Monday 26 July 2010

Pyaar ka Saagar (1961)

Sincerest apologies to everyone for just going on a hiatus without leaving a notice, i promise as from now on, whenever I'm taking a blogging hiatus, i shall do a short post to let everyone know. I've missed blogging, and it's so great to be back. Pyaar ka Saagar ( Sea of Love) is one of the movies i had planned to review for Rajendra Kumar week, but due to deadlines, workloads, opportunities etc. I just had to take a break from bloggy world

Radha (Meena Kumari) & Kishan (Rajendra Kumar) meet after a stormy weather disrupts their journey, Kishan being such a gentleman let's Radha have his coat to keep warm, over time they form a friendship and fall in love (ahhhh)
l

After months of Romance Kishan has to leave for his exams in Hyderabad, upon returning to college kishen he finds it hard to study and then Returns to meet Radha in Mahabaleshwar
Radha forces him to consider his brother's sacrifice to educate him, she sets up a rule that they shouldn't see each other until he finishes his exams

Meanwhile Kishen's brother Bishen (their names rhyme, how cool) raises the company's profits thereby impressing his boss, his boss who just so happens to be Radha's father asks for his hand in marriage for Radha, Bishen suggests his brother Kishen but her father insists on him


Radha hears them by accident and thinks Kishen has been mentioned, when her father goes to ask for her approval (how nice of him right, most filmi father's word is the final) she approves thinking it is Kishen


On the day of the ceremony she's surprised when the groom turns out to be different from Kishen, Radha faints (for the first time, there's way more to follow)



she recovers and makes up her mind not to marry him (very strongminded for a filmi heroine na?) but upon her father's pleas not lose his honour and (to be specific his buisness/wealth) she agrees. On their Suhaag raat (wedding night) when Bishen shows her pictures of his family, Radha realises that none other than Kishen is his brother (she faints once more)


I love this shot of Rajendra Kumar

Kishen on the other hand finishes his exams, he had been unable to attend his brother's wedding fully due to his exams, when he goes to inquire about Radha he finds out she's now married, a heartbroken Kishen is so distraught that he tumbles down from the stairs thereby losing his eyesight


Bishen brings Kishen home for nursing, when Radha realises he's gone blind she faints once more again


Radha becomes his caretaker, but is racked by a heavy conscience



How will Radha cope? Will kishen ever regain his sight? Will Radha ever muster up the courage to tell Bishen the truth about her past with Kishen? Are there any hopes for our two lovers (Radha & Kishen) to be reunited? Will Kishen ever regain his sight? Watch Pyaar ka saagar for all these answers

A highly enjoyable melodrama (if melodrama is your appetite, it's mine indeed) i enjoyed each and every bit of it, but again the ending left me cold, considering we all know what usually happens in bollywood love triangles, one person is always bumped off to make room for the lovers to live happily ever after, I was expecting to see how Pyaar ka saagar would deal with this trope, and it was much worse than i expected, and perhaps the reason why Pyaar ka saagar won't make it to my favourite melodramas list, but still if you are in the mood for a gripping and well mounted melodrama with great albeit melodramatic perfomances, as well as fabulous songs, you could do no wrong than Pyaar ka saagar

I've collected all the delicious melodramatic moments in this clip for you to enjoy, notice the zooms and the swirly shots when something traumatic happens, i've also included some of Meena's fainting moments





Watching this film made me realise what a wonderful Jodi Rajendra Kumar and Meena Kumari, they're now one of my all time favourites Jodi's, they have chemistry and they seemed really besotted with one another


O.P Ralhan also appears in a comic side plot he even gets to drag up (Not a very convincing woman now is he)


The lovely Malika (I found her cute) was his love interest

Fab songs from Ravi, like B.R chopra, Devendra Goel seemed to have a fondness for Ravi, infact of all his films i've seen so far Ravi has been his music director of choice. the soundtack is a mixture of love ballads and heartbreaking melodies like 'Sadaa khushi rahe tu' , 'wafa jinse ki' and the beautiful 'haal dil ka' where we see Radha battling with her conscience (excellently picturised on Meena Kuamri)there's the hilarious 'Chahe koi' with a dragged up O.P Ralhan my favourites are 'Mujhe pyar ki zindagi' (just check out the chemistry between Rajendra and Meena in this)


and 'Tana dir nata' i just love how upbeat and lively Meena looks in the picturisation





Paisa Vasool rating: 6/10

17 comments:

Rosalind Francis said...

