Aas (1953)

Given the obsession of many bollywood films with Saas bahu (Mother in law daughter in law) relationships, the last big saas-bahu movie i can recall was Beta, but way before Beta there was the 1963 Mala Sinha/Guru Dutt starrer 'Bahurani', Reena Roy's 'Sau Din saas ke' (which i can't wait to watch) and Hema Malini's 'Jyoti' and more particularly mega Indian soap Opera's like kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, Kyun kii saas bhi kabhi bahu tii ( i just love the title of this one, how about a film version Ekta) it translates as 'Because a mother in law was once a daughter in law too'. I've aways wondered what the obsession many Indians have towards saas bahu relationships, and for how long exactly it has been going, Aas made me realise, that this mother in law/daughter in law cinderella style stories have long been prevalent in Indian entertainment

Ashok (Shekhar) a widower loses his son and offers up a reward to whoever finds him, Asha finds him and returns him to the police station where they both meet, he offers her the reward but Asha turns it down refusing to put a price on human life (very sweet of Asha ain't it)

When his son Kishore (Ramesh Kapoor) is in need of a governess, Asha applies and gets the job, Kishore takes a strong liking to her and not before long Ashok too falls for Asha's gentle nature and beauty too of course

But as we all know all can't be fair in love, trouble arises when Chacha-ji (Laxmibai) Ashok's guraidan since childhood who wants him to marry her own niece disapproves of Asha, bringing into question her class and family background

Chacha-ji pushes her agenda but Ashok stands his ground, he and Asha marry and not long Asha gives birth to Baby Munna

Chahca-ji still reeling from Ashoks refusal to marry her niece plots a revenge plan that will ger Asha out of the mansion

Plot No.1: Prior to a Pooja (prayer/ Religious ceremony) for Kishore, Asha is entrusted with a necklace to be used in the ceremony, Chachi goes on the sly and steals the said necklace, on the day of the ceremony when Asha is unable to find it, Ashok scolds her blaming her for being so irresponsible

Ashok forgives her but Chachi and her aide the housemaid Chand ( Chandabai) start conniving again, she starts messing with Ashok's head telling him all sorts of lies about Asha, still all this fails to have an effect

Chachi's Master Plan

She later comes up with a master plan to get Asha out of the mansion for good, she mixes poison into milk drink Asha intends serving to Kishore. Chacha-ji knocks it over just in time before Kishore can eat, the pet cat laps up the milk and dies

ahhh poor cat :0(

they convince Ashok that Asha is out to kill Kishore so that her child Munna would be the sole inheritor of Ashok's fortune, thus Asha is sent packing

Lost and confused, Asha's spirit are revitalised when Masterji (Om Prakash)comes to her rescue and urges her to fight for what is hers, thus Asha goes back to the mansion in disguise with the intention of getting Shekhar to realise the truth

Will she succeed or will her disguise be exposed, watch Aas to find out

Overall Aas is a sweet family melodrama, it started off a bit slow but once the story picks especially with the arrival of Chacha-ji as the evil mother in law, the film becomes gripping and though its somewhat predictable and soap opera-ish, there is a lot to enjoy.

Performance wise Laxmi bai as Chacha-ji gets my praise, you just want to knock her over, her character was so conniving, rude and scarily real

I also loved Kamini as Asha, she has a quietness in her acting style that i like, plus i find her really beautiful

As for Shekhar i remember finding him a bit stiff but i guess that must be a requirement when you're playing the timid male figure whose Chachi still makes most decisions for

Excellent songs from Shankar Jaikishen added to the viewing experience, golden melodies like'Itna pyar karega kaun', 'zulm ki nagari mein' to the playful 'main to tere sapnon ki rani' which takes place in Kishore's wonderful costume themed birthday party with Om Prakash dressed up as what i believe is Hitler

my favourite is the Talat Mehmood/Lata Mangeshkar number 'Pyar hoke rahega'

Paisa vasool rating: 6/10

Pyaar ka Saagar (1961)

Sincerest apologies to everyone for just going on a hiatus without leaving a notice, i promise as from now on, whenever I'm taking a blogging hiatus, i shall do a short post to let everyone know. I've missed blogging, and it's so great to be back. Pyaar ka Saagar ( Sea of Love) is one of the movies i had planned to review for Rajendra Kumar week, but due to deadlines, workloads, opportunities etc. I just had to take a break from bloggy world

Radha (Meena Kumari) & Kishan (Rajendra Kumar) meet after a stormy weather disrupts their journey, Kishan being such a gentleman let's Radha have his coat to keep warm, over time they form a friendship and fall in love (ahhhh)
l

After months of Romance Kishan has to leave for his exams in Hyderabad, upon returning to college kishen he finds it hard to study and then Returns to meet Radha in Mahabaleshwar

Radha forces him to consider his brother's sacrifice to educate him, she sets up a rule that they shouldn't see each other until he finishes his exams

Meanwhile Kishen's brother Bishen (their names rhyme, how cool) raises the company's profits thereby impressing his boss, his boss who just so happens to be Radha's father asks for his hand in marriage for Radha, Bishen suggests his brother Kishen but her father insists on him

Radha hears them by accident and thinks Kishen has been mentioned, when her father goes to ask for her approval (how nice of him right, most filmi father's word is the final) she approves thinking it is Kishen

On the day of the ceremony she's surprised when the groom turns out to be different from Kishen, Radha faints (for the first time, there's way more to follow)

she recovers and makes up her mind not to marry him (very strongminded for a filmi heroine na?) but upon her father's pleas not lose his honour and (to be specific his buisness/wealth) she agrees. On their Suhaag raat (wedding night) when Bishen shows her pictures of his family, Radha realises that none other than Kishen is his brother (she faints once more)


