I needed a respite from a spate of bad/mediocre Hindi movies, so I dragged out some favorites to watch again. Jugnu is one of them. Dharmendra and Hema Malini are dreamy together, and Pran takes a break from villainy. It contains 100% of the Recommended Daily Masala Allowance: it’s almost three hours long and jam-packed with excitement and entertainment. It’s also one of my sister’s favorite films, and there’s no higher recommendation than that!
These screenshots show an actress and an actor who play husband and wife in this film. Who are they, and what is the name of the film (hint: the actor plays the title character)?
Our winner is Shweta, with a big assist from v9y and Carla. I thought this was a difficult one, but guess I will need to try harder!
The movie is Halaku (1956). Pran plays Halaku, a Mongol conqueror of Iran, who falls in love with Meena Kumari. This doesn’t go down well with his wife (Veena) or Meena’s beloved (Ajit, in one of his early hero roles, before he became a stock villain). The music by Shankar Jaikishan is beautiful, and Helen and Minoo Mumtaz have a dance together too!
Can anyone tell me who this lovely lady is? She was “Maa” in films from the 1950s into the 1980s.
v9y knew the answer: it is Mumtaz Begum (or Begam). If I had an Indian mother I might want it to be her!
This movie is so dreadful that I normally would throw it in the “I’ll never watch this one again on purpose” bin and not give it another thought. But it’s interesting in that it has three actors I really like generally (Dharmendra, Rehman and Nutan) and I’m sort of amazed that they would DO this film. And, it’s a perfect example of what I find hard to tolerate sometimes on my journey to watch every Hindi movie ever made (at least the ones on DVD). People often ask me what I don’t like about Hindi movies; here’s your answer.
This should have been my first clue that I would hate it, except I didn’t realize yet that by “Man” they really meant “men” and had forgotten to add “women don’t count” at the end.
“Experts believe that now that Fidel has resigned, he will either be succeeded by his brother, Raul, or by his idiot son, Fidel W. Castro.”
-David Letterman
I got some gourmet dog cookies for Gemma. They are delicious. They taste like ginger snaps, and go perfectly with a cup of chai.
Should I worry that I’m eating my dog’s cookies? And don’t want to share?
My beloved Shammi’s second (and last) directorial venture, Bundal Baaz is a fantastical fairy tale beset by really cracktastic special effects (courtesy of Babubhai Mistry, one of the pioneers of special effects photography in Hindi cinema). It’s a goofy, fun ride, although the plot wanders quite a bit. Shammi as the genie with good intentions but poor execution shows his usual mischievous flair, and the music by RD Burman is great 1970’s funk-a-delic which complements the mayhem on screen perfectly.
I love this line from Raja Sen’s review of Jodhaa Akbar on Rediff:
Aishwarya, pretty as ever, is not given much dialogue, a directing masterstroke.
Other than that, though, I have to part ways with him on this one. I’m climbing aboard the “All Hail Ashutosh Gowariker!” train.
This has been a week of real milestones in the Hindi movie world…
Pran celebrated his 88th birthday in style; Sanjay Dutt got married (also in style); Rajendranath passed away; and yesterday actress Manorama passed away also.
She was in a LOT of movies in her lifetime, the last being Deepa Mehta’s Water (she played Madhumati, the “head” of the widow’s ashram). Probably her best known role was as the wicked aunt in Seeta Aur Geeta.
May she also rest in peace.
An actor whose work I have enjoyed through many, many movies passed away yesterday at the age of 76—or as they say very beautifully in India: Rajendranath is no more.
I always thought he had the good looks to be a hero, but he was always cast in comic roles—which he did perfectly.
May he rest in peace!
As requested, additional photos:
