The Amitabh of Deewar, with his smoldering, anger-filled, frustrated eyes can haunt anyone sensitive enough for days on end. I could fathom his helplessness and cynicism on the treatment meted out by the cruel world we live in - even as a kid.
Being the elder of the two sons, he felt his mother’s grief more than the toddler brother. His anger was directed towards everyone else - not for his own situation but his mother’s plight and struggle for survival in this heartless world for the sake of her two fatherless children. Though she was willing to toil for them both, Amitabh chose to earn to help his mother in his own small way and so that her dream of educating at least one son was fulfilled.
The film portrayed the conflict of characters beautifully. In her desire to want her wayward son to lead a straight life, the mother’s love for her son remains unexpressed and submerged in the constant lambasting; making him feel that she loved the younger one more. Though Amitabh’s character loomed large in the movie, the other characters were also well-rounded. One could empathize with each one, especially the mother – torn between her love for her children and the situation fate had landed them into.
A mother’s love never changes for her children, no matter what they turn into. Even a murderer’s mother will love him despite all his shortcomings . The grief of a mother is untold when she sees her offspring dying and breathing his last. The audience sobs with her while Amitabh yearns for the comfort of her lap, only to die in his mother’s arms.
It is one of the movies which can be seen over and over again.