Aulad (1987)

keeping this blog is becoming more of a challenge but still, i'm committed to the cause, apologies for my short absence. The fourth film in Sridevipalooza is a remake of a bollywood classic i reviewed a while ago, follow the plot write up and see if you're able to guess correctly

Wealthy and successful Anand is under intense pressure to get married from his Uncle (Saeed Jaffrey) he takes poor street dancer Devki (Sridevi) as a pretend bride, the two fall in love and Anand marries her


Following their marriage and while on honeymoon in Kashmir, their intimate moments while romancing in a garden is cut short by torrential rainfall, both couples take refuge in a nearby house which belongs to another newly married couple Vikas (Vinod Mehra) & Yashoda (Jaya Prada), both couples become friends


Upon returning to Bombay Devki finds out she's pregnant, simultaneously in kashmir Yashoda finds out she's pregnant too. Months later and Devki gives birth, following the doctors orders to take their new born away from the hustle and bustle of Mumbai, they catch a train to Kashmir, also on their way to Mumbai are Vikas and Yashoda. In a weird case of coincidence both trains crash into each other which claims Vikas's life, Devki is also feared dead

Nevermind the accident made use of Toy train models


Anand and Yashoda end up in the same hospital, Yashoda gives birth to a still born, and Anand not wanting to break her heart further seeing she's just lost her husband decides to give her his own son, he asks the doctor (Ramesh Deo) to keep this a secret betweeen them


Years go by and Anand starts visiting Yashoda just so he'll be able to see his son, the boy is now named kishen and Anand becomes increasingly attached him and Yashoda which leads to her mother in law speculating about a possible relationship, she's warned not to drag the family's name into disrepute (but surely she's now a widow, shouldn't she be allowed to see other men na?)


She's warned not to see him again, this new decision proves difficult as kishen is already developing a strong bond with Anand whom he sees as a father figure

The sweet Baby Guddu as Kishen

Meanwhile Devki who had been feared dead turns up alive at Anand's house, its revealed the accident had left her with memory loss but she had regained them upon seeing a speeding train which clearly reminded her of her accident (easy, isn't it...lol)


Anand is shocked and equally scared as Devki asks about their child, without hesitating Anand lies saying he had died in the train accident


Poor Devki is distraught, but decides to move on, hopeful she might bear another child, but as destiny would have it, she's receives another bad news when the doctor tells her she will never be able bear another child again


Devki accepts her destiny but later becomes suspicious of Anand's clingy behaviour towards Kishen, plus she notices they seem to share some traits, she confronts Anand about this and he confirms Kishen is indeed her son


Thus begins a custody battle between Devki and Yashoda on who gets the child


If the story of this film sounds familiar, that's because it's an uncredited remake of 'Chirag kahan Roshni kahan' (1959) which i've reviewed here, Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan is by far the superior film, this 80's knock off just doesn't have the restraint & melodramatic goodness of the original plus the songs in this are nowhere as fab. Some twists have been added to the story here, but 'Chirag kahan Roshni Kahan' still comes out on top in my opinion.

Now Aulad is still a decent watch if you're in the mood for some 80's style melodrama, the perfromances are decent albeit in that melodramatic 80's kind of way, Jaya Prada definitely had big shoes to fill as she reprises Meena Kumari's role in the original, now God forbid i compare Jaya to Meena but she does a decent job, she even did the whole Lady in white sari thing a la Meena. Overall watch Aulad (Child) if you're a fan of any of the actors or if you're in the mood for some 80's style melodrama


Some More Screencap goodness


bahut khoob bahut khoob


Stunning Jaya


Ramesh Deo still so handsome despite all that Grey hair



Rather average songs from Laxmikant Pyarelal, but as i said they just couldn't match Ravi's outstanding soundtrack in Chirag kahan Roshni Kahan, highlights are 'Tan tan ghadie main' a nursery rhyme style song clearly modeled after 'Tim tin karte taare' from Chirag kahan Roshni kahan' and 'Raste kamal saste' my favourites of all the songs is 'Dhak dhak dhadke jiya'




Paisa Vasool rating: 5/10

Aulad is available with English Subtitles in 21 parts on Youtube

Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar (1973)

I had no idea what to expect from this movie and i was a bit skeptical as i hardly knew much of the cast but my fears were put aside when i embarked on the the fab ride that is Aaj Ki Taaza khabar (Today's headlines)

Sunil (Kiran kumar) & Geeta (Radha Saluja) are a married couple, when Sunil fails to come home early one night, Geeta becomes increasingly worried and is convinced he's having an affair



Sunil turns up in the morning, telling her he was stuck in a ferris wheel, when Geeta refuses to believe him, he cooks up a lie that he had spent the night with his friend Champak Bhumia


Geeta still not believing his word requests him to give her Champak Bhumia's address, Sunil makes up an address and Geeta sends a telegram requesting the so called Champak Bhumia to come over, she tells Sunil if Champak does indeed come over she would believe he's telling the truth


When Sunil realises Radha actually sent a telegram to a certain Champak Bhumia he becomes worried thinking there might be a probability of a Chamapak Bhumia turning up


Sunil's friend Amit (Asrani) who's just arrived from abroad notices Sunil acting all panicky, Sunil narrates the situation to him telling him how he had met a lovely lady at the fair and how things had started turning quite romantic between them till the ferris wheel got stuck leaving them up in the air over night



Sunil appears bothered wondering that his marriage to Geeta will be over if he finds she's been lying. Amit decides to take upon the role of Champak Bhumia considering Geeta has never met him, thus Amit acts as Champak Bhumia, all is well and Geeta believes Sunil's story him


On a certain day Motiyan (Padma Khanna) who claims to be Champak Bhumia's wife comes to accuse Geeta of infidelity as a result of the telegram Geeta had sent asking Champak Bhumia to come over


Is there really a Champak Bhumia out there or is Motiyan another one of Sunil's inventions to cover up his lie? Will he ever own up to his wife and tell her the truth?

