Chhote Nawab (1961)

Continuing the theme of maybe not so remarkable films but definitely a remarkable soundtrack is 1961's Chhote Nawab (Little Master) which as i understand gave Mehmood (one of my favourite comedians) his first leading role, but the great fact about Chhote Nawab is that it marked the  music directorial debut of the great Hindi film music director R.D. Burman. According to Mehmood (via wikipedia) he appointed R.D. Burman as the music director because he got tired of R.D. Burman constantly denting his car with his constant drumming.Great Choice Mehmood I say, as I'm in love with this soundtrack but first lets get into the plot

Our Story begins in Lucknow where Bade Nawab (?) is burdened by the upcoming birthday bash of his 5 going on 20 years old son (just as well, as he was born on a leap year) son Chhote Nawab (Mehmood)

He's advised by his personal Assistant Munshi-ji (S.N. Banerjee) to keep it a low key affair but Safdar (Kumar) his son in law reminds him of his reputation which results in the Nawab taking out a loan from Bhagwati Prasad (?) who's out to exploit him, Nawab places his house as a collateral (I think we know where this is going, bad mistake Nawab)

Days after Chhote Nawab's birthday celebration when he's unable to pay back his loan, Bade Nawab suffers a hear attack when Bhagwati comes to reclaim his property.It turns out the idea to get bade Nawab to place his house as a collateral was a plan between Bhagwati and Safdar to usurp Nawabs wealth. However, Bhagwati cheats Safdar out of his share and ends up usurping Bade Nawab's property leaving Safdar penniless

Angry and frustrated at being conned by Bhagwati, Safdar starts mistreating everyone around  him including his wife (Minoo Mumtaz) and her brother Chhote Nawab. Unable to take Safdar's humiliating treatments any more Chhote Nawab escapes to Mumbai.

He's found roaming the streets of Mumbai by family friend Nawab Nazir (Nasir Hussain)  who takes him home and offers his daughter Roshan (Ameeta) as his fiancee

Chhote Nawab comes across as uncouth and after a humiliating episode Chhote Nawab subjects her to, Ameeta alongside Kanchan (Johnny walker) starts educating Chhote Nawab and transforms him from a bumpkin to a city Slicker

Alas all her hard work soon starts causing jealousy when Sophie (Helen) a night club dancer starts flirting with him

Chhote Nawab starts acting erratically and turns cold towards Roshan and her family, forgetting how they  had helped him when he was down and out (see what the beauty of Helen can cause)

If all this wasn't enough he gets in with the bad crowd when he becomes friends with Bihari (Anwar Hussain) a gambler whose company causes him to start visiting Kotha's (brothels) as well as become a raging alcoholic

The lovely Sheila Vaz

Will Nawab ever come back to his senses or will it be too late to save him from his debauched lifestyle? Watch Chhote Nawab to find out

While not being up there with my favourites, I enjoyed watching Chhote Nawab, the first half moves along rather smoothly and was very enjoyable mostly due to Mehmood's child like antics plus the general drama, but then the second half which follows his journey from Lucknow to Mumbai and which sees him transformed from country bumpkin to city slicker becomes all preachy and moralistic in that cliched modern versus traditional life manner but alas Chhhote Nawab had matured and they had to pad out the story, still though this is na enjoyable film and I'd recomend it for mehmood fans and for R.D. Burmans

Performance wise Mehmood is the scene stealer in this film which I've heard he self produced, I'd describe him as delightfully loud and annoying yet oh so lovable, his childlike mannerisms and body language are simply unmatchable see the scene below for example, I love Mehmood I really do

And Ameeta is love interest was oh so beautiful though a bit too camera conscious as I noticed numerous sceens where kept glancing directly at the camera

 And Helen what a beauty, i loved her look in this film

Great Soundtrack from R.D. Burman, the songs on this blew me away and I couldn't help but appreciate R.D.'s talent ever more so, the songs on here are pretty remarkable for a debut. Favourites include the playful kiddie song 'aam chum tam chuum', the sweet and uplifting 'aaj hua dil matwala' and two super mujra's in the form of 'Ghar aaja ghir' with the lovely Sheila Vaz and 'chura ke dil' can anyone Id the lady in the clip (see her below)

can anyone id her?