I love this shot of Rajendra Kumar

Kishen on the other hand finishes his exams, he had been unable to attend his brother's wedding fully due to his exams, when he goes to inquire about Radha he finds out she's now married, a heartbroken Kishen is so distraught that he tumbles down from the stairs thereby losing his eyesight

Bishen brings Kishen home for nursing, when Radha realises he's gone blind she faints once more again

Radha becomes his caretaker, but is racked by a heavy conscience

How will Radha cope? Will kishen ever regain his sight? Will Radha ever muster up the courage to tell Bishen the truth about her past with Kishen? Are there any hopes for our two lovers (Radha & Kishen) to be reunited? Will Kishen ever regain his sight? Watch Pyaar ka saagar for all these answers

A highly enjoyable melodrama (if melodrama is your appetite, it's mine indeed) i enjoyed each and every bit of it, but again the ending left me cold, considering we all know what usually happens in bollywood love triangles, one person is always bumped off to make room for the lovers to live happily ever after, I was expecting to see how Pyaar ka saagar would deal with this trope, and it was much worse than i expected, and perhaps the reason why Pyaar ka saagar won't make it to my favourite melodramas list, but still if you are in the mood for a gripping and well mounted melodrama with great albeit melodramatic perfomances, as well as fabulous songs, you could do no wrong than Pyaar ka saagar

I've collected all the delicious melodramatic moments in this clip for you to enjoy, notice the zooms and the swirly shots when something traumatic happens, i've also included some of Meena's fainting moments

Watching this film made me realise what a wonderful Jodi Rajendra Kumar and Meena Kumari, they're now one of my all time favourites Jodi's, they have chemistry and they seemed really besotted with one another

O.P Ralhan also appears in a comic side plot he even gets to drag up (Not a very convincing woman now is he)


The lovely Malika (I found her cute) was his love interest

Fab songs from Ravi, like B.R chopra, Devendra Goel seemed to have a fondness for Ravi, infact of all his films i've seen so far Ravi has been his music director of choice. the soundtack is a mixture of love ballads and heartbreaking melodies like 'Sadaa khushi rahe tu' , 'wafa jinse ki' and the beautiful 'haal dil ka' where we see Radha battling with her conscience (excellently picturised on Meena Kuamri)there's the hilarious 'Chahe koi' with a dragged up O.P Ralhan my favourites are 'Mujhe pyar ki zindagi' (just check out the chemistry between Rajendra and Meena in this)


and 'Tana dir nata' i just love how upbeat and lively Meena looks in the picturisation





Paisa Vasool rating: 6/10

Chirag kahan Roshni kahan (1959)

Sunehri Yaadein's wonderful list on her favourite Meena Kumari songs in remembrance of the 38th anniverasy of her death made me dig up this movie for review, its one of my favourite Meena Kumari films

Following the death of his wife after childbirth Dr Anand (Rajendra kumar) gives his child away to Ratna (Meena Kumari) a widow whose child died at birth, he keeps this as a secret between himself and fellow Nurse Sarla (Nilambai)

Anand becomes increasing attached to the child now named Raju (Honey Irani) by Ratna, he goes around visiting him constantly,

he and Ratna also seem to be falling for each other

Anand's constant visits to Ratna's house and his friendliness with her gets her sister in law Kamla suspicious about the two of them

she starts stirring stories of a possible affair between her & Anand, her mother in law (Mumtaz Begum) warns her not to drag the family honour down and advices her not to see him any more

Meanwhile Maya (Minoo Mumtaz) a nurse at the hospital where Anand works falls for in love with Anand and would like him to be hers

with the help of S.P. Prakash (Sunder) who is fact Ratna's brother in law, traps Anand into marrying her when she sets him up in a compromising situation, as such Anand is left with no choice but to marry her

She movies in with Anand and becomes a diva of the worst kind, running huge amount of bills and throwing lavish parties for her cat (actually she threw a birthday party for her cat to be precise)

When Maya hears news of Anand's dad leaving a vast inheritance for his grandchild, she strives to adopt a child as she's unable to conceive a child, her motives however her exposed and Anand refuses to adopt

Maya later comes to know of Anand's secret love child and makes plans to become his guardian just so she can have access to the inheritance left by his grandfather. She challenges Ratna to court for Child Custody

Will the truth be revealed that Ratna is not Raju's real mother? How will Ratna take the news? Will Ratna & Anand ever reveal their feelings for one another, watch Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan to find out

Overall a fantastic and entertaining melodrama, with great songs, as well as good direction by Devendra Goel, i seem to enjoy a lot of his films. I watched it on a lovely sunny Saturday afternoon and loved each and every moment of it, 50's melodrama movies are fast becoming my favourites. Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan (Where is the lamp Where is the light) reminded me an awful lot of another Meena Kumari starrer i reviewed a while a go on here Ek hi Rasta

I had a new found respect for Meena as an actress after watching this film what a great actress she really is, i felt every bit of her emotion, she actually acted like Raju was her real child. Meena seems to be really good with children, i loved her chemistry with the wonderful Honey Irani

And what a beauty she was

Minoo Mumtaz was so hateable in this movie, she really played the part of the contemptuous greedy Maya to a T,the fact i wanted to flip my remote at her shows what a beautiful and great actress she was

Asides from the performances another reason i shall be rewatching this film are the beautiful songs by Ravi, there's the seductive 'ab to aankh lad chuki' the playful 'aaye ho to dekhlo' the sad 'bada bedard jahan hai' my favourites are 'Chal mere gode tik tik' which is one of my all time favourite Meena Kumari songs, it simply shows how playful & good Meena was with kids

and the beautiful 'Tim Tim Karte Taare' (slow version) and embedded below is the fast version

Paisa Vasool rating: 7/10

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