Sher Babbar was director Akram Khan's follow up to the wonderfully cheap and sleazy Aaj da Badmaash which had sadly run into trouble with the censors due to its upfront, no nonsense vulgarity. This movie arrived in 1977 just as the military was about to start a decade long dictatorship and point the country down an accelerated path to extremism and intolerance. The harmless sleaze and vulgarity of these pathetic (and perversely charming) films was purged from the cinemas and replaced by twisted neo-Islamic values represented by a wave of militaristic fascism and self worship under the guise of patriotism.

Sher Babbar is par for the course for an Akram Khan movie - super cheap, gritty, edgy, utterly inept and containing a healthy dose of typically sleazy and vulgar dances. The film offers a plot as stale as can be within the Punjabi genre, that of the "ghairatmand" (honourable) man fighting to maintain his "ghairat" (honour) and this he can only do by taking revenge from the man who has killed his father (peeo da Qatil syndrome). So basically you have a scenario where one person has to avenge another but the other has to avenge a third party and the third party has to avenge the first party and on and on and on its goes - basically just a chain reaction of revenge and mayhem all in order to uphold "ghairat." It's hardly surprising that this country suffers from the curse of the barbaric custom of honour killing as much as it does because it is something that is so strongly emphasized, encouraged and reinforced in popular mainstream cinema.

This film is about Shera (Sultan Rahi) who is a brave and fearless and naturally "ghairatmand" young man who dares to take on the system and do what he believes is right (murder). In the opening scenes we have Shera languishing in prison for a murder ("aik ghairatmand bhai ki ghairat ka sawaal si" "it was a matter of an honourable brothers honour"). During an prison inspection Shera learns that a bunch of particularly shady inmates are about to jump the warden and escape and so he does what one would not normally expect a Sultan Rahi character to do - which is to help authority and law and order in any manner. Yet he does, thwarting the ambush and therefore getting the rest of his sentence deferred. Upon hearing about Shera's freedom the notorious landowning clan of Malik Hasham decides to carry out their own justice against Shera for the death he caused to their brood. Malik Hasham is also doubly incensed because Shera is inciting the poor people to rebel against Hasham's brutal justice. Rahi has a terrific showdown with Malik Hasham and ends up killing him in broad daylight.

On his way to prison Shera's convoy is attacked by Hasham's two disgruntled sons who insist that Shera should receive justice from them and not the law…….but in the ensuing scuffle Shera escapes. When Nazli (Malik Hasham's daughter) learns of her brothers failure in destroying Shera she announces that she herself shall do what her brothers have failed to do. She arrives at Shera's and tries to seduce him with a song in a skimpy see-through night dress but only succeeds in receiving a stinging slap from Shera who tells her that he loathes women in all shape and form. When she asks why, we discover that Shera's sister Reshma is the reason for his abhorrence of women. Reshma had been happily married with a toddler but one day she returns home claiming that her marriage is over. Shera feels something fishy is up as no good Moslem woman can possibly walk out on her husband no matter what and his suspicions prove well founded when he discovers her cavorting around with a paramour at night - a man she intends on marrying. But too late, she has already caused irreparable damage to the family "ghairat" and must bite the bullet for daring to hope for a life of her own. Rahi blows her away like any "ghairatmand" brother would and this evil beghairat sister of his has become the subsequent cause of his hatred of women in general.

Rahi brings up his murdered sisters young son to be a criminal like himself and the young tot soon grows into rugged, handsome and tubby Iqbal Hassan and together the two prowl the country in search of Malik Hasham's sons for vengeance. However the plan goes awry when Iqbal falls for bewitching, bum twitching beauty Aasia who happens to be the granddaughter of Malik Hasham and therefore a sworn enemy. Shera now turns on Iqbal for having let the side down and taken up with a "snake" in the form of Aasia, spawn of the enemy clan. Enough said………things wind down to their inevitable conclusion with loads of comical fights along the way as well as an infernal stretch of comedy lasting about half an hour. Matters are helped along by a healthy injection of cheap dances but alas these dances take place in the villains den rather than at the local club and therefore they don't quite have the class or zing that club dances inherently enjoy - its just a fact of life - cheap and vulgar dances work best in the "kilub" scenario! Also the songs themselves, though composed by a master of the vulgar song Tafo, aren't quite to the level that one has come to expect and especially after Aaj da Badmaash which featured a set of stunning songs; this one is a bit of a let down. There are a couple of Madame songs that do tend to grow on one gradually, but on the whole they aren't up to what one would expect from an Akram Khan sexploitationer.

Of the actors Sultan Rahi puts up a solid show and also shows off his incredibly virile looking torso for the best part of the film. Aasia thrusts, heaves, twitches and plunges with commendable vigour during her song sequences and her few dialogues are delivered with the fire that one associates with a true feisty Punjabi belle. Iqbal Hassan AKAThe People's (C)Hunk cuts a dashing figure and does his bit with customary aplomb. Najma in a brief role turns in a sizzling dance in a snake costume and the background music is fabulous - yet it's not one of Akram Khan's vintage slices of sleaze and didn't do particularly well at the Box Office either. Nonetheless it does contain his trademark edgy, gritty cinema verite style and enough doses of sleaze to keep most punters well satisfied. Alas the one tragic thing about this movie (and countless others of the genre) is that it very clearly advocates honour killing.