Dus Numbri (1976)

This is a film that would have been well suited to the 70's week but due to time restraints, i couldn't get it up on time. This is classic 70's masala at its best with separated families, mental illness, greedy villains and the whole lot. Indeed it is hard for me to think about this movie without remembering my time as a child in Nigeria where Dus Numbri (Number 10) was immensley popular, the songs the film, the stars were all well loved and in fact is embedded in the minds of many Nigerian bollywood lovers, it won't be an understatement to call this film a Nigerian Cult Classic


Shivnath (Abhi Bhattacharya) is a very honest & dedicated cop with a lovely wife Radha (Kamini Kaushal) and son Arjun. When Shivnath exposes a currency fraud ring which his friend Karamchand (Om Shivpuri) runs, Shivnath is framed for murder by Karamchand


He's sentenced to jail and his wife Radha goes mental as a result of the trauma, when her friend Sundari (Hema Malini) decides to reveal her husband as the main culprit of the crime she's stabbed to death and her baby is kidnapped and given to a drunkard (it can't get any crazy than this, or can it?)



When Arjun goes to visit his Baap in jail, he's told his father has escaped, poor Arjun then goes to visit his mother in a mental institution only to find other children pelting his mentally ill mother with stones, angry Arjun retaliates by stoning them back, he's arrested and sent to a reform home



Arjun grows up in and out of reform institutions as a result he's given the name Dus Numbri (defined as a history sheeter who must report to the police station regularly and can be called by the police anytime) He becomes a strong advocate for the poor as well as a fighter against injustice, he earns his living by taxing smugglers, making sure he gets a share of their shady deeds

Notice his sunglasses, beret and no.10 jacket , thats what our hero wears all through the movie

Meanwhile Sundari's stolen daughter grows up to be Rosie (Hema Malini) an exact doppleganger of her mother, and a counterfeit card gambler, Dus Numbri outsmarts her at her own game and when her plans to get him beaten up backfires, she starts developing a soft spot for him (hmmm)


While being chased for stealing one day, Rosie lands into Dus Numbri's mother's mental home, the sight of Rosie who looks so much like her friend Sundari brings back memories to Radha


the classic 70's way of letting us know she's having a flashback


The doctors notice this and Rosie is used as a test to help bring back Radha's memories and restore her mental health, Dus Numbri is very grateful to Rosie, hence they both fall in love (awwwww)


Rosie's uncanny resemblace to her mother leads to her being recognised once more by Shankar (Shyam kumar) a gang member who had murdered Sundari, he sees Rosie as the perfect opportunity to make money off her father Karamchand who had long thought Rosie dead


On his way to get Rosie to her dad to claim his R200,000 he's confronted by Dus Numbri & his aide Karan Singh (Pran), he confesses how he had murdered Sundari because she had proof to set Shivnath free, he also reveals Shivnath is alive in a jail in calcutta, when Dus Numbri presses him for more information he's shot dead by his fellow gang members



Thus the search is on to find Arjun/Dus Numbri's father, will karamchand be brought to justice? will Dus Numbri be able to get justice for his father?

Alongside all these are also a fake currency plot which leads to Karan Singh and Dus Numbri disguising as Nawabs



A corrupt policeman who'll stop at nothing to avoid being exposed


Villains in Spectacular fashions check out the belt on the guy below


A whip lashing Hema Malini



Dus Numbri is a perfect commercial masala potboiler and as i've mentioned already, you have all the elements in the right doses that makes for a hilarious masala flick, thats not to say its not without plotholes and other faults but seriously who cares about those when you're watching an entertaining film like this, and as a witty imdb commmenter puts it, you might just find yourself dressing like Dus Numbri at halloween

Its an easy look to achieve, make sure you have a beret, a t-shirt that says 10 on it
and groovy 70's shades and you're done



The film of course became a massive hit upon its release further establishing Manoj Kumar as "the uber nationalist who appealed to the masses as a sort of common man who fights India's corruptions and injustices" as rum notes on her fab 70's post on Manoj. Due to its crazy popularity and box office success Dus Numbri was remade as KD NO.1 in Telugu


Very Memorable soundtrack from Laxmikant Pyarelal, i usually don't embed more than 2 songs in my blog posts but the special memories this soundtrack hold in my mind means i shall embed all my favourites

'Duniya ek numbri' - This song was one every red blooded bollywood loving Nigerian could sing at the drop of a hat





'Prem ka rog Bada bura'- Yet another fun song that became embedded in my mind as a child especially the Yo Yo yo bit this song is such an earworm



'Mujhe dard rehta hai' - A fun peppy number with a lovesick Hema Malini


Dus Numbri - Mujhe Dard Rehta Hai
Uploaded by kandigee. - See the latest featured music videos.

