Archive for February, 2008

February 12, 2008

Adhikar (1971)

After Ansoo Ban Gaye Phool, I set out to find more Deb Mukherjee films to see whether he could hold up under further scrutiny. I found this one:

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Hooray! It’s 154 minutes of Trauma-Drama-O-Rama in Eastman Kodak Color. The main ingredients in this potboiler are:

  • Several Big Misunderstandings
  • A series of Bad Decisions
  • An endless string of Coincidences
  • Many Lost Opportunities
  • A couple of Unnecessary Side Plots

and some very tight pants and loudly patterned shirts. If you don’t care for soap operas then you needn’t read further. You won’t like Adhikar. If you do sneak peeks at soaps on sick days and holidays…read on! But be warned: I can’t do this justice without a verrrrry long narrative and many many screen shots.

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February 7, 2008

Why Hindi movies?

Early last year, I met an Indian filmmaker. I’m a big fan of his work, and he seemed quite surprised to find an American girl who had seen his movies. During a conversation he mentioned the song “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu” from the film Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi. “Hmm,” I said, “that’s from Howrah Bridge, not Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.” His jaw dropped and he stared at me, astonished.

I know my Helen songs.

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February 6, 2008

Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi (1966)

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I was pretty happy to finally find this film on DVD since I’ve long loved OP Nayyar’s songs from it. Also it features three of my favorite people: Prithviraj Kapoor, Mumtaz and Helen. It’s beautifully shot in black and white and is very atmospheric (except for the omnipresent bright orange Time N Tune logo). The story takes some unexpected turns, the music is stunning, and overall the pace and the acting is good. But I ended up feeling that I should have liked this movie better than I actually did.

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February 4, 2008

Manchali (1973)

Leena’s (Leena Chandavarkar) marriage has been fixed. She is not happy. And when she is not happy, nobody is happy.

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February 1, 2008

Shikar (1968)

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Set in a jungle estate, this is a fun movie mystery with bountiful clues and plenty of suspects to go around. What really makes it work though is the stellar cast: Dharmendra and Asha Parekh star along with Sanjeev Kumar—he won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award for it. They are also supported by Johnny Walker, Manmohan and Rehman—and my favorite girl Helen who gets two dances and a substantial role in the film! The songs by Shankar-Jaikishan are wonderful, and the dancing superb.

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