We have to agree on one thing in the late 70s and early 80s Veerendra was a ‘one-man-machine’ as far as Punjabi film production was concerned. His onscreen presence made many a heart swoon, but he also earned plaudits for his work behind the scenes. He directed, produced, and wrote many films of the era that became huge box-office successes. Above all, he also starred in nearly all of his home productions.
The year 1980 saw the release of his film Lambardarni which was written, produced, and directed by him only. Some of the biggest stars of Hindi cinema like Dara Singh, Asha Parekh, Bharat Bhushan, and Shammi graced the screen and the film ran to packed cinema houses. Aruna Irani also led the pack with a powerful performance.
Two friends, Daya Ram and Sohan Lal, are inseparable. Their friendship takes a vicious turn when Sohan rapes Daya’s servant Rakha’s wife and tries to run away. The innocent new bride is unable to bear this humiliation and commits suicide. When Daya finds out about Sohan’s heinous crime, he heads straight to his house, and in a fit of rage he ends up killing Sohan. Daya Ram gets the death penalty for the crime. However, the story proceeds with the second generation. Daya’s sons Dharma and Karma and daughter Jyoti live an honest life. On the other side, Sohan’s son Ranjeet is just like his father and wants to avenge his father’s death.
One fine day, Ranjeet’s muneem wants to teach Karma a lesson and he tricks Dharma into getting into a fight with Karma. This further leads to a storyline that is a roller coaster of emotions, action and comedy. Both Mehar Mittal (Tota) and Surendra Sharma (Khota Ram), keep the audience in splits with their crazy humour. It is pertinent to mention that this film was dubbed in to Hindi and rechristened as Khel Muqaddar Ka. Soundtracks have always played a major part behind the success of any Punjabi flick, but a song from this film by Kuldip Manak is still tattooed into our minds, ever since its initial notes caressed our ears. The iconic song was GT Road Te Duhaiaan Paave Yaara Da Truck Baliye. This song ended up being a classic along with the film and has been remixed umpteen times and is a rage on dance floors across the globe. This song is synonymous with Kuldip Manak and is one of his greatest hits. Thank you Veerendra for giving us such a lovely film that will be cherished forever.