I love the "effects" when something dramatic happens. All that spinning, wobbling and lights! Although Meena Kumari is such a good actress you don't really need those extra effects, you can just see the trauma on her face (and in the way she faints)

bollywooddeewana said...

Hello Ros, Indeed it added to the enjoyment of the film, i couldn't help but laugh and you're right Meena is such a great actress that all that swirling & dazzling wasn't needed

Sharmi Adhikary said...

Hello,
Long time. Great to read your post after so long.:)
Well, I was attracted to Pyar ka saagar just for Meena Kumari and Rajendra Kumar but was so utterly disappointed with the ending. I also found the film a tad slow. A one-time watch I feel. Will also review it. Let's see what I have to sa about this one.
P.S. Meena Kumari is so dazzlingly beautiful, ain't she?

bollywooddeewana said...

Oh yes she is indeed, i think you really have to love melodramas to enjoy this film, and yes the ending was a let down but still there was plenty to enjoy e.g. the camera work at the melodramatic events plus the songs were just fab

Ava said...

All these fainting fits. Maybe they all three die.. do they?

"THE BARD WHO DOESNT HAVE TO TRY TOO HARD" said...

nice 2c u back dude..was wondering whr u had "disappeared" all tis while ;)

"THE BARD WHO DOESNT HAVE TO TRY TOO HARD" said...

btw nice review..hadnt heard of tis movie till read abt it...:)

sunheriyaadein said...

Good to see you back. I had seen this film but had completely forgotten about it till Sharmi mentioned it in my Rajendra Kumar special post. Now I seriously don't remember how the film ends.
I had seen it for Meena Kumari and Rajendra Kumar too. I watched this one with my Dad and we were predicting when Meena would faint next. It was fun watching...we kept lauhing most of the time.
O.P Ralhan definitely doesn't look convincing as a woman.

bollywooddeewana said...

@ Avdi I know but in honesty it was hilarious just watching her faint each time something dramatic happened. And as for the ending two of them (Radha & Kishen) dive into a pyar ka saagar

@ The bard Thanks,its quite an enjoyable film, but mostly so if you're a lover of melodrama

@ Thanks Sunehri i found the constant fainting as well as the Ott melodramatic moments hilarious too, and as for the ending they both dive into a pyar ka saagar

Ava said...

Dive in Pyar Ka Sagar? Is that a hint? A lot of movies ended with someone's car tipping into an ocean. hmmmmm....

bollywooddeewana said...

@ Avdi nope taht's actually what happened out of depression both of them take a dive into a pyar ka saagar

harvey said...

love the way Leela mishra's face gets transformed to that of Rajendra Kumar!!!!
A Gem!

bollywooddeewana said...

@ Harvey indeed, how about the stars that twinkle all over Meena's face when she realises they are brothers and i still maintain that the camera work and effects helped me enjoy this film a lot more

Forlorn_Rage said...

Do you mind revealing the ending with a spoiler alert?

I am so curious to find out whether the ending is what I actually want it or if it's just a cop out with honour and etc. like a lot of other films...

bollywooddeewana said...

@ Forlon rage The ending involved them both committing suicide after Kishen regains his sight following surgery

Anonymous said...

Its OKAY Movie not the best of Rajendra kumar.
Butits also not bad one.
Rajendra kumar performed his role brilliantly.Meena kumari Also did good job.
Music is so nice.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.