Aas Paas (1981)

Continuing the Dharema theme is this rather significant movie, significant not so much because of its content but because it was the last film the great hindi film playback singer Mohammed Rafi recorded   for before his death in 1980

Thus the movie starts with this dedication

Then we're introduced to Arun (Dharmendra) who's just been released from Prison, the story goes on a flashback mode where Arun a wealthy and outgoing  young man meets and falls in love with a theatre actress Seema (Hema Malini)

 When Arun announces his plans to marry Seema, his Mother (Nirupa Roy) is none too pleased her son is getting married to a theatre dancer but Arun persists

Arun is later called to herald the family business, however Prem (Prem Chopra) his brother in law is none too pleased and sets about killing him off by planting a bomb in his plane

Distressed and shattered over Arun's death Seema finds herself unable to perform at the theatre which results in her being fired. If all this heartache wasn't enough for poor Seema, her father dies leaving Seema alone to fend for both herself and her brother

Poor Seema, I'd be traumatized as well

She becomes a big time Sharaabi (drunkard) and starts living with another washed up actress rani (Nadira) whose waning popularity had led to depression and drinking

Sita-ji!! those sharaab bottles screen caps are for you, Hema Malini sure looks like she enjoys her drink

During one of her drinking sessions, she's violated by Prem in vengeance for how she had insulted him during her time at the theatre (Poor poor Seema,  poor girl can't seem to catch a break)

After a rather long spell of horrid happenings, Seema's world comes alive once more when Arun is found alive, plans are made for their engagement

However on the date of their engagement Seema realises that none other than Prem who had  violated her is Arun's brother in law

How will Seema handle Situations, will she call off her marriage to Arun? Will She tell Arun about the heinous act his brother in law committed against her? Will Seema ever be able to catch a break?

Asides from its significance of containing the last recording of a Mohammed Rafi song 'tu kahin aas paas hai dost' (Does anyone know if Mohammed Rafi actually finished recording the song), Aas Paas is well worth paasing over. Of all the Dharema (that's Dharmendra & Hema Malini) films I've seen so far (and trust me I've seen a lot) Aas Paas is by far my least favourite, the performances from both of them was lacklustre, the chemistry and spark they both had in movies like Raja Jani, Naya Zamana etc was missing in this. Perhaps the tawdry soap opera style plot and execution plus the abysmal ending ruined things for me, but I just wasn't pleased with this movie at all and unless you're a die hard Dharema fan like me, I'd say paas on

There were a few things I liked though, I loved Nirupa Roy as Arun's wealthy mother in her stylish spectacles and lovely sari's

Nadira also brought me some  enjoyable hammy moments with her character as star whose popularity had declined , I really do wonder if her character as a forgotten legend bears some resemblance to her in the 80's when her popularity must have waned

Lovely t-shirt on Asrani, I remember seeing very similar t-shirts with that exact slogan being very popular a few years ago

And Madhu Malhotra who reminded me an awful lot of  Neetu Singh

the hair style, make up and her whole face screams Neetu!!!

 And look its mini Hrithik Roshan in one of his early filmi appearances

Ok Soundtrack from Laxmikant Pyarelal I remember loving just a coup[le of the songs,  the lovely punjabi style number 'shaher mein charcha hai'  and Hema Malini in full on daaru-tastic mode in 'hum ko bhi gham ne mara' and my utmost favourite from this film and in fact one of my favourite Dharema songs 'Tumhe dil mein bandh kar loon'


Paisa Vasool Rating: 4.5/10

For those interested in watching Aas Paas its available on youtube* with English Subtitles

*Due to copyright Issues depending on what part of the world you're in, the Video above might not play

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

Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993)

This film has the dubious title/honour of being one of the most expensive Hindi movies ever made, the honour still remains somewhat true till this day. Roop Ki Rani Choron ka Raja (Beauty Queen and the King of Thieves) flopped and lost Anil Kapoor who had invested heavily in the movie a lot of money. So why did this movie flop, i mean a lot had gone into producing it

Evil Jugray (Anupam Kher) kills Ramesh (Anil Kapoor) & Seema's (SriDevi) dad, the two kids meet in an orphanage and Ramesh promises that when he grows up he will avenge the deaths of their fathers by killing Jugraj

Do i look Evil?


Seema then gets adopted by a new family and Ramesh leaves the orphanage with the hope of finding Seema, he's picked up by a gangster Girduari (Paresh Rawal) who trains him up to be a highly wanted thief


Ramesh the most wanted thief

Seema too has grown up to be a diamond thief with the hope of catching her father's killer


Ravi ( Jackie Shroff) Ramesh's long lost brother is now a cop and is set on catching Ramesh, they both don't know they're brothers


After a long separation since their childhood, ramesh and Seema meet at a a function where they both plan to steal a necklace, Seema manages to get it and then puts it in Ramesh's pocket, he gets a way with it


One day during a chase by some men she had robbed she meets Jugraj who offers to protect her, in return she must help him persuade Ramesh to help him get the scerets to the location of diamonds he wants. Seema doesn't know that Jugraj is the man who murdered her father

Ramesh and Seema soon discover each other as the kids who had sworn to avenge their father's killer, and thus the search is on to find and destroy him

Will they be successful in their attempts? Will they succeed in killing him? Will Ravi realise the thief he is after is his long lost brother? For these and many more annoying reasons Watch Roop Ki Rani Choron ka Raja to find out

As i've said this film was billed as the most expensive in India at its time, so what could have made it so expensive

Could it have been the laser rays coming from Anil Kapoor's eyes

Could it have been the make up that made Anil Kapoor into an African man

or Sridevi as a chinese woman

Could it have been the sets (which by '90's standards i have to say is disappointing movies in the '60's and '70's that were cheaper had way much better sets)

the entrance to the villain's den

Could it have been one of the many zillion of outfits/costumes Sridevi wore?

Could it have been the glow in the dark Violin players?


Overall this film was somewhat fun but way too silly for '90's standards, add to that hammy editing and a tediously long film, while i'm used to the standard masala fare of 3+ hours this one seemed overstretched & padded with unnecessary scenes

The movie also seemed to have copied bits and bobs from other bollywood movies, for example the scene where Bindu gets her necklace stolen is very similar to that in Shaan (1980) where the same thing happens

a dance number with Sridevi in a wet sari looks very much like the karte nahin kat te number from Mr India


If you're Sridevi lover, which i am, there's lots of her in this one Happy Sridevi, Sad Sridevi, madrasi Sridevi, Chinese Sridevi etc. Although she's let down by the script she gives a somewhat enjoyable performance

madrasi Sridevi
see more sridevi pictures from the movie in the slide below

Anil Kapoor gives an energetic performance but the whole script and story of the movie couldn't save it in my eyes

Ramesh the most wanted thief vogues for the camera

The music by Lamikant Pyarelal whom i adore i found to be very average stand out tracks for me were Jaanewala zara rukh jao which sounds like its trying so bad to be the karte nahin kat te number from Mr India, the somewhat catchy title track 'Roop ki Rani choron ka raja' and the chinese pop sounding Bacha tuje mein which is my favourite with Anil Kapoor as African tenga and Sridevi as Miss China Chini of Chinc poki (what the hell was the director on???)


Total Score: 4/10 (A Somewhat fun but way too silly & tiring movie)