February 3, 2009
The really burning question which this film poses (besides the standard corruption and wealth versus honor and poverty blah blah blah) is this: Which is worse, Rakesh Roshan’s wig, or Rajesh Khanna’s actual hair? Really, at times it’s a toss-up. It does contain goodies such as a soothing all-white wedding-cake villain’s lair with Ajit at the helm of said lair; Ranjeet, Manmohan and Kuljeet as Ajit’s go-to guys; Parveen Babi at the height of her gorgeousness; several dismembered dolls and some genuinely funny moments. On the downside (besides the distracting wig/hair equation) is a seriously annoying child and a patchy nonsensical plot that wanders off on tangents, accompanied by a lot of overacting and very shallow characters.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
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October 21, 2008
There are only two things which give me *good* nostalgia for the 70s: ABBA music and Hindi movies. I spent the latter half of that decade wearing hideously patterned Qiana shirts, sporting feathered hair and fighting the tendency of my stomach to overhang hip-hugger bellbottoms, all the while living in rural Indiana and wishing I were dead, so that is actually saying something.
I suppose if I had cable television and thus access to reruns of the original “Starsky & Hutch” television shows that might do it too, but I don’t. I love Laxmikant Pyarelal’s music in this film, though, especially the opening title and background music (although the songs are fab too). It’s funkadelic 1970s, all the way, and reminds me of the opening themes to those 1970s cop shows.
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Posted in Hindi movies |
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October 15, 2008
While writing my list of favorite Helen songs recently, I was reminded to look for this film and to my great joy I found it—yay, eBay! I have long loved Kalyanji-Anandji’s music from it; with a substantial part for Helen as well, and lovely Mumtaz starring, how could it possibly go wrong? Well, it doesn’t—and it does. It’s a very enjoyable film through the first half, but then it runs off the rails (more on that later). But the music is sublime, Mumtaz and Jeetendra are cute together and Helen gets to play a benevolent benefactor instead of her usual vampy bad-girl roles. There’s even an attempt to give a woman’s viewpoint its due! Ooh-la-la.
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Posted in Excellent Use of Helen, Hindi movies |
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August 9, 2008
I never did figure out if this was an intentional parody of filmi cliches, or if it was just bad. Maybe it was a badly done parody. In any case—it was bad. The story was ridiculous with gaping plot holes, too many suspension-of-disbelief requirements, and loose ends left hanging all over the place. These things alone are not a dealbreaker; but together *shakes head*…I’m not even going to try and do a synopsis.
However, there were some good things about it. This is one reason why I love Hindi movies. You can almost always find something to appreciate!
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Posted in Hindi movies |
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July 21, 2008
Regulars here know by now that I adore Vijay Anand. So I was very happy to find him circa 1972 in a film with a title that promised some intrigue and action, and a very young Rekha costarring. Well, the early 70s style did not disappoint, including a groovy RD Burman background score and songs. Rekha did not disappoint, either. But.
The story made no sense at all until the end, when it copped out completely. What a mess. I expect more from my Vijay (he didn’t direct, but he did write the screenplay and star). My notes on the film are mostly scribbles along these lines: Her belt! That vest! WTF??? OMG rekha so fat! Green walls! Huh? Those shoes!
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Posted in Hindi movies |
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May 17, 2008
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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Posted in Excellent Use of Helen, Hindi movies, Yahoo! Shammi! |
10 Comments »
February 1, 2008
Set in a jungle estate, this is a fun movie mystery with bountiful clues and plenty of suspects to go around. What really makes it work though is the stellar cast: Dharmendra and Asha Parekh star along with Sanjeev Kumar—he won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award for it. They are also supported by Johnny Walker, Manmohan and Rehman—and my favorite girl Helen who gets two dances and a substantial role in the film! The songs by Shankar-Jaikishan are wonderful, and the dancing superb.
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Posted in Excellent Use of Helen, Hindi movies |
7 Comments »
September 24, 2007
This film’s positives are the great songs by Shankar-Jaikishan, the choreography, the filmi noir set decoration, and the Helen-Pran chemistry. Gumnaam is familiar to western audiences because the film Ghost World used its first song (“Jaan Pehchaan Ho”) in a scene. This song kicks off the journey into a crazy world where bouffant hair meets men in dresses; giant Easter Island statues with glowing red eyes compete with Helen for your attention; and a killer on the loose stalks his terrified victims. The drawbacks include a patchy and nonsensical plot, and Nanda and Manoj Kumar as the lead pair (Shammi and Asha Parekh would have been so much better!), but this is nitpicking when compared to the pluses.
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Posted in Excellent Use of Helen, Hindi movies |
47 Comments »
MemsaabStory 