'Dilruba Delhiwalli' - An awesome qawalli with Bindu, Manoj kumar and Pran in disguise mode



'Tune Meri Jaan' - Watch as a fierce Hema Malini lashes Dus Numbri till he bleeds


Dus Numbri - Tune Meri Jaan
Uploaded by kandigee. - See the latest featured music videos.

Paisa Vasool Rating: 7/10

Dus Numbri is available on dvd at Induna

Himalay Ki God mein (1965)

Himalay Ki God Mein (In the lap of the Himalaya's) is yet another one of Mala's more notable roles, she plays the stereotypical innocent village girl in a charmingly funny way, this film earned Mala her third filmfare actress nomination alongside Meena Kumari for Kaajal and Sadhana for Waqt, she was upstaged by Meena who won for Kaajal

On his way back home to India from London after completing his medicine degree Dr Sunil Mehra's (Manoj Kumar) plane is forced to make an emergency landing after a passenger on board suffers a heart attack


Thus their toy aeroplane makes a landing in the jungle, not even a make shift airport but a bloody jungle with a sandy runway (LoL)


Sunil gets off the plane to get help only to be confronted by daaku's (dacoits) who rob him and beat him to the point of exhaustion, he's left in a critical state only to be rescued by village belle Phulwa (Mala Sinha) and her friends




Surprisingly for someone away from home and whose family are worried sick about him, Sunil seems very cheerful and without a care in the world, he and Phulwa start developing a bond. Sunil's health is back on full form and he returns to the city, he thanks Phulwa and her guardian Dayal (David Abraham) and leaves them his contact details


When Dayal falls ill Phulwa takes him to the city to seek Sunil's help, he then decides to leave the fast city life behind to help the vilagers of the Himalayas as they have no doctor in the town


He's advised against this by his parents and his fiancee Neeta who argues 'what's in it for him' even after persuading Neeta (a qualified doctor herself) to go with him to help the people she's reluctant as she's not ready to give up her high flying career in the city


However Sunil is determined and heads for the Himalayas on his own, before he leaves for the Himalayas he's warned by his father (D.K. Sapru) to keep the fact that he's Inspector Mehra's son a secret, as his father had tried arresting the chief dacoits of the Himalayas Lakhan (Jayant)


At the village he's met with opposition at first by the villagers who believe in traditional healers (Mukri & Kanhaiyalal) who are in fact fraudulent, the villagers warm up to Sunil over time when they see the imapct of his work


Happy Doc

When Sunil makes it clear to his parents that he intends on staying on in the Himalayas for life they're unappy and they send Neeta his fiancee as a pawn to bring him back to the city


Meanwhile Sunil & Phulwa have fallen deeply for each other


Will Neela succeed in her mission to bring him back? Will the dacoits realise Sunil is the son of the Inspector Mehra who's out to get them

An enjoyable film overall, it was not as great as i was expecting, its the kind of movie you watch on a rainy sunday afternoon, i guess my expectations were really high because the film won the 1966 filmfare Movie of the year award, by now i think i should have learnt the lesson that just because a film was awarded 'movie of the year' doesn't mean its an exceptionally great movie.

Still though, the decent acting, fabulous songs & scenery makes it enjoyable, i can tell the film won for its Swadeish kind of philosophy of kindness and love for humanity over one's own personal ambition as could be seen in Sunil's decision to leave the fast life behind in order to become a doctor in a local village. Also added to the narrative is the now familiar trope of a dacoit being a lovable person at heart, and social stigma/prejudice being the reason for their waywardness

Decent performances all around, i loved Mala's Village belle character, it had the potential to be annoying but Mala keeps it refreshingly funny and charming

she also gets the chance to show off some of her dancing skills, i've rarely seen Mala dance apart from the 'Lootee jaa' number in Ankhen


Shashikala is fast becoming one of my favourites, no one could play a detestable/contemptuous character like she often did

Superb music from Kalyanji Anandji (the credits indicate they were assisted by Laxmikant Pyarelal) indeed the music of this film is what makes it memorable for many, highlights include the beautiful ballads 'Ek Tu na mila' vibrant 'tu raat khadhi thi' & 'kankariya marke jayaga' where we get to see Mala doing some fab dancing, and the evergreen 'Chand si Mehbooba'



Total paisa Vasool rating: 6/10