Hamraaz (1967)

B.R. Chopra who mostly made socially relevant drama, went all commercial in this fabulous, stylish, suspense filled movie with good looking actors, gorgeous sets and great music

Meena (Vimi) lives with her wealthy father Mr Verma (Manmohan Krishna) in the hills of Darjeeling. Meena secretly marries her sweetheart Captain Rajesh (Raaj Kumar) a soldier in the Indian army. Eventually her father comes to know and he's disappointed, but he forgives Meena and plans for an open and pompous marriage for the two, also Meena is now carrying his baby

News soon reaches them of Rajesh's death, Meena is devastated, months later when she goes into labour, the child is pronounced dead. Meena becomes withdrawn and In a bid to cheer her up, her father urges her to attend a dance session for the army troop, at the event Kumar (Sunil Dutt) a famous stage actor sees her and falls for her.

When he decides to marry her, Meena feels uneasy and upon telling her father he instructs Meena not to mention her previous marriage to him, saying it might put him off

They both marry and Kumar and Meena move to Bombay where Kumar is a famous stage actor alongside Shabnam (Mumtaz) who plays his leading lady

Meena gets news that her father is dying so she goes back to Darjeeling, while there her father confesses her child is well and alive, and then reveals he had lied to save her from public shame. He gives her details of the orphanage where she is before he dies

When she sees her daughter Sarika (a young Sarika) she takes her home and when she tries to adopt her, but Kumar objects saying her affection for Sarika will diminish when they have their own kids. Meena keeps schtum and returns sarika to the orphange

At a New year's party Meena runs into Mahendra (Anwar Hussain), a friend of her first husband Captain Rajesh. Meena lets him know that she's now remarried and begs him not to bring up the subject of Rajesh to her husband, she however leaves him her number

Meena soon starts receiving strange calls from Mahendra

One day she fakes an illness and is excused by Kumar from coming to his show, when Kumar rings home he's told Meena is not home, Kumar starts getting suspicious. When he gets home Meena says she had gone to the doctor, but when Kumar rings the doctor, he says Meena never came, Kumar's suspicions on Meena deepen even more and he plots to catch Meena in her act

Kumar then tells Meena he is going to Pune, instead Kumar goes on disguise with a full beard and returns home hoping to catch Meena being unfaithful, when he returns home he finds Meena dead, but he is unable to report it to the police

When the news hits the headline the next day, the bearded man is linked to the murders, Inspector Ashok (Balraj Sahni) who's in charge of the case soon starts getting suspicious of kumar, linking him to the murder


So Who killed Meena? Will he/she ever be found? Will Meena's secret ever be revealed? What will happen to SarikA, Meena's Child? For this and many more suspenseful answers watch Hamraaz

A super stylish Suspense movie from the '60s, i loved every moment of it and although the movie doesn't settle fully till about an hour and some hammy fighting scenes between Raaj Kumar and Sunil Dutt, the story and suspense is well thought out and gripping. Great performances from everyone and India times picked this movie as one of Sunil Dutt's best

Hamraaz also had wonderful sets and interiors from sunken living areas to quilted doors and a decadent fireplace all of which i adored

There was also some great stage plays of Romeo and Juliet and Othello performed by Sunil Dutt and Mumtaz

I was so surprised to see Sarika who later went on to become a big star in the role of the little girl, she definitely didn't change much

Adult pictures of Sarika courtesy of bollywood 501


I was fascinated by Vimi who played Meena, although she appeared really wooden most times, she had so much style and glamour. I struggled to find any story about her but a kind soul at Parinda.com notes she had married against the wishes of her parents, moved to Bombay where Ravi introduced her to B.R Chopra, who then cast her as Meena in Hamraaz, she is said to have been more concerned with how she looked and what she wore than her acting, a few more films followed afterwards but directors weren't too keen on her, she ended up dying of a alcohol related illness, Read more on her here and here


The music of the film by Ravi is fabulous (i know i use that word way too much..lol), they all had a '60's vibe about them Na mooh chupa jiyo, Kisi patthar ki murrat se and the haunting evergeen Neele gagan ke Tele (see below) which won Mahendra kapoor the filmfare best male playback award


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Total Score: 8/10 (Entertaining Suspense movie, one of the best from '60's bollywood)