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Songs are the only attraction of this 1964 Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala starrer. The only reason I got tricked into watching this movie :). Naushad has done a terrific job. My personal favorite being "Tere Husn Ki". Also, the above collection misses "Hum Apni Aazadi Ko Hargiz Mita Sakte Nahi".
Worst part of the movie is the appellation - a complete misnomer! It should have been titled 'Chitrahaar' (a very popular song show on Doordarshan channel in India) perhaps. Movie is very slow paced and loosely directed by Ram Mukerji, Rani Mukerji's father, who's also responsible for the screenplay.
Story: Dilip Kumar runs a newspaper and is a happy-go-lucky guy who spends most of the time trying to woo Vyjayantimala, a princess who tries to hide her real identity. Approximately, 2/3rd of the movie is gone in this. Then, somehow a big nice political leader is killed by goons and the hero-heroine run for the rest of the movie as Dilip gets trapped in the plot. And the end is all well where the goons are finally exposed.
Yep, the storyline is pretty thin. A better job on editing table would have helped. Performances have been moderate and choreography department needed improvement.
Rating: 2.0/5.0
Why? Yes, this is the question I asked myself. Why did I order this movie on netflix? Indeed, it was 'Order Diya Dard Liya'.
I had heard/read somewhere long back that the movie was very sentimental and all the female audience carried multiple handkerchiefs to the theatre. But alas, I would say the movie was anything but 'senti'-mental. There's nothing about the movie that I could even write - script, songs, direction, etc. - all a big disappointment. Though, the actors did put in a decent performance.
If the UI of a product sucks with no value to add, no one pays attention to the fact that the buttons/controls in UI worked wonderfully. Similarly, the performance of the various actors involved go in vain.
As mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, looks like AB talking to God asking him for answers and all (Mr. Natwarlal, Deewar, etc.), has been copied from this 1966 release.
If you are still interested, here is the story...
Story: Shankar (Dilip Kumar), grandson of some king, grows up as an orphan as his parents die on a stormy night in some water body. Shankar is adopted by a rich seth, who dies of a heart-attack, leaving behind his children - Ramesh (Pran) and Roopa (Waheeda Rehman). Ramesh is a wicked personality since childhood who abhors Shankar and starts treating Shankar as a servant of their house. Roopa and Shankar are in love, as expected. Another set of childhood friends - Rehman and his sister - ask Ramesh for Roopa's hand in marriage for the former.
Shankar is thrown out of the house wherein, he finds his long last heritage and turns into a prince overnight. He returns to find Roopa engaged to Rehman. He turns evil - tortures Ramesh, who dies eventually. He seeks emotional vendetta from Roopa too but after all it's a hindi movie - all ends well. There are turns and twists where Shankar fakes love to Rehman's sister as a part of his revenge.
As I said, too complex and not digestable plot makes me rate this movie very poorly. Not that I am not a Dilip Kumar fan, but you can choose to read a totally different perspective.
Rating: 1.5/5.0
The first Indian movie on the concept of dual roles - and trust me, the concept has not changed much since then - See Sita aur Gita or Chaalbaaz or Kishan Kanhaiya. And this is the movie I chose to entertain myself this week.
This movie, if seen even today, is an out and out entertainer. The music is good but not block-buster material either. But as far as story and screen play is concerned - brilliant is the term that defines it. And what stands above all this is Dilip Kumar(aka Yousuf Khan)'s acting. Before Amitabh Bachchan, I guess Dilip Kumar was the one who made it felt that style-personified dialogue delivery is an important aspect of acting. Though a hard-core Amitabh Bachchan fan, I do tend to agree with folks of the opinion that AB copies Dilip Kumar's acting style/persona quite a few times.
Apparently, this movie is one of the last hits of Dilip Kumar's reign as Bollywood's hero no. 1. "Last but not the least" aptly describes the acting prowess of Dilip Saab.
The story: Ram, introvert and mentally challenged to some extent, is coping with life with lot of difficulties whereas Shyam, a filmi-buffoon, enjoys every moment of life. Fate has them interchange their positions in life and both of them enjoy their instincts till they wait for Pran (their evil brother-in-law) to reveal the truth.
Highlights: Comic timing of Dilip Saab. The classic scene: Where street-smart Shyam enters a restaurant to eat like a glutton and escapes without a word... the same Dilip Kumar now entering as Ram, scared and hungry, asking for a cup of tea and being forced to pay 20-30 rupees for the food. Another scene: Where Shyam is eating food at Waheeda Rehman's place - the cuteness with which he says, "Khaane do na gareeb ko, duaaen denga" - is just uncherishable. Oh, you really got to see the movie to feel the punch. :)
It would be a grave injustice to not mention Waheeda Rehman and Pran's contributions. Waheeda Rehman, in the 1st half of the movie, before she falls in love with Shyam, is different from her usual roles of 'Sati Savitri' kind. Pran, an actor par excellence, conveys another winning performance.
A must watch reco is given to this movie. Namaste, Shabba-khair, Sasriyakaal ... till next time :)
Rating: 4.0/5.0
