Ever since i saw the Badminton song sequence in om shanti om and knowing it came from Humjoli, i knew i had to see it. This film without doubt must be one of Farah Khan's favourites as she references parts of it in Om Shanti Om and its not hard to see why though as its an enjoyable fun flickRupa (Purnima) the daughter of wealthy Nasir Hussain is considered ugly by her to be husband as a result he leaves her
Hmm i'm thinking he considered her ugly just because of her dark skin
Gopal (Pran) who is present agrees to marry Rupa to save Nasir's honour, Nasir is delighterd and he gets them married
Unknown to Nasir and Rupa is the fact that Gopal has a fiancee Shyama.
When Rupa's father dies he deceives her into taking a trip to a temple on her way there Rupa boat is capsized by bandits hired by Gopal, he then marries Shyama
A stranger rushes to Gopal telling him about Rupa's death, he hands his baby daughter Rani to him telling him she was saved from the accident, Gopal asks him to keep this a secret between them, he then asks him to raise her for him
A few years later and Gopal has inherited all of Rupa's millions, he keeps in touch with his now grown up daughter Rani (Leena Chadravakar) on the sly, when she asks to move in with him he refuses but instead he gets her a house
Rajesh (Jeetendra) & Shobha (Aruna Irani) leave their his fathers house after he makes plans to remarry (selfish kids aren't they, poor man has been single for a very long time)
They both come to Mumbai and there rajesh meets Shivram (Mehmood) who offers him a place
Shobha also meets Rani with whom she had gone to college, she gets her brother Rajesh a job with her father
Shobha and Rajesh fall in love
but their relationship is threatened when her step mother Shyama's relative Manmohan blackmails her father telling him to marry him to Rani otherwise he would tell the police of how he had plotted his wife's murder
Gopal then urges Rajesh to break up with Rani, which he does by gyrating with Mumtaz in a club thereby driving Rani to shedding tears of anger & jealousy
How will things turn out, will Rajesh and Rani ever come back together? Will Gopal change his mind about letting Rani marry Manmohan? Will his secret ever be known?
Humjoli represents that genre of classic camp escapist bollywood cinema, high on melodrama, full of fun and Mehmood in a a very tolerable comic side plot. Great perfomances from everyone as well as excellent songs and picturisatons make Humjoli an entertaining watch, no wonder Farah Khan referenced bits of it for Om Shanti Om
Other reasons to watch Humjoli are
Pran what a class act this man truly is, he never bores me, i loved his facial expressions and dialogue in the scrrencap below, i wish i could say it in Hindi
A very cute Leena Chandavarkar, there's a a coy cheekiness and likability she exudes this is my second film i've seen her in and i'm a fan
Jeetendra at his charismatic melodramatic best, gotta love him in the wine suit and tie below
Mehmood in a comic triple role
Mehmood's wacky joke of distributing diarrhoea inducing chocolates
the poor victim of mehmood's chocolates
Mehmood as a baby in a dodgy special effect
Some fabulous interiors
A very cool winebar, why is it that my local bar can't and doesn't look like this
Gotta love Pran's bedroom
Manmohan is some whacky cool sunglasses
And of course the superb music by Laxmikant Pyarelal there's the super cute and fun Dil gaya 'dhal gaya din' where Jeetendra and Leena play badminton while singing, you can even hear the sounds of shuttlecock pop which Farah Khan references in the 'Dhoom Tana' song from 'Om shanti Om'
Jeetendra and Leena in 'Dhal gaya din'
Deepika and Sharukh Khan in Om shanti om
Even Leena's outfit seems to have been the inspiration behind Deepika's
Notice the tight churidars and head scarves are similar to that Deepika has in the 'Om shanti om' poster above
Chal shuru Ho ja where Jeetendra and Mehmood dance in their pants at 'Hotel my love' you can hear the slaps, kicks and punches in the song
'Hai re Hai' a fun fun rain song all those who like rain songs better add this one to their list
The catchy 'Tik Tik' where Mumtaz and Jeetendra's dancing makes Leena shed tears of jealously. Mumtaz's outfit in this song is also the inspiration behind Deepika's showgirl outfit in the posters of 'Om shanti om' and in the 60's scene from the 'Dhoom Tana' song
Mumtaz's feather head dress in 'Tik Tik'
Her full showgirl outfit with two side slits
Deepika wears a very similar one complete with feathery head dress in the om shanti om poster and in the 'Dhoom Tana' song
Total score: 7/10 (Highly entertaining camp fun)
BUY DVD
I saw this movie as a kid, and loved all of it. You have just reminded me of those catchy songs. Tik Tik and also hai re hai. Leena, Jeetu, Mumtaz, Mahmood combo has worked really well in those late 60s early 70s movies.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an enjoyable film. Thoroughly campy, of course and totally formula - but fun. I love the songs, and Mumtaz looks so lovely in that item number. I wished she'd had more screen time in the film!
ReplyDeleteThe Mahmood triple role was in this film?! I saw this one loooong ago and you've brought back very fond memories. I loved the Dhal gaya din and Hai re hai songs which used to play a lot on TV back in the 80s, but your post also reminded me of others that I had forgotten - they're all so good. And isnt Leena Chandavarkar gorgeously cute?
ReplyDelete@ Avdi You're welcome i need to see more of them i thing the same director also made Jigri Dost with jEETENDRA, mUMTAZ AND mEHMOOD, I WOULD HAVE TO CHECK THAT OUT
ReplyDelete@ Dusted off true Indeed Mumtaz she was not even credited for the Item number
you're welcome bollyviewer, Indeed Leena is so cute i saw her the other day in Bidaai as well and she was charming as usual
Ooh I have to see this... looks like such fun. My mouth fell open at the Mehmood as a baby shot! Thanks for the review.
ReplyDelete@ Daddy's girl Indeed such is the hilarity of this film, its high camp fun and the songs are very good
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the review! Wow, I knew Farah Khan referenced a bunch of oldies but I've never seen this. I think my next batch of movies will be a lot too!
ReplyDeleteSort of off topic, but I found that Deepika Padukone wears the same dress here (http://img.youtube.com/vi/GZtIh2JwDQE/0.jpg) as Aruna Irania does in this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBpTqX3Xvxc
ReplyDelete@ Gayathri I do indeed recognise that outfit, thanks a lot for the Tip off, Farah definitely did her research
ReplyDeletenice 2 read abt d movie having only heard 2 d songs b4..cute 1's by d gr8 man(bakshi saab) n leena chandravarkar is amazingly cute :)
ReplyDeleteEntertaining, with nice songs and beautiful Leena. This is one of the best movies of Leena Chandavarkar.
ReplyDeleteShe is my mom pran holding in arms in humjoli she si so cute when she is small and also in
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