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After 15 years abroad, Raju (Rishi Kapoor) returns home to his mother
(Suchma Seth), and it is expected that he'll marry the daughter of Ajay
Singh (Prem Chopra), since Ajay has taken care of the family business
after Raju's father has died. But Raju falls in love with Nanji (Sridevi),
an orphaned girl he has met at some ruins he has felt mysteriously drawn
to after he had almost been bitten there by a venomous snake. His mother
is totally against it of course ... until she meets Nanji in person, who
wins her over in an instant. Losing Raju for his daughter turns Ajay
evil, so he first wants to have everyone murdered at the wedding banquet -
but instead the dacoits he has hired are killed by snakes. Later he tries
to kill Raju himself but falls victim to a snake ... With Ajay gone, an
even bigger threat arrives, Bhairon Nath (Amrish Puri), a reputed holyman,
magician and snake charmer who just feels that Nanji's a snake. Raju has
lived abroad for too long to believe such a superstition, and he throws
Bhairon Nath out for insulting his wife, but mommy listens to the holyman,
and he persuades her to spy after Nanji who has to turn into a snake at
least once a day ... which mommy of course witnesses before too long.
Nanji, when she's found out, tells mommy her background story, that her
snake husband once had to die when Bhairon Nath saved little Raju from a
snakebite, and initially, Ranji wanted revenge on him - but then fell in
love with him. Nanji's openness does not impress mommy, so she
collaborates with Bhairon Nath to lure her into a trap. Nanji though
doesn't come unprepared, and everything ends in a big fight, during which
Nanji learns that Bhairon Nath is actually after the dead body of her
snake husband, which is said do contain a gem enabling him to rule the
world. So it seems Bhairon Nath will stop at nothing, even killing Raju's
mum. When Raju arrives on the scene though, and he beats Bhairon Nath to a
pulp - which doesn't stop the holyman ... only when Nanji burns her snake
husband's body Bhairon Nath has to admit defeat, and he dies from the
injuries afflicted in the fight, even refusing Nanji's efforts to save his
life to actually pay for his sins. Nagina is certainly
not a great film: Its story is pulpy and predictable, its characters lack
depth and development, and some of the story elements are quite simply
ridiculous. At the same time though, Nagina is lots of fun,
pretty much a comicbook come to life, with all its over-simplifications,
far-out plot elements, over-the-top story, but also its colourful (and
actually quite elegant) imagery, and its deep roots in pulp fiction. Add
to this a very decent pace, and song-and-dance numbers that hardly ever
bring the story of a standstill - the one in the finale pitting Nanji
against Bhairon Nath is actually perfectly woven into the story and erotic
as hell -, and of course Sridevi really filling her role, and you're left
with a fun movie. Not great maybe, but great fun!!!
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