Raja Jani (1972)

I think its high time I invest in a quality laptop, the thought of coming back home and sitting for hours on end on a desktop blogging after a long hard days at work is seriously discouraging and tiring which is why I've been missing in action for a while, but I've seriously missed blogging as well as reading all my favourite blogs so much that I've designated my weekly days off preparing posts that will be automatically set to publish. My first movie review is this Dharema (thats Dharmendra & Hema Malini) romcom which i couldn't help but fall in love with

Wealthy Ranimaa (Durga Khote)  the queen of Taragarh lives in constant agony and anticipation that her long lost granddaughter Ratna who was kidnapped years ago will return to reclaim her throne

Her right hand man Diwan Gajendra Singh(Premnath) takes advantage of situations and recruits suave mobster Raja (Dharmendra) to help him find a girl who'll fake being Ranimaa's granddaughter who'll in turn hand in all the treasures to them once she's been crowned

Raja stumbles upon Shanno (Hema Malini) a street dancing village belle but Diwan thinks she's too much of a commoner to play the role of the long lost princess Ratna

Thus Raja forgoes Shanno as an option but circumstances brings them together again when Shanno escapes after murdering a leacherous man her guardians had sold her to, she finds safety in raja who takes her home  and decides upon presenting her as the lost princess Ratna

Thus begins a makeover as Raja  transfroms Shanno from Country bumpkin to city slicker, he also teaches her lovely manners

All this results in Shanno not only being fit to play a part of the lost princess but she also falls in live with  Raja (something I do not blame her for). Shanno's love for Raja turns into heartbreak when she realises all that grooming and lessons he had been giving her was all in the name of getting her to deceive Ranimaa

Shanno decides to live but is stopped by Raja's assistant Imartilal (Johnny Walker) who tells her about Raja's past scorn in the hands of an unfaithful lover (Bindu) who had cheated on him

Seriously Bindu???? cheating on Dharmendra with Manomhan

Imartilal persuades her to stay as she is the only one who can bring Raja back on the straight and narrow. Shanno listens and decides to play along as Ranimaa's long lost daughter Ratna while also harbouring plans to reform Raja and win his love

But things aren't so easy as Shanno's conscience starts getting the best of her, will she manage to deceive Ranimaa in time so that Raja and Diwan Saheb  get the treasures? Who is the real Ratnaand what will happen if she does indeed arrive? Plus will Shanno succeed in her attempts to make Raja fall in love with her? For this and many more delightful 70's bollywood retro goodness watch Raja Jani

With the exception of some minor gaping plot holes especially in the form of Shanno's murder case never been concluded, this is a cool, fun, charming and delightful retro romcom with fantastic chemistry between Hema and Dharmendra, seriously this two are at their best here, I absolutely loved them and its no surprise they went on to marry, they win my award for best filmi jodi of all time (sorry Sharukh and Kajol). Plus it was nice to see a decisive heroine even though a big part of her decision centred around gaining a man's approval to win his love but hey!! that's minor from all the goodness this film offers, there's a bit of romance, drama, thrilling moments (like the scene below) and action all packaged nicely into an endearing entertaining flick, everyone who likes their retro bollywood movies should watch this

Plus have i mentioned how fabulous the fashion in this film is, all those interested in retro bollywood fashion should see this film to learn how its done. From Hema Malini's pearly beaded top and flared trousers to her funky belted tunic with paisley headscarf she had an amazing wardrobe, head over to my other bollywood blog which I've been ghost writing for some time now to see her full looks

Dharmendra too had some lovely threads in this from his lovely bright blazers to his sharp Double breasted suits, I've never seen him look so stylish, head over to my other bollywood blog to see his other looks from the film

 And Prem Chopra was styling too, i love that blazer though i think I'd change a few things before wearing it

You also get some fab interiors  in the form of giant swiveling doors and quilt padded walls (oh how i love how you pay attention to details 70's bollywood)

Vah!!Kya Baat hai Dharam ji ladies and some of you Gents, stop drooling please

And finally the music from Laximant Pyarelal is delightful, from the amazing 'jani o jani' sung beautifully by kishore Kumar with a suave looking Dharmendra during the title credits to the infectious 'duniya ka mela' to the cheeky 'ABCD chodo' (check out the outfits in this) and then there's the lovely 'mubarak o tujhe' with an appearance from Helen simply dancing around Hema, and the flirty 'Kitna mazaa raha hai' . The song I've chosen to embed however is aaja o aaja simply because of how gorgeous Hema and Dharmendra look in the song


