Raja aur Runk (1968)

Mark Twain's the Prince and the Pauper gets bollywoodified in this fun, camp, highly entertaining movie with great melodious songs

Two boys are born simultaneously, one at the kings palace and one by a poor family comprising of Shanta (Nirupa Roy) and her husband Hariram (Ajit) . Following the birth of the prince at the palace, the Queen dies, leaving the prince motherless

Both boys grow up with very different lifestyles, with the poor boy living a more adventurous lifestyle albeit with a dad who is very controlling and a drunkard and a hardworking mum and sister Sujata (Nazima) a toy seller. The Prince lives a very sheltered life, and he's given the responsibility of running the palace

One day the two boys come in contact when poor Raja is rescued from being beaten by Prince Narendradev. When the Prince hears about how exciting life on the outside is, he comes up with the plan that they both swap places

After the swap both Princes are considered mad in their new respective homes as they both try to prove they're the oposite of who everyone presumes they are, the king is very worried about his son being mentaly ill, and soon after he dies. When the Kings official Vikram (Kamal Kapoor) comes to know of the swap, he decides to kill them both so that he can have the throne to himself

Sudhir (Sanjeev Kumar)who Vikram had tried to kill as a child, is found to be alive and he's also a close friend of the poor Raja, when Vikram finds out, he sets him up to be accused of a crime he didn't commit

Will the Princes ever go back to their positions? Will Vikram Succed in killing them both or will he manage to kill just one? Watch as the action unfolds in this delightful, entertaining movie

Perhaps one of the best adaptations of the Prince and The Pauper, Mahesh Kothare who plays the Raja aur Runk (Prince and the Pauper) is fun and delightful to watch, so is a fresh faced and charismatic Sanjeev Kumar , and the feisty Kum Kum and Nirupa Roy at her motherly best

Nirupa Roy

As well as some fabulous palace interiors i liked the sink place which spurred water upon stepping on a foot stone the best



The songs of the film scored by the fabulous Laxmikant Pyarelal are fun, catchy and very memorable, from the superb 'Mera naam chameli' which was parodied in the Mr India Parody song, the colourful Holi song 'Sang Basanti' , the sweet 'tu kitni achhi hai' and 'O Phirki wali' which i have to say is one of my favourite Sanjeev Kumar songs

to the haunting 'Mere raja Mere laal' (see below) which is my favourite song picturised on Nirupa Roy

Tota Score:7/10 ( An Entertaining and delightful Movie)

Bollywood Earworms Part 1

Earworms are basically songs that keep going on and on in your head, some of these songs might be right out annoying or sometimes they might be well composed songs that are very melodious, and just keeps going on and on in your head. Knowing there are millions of bollywood songs, i shall be picking the biggest bollywood earworms, here are the five for the week and in the next few weeks/months, i'll be bringing you the other parts

5. 'Tun Tunak Tun' from Hera Pheri (2000) This song is so infectious even though its not one of my favourites i can't ignore the Tun tunak tun bit


4. 'Just love me' from No Entry (2005) This one is equally hilarious, annoying and catchy. I love the way Salman goes a di di la da a adi di la da just love me'


3. 'Ilu Ilu' from Saudagar (1991) A well composed song and perhaps not as annoying as the previous two but the ilu ilu bit will keep playing in your head


2. 'Tu Tu Tu Tara' from Bol Radha Bol (1992) Highly infectious and catchy, you'll find yourself whistling, singing and humming Tu Tu ra ra all day


1. 'Udi baba, Udi baba' from Vidhaata (1982) Even if you don't watch the other videos, make sure you watch this one. What a fabulous entrance, she came out of a gun, a GUN, this entrance as i've said on the youtube page for ths video, is right up there with Amitabh Bachchan coming out of an easter egg in Amar, Akbar Anthony. The song is a nice disco tune sang by Asha Bhosle, you'll go to bed singing Udi baba, Udi Baba and wake up the next day singing it

I Love Bollywood Posters

As one might be able to tell from my header, i love vintage bollywood posters, apart from some of them being my favourite movies, what really impresses me about these posters are the artistry and creativity most of them exude, Most of these posters way back then were mostly hand painted and often featured themes of Pop Art, comic book art and oil paintings. Below are some of my favourites


Barsaat (1949) i love this one, i love the way Raj Kapoor is clenching onto nargis and also holding onto the Violin on his other hand, its reminds me a lot of old hollywood.


Aankhen (1968) i totally love this poster of the hit spy thriller movie, i love the way Mala Sinha's face splits into three with the k and the h, very pop arty. In the second poster of the same movie i love the way both Dharmendra and Mala Sinha have their guns out in protection of their country

Sangam (1964) in this classic love triangle tale, i love the way the red ribbon ties up the three leads caught up in the love triangle

Deewar (1975) I love the grit on Amitabhs face in this one, which perhaps represents his suffering & struggles in the movie


Dhool ka Phool ( 1959) I love the use of colour in this poster of Yash Chopra's directorial debut, i love the blue and red wave over the white background

Om Shanti Om (2007) Much like the film itself, this poster seems to have taken its inspiration from the posters of the yesteryear movies. I love the font & colour the 'Om Shanti Om' title is written in

Sawan Bhadon (1970) I like the dusty brownish paper and the painting of the lead characters in Rekha's debut hindi movie

Mother India (1957) Her Strength, her toil, her struggles this poster captures Nargis's emotions from the movie perfectly

Chaudvin ka Chand (1960) I love the noir art/comic book art of this poster i love the black & white face with red lips, very creative, it kind of reminds me of the way the hollywood film Sin City was shot

Yudh (1985) i adore the masaliciousness of this poster, from Anil Kapoor smoking that super hot cigarette ( i'm not encouraging smoking, it just looks hot in this poster) to Danny's excruciating face of pain, this movie looks promising, i have to see it soon.

Jewel Thief (1967) I love the way Vyjayanthimala's face dominates the poster of this classic spy thriller

Delhi 6 (2009) I love the way Abhishek's back is on display amidst the backdrop of New York and Delhi, i also love the pigeon on the cool white interwoven picket type fence

Zanjeer (1973) I love the masala elements of this poster, in fact most masala movie posters have the same effects, a huge angry face of the lead actor, some explosions in the background, guns, villains etc

Umrao Jaan ( 1981 & 2006) I love the extravagance of both posters, the jewellery and the beautiful faces of the female leads

The James Bond influenced posters with men in suits pointing a gun like in Khoon Khoon, Shakka & Surakksha

Although not my favourite of the bunch, the poster of Dil, Daulat, Duniya (1972) amuses me the poster was literally a translation of the movie as you can see Dil (Heart/love), Daulat ( Wealth) Duniya (World)

Here are some great places for bollywood posters, Bollywood Originals, Praful, Karen, Wikipedia (When you search for most movies) and possibly the greatest has to be The hotspot online which has extensive range of posters from the 50's way up to the early '90's, also this seller at ebay has a nice selection as well as kannada.com. There are some lovely books about bollywood posters too like Bollywood posters by Jerry Pinto & Sheena Sippy (published by Thames & Hudson) and The Art of Bollywood by Rajesh Devraj & Edo Bouman (published by Taschen), in fact you can get a preview of the book over at their website here

Oh and if you happen to be in Delhi, India you can get a personally made hand painted retro style bollywood poster of yourself. Here's one i found (see below) at the Our Delhi Struggle blog. You can contact the guy who makes them at ranjeet_2870@rediffmail.com

Image coutesy of Ourdelhistruggle blog from their post 'Dave and Jenny Bollywood Style'

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)