two favourites I've chosen to embed are 'matwali ankhonwale' with Mehmood and Helen in full flamenco mode (I love this picturisation so much)


and the fun 'jeenewale muskura ke jee'  I love this composure so much and Mehmood's child like giggles added to the song makes it ever so delightful


Paisa Vasool Rating: 6/10

Padosan (1968)

I had to bring my V. Shantaram week to an end as the notes i made on Geet Gaaya Pattharone (1965) made no sense, its one i feel i'll need to re-watch before i can do write up. Anyway moving on from V.Shantaram week, and just before i get my Rekhatober posts ready i thought i'd do a short post on one of my favourite movies Padosan (Neighbour) an adaptation of 'Pasher Bari' a bengali book by Arun Chowdhury, rumour has it that a remake is in the works with Sanjay Dutt and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles but in honesty i 'd prefer it if this film was left alone

Bhola (Sunil Dutt) decides he's comes of age at the ripe old age of 26, and decides his days of celibacy are over

He meets and falls for a young, energetic lass Bindu, following his decision to move of of his uncle's house into his aunt's, he finds out that none other but Bindu his newly found love is his neighbour

Bhola is eager to win Bindu's love but soon finds out he has competition in the form of Bindu's dance master Pillai (Mehmood) noticing she's in awe of her masters dance and music

Not to be left behind, Bhola enlists the help of his Guru(Kishore Kumar) and other friends to help him in wooing Bindu. In a rather clever use of the filmi idea of playback singing which involves Guru singing while Bhola mouths the words, Bindu is in awe of his talent and falls for him

Now that Bindu seems to have fallen for Bhola, things take a turn when his fake singing act is outed

Overall i enjoyed this rather silly and over the top but undeniably fun comedy (depending on your sensibilities). For me the exaggerated facial expressions and histrionics of the characters of Kishore Kumar as Guru, as well as Sunil Dutt's 'Bhola' act kept me entertained and had me in stitches.

On a deeper level (if you so wish to delve that deep), filmi philosopher 'Philip Lutgendorf' notes on his write up of the movie that Mehmood's character as Pillai the Tamil Brahmin dance instructor "invokes every politically incorrect North Indian stereotype of southerners". As interesting an observation it sounds, I really couldn't take this on board as i'm not aware of what these perceived stereotypes are in the first place

Also interesting is the way the film uses framed voyeuristic style shots from the perspective of Bhola and his friends while spying on Bindu

Performance wise everyone is on their fun, playful hammy best, i loved Sunil Dutt as always and Saira is really one of my favourite Bollywood diva's, i love how she was styled in this, in fact i always love Saira's style in all her movies

love the head scarf and cherry blouse, very Parisian chic

Leopard Print Salwar kameez with matching scarf,. she pulls it off so well


perfectly lined eyes and pouty lips, You go Saira

The songs by R.D. Burman made this film a favourite of mine and one i can watch over and over again, i can go on and on about them forver but my favourites are 'Mere samne waali khidiki' 'kehna hai', 'main chali main chali', love Manna Dey's lingering vocals on 'sanwariya sanwariya' the song i've chosen to embed is the flirty 'Bhai bathur', Lata sounds ever so lovely and i love the fun picturisation, this song pretty much sums up Saira Banu

So fab was the picturisation of 'Bhai Bathur' that The 1981 telugu adaptation of this story 'Pakkinti Ammayi' literally copies it frame by frame. Saira Banu wins hands down for me

Now head over and I can't wait to do so myself to My Movies Music and Mutterings blog for a write up of the soundtrack as well as to get the music for free, trust me this is a classic bollywood soundtrack album you don't want to miss getting your hands on

Paisa Vasool Rating: 7/10

Buy the dvd here

Naya Zamana (1971)

