{ Page-Title / Story-Title }

Article

When Amitabh and Neetu danced the Kung Fu


How a Carl Douglas song composed by Biddu found itself in 1979's Adalat

Sonal Pandya

Before Aamir Khan's hysterical turn as the Disco Fighter in Delhi Belly (2011), we had Amitabh Bachchan and Neetu Singh getting down on the dance floor in the 1976 feature film Adalat. Directed by Narendra Bedi and starring Bachchan in a double role with Waheeda Rehman and Singh, Adalat was atypical story of a simple man who turns to revenge when he's pushed to the limit.

Originally titled Kanoon, the name was changed to Adalat to signify the court decision that changes the life of a simple farmer. As seen in the above video, Bachchan played both father Dharma and son Raju in the film. Dharma has become a hard vengeful man after his brush with the law, while his foreign-educated son Raju is blissfully unaware of his father's alternate lifestyle as a smuggler.

Here, Singh and Bachchan dance (choreographed to faux karate moves!) to Carl Douglas' Dance the Kung Fu' at a house party. The popular disco tune, which rose to the Top 40 on the U.S. and U.K. charts, has an Indian connection. The British-Asian composer Biddu was the producer behind this successful song others like 'Kung Fu Fighting'. He went on to influence Hindi film and pop music through his discoveries Nazia and Zohaib Hassan as well as Shaan and Sagarika. His most famous Hindi film number remains 'Aap jaisa koi' sung by Nazia in Feroz Khan's Qurbaani (1980).