I have never seen Some Like it hot which apparently inspired this movie and to what extent Rafoo Chakkar (Let's Slip Away) rips it off i do not know. But its a fun film and the producers had a sense of humour about it being a copy, this film also involves the first same sex love approval of sortsRanjit (Anwar Hussain) and Prakash (Madan Puri) are fraudsters, when they hear of a coming police raid they burn down their warehouse with a worker locked in. Police find them and they're arrested, Ranjit's wife Shanti (Suolchana Latkar) and their son Dev go leave with her friend Salim's mother (Mumtaz Begum)
Twenty years later when Ranjit and Prakash are released from jail, Ranjit longs for his family and hopes to be reunited but his evil and bossy friend Prakash tells him to snap out of it
Also Dev (Rishi Kapoor) and Salim (Paintal) have now grown up to become best buddies, they play in a music band to support themselves and their mothers
On Prakash's wedding day to Ritu (Neetu Singh), Salim and Dev are part of the music band players and when Ritu the bride to be escapes because she's been forced into the marriage by her wicked Aunt and uncle for R50,000, they're left stranded and unpaid
They haggle for their wages from Prakash who refuses to pay them. Unknown to Dev is the fact that Ranjit his father is Prakash's best man. Following Ritu's escape her friend gets a job with an all girl band going to Kashmir
Dev and Salim on the other hand are strapped for cash and are in need of a job, they audition for a band but they're told its a girls only band. When Sudha & Sujata a friend of theirs leave their luggage behind Dev and Salim decide to take their luggage over to them, on their way they come across Ranjit and Prakash committing murder, they're seen by Ranjit and Prakash and they become wanted
They put up a disguise wearing the clothes in the luggages of their friends Sudha & Sujata and escape from Mumbai. They change their names to Devi (Dev) and Salma (Salim)
They join the train with the girl band going to Kashmir, the band manager puts them to a song and dance test after which if they pass they'll be able to join, they pass with flying colours and are allowed into the band
They make friends with all of the other band members and Dev falls for Ritu who strikes a warm friendship with Devi, she tells him how she had escaped from a forced marriage and how she hopes to marry a rich young man
When Dev finds out she would love a rich man he starts meeting her and charms his way into her heart as the wealthy Esso, its not long before Ritu falls head over heels for him
Salma on the other hand also finds an admirer in the form of Rajinder Nath and its not long before she starts fallin for him too
Which Dev is quick to remind him of
He too tells Dev to man up and tell Ritu the truth
back in Bombay when Dev writes home to his mom she stupidly/naively hands the address over to the Goons who've been chasing them
Also included in the mix is this James Bond style Villain
Will they be Dev and Salim be found by Pakash & Ranjit's men? Will Dev reveal the truth to Ritu? Will Ranjit realsie the wanted witnesses is his son Dev? Will Salma follow her heart and return Rajinder's affections? For this and a whole lot fun reasons do watch Rafoo Chakkar
I enjoyed this very much, its highly entertaing and it holds you in all the way through. Minor complaints are from a quite choppy dvd or could it have been bad editing on the part of the director?
Rishi and Paintal were fantastic in drag and they mostly do manage to pull it off mostly Rishi though
The romance between Rishi and Neetu seemed so real and adorable, is it any wonder they're still married even till today
As i've said the producers had a sense of humour about copying or being inspired by Some like it hot but then they said this (see below)
How dare they generalise!!!
Another reason i liked this film was its approach to same sex love, indicating love is all that matters irregardless of gender, a very very bold statement for its time
Great fun music from Kalyanji Anandji i liked all the songs the romantic 'Kisi pe dil agar aa jaaye' & 'tumko mere dil ne' my top favourites are 'dil dena buri bala hai'
and the highly infectious 'Chhuk chhuk chhak chhak'
Total Score: 7/10
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Oh it was is sad thing that I never saw this film. Neetu-Rishi films were a rage when I was in school/college. I had to listen to my friends rave about this one.
ReplyDeleteI really should get a DVD. It is usually listed as one of all time great comedies.
I never saw Some Like it Hot (just pieces here and there), but one thing I can say is that Rishi Kapoor and Paintal make just about as attractive women as Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis (and that's not saying much!) :) However, it always make for good comedy.
ReplyDeleteI am with Shell on this - "Rishi Kapoor and Paintal make just about as attractive women as Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis (and that's not saying much!". The prettiest man-in-drag has to be Aamir Khan who made a very pretty woman and a decent cabaret dancer in Baazi. Those of us who didnt know it was him, actually didnt realise it was not a woman, for a bit!
ReplyDeleteMen in drag somehow never strikes me as funny, (not here and not in the original, either!) but there were other fun parts in this film - especially the Rishi-Neetu romance. And I love the songs in this film.
I saw this too long back to remember much of it, but from your review, it sounds like a fairly faithful copy, down to the fact that the male lead names his rich alter ego after an oil company - Esso here, Shell in Some Like it Hot.
ReplyDeleteThe fathers' histories, and why Ritu's left home etc are all Bollywood, though - and I think the songs in this are far better than the ones in Some Like it Hot!
Yaay men in drag, my kinda movie! I really wanna see this now as in Bachna ae Haseeno it was rishi's son and paintal's son who played best friends in that, and paintal's son looks just like him
ReplyDelete@ Avdi do get it, it might not hold too much i you've seen Some like it hot. Luckily i hadn't seen Some like it hot so it was new and fresh
ReplyDelete@ Shell Really i loved Rishi in drag and i thought he made a nice drag queen
@ bollyviewer Men in drag too doesn't strike me as funny it was the scenario around it and the fact that i was so used to seeing them as men that made it all the more exciting. I think i remember seeing Aamir in Baazi but i think Rishi looked cute more so than Paintal in drag
@ dusted off thanks for taht info, Lol at Shell and Esso i totally didn't see taht connection. And i thought has much that the wicked family biz had to be a hindi film add on
@ Rum Totally missed/had no clue Paintal's son was in Bachna ae Hasseno, i'd keep my eyes open while watching Bachna ae Haseeno next time. Thanks for the info