Naya Zamana (1971)

Apologies for the abrupt end in Dharmendra week, that thing called Zindagi (life) interrupted but i'm back on form and i'll fulfill my promise and complete the last few movies i had chosen to review over the next few days. In Naya Zamana ( New World) our hero stars as a revolutonist/rational angry young man

Anup (Dharmendra) is a revolutionist who speaks out against the oppression of the poor and fights for the cause of the poor, he's also a writer who's trying to get published but his writings and criticisms of the oppression of the poor are considered controversial, thereby rendering his work unpublished


Anup is directed to Mr Rajen (Pran) for a job as a publicist, Mr Rajen happens to be a typical example of the kind of Rich people Anup speaks out against, despite Anup taking a stand and voicing his opinion on the oppressive ways of the rich, Rajen takes a liking to him and gets him to write his political speeches



When Anup realises Rajen's family had been behind a humiliating experience his sister Rekha (Aruna Irani) had experienced, he quits his job as a publicist to Rajen


Rajen goes to Anup's house apologising to the wrong done to his sister, Anup is not around but Rekha and her mother (Lalita Pawar) accept his apology, Rekha tells Rajen about Anup's desire to be a writer, he promises he can help fulfill Anup's dream by publishing his book


When Anup finds out his book has been given to Mr Rajen without his consent he's displeased, and goes to confront him, when he gets to Rajen's house, he sees Seema (Hema Malini) singing a poetry from his book


Anup is impressed and his affections towards Seema's change as she had come across as an arrogant, self centred rich girl the last time they met


She tells him how his book 'Naya Zamana' which she had picked from her brother Rajen's library had changed her views of the poor. She tells him how she wishes to change things and asks him to give her a tour of life in the slums


While in the slums she comes acoss a bill passed by her brother Rajen for the slums to be shut down to make way for new buildings, Seema disrupts the bill and prevents the slums from being knocked down


Rajen challenges her authority to which Seema acknowledges Anups writings in 'Naya Zamana' as having changed her , she dares him to read it and not come out thinking as a different man


Rajen sees this as the perfect opportunity to publish Anup's book, on the day of the release Seema as well as Anup's family are shocked to see Rajen credited with Anup's writings


When Anup finds out Rajen's deed he's hesitant to expose Rajen as he had donated all the profits from the book to a handicapped home plus Anup feels if the oppression of the poor is being heard, the author shouldn't matter


Despite publishing a book on the oppression of the poor Rajen continues with his plan to destroy their living area when his plans are interrupted by Anup he bribes Sitaram a local slum dweller to ignite fire in the slums. Sitaram out of greed sets the whole slum on fire, Anup's mother gets injured in the process


When word gets out that Rajen was responsible they set out to burn his factory down, Anup tries calming the villagers down telling them burning down Rajen's factory won't solve the issue, he's accused of being a sell out andsiding with the rich



Words also gets out in the press that Anup is using Seema as a bait to her father's millions millions, as a result her father stops her from seeing Anup


Daaadaa Moniiiiiii (I love this man)


Naya Zamana (New World) reflects the attitude of the common man against the establishment in 70's india and a hope/call for more equal opportunities for the poor, I enjoyed this film very much, it kept me entertained all the way through and i liked the way it highlights the double trappings of capitalism and oppression, on one hand you have the frustrated workers who are tired by the oppressive actions of the rich, their anger leads them to attempt burning down the factory, on the other hand if they do burn the factory they'll be left unemployed thereby making them even more destitute



Dharmendra doing the couture pose (hand on hips check, pouty lips check)
Loved Dharmendra's portrayal of the Angry young man in this one, rational, nuanced, not at all violent and not over the top as the image of Angry young man later became

And of course he and Hema made a wonderful pair as usual in this one


She was drop dead gorgeous in this


Mehmood was also hilarious as a hippie


Loved the songs from S.D. Burman, 'duniya o duniya', 'wah re naujaman' where Mehmood pokes fun at the hippie lifestyle, Lata's beautiful vocals on 'aaya mein Laya' and 'o champa o chameli' my two favourites though are 'Rama Rama Ghazab'




and 'choron ka saare nazar'





Total Score: 7/10