Apologies for the abrupt end in Dharmendra week, that thing called Zindagi (life) interrupted but i'm back on form and i'll fulfill my promise and complete the last few movies i had chosen to review over the next few days. In Naya Zamana ( New World) our hero stars as a revolutonist/rational angry young man

Anup (Dharmendra) is a revolutionist who speaks out against the oppression of the poor and fights for the cause of the poor, he's also a writer who's trying to get published but his writings and criticisms of the oppression of the poor are considered controversial, thereby rendering his work unpublished


Anup is directed to Mr Rajen (Pran) for a job as a publicist, Mr Rajen happens to be a typical example of the kind of Rich people Anup speaks out against, despite Anup taking a stand and voicing his opinion on the oppressive ways of the rich, Rajen takes a liking to him and gets him to write his political speeches



When Anup realises Rajen's family had been behind a humiliating experience his sister Rekha (Aruna Irani) had experienced, he quits his job as a publicist to Rajen


Rajen goes to Anup's house apologising to the wrong done to his sister, Anup is not around but Rekha and her mother (Lalita Pawar) accept his apology, Rekha tells Rajen about Anup's desire to be a writer, he promises he can help fulfill Anup's dream by publishing his book


When Anup finds out his book has been given to Mr Rajen without his consent he's displeased, and goes to confront him, when he gets to Rajen's house, he sees Seema (Hema Malini) singing a poetry from his book


Anup is impressed and his affections towards Seema's change as she had come across as an arrogant, self centred rich girl the last time they met


She tells him how his book 'Naya Zamana' which she had picked from her brother Rajen's library had changed her views of the poor. She tells him how she wishes to change things and asks him to give her a tour of life in the slums


While in the slums she comes acoss a bill passed by her brother Rajen for the slums to be shut down to make way for new buildings, Seema disrupts the bill and prevents the slums from being knocked down


Rajen challenges her authority to which Seema acknowledges Anups writings in 'Naya Zamana' as having changed her , she dares him to read it and not come out thinking as a different man


Rajen sees this as the perfect opportunity to publish Anup's book, on the day of the release Seema as well as Anup's family are shocked to see Rajen credited with Anup's writings


When Anup finds out Rajen's deed he's hesitant to expose Rajen as he had donated all the profits from the book to a handicapped home plus Anup feels if the oppression of the poor is being heard, the author shouldn't matter


Despite publishing a book on the oppression of the poor Rajen continues with his plan to destroy their living area when his plans are interrupted by Anup he bribes Sitaram a local slum dweller to ignite fire in the slums. Sitaram out of greed sets the whole slum on fire, Anup's mother gets injured in the process


When word gets out that Rajen was responsible they set out to burn his factory down, Anup tries calming the villagers down telling them burning down Rajen's factory won't solve the issue, he's accused of being a sell out andsiding with the rich



Words also gets out in the press that Anup is using Seema as a bait to her father's millions millions, as a result her father stops her from seeing Anup


Daaadaa Moniiiiiii (I love this man)


Naya Zamana (New World) reflects the attitude of the common man against the establishment in 70's india and a hope/call for more equal opportunities for the poor, I enjoyed this film very much, it kept me entertained all the way through and i liked the way it highlights the double trappings of capitalism and oppression, on one hand you have the frustrated workers who are tired by the oppressive actions of the rich, their anger leads them to attempt burning down the factory, on the other hand if they do burn the factory they'll be left unemployed thereby making them even more destitute



Dharmendra doing the couture pose (hand on hips check, pouty lips check)
Loved Dharmendra's portrayal of the Angry young man in this one, rational, nuanced, not at all violent and not over the top as the image of Angry young man later became

And of course he and Hema made a wonderful pair as usual in this one


She was drop dead gorgeous in this


Mehmood was also hilarious as a hippie


Loved the songs from S.D. Burman, 'duniya o duniya', 'wah re naujaman' where Mehmood pokes fun at the hippie lifestyle, Lata's beautiful vocals on 'aaya mein Laya' and 'o champa o chameli' my two favourites though are 'Rama Rama Ghazab'




and 'choron ka saare nazar'





Total Score: 7/10