Director Tigmanshu Dhulia returns to the Chambal world with Ghamasaan, pitting Pratik Gandhi’s police officer against Arshad Warsi’s dreaded Maharaj.
Key Points
- Bollywood’s affair with Chambal spans generations, from Dacait to Ghamasaan.
- Sunny Deol, Irrfan Khan and Manoj Bajpayee all found memorable roles as dacoits.
- Even Telugu cinema has mined Chambal’s dacoit mythology.
The Chambal ravines have always had a strange pull on Hindi cinema.
That uneasy friction between law and rebellion have given filmmakers a ready-made dramatic universe.
After depicting the real-life story of athlete-turned-dacoit Paan Singh Tomar into one of Hindi cinema’s most memorable dramas, Director Tigmanshu Dhulia returns to that world with Ghamasaan, pitting Pratik Gandhi’s police officer against Arshad Warsi’s dreaded Maharaj in a gritty battle.
But Bollywood’s Chambal obsession with this legendary badlands goes much further back.
Mayur Sanap looks back at films and shows that took the Chambal route.
Paan Singh Tomar
Where to watch: JioHotstar
This is where Tigmanshu Dhulia found his most haunting Chambal story. Irrfan Khan played Paan Singh Tomar, a soldier and seven-time national steeplechase champion who eventually became a feared dacoit.
The irony is almost too cinematic. A man who represented India in sport ends up fighting the system with a gun.
Khan made Tomar’s fall from pride to rebellion unforgettable. The transformation felt less like a gangster story and more like a tragedy waiting to happen.
Sonchiriya
Where to watch: Z5
Abhishek Chaubey took the Chambal western somewhere darker.
Set during the 1975 Emergency, Sonchiriya follows rival bands of dacoits moving through the ravines, with Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey and Ashutosh Rana leading the decorated cast.
The most fascinating aspect is that Sonchiriya went all-in on authenticity.
The dialogues were entirely in Bundeli, giving the film a texture that most mainstream dacoit dramas rarely attempt.
Apurva
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Chambal gets a different protagonist here.
After a series of glamorous roles in films like Student of the Year 2, Marjaavaan and Tadap, Tara Sutaria portrays an ordinary woman kidnapped by a gang of dacoits, and she must use whatever she has to fight and survive, much like Hollywood classics such as I Spit on Your Grave and Eden Lake.
12th Fail
Where to watch: JioHotstar
The Chambal connection in 12th Fail can almost slip past you because the film soon moves to Gwalior and Delhi.
But it begins in the region, as Manoj Kumar Sharma grows up in the dacoit-infested environment. Thankfully, he doesn’t become a bandit.
Vikrant Massey plays the protagonist, whose encounter with an honest police officer changes the direction of his life.
Inspector Avinash
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Randeep Hooda’s Singham-style Inspector Avinash takes us into the crime-heavy Uttar Pradesh of the 1990s, and is based on real-life cop Avinash Mishra.
The second season goes even closer to Chambal, with Avinash and his team entering its dangerous ravines while chasing a gangster.
Here, Chambal becomes part of the police versus gangster battlefield.
Daaku Maharaaj
Where to watch: Netflix
Telugu cinema borrows the Chambal mythology with Daaku Maharaaj in which Nandamuri Balakrishna gets a backstory rooted in the region.
His character Sitaram begins as an engineer trying to help villagers before oppression pushes him towards becoming a feared dacoit.
With its larger-than-life hero at the centre, it is Chambal turned up to maximum volume, where Bobby Deol plays the antagonist in his Telugu debut.
Vikramarkudu
Where to watch: Z5
Even a masala action comedy found its way to the ravines!
Before its Hindi remake Rowdy Rathore with Akshay Kumar in a dual role, S S Rajamouli’s Vikramarkudu sent Ravi Teja’s character into the Chambal Valley.
The film follows a small-time thief, who discovers that he looks exactly like a police officer, then takes on the dead cop’s enemies and returns to Chambal to settle the score.
The film marked Anushka Shetty’s first collaboration with Rajamouli before the breakout success of Baahubali films.
Dacait
Where to watch: Z5, YouTube
Sunny Deol was already building a strong association with Director Rahul Rawail when Dacait arrived in 1987, following their collaborations on Betaab, Arjun and Samundar.
Written by Javed Akhtar, you get a very 1980s version of the ravines, which shows Deol going from wronged man to feared outlaw in this filmi-style Chambal drama.
