When KN Singh’s nephew Ajay (left above) introduced himself in a comment, I was thrilled. KN Singh has long been one of my favorite character actors. So I asked Ajay (whose father is KN’s younger brother) if he’d be willing to write a guest post and share some of his memories of that elegant, dapper, charismatic man. He has graciously sent me the following, hope you enjoy reading it as I did!
(I think he looks a bit like KN, don’t you?)
It’s historic! No, I’m not talking about the election (although: YEAH BABY!!!!); I’m talking about this fabulously campy Wadia Movietones flick featuring an Indian Tarzan, his (literally) lunatic mother, cannibals, the nectar of immortality, Dada the ape man, and more animals than you can shake a stick at (including lions, tigers, bears—oh my—hyenas, elephants, crocodiles, etc). It may also give us a first in Hindi cinema history: a dog named Moti.
And before I do anything else, I must thank my new BFF and faithful reader Michael for sending it—and more treasures that you will be reading about—to me. Thanks Mike!!
Five seconds into the film (just after the censor’s certificate) this notice appears:
Hilarious! I absolutely adore the sarcastic, essentially unrepentant tone of it, and apparently it worked just fine for the censors too. This film could be used in a directing class as an example of what can happen when you work “over-enthusiastically” without a script. Halfway through, I had to stop so that I could diagram all the criss-crossing plot threads and character relationships in an effort to keep them straight. It’s not boring! but there is a definite seat-of-the-pants feel to the story, and little things like logic and continuity are thrown right out the window.
Movie-watcher and critic extraordinaire Todd over at Diedangerdiediekill spotted my favorite band Ted Lyons & His Cubs in the 1965 film Boxer, starring Dara Singh and Mumtaz. *So excited!* I don’t know why, but I love these guys. I wonder how many films they actually did? I’m at four and counting!
He was kind enough to send me some screen shots.
Here is a 1968 James Bond-meets-Chitty Chitty Bang Bang cheesefest from the Master of Masala himself, Manmohan Desai. While I haven’t seen all his films, I’ve seen most of them, and this is the first one that’s been devoid of any message (well, except: “betraying your country is wrong”). There’s no religious symbolism, or paeans to the poor and downtrodden, not even a single tearful Ma; just a villain named Scorpion, an unwitting hero, his beloved, his friend, his friend’s clever car, and some microdots hidden in a guitar. Sounds good, right? Wrong. Better editing (and possibly a higher kitsch budget) could have made it entertaining; but as it is, it’s an unfocused, meandering, silly film.
I have to admit to two things first off: one, is that it took me a little while to get into this film. I started watching it several times before I was finally able to sit through it—as I said to Shweta, I think perhaps as a teenager I saw too many ABC After School Specials which dealt exceedingly earnestly with serious issues that kids face. They had titles like “Daddy Drinks Like A Fish” and “Is My Sister Dead Because Of Me?” (okay, I made those up, but the real ones were pretty close).
Oh oh oh I love this movie! Beautiful Rakhee, yummy Rajesh, imperious Veena, nuanced characters, an interesting story, plot twists, humor, lovely RD Burman songs, and plenty of squishy dil™ (ppcc)! The melodrama was saved for the very end, when it was welcome, because by then I cared so much about everybody and everything turning out okay. The film is also beautifully shot—a visual feast, with sumptuous sets and lovely hilly scenery, and interesting camera angles. And beautiful Rakhee and yummy Rajesh!
If you are one of the two or three people who have not seen it yet, first watch the Crazy Indian Video…Buffalaxed!* video on YouTube.
And then watch the “Sarah Palin and John McCain” version at Funny or Die.
Enjoy! or be very very scared. You decide.
*Song is “Kalluri Vaanil” from the Tamil film Pennin Manathai Thottu starring Prabhu Deva and Jaya Sheel
I really need to see more Tanuja. I like her in everything I see her in (Jewel Thief, Do Chor, Haathi Mere Saathi, for example) even if I haven’t particularly liked the movie much (Mere Jeevan Saathi, for example). It holds true for this film too: Tanuja is lovely and fun to watch. Despite a lively soundtrack from RD Burman and Amitabh’s lambi presence, the film really only lit up when she was onscreen. The story is ho-hum, and there’s all the usual overacting and melodrama, but she makes it watchable somehow.
MemsaabStory 