Paisa Vasool Rating: 7/10

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

Jadu Tona (1977)

Today is the birthday of one of my favourite bollywood divas Reena Roy (Happy Birthday Reena) so i thought i'd check out this movie which was inspired or should i say rips off The exorcist that has her in it

The movie begins with this

Aamir (Prem Chopra) along with his two daughters Varsha & Harshu go to visit his parents in the village, he comes across a local villager who tells him to salute the banyan tree, Aamir dismisses him as an illiterate and drives off

While at the village Harshu (Baby pinky) his youngest daughter is lured into an old derelict building, there she meets an old man in the corner who begs her to get him his medicine from an old cupboard (hmmm, shouldn't she have been scared and head for the nearest exit)

Harshu why why?

Upon touching the bottle an evil spirit is released and our dear Harshu becomes possessed, which is shown to us by some hilarious special effects and some 360 degree eye rolling

Notice she's been split in two for the sprit to make way into her

Harshu collapses and is found by the villagers, when the village doctor tries treating her for what they believe to be exhaustion she bites him, leaving the doctor to declare her mad

Her grandmother perceives she must be possessed and gets Saint Bajrangi (Premnath) to come over and treat her, when he makes demands about things they would need for her to get well he's interrupted by Harshu's elder sister Varsha (Reena Roy) who dismisses him as Superstitious

Bajrangi is unable to treat her but upon many pleas from their grandmother he gives her a talisman to tie around her arm to ease the fits from the evil spirit

the family go back to Bombay and Harshu is referred to a Psychiatrist Dr. Kailash who thinks she's suffering from a split personality disorder

As time goes on Kailash and harshu's sister Varsha fall in love with each other ( i kinda admire the director for including a subtle romance, he knew & was out to take care of his Indian
audience)

However the sessions with Dr Kailash give no result and Harshu keeps getting fits and talking in strange voices

When a certain Dr. Vikram is murdered Inspector Jolly Goodman (Ashok Kumar) is assigned the case and due to witness reports Harshu becomes a suspect

Inspector Jolly Goodman's suspicion of Harshu leads him to her psychiatrist Dr Kailash who tells the inspector off for being too supertitious and ridiculous.As the story unfolds it's clear Harshu is possessed by none other than Panalal who had been murdered by this friends for his wealth, he plans on getting his revenge through Harshu

Inspector Jolly however must stop her from achieving this mission

Dadaa Moni looking darn fine

Will Harshu ever be rid of her demons? Will she succeed in killing all panalal's friend who had murdered him?

Overall i found Jadu Tona just a bit interesting, perhaps the fact that i had seen the Exorcist affected my judgement, which by miles is the better film, I really didn't know what to think of this movie, sure it was inspired by the exorcist but that's where the similarities end, Jadu Tona (Black Magic) is a poor tacky version full of dodgy special effects, which i don't really mind, but it failed to scare me in whatever way or form. I had huge expectations about this movie for some reason but the movie was sloppy and had way too much silliness to be taken seriously with names like Inspector Jolly Goodman seriously?????

Another thing that ticked me off about Jadu Tona was the silly comic side plots which thankfully were kept to a minimum, and some silly plot holes like Kailash taking an unpredictable Harshu who was prone to Epileptic fits on an aeroplane ride

But still i adored the director for trying to please his core audience and adapting it to their tastes as seen through the underlying themes of romance and good ol' revenge

And of course much like the exorcist the film tries tomake a case for science not being able to comprehend or explain all the unknown mysteries yet when all the medical treatments failed, none of her family who believed it might actually be a demon posession tried to get spritual help as was with the case of getting a Priest in the exorcist, the moive ends with this disclaimer

Everyone puts in an Ok performance, but what was it with Ashok Kumar and his abbreviations, hilarious examples include I LIKE YOUR ID (id meaning Interior Decoration) or get me some VES (Ves meaning Vegetable Sandwiches)

Baby Pinky is worth mentioning,but i found her weirdness during her possession bouts very jarring to say the least

I watched this film mostly because of Reena and she barely had as much Screen time as i would have liked nor is there much for her to do than worry over her sister's mental health, she looked fierce in some of the fashions though

i can totally see Carrie Bradshaw wearing this

vah! Kya fabulous hat hai?

Good music from Hemant Bhosle the songs are well placed within the movie there's the beautiful 'aaina kucch to bata de' the sweet 'yeh gaon pyara pyara' which is what our lovely Harshu sings before she gets possessed

and a birthday celebratory song 'Sawari saloni, jauna ka jivan'

paisa Vasool Worthiness: 4.5/10