Aaj ki Taaza Khabar is a smart and cleverly scripted comedy drama about the importance of trust in relationships, as seen through Sunil & Geeta's relationship, you just might be scared of lying to your partner after watching this, honesty really is the best policy.


Aaj ki taaza khabar has one of the most insane, twisted and mind bogging playfully suspense endings ever, if you've watched Johnny mera Naam (1970) you'll know what i'm driving at. The message of a Woman's suspicious nature forcing a man to lie, which the film tries to advocate didn't sit right with me as Sunil did have some suspicious behaviour, and would have probably cheated with the woman he met on the ride had it not been that the ferris wheel got stuck. All in all an enjoyable and well scripted movie even if a tad bit slow in places, watch it if you want a break from all the crazy masala films of the 70's

Of course the film owes its charm to the performances of its stars, Asrani was awarded the filmfare best comedian for his role


Kiran Kumar was fresh faced and cute, i had no idea he did meatier roles, i was used to seeing him as a villain or as a corrupt cop in most of his 80's stuff.



Radha Saluja was lovely too

so was Manju Asrani gotta love the print on her sari

Good music from Shankar Jaikishen there's the hilarious 'Muje meri biwi se bachao' and 'ye mard bade bedardi' and a rather funky item number by mehmood 'Raat hai baat hai' My favourites are 'Khilti hua shabab' with the super fab Helen in some tropical & art deco style outfits



Aaj Ki Thaza Khabar - Khilta Hua Shabab
Uploaded by kandigee. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

and the exuberant 'Happy Birthday to Pinky'

Paisa Vasool Rating: 7/10

Edited to add: The 2008 release Golmaal Returns was based on this film

Dream Girl (1977)

Apologies for the long absence, i had a bad case of the winter blues, but i'm well and able now, as its taken me ages to complete my Dharmendra week, i'm going for the kill today and i'll bring Dharmendra week to an end (or should i say month considering it took me so long to complete my 6 Dharmendra movies which i had all planned to review before his birthday on the 9th)

In Dream Girl directed by Pramod Chakraborty who did a handful number of films such as Naya Zamana (1971), Jugnu (1973), Azaad (1978) with Dharamendra and Hema or as Harvey has suggested "Dharema" our hero plays a ladies man who's on his quest for his dream girl

Anup (Dharmendra) is a ladies man and is such hot property amongst women, so much so that women act cattily towards each other all in the hope of being Anup's chosen one



Anup however has the hots for the dream girl in a poster he had purchased roadside


He comes across his dreamgirl Sapna (Hema Malini) while out on a business meeting, he's taken aback by her beauty and his dil (heart) gets all squishy



Sapna spots this and takes advantage of his infatuation, she deceives him and steals cold hard cash from his car, Anup is gutted a beauty like Sapna wasa such a shady character however it turns out Sapna isn't an all out bad girl, she had stolen Anup's money to help care for an orphanage she runs with Chandu (Asrani)


When the money runs out Sapna and Chandu realise they must start earning money to take care of the kids, they decide to allow a rich American NRI family The Kapoors (Ramesh & Seema Deo) to adopt some of the kids


When the kids in the orphanage realise they're about to be given up for adoption, they start acting up on the day of the adoption in order to deter the kapoors from adopting one of them, the Kapoors however settle for Chintu a crippled kid and promise to get him treated


When Chintu leaves the orphanage the other kids are depressed and start acting up refusing to eat (well they clearly aren't hungry) its not long before Chintu feels dissatisfied in his new environment and he returns to the orphanage


The kapoors give Sapna the choice of bringing him to America where they'll arrange for his treatment but Sapna must be able to fly him over


When pressure from Anup's grandfather Mr Verma (Ashok Kumar), starts for Anup to be married he comes across Sapna once more while she's out with her cunning ways


He cuts a deal with her promising he would pay her whatever she wants, all she has to do is act like a princess who is about to get married to him, as anyone who's watched lots of bollywood films should be able to tell, its not long before they fall head over heels for each other


Things take a turn when days before their wedding Sapna is reveled to be a former naachnewale (prostitute) and Anup is revealed to be the false grandson of Mr Verma



How will things turn out? Will Anup still be able to marry Sapna? Since Anup is not Mr Verma real son, what really happened to his own child, will he be able fo find him/her? Will Anup ever get to know his real parents?

This film is indeed where Hema earned her dream girl title, although i enjoyed it a bit, it did my head in especially in the last few minutes where things get a bit too zany for my liking, i wanted this film to be camp but it just ends up being a messy haphazard entertainment, it's not as slick or fun as Jugnu was but if you enjoy the jodi (coupledom) of Dharema give this a go

There were some hilarious moments though, like this one scene where one of the orphan kids walks into a room naked, the look on the kids faces were hilarious

Also spotted was a very young Padmini Kolhapure, she definitely kept her childhood looks growing up

a fly looking Prem Chopra


After spotting this breed of dogs in many a bollywood film, i have come to conclude they must have been hugely popular in India


What kiddies film will be complete without Master Raju, i simply adore this kid he might be a pain in the neck, but i love him



The songs are by Laxmikant Pyarelal are fantastic, there's feisty 'O Raja Babu', a fun kiddies song 'Chuppa Chuppi ke' and 'Duniya ke log' (see it below) where we get to see Hema Malini and the kids from the orphanage in disneyland Florida

Look its Donald duck and minnie mouse in bollywood



and of course the amazing 'kisi shayar nahin (dream girl)'



Paisa vasool worthiness: 5/10

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