Kudrat 1981

Chandramukhi, Hema Malini, visits the hill resort of Shimla with her parents for the first time in her life, and a uncanny sense of familiarity shadows her steps. The atmosphere of the mountain retreat feels almost remembered, as if a memory from another time lingers just beyond reach. In this setting, Chandramukhi and her family cross paths with Dr. Naresh Gupta, a physician whose growing interest in Chandramukhi sets the stage for a delicate conversation about marriage between their families. The encounter stirs a quiet tension, especially when Mohan Kapur, Rajesh Khanna, arrives in town to meet his patron and godfather, Janak Singh, Raaj Kumar. Janak, a formidable figure, has a plan: his daughter Karuna Singh, Priya Rajvansh, should marry Mohan. Out of gratitude for Janak’s generosity that funded his education, Mohan agrees and becomes engaged to Karuna, sealing a bond that feels right on the surface but carries a deeper, unresolved current.

On a chance encounter, Chandramukhi dashes into Mohan, and a strange, undeniable connection lingers between them. Mohan also meets Saraswati Devi, an elderly singer who seems shocked to recognize him but keeps her thoughts to herself. As fate nudges them closer, Chandramukhi’s behavior around Mohan grows puzzling; she is haunted by nightmares of a man named Madhav, who is Mohan’s doppelganger, inexplicably plummeting to death from a cliff. Naresh grows wary that something is amiss, and he urges Mohan to help uncover the truth behind these eerie visions and silent tells.

During a daytime excursion, Chandramukhi’s memories unfold in a rush: she was Paro in a previous life, while Madhav was her lover. A brutal memory surfaces of a zamindar’s son who raped Paro and, in a moment of tragedy, caused her death. The revelations don’t end there, and Naresh realizes that his own involvement with this romance may need to fade as the couple’s bond rekindles. With Chandramukhi’s help, Mohan learns that Saraswati Devi is Satto, Madhav’s sister, and Satto reveals the true villain: Janak Singh himself.

Mohan finds himself in a moral and legal dilemma. He has broken off his engagement to Karuna for Chandramukhi, yet the fight now shifts to bringing Janak to court. Karuna, unaware of the full truth, steps in to defend her father against what she believes to be a conspiracy. The courtroom drama unfolds with the chilling admission that Janak is indeed guilty of Paro’s murder and Madhav’s death. Paro’s curse—that nature would take something precious from him as he took something from her—casts a long shadow over the proceedings. Mohan’s case seems to tilt against him until a fresh lead reshapes the narrative.

The investigation takes a decisive turn when Mohan discovers a mansion tied to Paro’s supposed murder. He tracks down Billi Ram, a senile mason who might hold the last clue to Paro’s disappearance. Billi Ram recalls that Janak had summoned him to patch a wall in the very mansion where the truth hides behind crumbling history. With the police, the wall is torn down, and a skeleton is revealed to Karuna, who collapses under the weight of this new, brutal truth. In shock, she returns home and, in a final act of despair, sets the house on fire and perishes inside, playing a piano as the flames claim her.

As Janak absorbs the full gravity of Paro’s curse and the weight of his crimes, he pleads guilty in court and is sentenced accordingly. The moment is heavy with consequence, and as he is escorted out, he and Chandramukhi share a quiet, final glance—an acknowledgment of the past that cannot be undone. In the wake of these revelations, Chandramukhi and Mohan find their own union, tempered by tragedy and truth, while Naresh looks onward toward a new horizon in America. The tale closes on a note of hard-won love and the lingering echoes of old sins that could not be ignored.