Aas Paas (1981)

Continuing the Dharema theme is this rather significant movie, significant not so much because of its content but because it was the last film the great hindi film playback singer Mohammed Rafi recorded   for before his death in 1980

Thus the movie starts with this dedication

Then we're introduced to Arun (Dharmendra) who's just been released from Prison, the story goes on a flashback mode where Arun a wealthy and outgoing  young man meets and falls in love with a theatre actress Seema (Hema Malini)

 When Arun announces his plans to marry Seema, his Mother (Nirupa Roy) is none too pleased her son is getting married to a theatre dancer but Arun persists

Arun is later called to herald the family business, however Prem (Prem Chopra) his brother in law is none too pleased and sets about killing him off by planting a bomb in his plane

Distressed and shattered over Arun's death Seema finds herself unable to perform at the theatre which results in her being fired. If all this heartache wasn't enough for poor Seema, her father dies leaving Seema alone to fend for both herself and her brother

Poor Seema, I'd be traumatized as well

She becomes a big time Sharaabi (drunkard) and starts living with another washed up actress rani (Nadira) whose waning popularity had led to depression and drinking

Sita-ji!! those sharaab bottles screen caps are for you, Hema Malini sure looks like she enjoys her drink

During one of her drinking sessions, she's violated by Prem in vengeance for how she had insulted him during her time at the theatre (Poor poor Seema,  poor girl can't seem to catch a break)

After a rather long spell of horrid happenings, Seema's world comes alive once more when Arun is found alive, plans are made for their engagement

However on the date of their engagement Seema realises that none other than Prem who had  violated her is Arun's brother in law

How will Seema handle Situations, will she call off her marriage to Arun? Will She tell Arun about the heinous act his brother in law committed against her? Will Seema ever be able to catch a break?

Asides from its significance of containing the last recording of a Mohammed Rafi song 'tu kahin aas paas hai dost' (Does anyone know if Mohammed Rafi actually finished recording the song), Aas Paas is well worth paasing over. Of all the Dharema (that's Dharmendra & Hema Malini) films I've seen so far (and trust me I've seen a lot) Aas Paas is by far my least favourite, the performances from both of them was lacklustre, the chemistry and spark they both had in movies like Raja Jani, Naya Zamana etc was missing in this. Perhaps the tawdry soap opera style plot and execution plus the abysmal ending ruined things for me, but I just wasn't pleased with this movie at all and unless you're a die hard Dharema fan like me, I'd say paas on

There were a few things I liked though, I loved Nirupa Roy as Arun's wealthy mother in her stylish spectacles and lovely sari's

Nadira also brought me some  enjoyable hammy moments with her character as star whose popularity had declined , I really do wonder if her character as a forgotten legend bears some resemblance to her in the 80's when her popularity must have waned

Lovely t-shirt on Asrani, I remember seeing very similar t-shirts with that exact slogan being very popular a few years ago

And Madhu Malhotra who reminded me an awful lot of  Neetu Singh

the hair style, make up and her whole face screams Neetu!!!

 And look its mini Hrithik Roshan in one of his early filmi appearances

Ok Soundtrack from Laxmikant Pyarelal I remember loving just a coup[le of the songs,  the lovely punjabi style number 'shaher mein charcha hai'  and Hema Malini in full on daaru-tastic mode in 'hum ko bhi gham ne mara' and my utmost favourite from this film and in fact one of my favourite Dharema songs 'Tumhe dil mein bandh kar loon'


Paisa Vasool Rating: 4.5/10

For those interested in watching Aas Paas its available on youtube* with English Subtitles

*Due to copyright Issues depending on what part of the world you're in, the Video above might not play

Bhagwaan Dada (1986)

The third film in line for Sridevipalooza is Bhagwaan Dada, finally of all the films I've reviewed so far this week, at this stage of her career Sridevi seems more confident as an actress and displays some great comic timing in this rather forgettable flick

Bhagwaan Dada (Rajnikanth) is a tout who works under local terrorist Shambu Dada (Danny Denzongpa)

Following a rape act Shambhu carries out on a local belle, she commits suicide and her child Govind is adopted by Bhagwan Dada who's disgusted by Shambhu's behaviour, he decides to raise Govind him as his own. Bhagwan Dada thus becomes a changed man and leaves the world of stealing behind and becomes a saint of sorts in his local neighbourhood

This new goody goody image leads Bhagwaan Dada to report Shambhu's evil deeds to cops which leads to Shambhu Dada being sentenced to Jail

The child responsible for making Bhagwaan turn his life around grows into a cute little Hrithik

When Swaroop (Rajesh Roshan) a village bumpkin moves from Gangapur to Mumbai, he's robbed and none other than Bhagwaan dada saves the day, Bhagwaan takes a liking to him and helps him settle down to life in Mumbai

When Swaroop now a rather confident Mumbaiker rescues Bijlee (Sridevi) from a group of touts, Bhagwan urges her to live with them and in the atypical filmi way, Bijlee and Swaroop fall for each other

but trouble arises when she's caught in a prostitute sting operation, Swaroop and Bhagwaan are disappointed as she never revealed this to them, she tries pacifying them by explaining she only does it to swindle money out of men without actually selling her body (Really??????, either way a slut is a slut)

Swaroop is heartbroken and this revelation causes a strain in their relationship

Shambhu Dada is released from jail and is eager to right the wrongs committed against him by Bhagwan Dada

Will Bijli and Swaroop be reconciled? What is the reason behind Bijli's decision to walk the streets? Will Shambhu succeed in his quest for revenge?

