Wednesday 20 May 2009

Do Kaliyan (1968)

Oh how i love bollywood, double roles, twins swapping, twin fights, evil grandmother, great songs & Fabulous Interior decorations, this movie has it all. Based on the 1961 hollywood movie The Parent Trap, Do Kaliyan stars Neetu Singh in her first film, although she's credited as Baby Sonia, the movie became a box office hit and one of the highest grossers of the '60's (rightfully so)

Kiran (Mal Sinha) is a fierce & fashionable rich girl, she falls for Shekhar (Biswajeet) a sweet, happy go lucky boy of a lower class than her



They decide to marry but Mala's mother Nigar Sultana (a super fierce, no nonsense woman who scolds her husband [Om Prakash] and intimidates him so much so that she becomes the head of the family) Kiran's mom is a bit Skeptical about Shekhar's love for Kiran, she decides to put him through a test to see if he's only after their wealth, Shekhar passes the test and they both marry


Upon their marriage Shekhar is made the manager of Kiran's parents family business 'Kamla Transport' and Kiran gives birth to twin daughters Gunga & Jumna.


Kirans mom begins overpowering and emasculating Shekhar, by contradictiong whatever he says and does. One day at a family function Shekhar's friends are ill treated by Kiran' mom, he is angry and asks Kiran to come with him but she's intimidated by her mother and he walks out of the marriage taking one of the twins with him

He moves to singapore for 6 years and then returns to India, during this time the twins had no contact with each other and are surprised by one another, when they meet at school

Ganga (Baby Neetu with a fringe) is a fierce fast talker who seems to have inherited her grandmother's sharp tongue, Jumna (Baby Neetu with Pigtails) is fierce as well and can stand her own ground


The two girls become rivals and after a massive fight one day at camp they make up, and eventually discover they both are in fact long lost sisters, they then decide to switch roles with the intention of bringing back their parents together




Will they be able to succeed? What obstacles will they come across? Watch to find out in this fun, delighful, entertaining comedy drama

Without a doubt the star of the movie is Neetu Singh, so much prowess, so much expressions and superb acting at such a young age, no wonder she went on to become a huge star. She totally outshines Mala Sinha (one my favourite actresses), Biswajeet and the rest of the cast, although in fairness the script was written to make her outshine the other stars. Below are lots of Screen grabs of Neetu from the movie




I also really loved Nigar Sultana in this movie, she played the evil mother/grandmother to perfection

Another favourite schemer of mine Manorama was also present, how can you not have Manorama in a movie about twins, who can ever forget her performance as the wicked aunty in Seeta aur Geeta


And Mehmood provides the comedic entertainment

Mehmood's impression of hanuman

And i loved the interiors and settings in this movie, i think i need to go to India and find one of the designers to make over my flat for me



Check out that groovy carpet, i want one and i wouldn't mind Biwajeet's Winkle Pickers too

The music my Ravi is Fabulous from the catchy breezy 'Tumhari Nazar', the playful happy 'Yeh Sama' and Bache Mann ke picturised on a young Neetu Singh



Total Score 8/10 (Very Entertaining Family Comedy Drama)

14 comments:

Shellie said...

what a fantastic looking film. i even love the poster for it! The sets they use for their housing is truly unreal. Beats my place any day.

bollywooddeewana said...

This film is fantastic indeed, i loved every minute of it. The sets of hindi movies especially the '60s are always amazing, i need one of the designers to come and give my place a makeover

Nicki said...

Wow, another Parent Trap remake? Well, it probably is the first. The first one I've seen is the Rishi-Padmini one. Right now, I can not think of the title at all!

bollywooddeewana said...

Yes this is the first one Nicki, i had no idea there was one with Rishi and Padmini

Rum said...

OMGG!!! i love the fashions and housing in this movie, i love the parent trap, and i think neetu could beat hayley mills and jodie foster any day!

bollywooddeewana said...

Thanks for stopping by Rum, I haven't seen the original so i can't compare, but Neetu did a great job. Even if i do see the original, i'm sure i'll prefer the bollywood version

Bhargav Saikia said...

Man look at the shoes! :D

The movie looks chic!

bollywooddeewana said...

@ Bhargav, it is chic indeed, the Bollywood stylists and set designers from the 60's are my favourites

Anonymous said...

I don't like the American Parent Trap, never have...BUT...this sounds like it would be fun to watch...so I'll definitely look into it. Plus...Manorama rocks. I like your blog, thus I'm adding it to my links on my sidebar as well.

Daddy's Girl said...

Neetu looks adorable.. I would love to watch this.

bollywooddeewana said...

Thanks Ran ran bolly, this is definitely fun

@ Daddy's girl Neetu is totally adorable, so natural so precocious, I totally loved her in this

Bobby Sing said...

Hi,
The Parent trap was adopted 3 times as inspiration in Bollywood. There was: Do Kaliyan, Pyar Ke Do Pal and Pyar Ke Kaabil based on the same theme.

bollywooddeewana said...

Thanks for that info Bobby, i will give the others a dekh sometime

Anonymous said...

Hey....there's also tamil/telugu (kuzhanthaiyum theivamum/letha manasulu) versions of this movie featuring kutty padmini instead of neetu