Listening to: Sachaa Jhutha (1970)

Since Rajesh Khanna passed away last month, I have wanted to review one of his films but have been deliberately procrastinating. I think perhaps I am having trouble coming to terms with his death. He represents an era in the Hindi film world which is personally meaningful to me. Through his films I passed from childhood to my early teenage years, learnt to appreciate filmi music and became more aware of the world in general. A coming of age as it were. With his passing away a bit of my world has passed away too. The sand castle of my life has already been assaulted as the tides have started coming in; this is one more step towards its destruction.

So when my husband picked up Sachaa Jhootha as our late night watch yesterday, I did have a few moments of reluctance. Surprisingly, I have never seen this film before! On the whole it was not a bad film; the first half was well-scripted and brisk but the director somewhat lost control of the plot in the second half.

Bhola (Rajesh Khanna) is a dirt-poor young man from a village. He lives with his disabled sister under the cruel treatment of his step-mother. Uneducated but with some musical skills, he decides to go to the city to earn a living. Good hearted but extremely naive, I could not find this character as appealing as the film makers wanted it to be.

Ranjit (also Rajesh Khanna) is a rich diamond merchant by day and a jewel-thief by night, a leader of his own gang. He is clever and cunning but ruthless, not stopping at even murder. Thankfully there is no background story to wring sympathy for him. Bhola and Ranjit look, as you can well guess, exactly alike. And no, they are not long lost twins, thank God!

When Bhola comes into town, he gets mistaken for Ranjit at a costume party. Ranjit, who is in disguise, sees this and immediately thinks of all the opportunities this presents. He cons Bhola into training to be his double. His in-house moll Ruby (a meaty role for Faryal) is Bhola’s trainer.

The police have suspicions that Ranjit is the jewel thief but have no proof; they make elaborate plans to trap him. The plot is devised by Inspector Pradhan (a very dashing young Vinod Khanna). Another officer, Rita (a gorgeous Mumtaz), is to act as the lure to catch Ranjit who has an eye for a pretty lady.

What follows is typical Bollywood fare of the 70’s. There are uses of unspecified chemicals by the thieves  – a truth serum and some kind of stunning mixture. There are police bugs and inefficient snipers. There is a clunky recording device. There is a sword fight. And best of all, there is a really clever dog chasing a car, two cars chasing the same dog, and the dog finding its way to the court to identify the bad man in the climax!!

Rajesh Khanna is adequate as Bhola but quite good as Ranjit. His representation of innocence and naiveté borders on imbecilic which I quite object to. His dancing has always been abysmal and surely he could have done better with his wardrobe choice? Red trousers with a bright red shirt, a bottle-green suit..honestly!! However he does know how to deliver dialogue and has his signature charm. And as Ranjit, he does ‘cold-hearted’ very well. This role won him a Filmfare award.

Mumtaz is not at all convincing as a police officer. But in her role within her role to attract Ranjit she just has to look pretty and she does that and how! This film was one of her stepping stones from being a supporting actress to a lead one, and she looks tentative at all times.

Vinod Khanna too seems somewhat amateurish at times but so very handsome that I didn’t much care! Again, this was before he started playing lead parts and his skills are obviously raw. The supporting cast members do reasonably well.

The music by Kalyanji-Anandji is not of uniform quality. There are two good songs but the others left me cold. The lyrics are by Indivar, Gulshan Bawra, and Qamar Jalabadi.

• Meri Pyari Behaniya – Kishore Kumar. The song which was to be played in thousands of baraats (marriage processions) in the future has a slightly melancholic air. Normally the baraat songs are cheerful and the bidai songs are sad, but this is a strange mixture of two emotions! Well tuned and well sung, I am unable to judge its true merit as it is overly familiar!
• Dil Ko Dekho Chehra Na Dekho – Kishore Kumar. Rajesh cannot dance but Kishore can certainly sing! The melody is not too bad but somehow doesn’t quite hit the mark.
• Duniya Mein Pyar Ki – Asha Bhonsle. A totally pedestrian tune warmed up slightly by Mumu’s wriggles. I am sorry to say that even her dancing at places is stiff and unconvincing. Don’t bother listening.
• Yunhi Tum Mujhse Baat – Mohammad Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar. This superb gem is a surprise in the otherwise middling album. Kishore Kumar was in his ascendency at this time yet it is Rafi who strikes a chord with this song. Melodious and beautifully sung.
• O Kehdo Kehdo – Kishore Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar. Another rather pedestrian song, I can’t recall this song ever playing in the radio. Did it? But this is at least well sung.

