In which film do Dharmendra and Rajendranath pose as husband and wife for the sake of a baby?
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May 17, 2008
Preetam (1971)
The title screens are pretty cheerful, with hearts and rainbows and whatnot. The opening scene is not. But before I get started on that, this is another Bhappi Sonie produced-and-directed film, and one of the last of the Shammi-starrers (as hero). He is *sigh* aging and bloated—but I still adore him!
There’s plenty else to love, too. The songs by Shankar Jaikishan are marvellous, including what I think is one of Helen’s finest numbers EVER. And that’s saying something! There’s a very young Vinod Khanna, Mehmood in a Cleopatra wig, sparkling and gorgeous Leena Chandavarkar, and some good subtitle mischief to boot.
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May 16, 2008
Jheel Ke Us Paar (1973)
May is now officially Bhappi Sonie month here at MemsaabStory. I’ve already written about Janwar and Pyar Hi Pyar, and now this! It’s a story with plenty of pathos, villainy, and some sweet loving for Dharmendra and Mumtaz, ably supported by Veena, Iftekhar, Shatrughan Sinha and (for a sadly short time) Pran.
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May 15, 2008
This just in
I have it on good authority that “my” episode of Bollywood Ka Boss is being telecast this Sunday, May 18th at 9:00 pm on the Sahara Filmy channel.
So if you live in India, or otherwise have access to it, watch! And let me know what you think (feel free to lie in order to be nice; I know that I looked like a deer caught in the headlights).
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May 14, 2008
Separated at birth
I’ve only ever seen this one photo of Harman Baweja (Priyanka Chopra’s bf and star of the upcoming Love Story 2050)—don’t actors usually have lots of pictures of themselves?—and to me he looks just like Ricky Nelson, the late singer (although I had trouble finding a photo of Ricky that matched).
May 12, 2008
Kangan (1959)
This is a terrific filmi noir murder mystery. The subtitles are excellent! The acting is first-class, the story is interesting and moves along at a good pace, and the characters and relationships draw you in and make you care what happens.
And if you’ve been wanting to see Nirupa Roy as a heroine instead of a mother, here’s your chance!
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May 11, 2008
Anita (1967)
Anita might be a good film. The only thing is: the SUBTITLES! SUCKED!! They came on five-ten seconds after the dialogue or scene had ended; sometimes flashed so briefly that there was no way to read them; and very often there were large gaps where single words would just show up occasionally. Because the story was fairly complex (a murder/suicide/reincarnation/multiple personality/ghost story) I had a headache in no time.
And I became distracted by mostly irrelevant details (as you will see). Luckily there were plenty of irrelevant details to entertain, but still. As I said—I think properly understood, this might be a good film. I wish I knew for sure. The music is certainly delightful!
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May 10, 2008
Trivia time #20
In the film Namak Halaal (1982) there is a funny scene in the hotel club where Arjun (Amitabh Bachchan) has food spilled on one of his shoes; when he tries to clean it off in the canal that goes through the club, he loses it, and then spends the next 20 minutes or so trying desperately to get it back without being noticed (this naturally involves a drunk man falling in, Amitabh almost falling in, and general mayhem).
Which Hollywood film is this scene copied (almost exactly) from?
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May 9, 2008
Feeding the obsession
I got an antique sari today. It’s sublimely beautiful: a dusty sky blue, gossamer-fine, sheer silk with real zari woven borders and pallu (the zari has tarnished a bit in some of the folds). The field is plain, but the blue color is so beautiful. The woman I bought it from said her grandmother purchased it in Delhi in the 1940’s.
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