I had long ago decided that two or three 1980s-era Hindi disco movies was probably enough for me. But in the interests of a well-rounded filmi education, I needed to see a Kumar Gaurav movie; after all, he is Rajendra Kumar’s son and Sanjay Dutt’s brother-in-law. So I braved this one, and was surprised to find it quite sweet and very watchable.
Largely this was thanks to the afore-mentioned star son himself: he is just as cute as a button, making his character one you can really root for. Especially when he suffers under a Ma who really should have thought twice before she brought children into the world and Saeed Jaffrey (love him!) as the villain of the piece. I even actually liked the songs (by Biddu), although Indian disco is not usually my cup of tea.
Dev Kumar Verma (Kumar Gaurav) is a young man who dreams of being a famous singer although he’s forced to work in a men’s store to help his family make ends meet. That is, until the day he insults a customer and is fired. On his way home he walks on the beach and sings a song with some kids. It’s a cute song (“Muskaraye Ja”) with cute kids and Dev is…well, cute too.
A note here: I was amazed throughout the film by the tightness of Kumar Gaurav’s jeans. It’s a miracle that he was able to father children! They were painted onto his skinny legs! Thank goodness the 80’s are over.
When he reaches home and confesses his newly unemployed status to the family, his perennially unhappy Ma (Dina Pathak) scolds him. His father (AK Hangal) asks him why he doesn’t apply for admission to college and Dev says that he wants to be a singer. It’s an old argument, you can tell, which doesn’t stop Ma from launching into a harangue.
She’s so shrill that I have a headache within two minutes. You can see from their faces that her elder son Shiv (Raj Kiran) and husband are over it too.
Aargh. I’d run away from home just to get out of hearing range. Anyway, Dev is determined to get a job singing in a club. His best friend Salim (Raja Bundela) writes songs for him to sing, and encourages him to keep trying. To that end, Dev goes to see Rana (Saeed Jaffrey), the owner of a nightclub called Club 54. He’s turned away by one of Rana’s men (Bob Christo) but manages to sneak into the office behind him anyway. It doesn’t go well.
Rana (Saeed Jaffrey) is not a nice man. He’s on the phone threatening someone who owes him money when he notices Dev on a monitor.
I love a) the fish tanks behind him; b) the wall-color-coordinated pretty assistant whose job it is to hold the phone to his ear; c) the panting doberman with the Kali-like tongue; d) it’s Saeed Jaffrey! and e) his goondas are Bob Christo and Yusuf Khan, the best henchmen ever! Fabulous.
They dismiss Dev quickly and scornfully.
Salim urges Dev to give another club one last try. They go to Charlie’s Disco, where Maya (Rati Agnihotri) sings on stage every night. She’s singing “Boom Boom” as our heroes arrive. Fun fun!
Salim and Dev introduce themselves to her at the bar after her song (she drinks Coke and not liquor, so we know she’s a nice girl). She’s friendly, and gets him an audition with Charlie himself (Ravindra Kapoor) for the next afternoon. Salim writes a new song for Dev to sing, “Ooee Ooee.”
Charlie and Maya are wowed, and Dev is hired on the spot. He’s an instant success with the crowd, too, maybe because of the giant Rubik’s Cube, but more likely because of his (skin-tight) leather pants.
Ah, nostalgia. Charlie will pay him Rs 2000 a month, way more than he was making at Hilton’s Men’s Store, but Ma is still not satisfied.
Lord have mercy. I would rather have a weeping, self-sacrificing Ma than this monster of anger and unhappiness. She relents in the end, but I’m pretty sure she has more screeching to do. Then actual tragedy strikes. Salim is struck by a car and killed. At Charlie’s, Dev sings a tribute to his friend in the form of “Dheere Dheere” which also introduces something new to me: Disco Karate!
His brother Shiv comes to see him sing, and Dev introduces him to Maya—whose sympathy is making Dev see her in a new light. Unfortunately, Maya and Shiv are obviously taken with each other (well, it’s obvious to me, not so much to Dev).
Meanwhile, Dev’s popularity at Charlie’s means that the crowds at Rana’s Club 54 are dwindling. Rana fires his singer, Biddu (Biddu—who wrote the screenplay in addition to the music for this film). He looks kind of like Dev. Or maybe Rick Springfield.
Rana then tracks down Dev and offers him a job at his club, but Dev turns him down. Meanwhile, Maya has found an advertisement for an All-India Singing Competition, which she encourages Dev to enter.
Not being one to take no for an answer, Rana sends his goons Bob and Yusuf to Charlie’s, where they trash the place, beat up Charlie, and—damage Dev’s throat by pressing on it. The humanity!
When Maya brings Dev home from the hospital with a bandage around his throat, his Ma has her usual OTT reaction:
Ay ay ay. Shiv is really angry, though, and after Maya identifies Yusuf as the guy who silenced Dev’s golden voice, he beats up Yusuf in an elevator. Hooray!
Dev thinks that Maya’s concern and care for him is because she loves him, and he indulges in a fantasy song (“Jaana”) about the two of them—and another new experience for me: Space Disco!
But Maya and Shiv are now meeting each other regularly, and falling in love. Rana is extremely angry that Shiv has beaten up Yusuf, and has plans to teach Shiv a lesson. What will happen next? Will Dev discover that his brother has stolen his love from him? Will he be able to sing again? Will Shiv survive Rana’s wrath? Will Ma ever stop her shrill complaining about everything?
It’s not much of a story, but it’s simple and well done and as a showcase for the songs it succeeds mightily. The songs are not as bizarre (in my opinion) as some (Disco Dancer, e.g.) but are closer to American 70’s disco in sound—that may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your taste, but I liked them! I found Dina Pathak’s mother character very hard to tolerate (in case you didn’t pick up on that); but she was really the only grating note. In short: good time pass, sweet simple story and characters, nice songs and disco fun.
