialogue at different junctures. One such line comes from Sunita:
“Pyaar aur maut ek jaisi hoti hai.” — Sunita
But this is not the greatest screenplay, and you can feel it. Once things begin to spiral down, the movie feels as though it is rushing towards something. The emotions become increasingly intense. The time jump towards the end, especially, feels like a way of getting us to the final drama. Overall, though, the direction is pretty good.
Performances
Rajesh Khanna delivers an amazing performance in both his avatars. At first, he is the sweetest person, completely in love. Later, you see him repenting and regretting the things he has done. In both versions of Kamal, the emotions feel real. You realise how versatile an actor he is.
Sanjeev Kumar, too, reminds you how brilliant an actor he is and has always been. As Mohan, he becomes the character completely. There is innocence and true friendship in him, without any malice in his heart, even as he struggles with self-pity over his wife’s behaviour.
Ranjeet plays an interesting character as well. The moment you see him, you almost expect him to be the villain. In a way, that expectation is fulfilled. Although he is not the central villain, he becomes a culprit in creating several problems for the protagonists.
Mumtaz is very charming in the movie. For the first time, I really liked her performance, and I could see why she was chosen as the lead. As Sunita, she makes you feel the shock of things suddenly ceasing to make sense. The change in her husband is too abrupt for her, and you can see that bewilderment in her eyes. She delivers a very good performance.
Aap Ki Kasam: Music and the Ending
The movie also has some amazing songs. One of the best is Kishore Kumar’s “Zindagi Ke Safar Mein Guzar Jaate Hain Jo Maqam.” The song is a story in itself. There could hardly have been a better way of putting life in a nutshell. As the sequence unfolds and time passes, Rajesh Khanna does absolute justice to it. For me, it is one of the most iconic songs in cinema and songwriting, and it remains very close to my heart.
“Jai Jai Shiv Shankar” is another song that has stayed with us. It still finds its way into celebrations, especially around Holi and occasions associated with bhang. Its infectious energy makes it easy to see why it remains so popular.
Then there is the heartfelt “Karvaten Badalte Rahe,” with its familiar “Aap Ki Kasam” refrain echoing the movie’s title. It is one of those timeless songs that you still hear everywhere, and its tenderness adds to the charm of the film’s romantic first half.
The final moments, when Kamal Bhatnagar is found and urged to attend his daughter Ekta’s wedding, are very poignant. They carry so much of the movie’s emotional weight, even though the ending feels a little rushed. At one point, you begin to think that perhaps there will be a happy ending. But Sunita has moved on with someone else, and what they once had cannot be brought back.
Life does not simply return to what it was. The past cannot be changed. That is also what Kishore Kumar’s song leaves you thinking about.
Final Verdict
Aap Ki Kasam is a great movie to watch, especially if you are a Rajesh Khanna fan and want to see him in a darker, almost villainous avatar. It bothers you to watch Kamal make the wrong decisions, mistrust his wife and give in to jealousy. At the same time, you recognise that people like him do exist, and that insecurity can touch people at different points in their lives.
The movie carries a message about communication, fidelity, understanding and the bond between partners. It makes you think of all the ways the utter destruction of this relationship could have been avoided. It also makes you wary of allowing petty doubts to grow into devastating mistakes.
Trust is everything. When you stop trusting your partner and allow suspicion to take over, you risk destroying the very relationship you want to hold on to.
Aap Ki Kasam
