This movie made me want to stick needles in my eyes. Every emotional excess was indulged in, and the only enjoyment to be had were the songs by Ravi and a Helen dance. Tragedy piled upon misery piled upon desperation made it difficult to watch for more than 20 to 30 minutes at a time, so it took a week (and a lot of grit and determination) for me to get through it. Why did I feel the need to get through it? I have no idea. Probably I need therapy.
In a nutshell, this is what I hated:
- The Wretched Heroine (Rajshree) sacrifices and sacrifices and sacrifices some more (and weeps copious tears as she does, leading one strange man to “admire her courage”)
- Every single character indulges in torrents of self-pity and competitive self-recrimination (“I felt worse” “No I felt worse” “No I felt worse” and on and on and on and on)
- Biswajeet is a limp dishrag
- Rajendranath’s character Hari the Beauty Expert was wasted potential; instead of being funny he was just irritating
- The depths of despair were plumbed over and over and over again (hit by a car and crippled? just wait! the worst is yet to come!)
- When forced to choose sides, our Hero Dishrag chooses his brand new “friend” Prem Chopra instead of the faithful (and self-sacrificing) biwi who has stood steadfastly by him through thick and thin (see bullet point above)
- So…many…screeching and wailing violins…they were supposed to make my eyes well with tears, but succeeded in making me want to kill myself (or everyone onscreen)
Urgh. I was willing to give Biswajeet another chance, but he was just as milquetoast-y as he was in Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi. There will be no more chances!
He has as much personality as a photo (or dishrag) hanging on a wall, less if it’s a photo of Shammi.
It doesn’t help that he reminds me of Pee-wee Herman.
On the bright side, the songs by Ravi were beautiful, and there was a lovely Helen dance:
…I agreed to do this movie!”
Tun Tun was on screen for an amusing three minutes, trying to fit through a doorway:
And there was a little subtitle fun:
His shoes, people, he was padding his shoes to make himself taller.
If anyone tries to make you watch this, stick needles in his or her eyes and run away as fast as you can.
MemsaabStory 