Aap ke Deewane (1980)

My second entry for the ongoing Kapoor Khazana going on around the bolly blogosphere is this fun delightful movie from the 80's, yes such adjectives can be used to describe an 80's movie, there were loads of such movies from that much maligned decade which I shall keep on evangelising about on here, we need more 80's bollywood converts

Ram (Rishi Kapoor) and Rahim (Rakesh Roshan) are high achievers at college, they also happen to be the best of buddies, now If being best buddies plus the fact that they consistently top their class wasn't enough for them, they proceed on affirming their superiority in matters of the heart when they keep interfering in College bad boy (every college needs one) Kundan's love affairs

Hurray for Bromance!! And Robert Redford does indeed approve

Kundan playing his game quietly in the corner

Kundan isn't too pleased with their cock blocking ways and he gives them a good dressing down (Gotta love Ranjeet)

Lol, very well said Ranjeet

In revenge for their cock blocking ways, Kundan sets ram up to be accussed of Rape which results in Ram being expelled from college (Don't ever mess with Ranjeet people)

Seeing that his friend Ram has been expelled, Rahim not one to take matters lying down gets into a bloody fight with Kundan to try and get him to confess how he had set Ram up, but such is the fight that Rahim leaves Kundan near dead and fearing arrest he flees college

Now that Ram & Rahim are out of college the two buddies must now find a way to make a living. Ram comes across an advert for an aged Urdu teacher, as such he disguises as an old aged teacher to teach urdu to Colonel Vikram's daughter

Upon getting there a fracas breaks out between Colonel Vikram (Pran) & Inshallal Khan (Ashok Kumar) over what language their daughter should learn as they had both brought her up together (Is there something the director isn't telling us)

To ease matters between them, Mr Khan eventually decides they get a Hindi teacher for Sameera (Tina Munim) as well, which results in Rahim dragging up to play the role of the wanted female teacher

Unfortunately for Rahim Mr Vikram takes a liking to him in drag, he also comes across his daughter's Urdu teacher without his disguise and decides he wants such a man for his daughter

Of course unknown to him is the fact that this same young chap is his daughter's tutor, and when you have a daughter who looks like Sameera, its inevitable many young men will find it hard to resist her, our two college buddies can't help but fall for her

Sameera eventually finds out their secret, but they beg her to keep schtum about it but she agrees to this only if they get up on stage with Jeetendra (in a special appearance possibly Item number)

Soon the two best friends get entangled in a love triangle with Sameera? Will this threaten their relationship? Plus Who gets the girl?

And lest we forget about Kundan, he decides to avenge the scarred face given to him by Rahim, will he succeed, watch Aap ke Deewane to find out?

Cool T-Shirt Rakesh

Aap ke Deewane (Crazy About You) is a sweet, fun filled Bollywood bromance film complete with just the right amounts of romance, bromance, comedy, drama with perhaps just a bit unnecessary action but alas the bad boy had to be dealt with. Overall I'd say Indulge in this 80's film plus unlike a lot of love triangles that annoy me by killing off one character, that doesn't happen here, instead both lovers are giving the freewill to make their own choices

Performance wise everyone one is on good form here plus Rishi just looked way too adorable

Rakesh was fun especially in his drag act

And Tina what can i say, she's such a babe, and she was fun in this, what a Lovely pair she and Rishi make (though at times their Jodi she was upstaged by Rakesh & Rishi's bromance), this was one of her many films with Rishi, I think they went on to do about four more films together. I am seeking Bade Dilwala earnestly, but they also appeared together in Karz, Yeh Vaada Raha and Deedar-E-Yaar

And of course how dare I end this post without giving props to Ranjeet, what a stylish bad ass college bad boy, of course he was way past it to be playing the college bad guy but so were our heroes (well apart from Rishi) but Ranjeet pulled it off, and no one could have brought the attitude and fierceness he brought to his Kundan Character, he even rocks some Jumpsuits as well (Ranjeet Zindabad!!!)

Lovely songs by Rajesh Roshan on here from the fun bicycle song 'Ramkaren Allahkaren' (I truly love the African/Caribbean guys at the beginning of the song) to the lovely 'Tumko khush dekhar' and my utmost favourite and one of my favourite bollywood snow songs 'Mere dil mein' (Tina Munim was surely one of the hottest beauties in 80's bollywood)

Paisa Vasool Rating: 6.5/10

Bhagwaan Dada (1986)

The third film in line for Sridevipalooza is Bhagwaan Dada, finally of all the films I've reviewed so far this week, at this stage of her career Sridevi seems more confident as an actress and displays some great comic timing in this rather forgettable flick

Bhagwaan Dada (Rajnikanth) is a tout who works under local terrorist Shambu Dada (Danny Denzongpa)

Following a rape act Shambhu carries out on a local belle, she commits suicide and her child Govind is adopted by Bhagwan Dada who's disgusted by Shambhu's behaviour, he decides to raise Govind him as his own. Bhagwan Dada thus becomes a changed man and leaves the world of stealing behind and becomes a saint of sorts in his local neighbourhood

This new goody goody image leads Bhagwaan Dada to report Shambhu's evil deeds to cops which leads to Shambhu Dada being sentenced to Jail

The child responsible for making Bhagwaan turn his life around grows into a cute little Hrithik

When Swaroop (Rajesh Roshan) a village bumpkin moves from Gangapur to Mumbai, he's robbed and none other than Bhagwaan dada saves the day, Bhagwaan takes a liking to him and helps him settle down to life in Mumbai

When Swaroop now a rather confident Mumbaiker rescues Bijlee (Sridevi) from a group of touts, Bhagwan urges her to live with them and in the atypical filmi way, Bijlee and Swaroop fall for each other

but trouble arises when she's caught in a prostitute sting operation, Swaroop and Bhagwaan are disappointed as she never revealed this to them, she tries pacifying them by explaining she only does it to swindle money out of men without actually selling her body (Really??????, either way a slut is a slut)

Swaroop is heartbroken and this revelation causes a strain in their relationship

Shambhu Dada is released from jail and is eager to right the wrongs committed against him by Bhagwan Dada

Will Bijli and Swaroop be reconciled? What is the reason behind Bijli's decision to walk the streets? Will Shambhu succeed in his quest for revenge?

