Jane Anjane (1971)

There are so many bollywood actors and actresses i have major love for in a big way but for some reason i haven't written up about them on this blog yet, this is mostly because others have written extensively about them. I usually hate writing about movies others have written on, except i really have something to say but even then, i'll just make it known on the comments section of whoever wrote it up. Now as a big Shammi kapoor fan, I'm surprised as to why I'm picking this as my first Shammi Kapoor in a central role film to review on here, as it doesn't have all the charm and the appeal from the usual Shammi movies like Junglee, Teesri Manzil etc. but i was curious and as a fan i'd watch him in anything

Childless Laxmi (Lalita Pawar) while praying for a child of her own miraculously finds an abandoned baby, she picks him up to raise him as her own

the child's real birth mother Shobha (Sulochana Latkar) had given him up after the death of her husband which she had married in secret (her izzat (honour) just had to be intact) she remarries and gives birth to a son 'Hemant'

Laxmi is particular about Ramu's education but her husband Shankar (Jayant) has other plans and sets about raising Ramu as a gambler

Thus Ramu grows up with no education and ends up being a robber while his half brother from his actual birth mother Hemant (Vinod Khanna) is educated and becomes a Policeman who is hot on the tails of his notorious brother Ramu. However both brothers are unaware of their blood ties

Ramu meets and falls for Mala (Leena Chandavarkar) who urges him to go on the straight and narrow, Ramu does this but when Laxmi his adoptive mother is killed accidentally by Hemant during a gun chase, Ramu promises to exact revenge which leads him back to his previous ways

Shobha eventually realises Ramu is her long lost son and what follows, is a 'Mother India/Deewaar' style action of two brothers on opposite sides of the law with their mother trying to bring them together in peace

Jane Anjaane (Friends and Strangers) ends up being nothing much more than an average entertainer, at the heart of the film is the idea that Love (romantic or nurturing) would turn the most hardened of criminals into good citizens.

It was quite hard to watch Shammi in this, he was really sloppy and sweaty in his action scences and let's just say he was past his prime here, no surprise that this was his last leading role before he started playing father and uncle type roles, that spark that made one excited about Shammi was gone in this and needless to say a pal of mine a bollywood novice whom i was watching with quipped 'Why is that man the hero', at which i wasted no time in explaining his iconic status. All hope is not lost though, as traces of the old energetic Shammi pop up in the musical numbers

More Eyecandy

Vinod rocking the ultimate sideburns

Beautiful Leena

Suave Shammi

Vinod and Helen Sizzle up the screen

the songs by Shanjkar Jaikishen not their best are pretty decent, i love kishore's vocal on the title track 'jane anjaane log mile' other highlights are Manna Dey's lovely 'cham cham baaje', the flirty 'chahe tum pyar karo', and the sweet 'tere nilee nilee' my favourite of the whole bunch though is the fab 'jane anjaane yahaan' pictuised on Helen, i just love the way she commands attention and the way her male dancers fawn over her

Now head over to My Music Movies and Mutterings blog for additional write up of the soundtrack and to get the music for free

Paisa Vasool rating: 5/10

Talash (1969)

A big thank you for all your kind and encouraging responses to my previous blog post, its very much appreciated, and it means a LOT to me. Talash is my second O.P. Ralhan movie and it does have a lot of goodness going for it but like most O.P Ralhan movies I've seen so far, you need to be patient and pay attention right till the end

Raju (Rajendra Kumar) is a high achiever with huge aspirations, he leaves his little town to make it big in Mumbai , his mum (Sulochana) tells him no matter what he should stay true to his heart

He gets a job as a typist with a big company headed by a very suave Ranjit Rai (Balraj Sahni). At first Raju fumbles making errors which threaten to cost him his job, but after a dressing down from Ranjit he smartens up and works very hard, its not long till he's promoted and even when corruption comes his way he sticks to his conscience

On a break away from the city, he meets Gauri (Sharmila Tagore) who rescues him from a fall, they both fall in love (as you do) & he promises to come back & marry her under his mother's blessing

His friend Lacchu (O.P. Ralhan) falls for cabaret artist Rita (Helen), her dad however refuses their love

When Rita asks her dad (Sajjan) why he's stopping her marriage to the one she loves, he explains how he had murdered a friend Chand (Jeevan) who had tried molesting his wife Rosie, as a result of trying to conceal the murder, he had lost all his wealth due to an ongoing blackmail from Peter (Madan Puri) who was present at the scene, he's afraid that if Rosie gets married (which would mean she stops her dancing) there will be no more income to keep Peter quiet

Cut back to Raju and he's now leaving the hills, he promises to come back and marry Gauri. When he gets back to Mumbai he's promoted and given a 25% stake in Ranjit's company (why all this promotion all of a sudden?)

Well as we all know nothing is for free (there's always a catch), Ranjit wants Raju to marry his daughter Madhu who's just returned from Europe, Raju is dumbstruck when he finds out his daughter is a doppelgänger of Gauri whom he had left behind in the mountains

Should Raju refuse Ranjit's offer to marry his daughter he faces losing all he's worked hard for, as well as his stake in the company

Back at the mountain Gauri has promised to kill herself if Raju does not return. Will he return in time or will she kill herself

Back in Mumbai, watch as things are heating up between him and Madhu? Will he stray or will he stay true to his love Gauri? Are Gauri & Madhu long lost twins? If not, why do they look so much alike? Will Rita get the chance to marry Lacchu? Watch Talash to find out

O.P. Ralhan's films often have a great theme but his way of delivering them can be a bit shabby, also his insistence to cast himself in his films i find quite grating as i find him quite annoying as an actor.

