indian cinema heritage foundation

Toofan (1975)

  • LanguageHindi
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Police Officer Hanuman Prasad brings his pregnant wife to hospital for delivery. At the same time Ramesh Kumar, a magician, also brings his pregnant wife for delivery there. Unfortunately, his wife delivers a still-born child. She is in an unconscious state, but Ramesh Kumar is worried that when she recovers her consciousness and discovers the fact that her child is born still-born, she will die with shock. On the other hand, Hanuman Prasad's wife delivers twin-boys. When Hanuman Prasad learns of the serious plight of Ramesh Kumar's wife, he offers the magician one of his new-born sons, saying: "Perhaps God has blessed my home with two sons so that one of them may become the light of your house." 

The two little boys grow up separately, in separate homes. One grows to boyhood in the magician Ramesh Kumar's house, and the other in his own father's house, Ramesh Kumar is a famous magician who performs several dare devil tricks, his final trick is one in which he gets himself locked up in a closed box and thrown in the river, from where he is supposed to escape like Houdini. But he suffers a heart-attack while he is locked up in the box under-water, and dies. The people who have gathered to watch him perform the trick jeer at the magician's attempt to perform this impossible trick which resulted in his death. But his little son, Shyam, vows to perform the same trick one day and to prove that it could be done. 

Meanwhile, Hanuman Prasad is sent on a special mission by the ACP Sharma with a large consignment of gold. But the ACP himself is planning to steal the gold on the way with the help of a decoit named Shaitan Singh, and to put the blame for this deed on Hanuman Prasad. The plan works. Shaitan Singh steals the gold consignment. The blame is put on Hanuman Prasad. But Hanuman Prasad learns that Shaitan Singh is going to travel by a certain train, and decides to confront the decoit. Hanuman Prasad gets on the train and faces Shaitan Singh who attacks him. There is a big fight between them on the speeding train. Hanuman Prasad handcuffs Shaitan Singh to the door-handle, but Shaitan Singh pushes Hanuman Prasad out of the train and cuts off his own hand in order to free himself from the handcuffs at the end of which Hanuman Prasad was dangling in the air Hanuman Prasad falls to his death. His little son, the second of the twins, vows to the ACP that one day he will find the real culprit who stole the gold consignment, and thus to clear his father's name.

The little boy comes to a Hanuman temple to pray with this resolve. A clear sign of secret powers is revealed to him and he becomes `Toofan' 

Meanwhile, Shaitan Singh goes to a Doctor to treat his hand. The Doctor recognizes him, and rings up the police. Shaitan Singh is caught, and sent to jail for 14 years. When he comes out, at the end of his long sentence, the two little boys have grown to young manhood. `Toofan' is the terror of goondas and killers. And Shyam does magic tricks in the streets. A gangster, Vikram Seth, sees Shyam performing tricks and gets an idea. He involves Shyam in a fraud, and gets him in trouble. Shyam's friend, Gopal, helps him out by a supreme self-sacrifice, and then leaves for his village. But the goondas follow him there, and finally kill him in front of his son. Shyam comes to the village, searching for his friend, and learns of what befell his poor friend Gopal. Shyam vows to Gopal's son that Gopal's killer will die in the same way.

On the other side, `Toofan' catches up with Shaitan Singh. In a fight, Shaitan Singh tricks him and pushes him off the cliff. Toofan falls in the stream, unconscious. There he is discovered by Shyam's girl-friend, who takes Toofan for Shyam, but finds him quite changed in character She prefers this changed version of that other Shyam. Meanwhile the real Shyam meets Toofan's girl-friend, Radha, who takes him for Toofan, but likes him better now for the new kind of man he seems to have become. 

Finally, Toofan lands up at the village where he runs into Shyam. The two brothers come face to face, and the whole story comes out. The two brothers now come together and find Shaitan who is on the point of digging out the gold consignment from the ground. 

In the climax, Toofan and Shyam fulfil their respective vows: Shyam's vow to Gopal's son that his father's killer will die the death he deserved, and Toofan's vow to the ACP that he will clear up his father's name from the case of the gold consignment.

(From the official press booklet)