Check out those tarantula lashes

Sridevi lived up to her character's name in this film, she was indeed the Bijli (electricity) in this rather dull movie, Sridevi's comic timing and general cuteness are what stops this movie from being a total bore, just look at the way she carries herself in the picture below its like she knows she's totally in charge of the screen

I'm guessing she at this stage of her career she was becoming more confident and it just shows in this film. I couldn't help but feel she was mismatched with Rajesh Roshan, these two won't be winning any Jodi (couple) awards, there wasn't much of a chemistry between them at all

And of course this film is also notorious for Hrithik's fight scenes with Danny, i love the way Danny puts him in his palce in the clip below, such were little Hrithik's guts that he tried attacking Danny, but of course Danny can always be trusted, he wastes no time in demolishing his legs with his spikey boots (catch this hilarious moment in the clip below)

And of course Danny & Rajnikanth spice things up too with their macho campiness, watch this fight clip below where Rajnikanth avenges Hrithik's death

Good songs by Rajesh Roshan, there's a mellow lullaby 'Tujhse pehle' picturised on Rajnikanth, a madrasi style dance number 'chugh gayee chidiya' and the cute 'aaj dil tude (superfast love)' my favourites are 'pehli baar pyar' Sridevi is just so sexy and lovely in this song and

'aaya aaya pyar ka zamana' yes she does look good with Rakesh in this clip but overall their Jodi lacks the excitement and energy she seemed to have with Jeetendra

Paisa Vasool rating: 4/10

Arpan (1983)

This movie was like watching a train wreck, i was pretty sure how it was all going to end, but the decent performances, good songs and soap opera style storyline kept me watching

Anil (Jeetendra) and Shobha (Reena Roy) are in love, opportunities arise and he has to leave India for work abroad. He puts Shobha in charge of his family, Shobha is honoured by the amount of trust Anil has placed on her, little does she know this would also traumatise their relationship

Shobha's Boss JK (Raj Babbar) tries to take advantage of her, she insults him telling him where to get off, he promises he will get her back

Meanwhile Anil's sister Vinnie ( Priti Sapru) is impregnated by her lover Rakesh (Shashi Rani), he decides they abort it, but she tells him its too late. He decides they'll get married to prevent her being stigmatised, he however has to borrow money from his boss who surprise surprise turns out to be JK

Rakesh promises him the money but when he realises he impregnated Shobha's would be sister-in-law he arranges for Rakesh to be kidnapped on the sly

Shobha willing to save Anil's family honour goes to JK who tells her he would only help if she agrees to marry him, Shobha sadly agrees thereby putting Anil's family honour above breaking his heart



A smug JK pleased about trapping Shobha in his arms in this rather interesting symbolism

JK arranges for Rakesh's release and he and Vinnie get married, Shobha too gets married to JK and she discovers what an asshole he truly is when he starts abusing her verbally & emotionally, talking down at her amonsgt friends, he even disrespects her by bringing numerous women to their marital home


Shobha keeps on being the good wife, she's so annoyingly good that even JK is surprised and confused if his evil actions aren't driving her up the wall


Anil returns only to discover his beloved Shobha is now married to someone else


if only he had listened to Tom Alter's advice

While on a trip to drown his sorrows, Anil meets Sona (Parveen Babi) a singer, he finds solace in her music and company, the two fall in love


Meanwhile the evil deeds of JK catch up with him, he's diagnosed with Liver Cancer and given months to live



and surprise surprise he turns over a new leaf and starts being all nice to Shobha, he even takes her on a weekend trip to the same resort Anil had gone to drown his sorrows


How will things turn out, what will Anil's reaction be when he sees Shobha?, will he be able to forget her or will they come back together since she's soon to be a widow anyway, Watch Arpan if you dare to find out all the answers

As i've said this movie is a melodramatic soap opera of sorts, soap opera lovers will find this delightful with all the over the top going ons. I'm not a lover of soap opera's, but i secretly enjoyed this film, i knew it was going to be a train wreck in the end,but it kept me involved and i was curious to see how things would turn out, If you watch a lot of hindi movies you should know/be able to guess how it all ends.

If you're a red blooded feminist, who can't stand such movies about the plight of the self sacrificing woman, stay well away from this film as it would surely irritate you.


Poor Reena Roy she always suffers in all her J.Om Prakash movies, her performance was credible, entertaining but at the same time annoying due to all the unnecessary self sacrifices


It was weird seeeing Parveen Babi in traditional attire, i've seen her in so many movies in non traditional clothes that it felt different/weird seeing her clad all the way through in Sari's

Great soundtrack from Laxmikant Pyarelal the rhythms of 'tauba kaise hai nadaan' where we get to see Parveen show off some dance moves, 'tu meri shaadi', a cool mujra 'Likne wale ne likh dale' my favourite however has to be 'Pardesi jake' a sweet contemplative romantic song



Total Score: 6/10 ( A watchable & enjoyable melodrama of sorts, even if somewhat highly irritating)

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