I was about to write this whole film off as a disjointed melodrama of sorts, but the ending brought it all together rather nicely, it gets quite melodramatic plus there were some unnecessary paddings/filler scenes which could have been edited out, but do persevere to the ending, it was well worth it. Overall Talash is a wonderful film with its major theme being staying true to your heart.

I have nothing but Pyar for Rajendra Kumar and i totally loved him in this, sexy chemistry between him and Sharmila too, they made an awesome Jodi.

Sharmila was superbly gorgeous as usual, she undoubtedly looked her best in the 60's

Now i'm not that much of a cinophile to pick out long shots to framing aspects etc. and i don't really look out for such things in films, but Talash had sharp cinematography and uber fab interiors

From the fab office columns & murals

Lovely painting in the background

Helen's Fab cabaret sets

Sharmila's fab wardrobe, so fab i've included a video of it

A cool villain's den with a windy staircase leading to an upper floor room with see through glass panels and a mini cut out glass ceiling

as well as Some cool gadgets like Madhu's chalice firelighter

and her vintage record player

Overall great work from the Art director Shanti Dass who won the filmfare Best Art Director award for his work in Talash

The costume and style of the movie were awesome from Helen's showgirl outfit (Never has she looked so Hot)

to Sharmila's embellished Sari's

Overall there's much eye candy to be had from this movie as well as excellent songs by the legendary S.D. Burman including 'Meri Duniya teri maa' sang by the man himself, a wonderful Rafi/Lata number 'Palkon ke peeche', a wonderful cabaret number with Helen 'Mera kya sanam' a lovely tribal song 'Aaj ko junili raat ma', a Manna Dey gazal 'Teri Talash mein' my two favourites are the sensuous ballad 'Kitni akeli hai'

and the gorgeous 'Karle pyar karle' with a very Sexy Helen, check out the pep talk at the begininng, what a tease she is

Paisa Vasool Rating: 7/10

Buy the Dvd here

Suhaag Raat (1968)

Next in line for the 7 day Jeetendra extravaganza is Suhaag Raat (Wedding Night)

Jeetu (Jeetendra) & Rajjo (Rajshree) are lovers who are getting married, unfortunately for them, their marriage is disrupted when Jeetendra has to report back to his military base following an enemy attack on India. Jeetu leaves promising Rajjo he'll return and get married to her

following his departure the entire town is attacked and Rajoo loses all her family members amidst all the chaos, if all that wasn't bad enough she receives news that Jeetendra has been killed in war, a devastated Rajjo alongside her uncle leave town

Surprisingly Jeetu returns and soon learns about the death of his family, while wandering in a state of despair he's taken in by Sulochana who takes pity on him and makes him manager of her estate

Sulochana however is worried about her own irresponsible son Uday who goes about drinking & being a waste, Jeetu advises her to get him married threatening to disown him or cutting him off her will if he doesn't agree

can anyone id the Uday character, he's the one in the middle

Uday agrees to get married, on the day of the wedding when Jeetu goes to pick the bride up from the station, it turns out to be none other than his lover Rajjo, they're both shocked but they both keep knowledge of their past relationship a secret

On the same wedding night just before their intimate night together Uday's friends ask him to come drinking with them one last time at the kotha (brothel), after having one drink too many he gets into a fight at the kotha with another Nawab resulting in the Nawabs death

He escapes & Rajjo is declared a widow when a burnt corpse is mistaken for his dead body. He turns up one night much to Rajjo's surprise,he makes her promise not to tell anyone he's alive, which she agress to, they also get intimate with one another

Months later when her pregnancy is revealed, she's reviled & called a sinner who's brought dishonour to the family since Uday hadn't even touched her before his death, Rajjo keeps quiet all through the accusation as Uday had made her promise not to reveal the fact he's still alive

Jeetu is accused of defiling her and is sent out too as a result

Overall a self sacrifial melodrama which should be watched mostly for the gorgeous songs by Kalyanji Anandji or if you enjoy weepy melodramas that extol the virtues and sufferings of the ideal Indian woman whose husband is her god (this indeed is what the film advocates, even after going through numerous and in some cases unnecessary self sacrifice, Rajjo is given a goddess like status as a reward of her sacrifices) you'll enjoy this, the rest of you know what to do.

The thing with such movies is that despite knowing how its all going to end i can't help but be entertained and be glued to my screen till the very end. Perfomance wise everyone is watchable but this was a different kind of film for Jeetendra as compared to his fun escapist fares like Farz & Waaris, he was way too weepy in this

Rajshree is gorgeous, i love her face

This film also has one of the most hilarious dance offs I've ever seen in bollywood with Laxmi Chhaya dressed as peacock and Madhumati as a snake battling it out, its so camp but ohh so enjoyable

What i enjoyed the most as i've said are the songs by Kalyanji Anandji there's the bouncy Lata number 'Mohi lagi re' the fun 'mere dil se dil ko' my two favourites though are the lovely 'Khush raho' by Mukesh

and the super hot mujra 'Main Qayamat' with the lovely Madhumati & a very feisty Laxmi Chhaya

Paisa Vasool Rating: 4/10