Pasand Apni Apni (1983)

Now that I'm back blogging properly, I'm committed about writing some of my favourite stars whom I've written very little about on here, two of such who are the leads in this enjoyable comedy romance

When Geeta (Rati Agnihotri) a struggling working class girl hitch hikes a ride to work to avoid being late for her drama classes, her boss Sriram (Utpal Dutt) sees it as the perfect opportunity to get funding for his company through Sandeep Anand who owns the car, and whom Geeta claims to know, as a result he promotes Geeta to the leading role

When Sandeep Anand starts receiving bills for clothing which Sriram has been ordering under his name for the cast of his play, he decides on investigating matters which leads him to Sriram-ji and Geeta's press conference where they announce Sandeep Anand as their sponsor, they do all this not knowing Sandeep Anand is amongst the audience

Sandeep goes on disguise and meets Geeta, he claims he's from Sandeep's company and has come to inquire about the clothing bills his boss has been receiving, she's scared and tells him not to tell Sandeep of the bills, he agree's to her plea and they become friends

Geeta and this said employee of Sandeep Anand start spending time together and of course its not long till they start falling for each other, but he never reveals his true identity to her. Geeta too falls for him but seems to have a distinct class belief

When she's called upon by her boss to arrange a meeting with Sundeep Anand, Geeta realises she would not get away with lying

Will Geeta tell the truth? Will she come clean about her lies to Sandeep Anand? Will Sandeep come clean that he is in fact the real Sandeep Anand? Will Geeta forgive him for his lies? For the answers to all these question watch Pasand Apni Apni

Overall a lovely and nicely scripted rom com that sticks to its premise and eliminates unnecessary dross, its not an overtly funny rom com, and although it gets a bit slow in parts, its a good watch, and I'd recommend it for those of you not too keen on 80's bollywood (I love it), this is one of the more restrained movies from that much maligned decade that you might find appealing, the performances as well as Chemistry between the lead pair and Bappi Lahiri's music are good.

Kya Baat hai!! Rati -ji! Gotta Love the cute mole above her Lips

I especially love Rati Agnihotri, there's a certain 'Je ne sais quoi' to her apart from her beauty and gentle manner & charm I love, she's one of my favourite bollywood diva's and I realise I've written very little on her on here, so expect to see more of her in months to come. I wonder what it is about heroines from this decade that makes them not very memorable or easily dismissed by both bollywood fans and critics alike, actresses from this decade (the 80's) are never held up the same way those from other era's (say 50's-70's)are held up. Why is this? (an idea for a future post I think).

Mithun the Great!!

And of course Mithun Chakraborty was great as well, this was a good role for him, what a pity he's always remembered for the Cheese factor of films like Disco dancer or Dance Dance, this man is a fine actor

Bonus Screen cap, I totally loved this cute t-shirt, You dig

Indeed!!! I think i need a T-shirt like that

Lovely soundtrack from Bappi Lahiri and lyrics by Anjaan-Yogesh. My favourites on here include a seductive Asha Bhonsle ballad 'Tum jo mile ho' a lovely disco style track by Sharon Prabhakar 'Dingo! (Bole Gaadhi, ye saanso ki)' a mellow disco tune 'kisi pyar mein' a lovely upbeat number 'gaye kaye ko' my utmost favourite and the one I've chosen to embed is the beautiful 'Aise to socha na tha'(its officially one of my top ten favourite Asha Bhonsle songs)

Paisa Vasool Rating: 6/10

Agreement (1980)

The first film in line for Rekhatober is Agreement, i had high hopes for this film but it somehow left me disappointed but since its a Rekha film i don't regret watching it although it could have been a lot more better

Mala (Rekha) returns back to India after studying business management in Germany to run her father's company

Mala is a hardworking and driven woman who's determined to keep her father's empire at the top, she also has modern attitudes like her belief that women should not treat men like Gods (now if you watch your bollywood, we all know her modern attitudes came as a result of living in Germany for years)

vah!vah! I really loved her rather butch style of dressing in this

When her Uncle Mr Mathur (Utpal Dutt) brings up the idea of Marriage to Mala, she proposes top do it her way by marrying a man who'll do all the things a traditional Indian wife usually does, her uncle assures her she won't find such a man in India but Mala insists she will and thus places an advert in the papers about her search for a domesticated husband

you tell him Girl

Fearing a man who's out to drain Mala of her riches will be chosen, her Uncle Mr Mathur outsmarts her and chooses Shekhar (Shailendra Singh) a struggling graduate for her

Shekhar auditions like hundreds of others to become Mala's domesticated husband but Mala is taken aback by his enthusiasm to become the domesticated husband that she chooses him

He agrees to Mala's contract, which reads like these Mala draws a clause of what her marriage partner must adhere to, they're are as follows and can only be terminated after a full year has passed

i love how she even wears a trouser suit to her wedding Atta girl!!

1. the marriage between her Shekhar is a fake marriage set up merely to deceive others

2. No Intimacy

3. The man must be devoted to his wife and do everything for her

4. He must entertain her guests

5. he must gain her permission if her requires to work outside

6. He would receive an allowance of Rs1,000 and 12 hours a week off

7. If he breaks any of the above, she can send him packing without notice

Shekhar agrees to the conditions, and soon finds Mala's ways unbearable

its not long before outsiders (Bindu & Sujit Kumar) start noticing how set up their marriage appears to be

Will Shekhar hang on or will he quit? Will Mala's secret be exposed to all? Will she end up falling in love with Shekhar?

Now if you know your hindi films very well, you should very well know how all this would end, Mala ends up being the very model of womanhood she hated, at the beginning of the film and mostly through the first half Mala sports a short hairdo and wears western clothes by the end of it, she's become a Bharitya Naari (ideal Indian womanhood)

(i couldn't help but think of bollyviewer's Bharitya Naari list, it would have done her a lot of Good to read it, or wait maybe she did)

I was disappointed with this film, as it ended up being sexist, and if you're a feminist, you might want to avoid this film, as it would annoy the hell out of you. Given the premise of the story i was expecting the movie to be given a comedic touch but the whole thing just ended up being a cliche and very manipulative to make Mala realise the error of her ways and become the exact kind of Indian womanhood which she had so much being against.

Acting wise everyone is ok but i found Utpal Dutt's smug uncle act, which he played convincingly well very unbearable

Shailendra Singh was a notable playback singer at the time played the role of Shekhar, he wasn't too bad as an actor but good thing he stuck to his playback singing

Now talking of my Diva Rekha i loved her in this film especially in the first half before she caught the love bug and became a Bharitya Naari, i have to say she rocked the hell out of that wig , it suited her to a T and such a gorgeous face too

The only good thing about this film i have to say are the songs by Bappi Lahiri, highlights are 'Suno baat pateki' 'apne pyar diya' my favourites are Jeena ye koi' a male version by Shailendra Singh and 'jaane kyun mujhe' a female Lata version which i've embedded below with English subtitles