I am feeling the love for Rajesh Khanna (especially paired with Mumtaz) here these days. Better late than never! Apna Desh is total paisa vasool, as well. It’s two distinctly different but equally good films for the price (and viewing time) of one! The first is a solid social drama about corruption with a bit of romance thrown in; the second a totally crack-tastic masala film complete with disguises, blackface, fabulous outfits and sets, and two of RD Burman’s (and Asha Bhosle’s) most glorious songs.
I love films that give insight into the issues and concerns of the time during which it was made. This is one of them, where a family is ripped apart when its members are caught between old traditions and burgeoning foreign influences.
Although Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz are nominally the hero and heroine, the film really belongs to the whole ensemble cast. Above all, Balraj Sahni shows why he is considered one of the great actors in Hindi cinema and Veena shines as the family matriarch.
I do so love the nuances of language. From Hindi films, traveling in India, and my Indian friends and colleagues, I have learned some great expressions which either don’t exist or are seldom if ever used in English (at least American English). These are some of my favorites.
My favorite favorite. How did I ever live without it?
I fortuitously stumbled across this blog while looking for old film images: Papa Ajoba.
It is a fantastic site written by Anuja Ghosalkar, the granddaughter of Ram Tipnis (whom she calls Papa Ajoba, meaning father-grandfather in Marathi). She is chronicling his stories from years of working as a makeup artist in the film industry (he began working in the 1940s). There are also audio interviews with him posted (sadly for me in Marathi and Hindi, but some of you will understand) along with photos and some video. He has a phenomenal memory.
Another musical question! Which actor and actress sang this song in a film in which they starred? They both sang for themselves in their early careers before playback singing became the norm.
Bonus points for the film name and music director!
As much as the weepy Meena Kumari of the 1960s exasperates me, the sparkling Meena Kumari of the 1950s enchants me. In addition to sparkly Meena, this movie stars Kishore Kumar, Om Prakash and Gemini Ganeshan (Rekha’s father) so I figured it might be fun. And it is: mostly it’s a fluffy love story, with a lost child thread, but the songs by Hemant Kumar are wonderful (and subtitled!) and the performances solid.
I was positively filled with glee when I saw this DVD. Shashi! Pran! Zeenat! Dadamoni! Thievery! Mid-70s! I was not disappointed. Truly fabulous funky music from Kalyanji Anandji adds to the fun. And in one of those “only in Hindi movies” coincidences, Anwar Hussein from Aaya Toofan was in this too. I can’t even count the times when I’ve noticed an actor in a film, and then he or she shows up in the next ten films I watch.
MemsaabStory 
