Talash (1969)

A big thank you for all your kind and encouraging responses to my previous blog post, its very much appreciated, and it means a LOT to me. Talash is my second O.P. Ralhan movie and it does have a lot of goodness going for it but like most O.P Ralhan movies I've seen so far, you need to be patient and pay attention right till the end

Raju (Rajendra Kumar) is a high achiever with huge aspirations, he leaves his little town to make it big in Mumbai , his mum (Sulochana) tells him no matter what he should stay true to his heart

He gets a job as a typist with a big company headed by a very suave Ranjit Rai (Balraj Sahni). At first Raju fumbles making errors which threaten to cost him his job, but after a dressing down from Ranjit he smartens up and works very hard, its not long till he's promoted and even when corruption comes his way he sticks to his conscience

On a break away from the city, he meets Gauri (Sharmila Tagore) who rescues him from a fall, they both fall in love (as you do) & he promises to come back & marry her under his mother's blessing

His friend Lacchu (O.P. Ralhan) falls for cabaret artist Rita (Helen), her dad however refuses their love

When Rita asks her dad (Sajjan) why he's stopping her marriage to the one she loves, he explains how he had murdered a friend Chand (Jeevan) who had tried molesting his wife Rosie, as a result of trying to conceal the murder, he had lost all his wealth due to an ongoing blackmail from Peter (Madan Puri) who was present at the scene, he's afraid that if Rosie gets married (which would mean she stops her dancing) there will be no more income to keep Peter quiet

Cut back to Raju and he's now leaving the hills, he promises to come back and marry Gauri. When he gets back to Mumbai he's promoted and given a 25% stake in Ranjit's company (why all this promotion all of a sudden?)

Well as we all know nothing is for free (there's always a catch), Ranjit wants Raju to marry his daughter Madhu who's just returned from Europe, Raju is dumbstruck when he finds out his daughter is a doppelgänger of Gauri whom he had left behind in the mountains

Should Raju refuse Ranjit's offer to marry his daughter he faces losing all he's worked hard for, as well as his stake in the company

Back at the mountain Gauri has promised to kill herself if Raju does not return. Will he return in time or will she kill herself

Back in Mumbai, watch as things are heating up between him and Madhu? Will he stray or will he stay true to his love Gauri? Are Gauri & Madhu long lost twins? If not, why do they look so much alike? Will Rita get the chance to marry Lacchu? Watch Talash to find out

O.P. Ralhan's films often have a great theme but his way of delivering them can be a bit shabby, also his insistence to cast himself in his films i find quite grating as i find him quite annoying as an actor.

I was about to write this whole film off as a disjointed melodrama of sorts, but the ending brought it all together rather nicely, it gets quite melodramatic plus there were some unnecessary paddings/filler scenes which could have been edited out, but do persevere to the ending, it was well worth it. Overall Talash is a wonderful film with its major theme being staying true to your heart.

I have nothing but Pyar for Rajendra Kumar and i totally loved him in this, sexy chemistry between him and Sharmila too, they made an awesome Jodi.

Sharmila was superbly gorgeous as usual, she undoubtedly looked her best in the 60's

Now i'm not that much of a cinophile to pick out long shots to framing aspects etc. and i don't really look out for such things in films, but Talash had sharp cinematography and uber fab interiors

From the fab office columns & murals

Lovely painting in the background

Helen's Fab cabaret sets

Sharmila's fab wardrobe, so fab i've included a video of it

A cool villain's den with a windy staircase leading to an upper floor room with see through glass panels and a mini cut out glass ceiling

as well as Some cool gadgets like Madhu's chalice firelighter

and her vintage record player

Overall great work from the Art director Shanti Dass who won the filmfare Best Art Director award for his work in Talash

The costume and style of the movie were awesome from Helen's showgirl outfit (Never has she looked so Hot)

to Sharmila's embellished Sari's

Overall there's much eye candy to be had from this movie as well as excellent songs by the legendary S.D. Burman including 'Meri Duniya teri maa' sang by the man himself, a wonderful Rafi/Lata number 'Palkon ke peeche', a wonderful cabaret number with Helen 'Mera kya sanam' a lovely tribal song 'Aaj ko junili raat ma', a Manna Dey gazal 'Teri Talash mein' my two favourites are the sensuous ballad 'Kitni akeli hai'

and the gorgeous 'Karle pyar karle' with a very Sexy Helen, check out the pep talk at the begininng, what a tease she is

Paisa Vasool Rating: 7/10

Buy the Dvd here