My song choice for the day is evident I guess. Enjoy !!

Listening to : Chor Machaye Shor (1974)

I confess. I chose this film because of a pair of incisors. In my teenage years, I thought that the smiles these incisors graced were the most charming ever! To indulge my curiosity to see if the smile felt as charming as it did then, I picked this film for today’s music review.

This film, like a number of other Bollywood films, has left me feeling as if I am in some alternate universe which looks and feels like mine, but is disturbingly different. It suffers from the normal shortcoming of films from India, a bad and manipulative script. How they insult the intelligence of the viewer! They throw in random elements together into a bizarre story where these is neither logic nor sense. For the curious, this movie offers Mumu in weird and wonderful wigs,  Shashi in a  variety of colourful shirts and neck clothes, a ridiculously easy prison break, a most inept police chase, even more inept villains, simplistic conversions of ‘bad men’ into ‘good men’, Shashi as action man (!!), corrupt politicians, corrupt rich people and corrupt dacoits.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much evidence of the incisors but when they appear, the smile is as charming as it always was.

The music by Ravindra Jain is good and includes two very memorable songs.  Lyrics are by Gulzar and Inderjeet Singh.

• Ek Dal Par Tota Bole – Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar  A pleasant romantic duet, quite enjoyable.
• Le Jayenge – Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhonsle. This superhit song has wonderful verve and energy. I have heard it so many times that I am not sure whether I love it or its familiarity. 
• Ghungroo Ki Tarah – Kishore Kumar Great voice. Beautiful melody. Good lyrics by Gulzar कभी टूट गया कभी तोडा गया सौ बार मुझे फिर जोड़ा गया यूंही लुट लुट के और मिट मिट के बनता रहा हूँ मैं  Very well Put!! That’s life, hmmm? 
• Paon me dori – Mohammad Rafi, Asha Bhonsle. This lovely melody reminds one of the hills of India, I like it well.
• Agre se Ghaghro – Asha Bhonsle. Not catchy and the melody is common. Achance for Mumu to show her dance moves.

Click here to listen to the full album.

As my top choice doesn’t offer even a glimpse of a charming smile, here is my second choice :

And for Kishore fans, here is the fantastic Ghungroo Ki Tarah.

Listening to : Do Raaste (1969)

I let my husband pick a movie from my nice little stack of unwatched DVDs and he zoomed straight in on this film. No surprise there, he is a fan of both Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz! This is the second movie of the very successful pair I was seeing within one month and I sat down to watch it with great expectations. They have such good on-screen chemistry, its a pleasure to see! The story based on a novel by Chandrakant Kakodkar had also won an award.

My first comment would be that it should be called a Balraj Sahni film, not a Rajesh Khanna one. Yes, Rajesh is the young fellow who gets the girl but he is not the protagonist by a long shot. The story is oft seen in the hallowed corridors of Bollywood studios – self-sacrificing older members of the family, one ‘good’ and one ‘bad’ younger member of family and the ensuing drama. An example is Baghban, where the oldies are the parents. Here it is an older step-brother. Prem Chopra with his scheming wife Bindu is the bad one, Rajesh Khanna is the good one.

I must say that I have much objection to stories of this kind. Why is it right to risk the well-being of all for the success of one? Here the house is mortgaged to send a boy to London to study. Not that it doesn’t happen in India. It does. My question is, is it as saintly as they make it out to be? If its like an investment – we’ll put in the money and expect good returns at a later date – its not out of familial affection, but a business. In that case, a contract should be drawn out, surely? There is no place for emotion in business yet these stories are all about emotion.

I object to self-sacrifice in principle. To say that one’s own self is not worth the same as everyone else shows some deep psychological defect, not an entry to sainthood!

That said, the movie is not bad for its genre, only poor editing lets it down. Things are all too drawn out. The ending had me drop my jaw in amazement. HOW could they magically solve all problems in the space of 5 mins? Flawed people don’t become angels at the drop of a hat! It was a very weak ending.

All the actors do a good job, Balraj Sahni in particular. Mumtaz’s role is minor really but she does a good job of providing oomph. For those interested, there is a better review here.

