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Nastik (नास्तिक)

Nastik (नास्तिक) is a Hindi and Sanskrit word meaning an unbeliever or atheist, one who denies the existence of God, and in classical usage also one who does not accept the authority of the Vedas or rebirth; it is the direct opposite of aastik (आस्तिक, believer)¹^•². The Monier-Williams Sanskrit dictionary defines nāstika as "atheistical, infidel" and "an atheist or unbeliever (opp. to āstika)"¹. The word is best known to general audiences as the title of two Hindi films, a 1954 drama directed by I. S. Johar and a 1983 action drama starring Amitabh Bachchan³^•⁴.

Key fact	Detail
Meaning	Nāstika: unbeliever, atheist, heretic; one who denies God, the Vedas, or rebirth; opposite of āstika¹^•²
1954 film	Directed and written by I. S. Johar for Filmistan; stars Ajit, Nalini Jaywant, Ulhas; music C. Ramchandra; 2h 28m³
1983 film	Directed by Pramod Chakravorty, produced by Vinod Doshi, written by Sachin Bhowmick; released 18 February 1983⁴
1983 cast	Amitabh Bachchan (Shankar/Bhola), Hema Malini (Gauri), Pran (Balbir), Amjad Khan (Tiger)⁵
1983 music	Kalyanji-Anandji, lyrics Anand Bakshi; soundtrack of 7 tracks, about 32 minutes⁶^•⁷
1983 box office	₹38 million (₹3.8 crore) lifetime India net; verdict "Average" (Bollywood Hungama) or "Above Average" (KeepAlive Bollywood)⁸^•⁹
Famous essay	Bhagat Singh's "Why I am an Atheist" (मैं नास्तिक क्यों हूँ), written in Lahore Central Jail, first published in The Peepal, 27 September 1931¹⁰

Spoilers

Plot: Nastik (1983)

Plot. Shankar, the son of a village temple priest, sees his father murdered by the treacherous landlord Tiger (Amjad Khan), and his mother and sister are trapped in their burning house¹⁷. Blaming God, he grows up an atheist, flees to the city, and becomes a thief working with Balbir (Pran) and Gauri (Hema Malini)¹⁷. He discovers that his mother and sister are alive, learns that Tiger survived as well, and the story turns on whether he takes revenge and whether the atheist comes to believe in God again¹⁷. In one plot turn, instead of killing Tiger, Shankar blinds him¹⁷. The cast also includes Sarika as Mala, Tiger's sister, Deven Verma as Gayaprasad, Madan Puri as Police Inspector Ganga Ram, Rita Bhaduri as Shankar's sister Shanti, Nalini Jaywant as Shankar's mother, and Bharat Bhushan as the priest¹⁸^•¹⁹.

The word

In Sanskrit lexicography, nāstika carries several overlapping senses: an unbeliever or atheist, a denier of the Vedas, and one who does not believe in rebirth or a creator of the world¹^•¹¹. Hindi dictionaries gloss it as a person who does not accept God, the afterlife, or the scriptures, and as the reverse of aastik². In the classification of Indian philosophy, a school that accepts the authority of the Vedas is called aastik and one that does not is called naastik¹².

The word also titles a well-known work of modern Hindi prose. Bhagat Singh wrote the essay "Why I am an Atheist" (मैं नास्तिक क्यों हूँ) while imprisoned in Lahore Central Jail, and it was first published in the Lahore newspaper The Peepal on 27 September 1931; it is counted among the most discussed and influential parts of his writing, and it has been republished many times, including in recent Hindi collections¹⁰.

Nastik (1954)

The earlier Nastik is a Hindi drama directed and written by I. S. Johar, produced by Filmistan, and released on 1 January 1954 with a running time of 2 hours 28 minutes³^•¹³. It stars Ajit Khan, Nalini Jaywant, and Ulhas, with music by C. Ramchandra³. Its protagonist, Ajit, turns an atheist after his parents die in the 1947 partition riots; he later loses his younger sister and brother, holds the Mahant responsible, and pursues him, at one point marrying the Mahant's daughter Rama (Nalini Jaywant) as part of his revenge¹⁴. The film holds an IMDb rating of 6.7 from 53 votes³.

Nastik (1983)

The 1983 film is a Hindi-language action drama produced by Vinod Doshi and directed by Pramod Chakravorty, written by Sachin Bhowmick, photographed by V. K. Murthy, and edited by Narendra Arora⁴. It was released in India on 18 February 1983 with a U censor certificate (certificate number 103348, dated 9 February 1983), and Cinemaazi records a run time of 159 minutes on 18 reels of 35 mm film¹⁵; other databases list run times from 151 minutes to about 3 hours⁴^•¹⁶.

Music. The score is by the duo Kalyanji-Anandji with lyrics by Anand Bakshi⁶. The soundtrack album contains seven tracks totaling about 32 minutes, sung by Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Anup Jalota, Amit Kumar, Alka Yagnik, Sadhana Sargam, and Mahendra Kapoor, among others; songs include "Aaj Ka Ye Din" and "Main Hoon Tere Samne"⁷.

Reception and box office. India Today reviewed the film in its issue of 31 March 1983, calling it "dull, hackneyed, and extremely pedestrian" and "an unimaginatively routine pot-boiler with virtually nothing to set it apart from the hundreds of similar films which preceded it"; the reviewer, Chander Uday Singh, noted that it was the first new release featuring Amitabh Bachchan since his widely reported accident and fight for life seven months earlier²⁰. Bollywood Hungama lists a lifetime India net collection of ₹38 million (₹3.8 crore) and a verdict of "Average"⁸, while the KeepAlive Bollywood compilation gives a net gross of ₹38,000,000 and a gross of ₹76,000,000 with the verdict "Above Average"⁹. The film holds an IMDb rating of 5.4 from 486 votes⁵.

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 1980s

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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