Check out those tarantula lashes

Sridevi lived up to her character's name in this film, she was indeed the Bijli (electricity) in this rather dull movie, Sridevi's comic timing and general cuteness are what stops this movie from being a total bore, just look at the way she carries herself in the picture below its like she knows she's totally in charge of the screen

I'm guessing she at this stage of her career she was becoming more confident and it just shows in this film. I couldn't help but feel she was mismatched with Rajesh Roshan, these two won't be winning any Jodi (couple) awards, there wasn't much of a chemistry between them at all

And of course this film is also notorious for Hrithik's fight scenes with Danny, i love the way Danny puts him in his palce in the clip below, such were little Hrithik's guts that he tried attacking Danny, but of course Danny can always be trusted, he wastes no time in demolishing his legs with his spikey boots (catch this hilarious moment in the clip below)

And of course Danny & Rajnikanth spice things up too with their macho campiness, watch this fight clip below where Rajnikanth avenges Hrithik's death

Good songs by Rajesh Roshan, there's a mellow lullaby 'Tujhse pehle' picturised on Rajnikanth, a madrasi style dance number 'chugh gayee chidiya' and the cute 'aaj dil tude (superfast love)' my favourites are 'pehli baar pyar' Sridevi is just so sexy and lovely in this song and

'aaya aaya pyar ka zamana' yes she does look good with Rakesh in this clip but overall their Jodi lacks the excitement and energy she seemed to have with Jeetendra

Paisa Vasool rating: 4/10

Deedar-E-Yaar (1982)

This is the film that almost or should i say put Jeetendra's account in the red for sometime, he had invested heavily in this Muslim social only for the film to flop, leaving Jeetendra with a debt of R2.5 crore, thankfully his account survived the woes this movie thrust upon it with the subsequent hits he had afterwards

Nawab Akhtar (Jeetendra) & Javed (Rishi Kapoor) are best buddies, Javed falls in love with the gorgeous Firdhaus (Tina Munim) the daughter of a wealthy Nawab Changezi (Shreeram Lagoo)

Nawab Akhtar too meets her and falls in love with her, not knowing she's the same girl his best friend Javed is in love with

Firdhaus on the other hand feels more affection towards Javed and when she realises both are friends she keeps quiet (why would she do this you might ask, Ah things have to get dramatic after all, otherwise we'd have no story)

When Nawab Akhtar's sister's marriage falls on hard times due to her husbands frequent visits to Lucknow's top courtesan Husna (Rekha), he visits her to quote a price that would stop her from seeing Nawab Jehangir his sister's partner

Husna is smitten by Nawab Akhtar & She agrees she would stop dancing for Jehangir provided Nawab Akhtar comes to visit her every evening, Nawab Akhtar agrees, Husna is thankful and hopeful this encounter might lead to marriage with Akhtar which would eventually lead to her being rescue from her disgraceful profession

When Firdhaus's father (Shreeram Lagoo) disapproves of her marriage to Javed due to a taint on his family honour, Akhtar in a silly and rather dramatic move decides he'll marry the woman in question for Javed's sake, and then divorce her, Akhtar thinks her family who would not want anything to taint their honour, would then be forced to marry her off to Javed

Following his decision to marry he goes to Husna one last time, telling her he won't be seeing her again as he's getting married soon, Husna is heartbroken but puts on a brave face

On the of the wedding he realises he's married none other than his beloved, Firdhaus

Will he divorce her or keep her to himself? Will Javed & Akhtar friendship withstand the strain? What will be Husna's fate, will she be able to endure the heartbreak?

So why did this film fail? This film is directed by none other than the great H.S Rawail who directed Muslim Socials like 'Mere Mehboob' & 'Mehboob ki Mehndi', surely one would think this would have given the film some status, or perhaps a Muslim social with bits of dishoom dishhoom factor thrown in just didn't sit right with audiences we would never know. As over dramatic and a bit silly Deedar E- yaar (Seeing my beloved) is, its enjoyable and it keeps your attention (well if you're into melodrama) if not for the plot then for the songs at least

still there's a lot to admire in terms of set designs, the Lucknow type interiors and outfits

Lovely Chandeliers

Palatial Interiors

Marble Tiles

Romantic Fountain

One of my favourite bollywood divas Reena Roy also makes a cameo appearance

And Rekha brought some serious drama, i particularly love this scene beow, thank God i didn't watch this film as a kid, i'm sure i would have made an attempt to reenact the scene, i know its just something i would have tried doing, check out how the camera revolves around her towards the end

The songs by Laxmikant Pyarelal i would have thoughT would have elevated the film to be a hit as they're all classics from the lovely 'Tum ko dekha to' the wonderful 'Jaana jaana jaldi' & 'aayee phoolon ke' a rafi & Kishore duet 'mere dildar ka'. My two favourites though is the romantic 'Sarakti jayen Rukh se'

and the awesome qawalli 'idd ka din hai' where Rishi really proves no one can work a qawalli any better than him

Deedar-E-Yaar - Idd ka din from Bollywood Deewana on Vimeo.

Paisa Vasool Rating: 7/10 (Extra Points for the beautiful songs)

Buy the dvd here