The music, which is my primary focus, is wonderful. Laxmikant-Pyarelal have given us some lovely solos as well as duets and the lyrics penned by Anand Bakshi are very good indeed.

• Yeh Reshmi Zulfen – Mohammad Rafi. Beautiful song, truly lovely. I am caressed by Rafi’s voice and his pronunciation of some Urdu words feel ooooh so sensuous!  
• Chchup Gaye Tare – Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi.  A lovely duet, full of fun and romance. I know it’s Kishore’s voice that works best with Rajesh but this is an example how Rafi’s voice does a great job too! Lata sounds magnificent. Mumu does her jhatka dance very nicely and looks luscious. The lyrics are not bad..
  इक वोह दिन था मिलाती ना थी तू अखियाँ  |
  इक यह दिन है तू जागे सारी सारी रतियाँ  ||
  बन गयी गोरी चकोरी यह क्या बात हो गयी |
  जिस का डर था बेदर्दी वही बात हो गयी ||
  Not exactly earth shattering poetry but cute, no? And when Rajesh does his crinkly smile, I can’t help but smile back at him! 
• Bindiya Chamkegi – Lata Mangeshkar. Mumu makes a great little temptress in this song of seduction. A playful song which Lata manages with elan.
• Do Rang Duniya Ke – Mukesh. So this was the title song of the film! I had never heard it before, and won’t again.
• Khizan Ke Phool – Kishore Kumar. Lovely sad song by Kishore, he sure knows how to pull at one’s heart strings! Listen to his voice at the lower registers, there is this little kharrash which I just adore! The lyrics are well written and suitable for a depressive.. Take this for example (unpoetic bad translation by me, the original sounds lovely) :
  खिज़ां के फूल पे आती बहार नहीं  | मेरे नसीब में ऐ दोस्त तेरा प्यार नहीं ||
  (Spring never comes to autumn flowers, your love is not in my destiny)
  Or this
  किसी को अपने मुक़द्दर पे इख़्तियार नहीं (No one has control over their destiny) or this
  किसी ख़ुशी का मेरे दिल को इंतज़ार नहीं (my heart has no hope for any happiness). Sad. Lovely.
• Apni Apni Biwi – Usha Mangeshkar. Never knew of this song before! A similar theme has been sung by Amitabh Bachchan which is much better known.

Click here to listen to the whole album. I have to choose Chup Gaye Tare for its happy mood – and also because I love rain songs!

 

Listening to: Aap Ki Kasam (1974)

Remembering how good the songs of this film are, I bought a DVD of this film recently and set down to watch it yesterday. Oddly enough I remembered the first part of the film very well but had totally forgotten the later half so it was almost like watching it anew. I am surprised to have forgotten it; its quite a good film.

Rajesh Khanna’s character is not the typical Bollywood hero, all glitter and gloss. He has his good side, but also suffers from irrational jealousy, lack of trust and is unable to recover from setbacks – essentially a weak character. Rajesh Khanna does a commendable job of portraying the descent from happiness to jealousy & anger and then to realisation & despair. Towards the end he hams it up a bit, but as I spent the last 10 mins of the film sobbing into my tissue, I didn’t notice it much!

Mumtaz is also not the typical heroine. She shimmers as a young girl in love, stands up for herself against an irrationally accusing husband and leaves him, breaks down after the eventual divorce and dazedly follows her father’s decisions for her. Her performance is very good and she looks delectable in some scenes.

Rehman & Dina Pathak are her non-typical filmi-parents. On her choosing a man not from their own well-to-do background, they happily support her (it’s rare as a dodo in a Hindi film!) and when she comes back to them, they are supportive in quite another way. Both actors are SO good, I admire them tremendously!

Only Sanjeev Kumar’s character is not that convincing, but he does a remarkable job as always. My only gripe is his not taking even the minimal effort to convincingly portray playing a sitar! Very annoying!

Should you watch it? Oh yes! If all these interesting personalities don’t grab your attention, the 70’s wardrobe surely would !! Stitched-into-tight pant-suits in bright colours at the start and glorious saris later, Mumu looks alluring at all times. As for Rajesh, remember Guru-shirts with belts outside? Safari suits in vivid colours? Its such fun to re-live all these old fashion trends! Available free on Youtube (legally), click here to watch the full movie. There is a good review and synopsis of the story in this site.

The music by R.D.Burman is very good indeed, just as I remembered.

