EK Mahal Ho Sapnon Ka (1975)

The third film in line for Dharmendra week is one where we get to see him as a Zakhmi Aadmi (Wounded Man), if you like your melodrama in gigantic soap opera size proportions, you'll love this film

Vishal (Dharmendra) is a talented poet but he's also a slacker , his girlfriend Aruna (Sharmila Tagore) wants him to get and stay in a steady Job but he's content leaving off the profts of two small business he runs



When Aruna is almost raped by a work colleague, Vishal is afraid of her safety and urges her to stop working, promising he would get a job and ensure she never lacks anything


When Aruna learns she'll be losing her sight in 6-7 months due to an eye disease, she starts avoiding Vishal, hoping not to become a future burden on him



She even tries committing suicide and is saved by her boss Anand (Ashok Kumar)who admonishes her, she had planned her suicide to avoid being a burden on Vishal as he already has a handicapped mother to look after


Aruna reveals that she wants Vishal to hate her so the pain/burden will be less harsh on him when she goes totally blind. Anand comes up with a plan for a false marriage with him, saying 'only the two of them and a few friends would know its a fake one


Aruna agrees and she breaks up with Vishal on the fact that he's a slacker and how she needs a rich man to take care of her, all this is put up of course and she succeeds in making him angry and broken hearted


Following his break up with Aruna, Vishal becomes a misognist and a wild playboy



Mr Anand's daughter Sonia (Leena Chandavarkar) arrives from America where she had been studying Journalism she is shocked to find Aruna as his new wife but he explains to the situation to her


While out in town one night, Vishal offers her a lift thinking she's a slut, when he gives out details of his Hotel and how much he would pay her she threatens to jump out of the car and commit suicide. Vishal calms her down and drops her at home



She attends a Mushaira (Poetry Recital) the next day and is surprised to see him there, she's told he's a famous poet


She's taken aback by his talent and sets out to know more about him, she offers him a lift and soon finds out his attitude to women and his debauched lifestyle stems from a bitter break up with a woman he loved so much


He forgets his book of poems in her car, Sonia takes it home and reads the entire book, she falls deeply in love with him. When she goes to his house the next day to hand over his book, his mother tells her Vishal wasn't this way before and a bad relationship experience had embittered him


Sonia becomes even more determined to get him back on the straight and narrow


She confronts him about his attitudes and self destructive ways but Vishal doesn't want to hear a word but with time Sonia's words start having an effect and he falls in love with her too


Aruna on the other hand (or should i say Miss Self Sacrifice) discovers her blindness was a false alarm, delighted she rushes to reveal the truth to Vishal


She finds him in the arm of Sonia and is deeply hurt. She later approaches Vishal asking him to marry Sonia, Vishal is bitter towards her and sends her away



Sonia hears their conversation and confronts Aruna who begs her not to reveal what she's heard to Vishal


She begs Mr Anand to get them married but Anand too had become aware of her past with Vishal and refuses to allow Sonia marry him asking her to stop her unnecessary self sacrifice

listen to him Aruna Listen

She is adamant and after a car crash leaves Mr Anand dead and Aruna with minor injuries she asks the doctor to lie that the accident had caused her to lose her sight, just so Vishal and Sonia can get married


Will her fake blindness be discovered? Will Vishal realise the real reason behind her decision to break up their relationship? Who will win Vishal's heart or rather whowill Vishal go for between Sonia and Aruna?

Overall Ek Mahal Ho Sapnon Ka (mansion of dreams) is an enjoyable film of kingsized soap opera melodramatic proportions, the ending left me a bit disappointed, i wished the ending was more thought out and they had emphasised more on the importance of being honest as seen through Aruna's deceit to deflect Vishal's affections for her.

I also wished they had honed in on the importance of holding onto and appreciating what you have, all in all i wanted a strong moral message considering the way the whole storyline had been set


Dharmendra is on fine from here as the Zakhmi aadmi (wounded man) you feel his emotions and sympathise with his heart break over Aruna


A big shout out to Leena Chandarvarkar for a standout performance which was partly due to the script and dialogues she was given as the feist Sonia, i loved the way she delivered her

dialogues with gutso albeit in a campy soap opera kind of way, she was refreshing as opposed to Sharmila's self sacrificial act which got tiring and rather annoying

I love Sharmila but her character in this film was rather annoying, the picture below best sums up how i felt about her


She was gorgeous as usual though


loved some of the interiors too, especially this fab windy staircase and the two tone sofa


Good muscic from Ravi as well all the songs here are all romantic and heartbreak type melodies
there's the sweet title track 'ek mahal ho sapno ka' and the heartbreak song 'dekha hai zindagi ko' the spoof y jovila paisa paisa paisa

my favourites are 'dil mein kisi ke'


there's also a female version by Lata

and 'zindagi guzaarne ko' which is my favorite daaru song of the moment






Total Score: 6/10