Daku Aur Mahatma

The film opens to an old man emerging from jail,being met by a middle aged woman and being escorted to inaugurate an irrigation facility. The plot is developed as a series of flashbacks.

Dacoits attack a village in what looks like the Chambal valley in Madhya Pradesh. Little Vandana is spared, because she was hidden and Lakshman, her older brother taken away by the dacoits.

Years later, two notorious dacoit bands emerge in the area. One is headed by Sangram Singh (Kabir Bedi) and the other by Dilwar Singh (Rajinder Kumar).

The village decides to raise funds for a dam, that will help improve the lot of farmers. The touching thing is the pandit (scholar / priest) offers to give up a meal each day, to save for the dam.

While in jail the two fierce leaders of bands meet, and an unlikely friendship is formed. They join together and raid the village to loot the dam fund, and in the process massacring most of the able bodied men and women. Only a few children who had been sent away escaped and eke out a living in the forest.

There are thematic nuances from the Lord of the Flies, the children care for each other and help each other survive, till they come across an injured man in a police uniform.

Enter Dr Kiran (Reena Roy) who nurses the injured and takes care of the sick, and becomes a member of the band. The children have sworn vengeance on the killers of their parents.

What will happen when they find out that the injured policeman is the feared and hated Dilwar Singh?

It is a social drama cum action film, reflecting the fears of its times, film is technically moderate, with some nice and unexpected changes from the usual dacoit filmi formula. An enjoyable movie.