Always willing to stand by his beliefs and even risk a gamble for them, Dutt bankrolled and directed this blood-splashed love story set in a bleak but beautiful desert.

Dutt cut no corners in filming a love affair (between him and Waheeda Rehman) doomed by feudal rivalries and needless bloodshed. He extracted a striking performance from a young Rakhee as a hapless widow.

Despite the gore and the tragedies, Dutt established the primacy of love and the futility of violence.