• Suno, Kaho – Lata Mangeshkar & Kishore Kumar : Nice perky duet, beautiful scenery, Mumu in a super-tight yellow gharara, what’s not to like?
• Karvate Badalte Rahe – Lata Mangeshkar & Kishore Kumar : Very VERY romantic song with the leads cavorting happily in the snow (thankfully well dressed unlike normal Bollywood leads!). My husband remarked that Mumu seems to have put on weight..but I reminded him that she was always like this, and much admired too! Our eyes have started to expect slimmer ladies.  Rajesh looks handsome & stylish in a cap and Mumu glowing as always. Any female heart would melt if Kishore were to croon तुम चले जाओ नहीं तो कुछ न कुछ हो जायेगा . Lovely song.
• Paas Nahin Aana – Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar : A playful song, its quite melodious and easy to listen to.
• Jai Jai Shiv Shankar – Lata Mangeshkar & Kishore Kumar : Now this is a seriously fun song, exuberant, joyful and Mumu & Rajesh have acted it out very well. I love Mumu’s orange sari with black applique work, I want it!! As for Lata & Kishore, they have outdone themselves! Unforgettable song.
• Chori Chori Chupke Chupke – Lata Mangeshkar. Lata’s solo is beautifully sung, another lovely song.
• Zindagi Ke Safar Mein – Kishore Kumar. Kishore’s solo is the better one, he is helped by a sombre note to the music which he does so well. The lyrics are very meaningful and well written – पतझड़ में फूल जो मुरझा जाते हैं वो बहारों के आने से खिलते नहीं  Kudos to Anand Bakshi for penning these lines.

I recommend listening to whole album here, there are no duds in it! As I am finding it too hard to select just one song, here are my top selections :

Jai Jai Shiv Shankar which is so very happy..

and Zindagi Ke Safar Mein to showcase the talent of Kishore, RD & Anand Bakshi, a superb combination! (sorry, no embedding)

http://youtu.be/j2K0VGzQ8gY

Enjoy!

Listening to: Loafer (1973)

The memory of this song has haunted me for 38 years now. Every now and then my brain will trawl through its old and ill-used cells and savour the pleasure of Rafi’s voice with the beauty of Dharmendra’s  presence. Yet, I have never seen this film. My memories are fuelled merely by viewings of the song clip on television during the seventies.

So today, when I sat to watch the film, it was rather exciting! Seeing movies from the seventies is rather distracting though. I kept trying to assimilate the interesting wardrobe choices of the leads : Pants with large brown checks! Grey shiny suit with extra large black lapels! Tiny red skirt with tinier hot pants! Black long dress with a weird overcoaty thing! If I am not distracted by wardrobe, its by Dharm’s disarming English accent : sa-late->slate, un-cull->uncle and the like. Must say though that Dharmendra looks heart stoppingly handsome and Mumtaz quite luscious to match!

On the whole its a good time-pass. If one doesn’t look for meaning or anything deep, it’s enjoyable enough.

The music is by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and the lyrics by Anand Bakshi, both worthy of respect.

• Kahan hai woh diwana – Asha Bhonsle. Padma Khanna gyrates well but I don’t see this rather plaintive song for a cabaret number. 
• Motiyon ki lari who main – Asha Bhonsle. This time it is Mumu who gyrates in a short red skirt. I remembered this song well though, so a smile for the sake of nostalgia.
• Aaj Mausam Bada Beiman Hai – Mohammed Rafi. Unbelievably good. Impossibly good. Wonderfully good. I just melt when Rafi croons

  ऐ मेरे यार ऐ हुस्न वाले |
  दिल किया मैंने तेरे हवाले ||
  तेरे मर्जी पे अब बात ठैरी |
  जीने दे चाहे तू मार डाले ||
  तेरे हाथों में अब मेरी जान है ||

  Rafi is the absolute king of this type of singing and can never be replaced, absolutely never!
• Teri Ishq Mein – Lata Mangeshkar. A beautiful song and Lata is in great voice. Mumu looks good too!
• Duniya mein tera hai bada naam – Mahendra Kapoor. Very proficiently sung but not to my taste.
• Koi Shehri Babu – Asha Bhonsle. Mumtaz is in her element with songs like this. A good dancer indeed! The song is lovely too and Asha does justice to it. Nowadays marriage songs are almost always group dances with intricate steps. This feels so different!

You can listen to the whole album here. But for today, my choice is a no-choice.

Enjoy!