Dhool Ka Phool (1959)

My favourite diva becomes Yash Chopra's first heroine in his directorial debut Dhool ka Phool (Flowers of the dust) This film also earned Mala her first filmfare nomination for best actress alongside Meena Kumari for Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan and Nutan for Sujata, Mala was upstaged by Nutan who won for Sujata

Mahesh (Rajendra Kumar) and Meena (Mala Sinha) meet and fall in love after a bicycle collision accident at their college campus
They start dating and on a barsaat ki raat (a rainy night) if you've been watching lots of hindi films you should be able to guess what happens next, they both get horny and succumb to do that which only 'married couples do'


Meena gets pregnant ( a big Lol at the way Meena finds out about her pregnancy through a baby picture on the wall, I was in fits of laughter for this scene)

spooky picture which confirms Meena's pregnancy



Mahesh meanwhile lands a high paid job with his father's friend, when Meena tells him about her pregnancy, he's shocked and Meena begs him to marry her as this would lessen the stigma of her giving birth out of wedlock. Mahesh promises they would marry after he comes back from a trip to his fathers, Meena believes his word and promises to wait for him
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Nooo.... Meena..... Nooooo

When Mahesh gets to his father, who insists he marries Rai Saheb's daughter Malti (Nanda) Mahesh conveniently forgets about Meena and agrees to marry Malti


After waiting for weeks on end without any sighting of Mahesh, Meena travels to meet him in his father's town, there she is confronted by his marriage ceremony to Malti, Meena is disheartend and returns back home (No Girl, you should Speak Up but i also believe shame on breaking the moral code of the time must have made her keep silent!!!)
Back at home Meena's uncle and aunty find out about her pregnancy and as a result she's considered a taint to the family's honour and sent out of the house. Meena who now sees herself as a mistake and a blemish to society attempts throwing herself off a cliff only to be stopped by their house maid Gangu Bai (Leela Chitnis) who holds her back arguing that women shouldn't bear the brunt only, but men should suffer and called out as well, thus Meena goes to live with Gangu Bai
Meena gives birth to a son and is concerned about her child's fate and the prejudices he might face from society,Mahesh & Malti also have a son of their own. Gangu Bai also passes away after getting injured in an accident
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>this baby was so cute

Following Gangu Bai's death and lack of support from anyone, Meena goes to confront Mahesh, he treats her coldly saying he has his honour to protect & when she threatens to out him as the father of her baby, he asks how she would prove this (no DNA tests back then :0(


Meena in a bid of frustration and helplessness drops her baby in the jungle (applause to Mala for pulling off that cold scene)



When Meena goes back to get her baby, he's no more there and has been rescued by a muslim Abdul Rashid (Manmohan Krishna). Abdul Rashid adopts the baby and names him Roshan but he faces opposition from neighbours and friends who contend what the child's actual religious origin might be, Abdul Rashid seeing the way people react to Roshan moves away to the city


Meanwhile Meena goes looking for work and lands a job as a secretary at a barrister's office (Ashok Kumar), he takes a liking to her and asks her to marry him, Meena is reluctant at first but later agrees, she keeps her past life a secret from him


Roshan however faces a difficult time in school as questions about his illegitimacy cause him to be treated as an outsider and bullied by other kids, he forms a deep friendship with Rakesh (Daisy Irani) who happens to be the son of his biological father

yup thats right Ramesh wants no excuses not to be friends with Roshan

Would Meena ever find her son again? What proof will she have? Watch how events unfold in Dhool Ka Phool? Will Mahesh and Meena ever meet again? Will Ramesh & Roshan ever find out they're rothers from the same Daddy?

Overall a beautiful and well crafted Melodrama, i enjoyed watching Dhool ka phool very much, of course the film was a social commentary on the issue of children born out of wedlock, i admire the director for focusing on the man's irresponsibility, mostly and even till today the woman bears all the disgrace or is the one called the slut. I also liked Dhool ka Phool for being sensitive and trying to address the fact that it wasn't so much the fact that they had sex before marriage that was wrong but Mahesh's failure to be a man and stand up to be a father. This film is also portrays an interesting study on the phenomena of labelling theory as can be seen through Roshan who after numerous name calling becomes that which has been ascribed to him.


Great Performance from all the cast Rajendra Kumar plays Mahesh with such conviction that you have nothing but hate for him

Manmohan Krishan is adorable as ever in his portrayal of the kind hearted muslim he won the filmfare best supporting actor for his role and Mala gives an excellent performance as the mother who finds herself at the cross roads of her own emotions and societies prejudice

I love this child actor who plays Roshan a lot, can anyone confirm if his name is Sujit Kumar or Sushil Kumar (Imdb is unclear about this)


Fabulous soundtrack from N.Dutta the music of dhool ka phool has become one of my favourite soundtracks from 50's bollywood, there's the beautiful mushaira 'tere pyar ka aasra' the fun 'Apne jeena khatir hai' the wonderful 'tu hindu banega' and quiet ballad 'Tu mera pyar ka' my favourites however are 'Jo tum muskura do'



and Asha's beautiful vocals on the breezy 'Jukti Ghata'



Paisa Vasool rating: 7/10



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Noorie (1979)

Noorie (1979) is a very cute, romantic film produced by Yash Chopra. Upon its release in 1979, the film became a box office hit in India (i have an obssession watching movies that were hits in India, of course i watch non hit films as well, but i like seeing what Indian cinema goers paid to watch)

Noorie tells the story of a girl called 'Noorie' ( a very cute Poonam Dhillon) who lives in the valleys with her Dad, and her dog Khairoo, she has a boyfriend Yusuf (Farooq Shaikh) and they're both deeply in Love with one another

Yusuf is eager to marry her, but Noorie tells him to go and ask her father for her hand in marriage

Yusuf takes Noorie's advice and makes his desires known to her father 'Ghulam Nabi' (Iftekhar) The Ghulam Nabi agrees and Noorie and Yusuf's wedding preparations begin

While preparation's are being made for Noorie and Yusuf's wedding , another villager Bashir Khan (Bharat Kapoor) takes a strong liking to Noorie and decides he wants her for himself, he approaches Noorie's father and tells him his intentiontions, but Noories' father disagrees
A very angry Bashir Khan then arranges the murder of Gulam Nabi, who gets killed by Bashir Khan's men. Following his death, Noorie and Yusuf decide to suspend their marriage, a few months later the marriage preparations are back on, however a few days before the marriage Bashir Khan, who happens to be Yusuf's boss sends him on an errand out of town. While Yusuf is out of town Bashir Khan goes over to Noorie's house and then rapes her.

Noorie's dog tries to help but he's been chained down
A very distraught Noorie after the rape

What will happen to Noorie, will she be able to leave with herself after the rape? What will be the Villager's reaction to Noorie? Will Yusuf still be willing to marry her? Will Bashir Khan's evil deeds ever be found out? For all these answers watch Noorie.

Closing in at about 1hr 54mins Noorie is one of the shortest hindi films i've ever seen. Its hard for me to criticise Noorie, as it's a simple, sweet & straight to the point story, although it gets all sad and dramatic towards the end. If you like lighthearted, simple entertainment that's easy to follow, and one has great songs that you'll find yourself singing even after the movie is over, then definitely check out Noorie.

The songs of 'Noorie' scored by Khayyam (who also scored bollywood classics such as Kabhie Kabhie,Umrao Jaan) are memorable classics that linger in your head upon listening, from the delightful Qawalli 'Aashiqi ho to aisa ho' (the only video of this song i could find on youtube were of some Russian bollywood dancers miming & dancing to it at some function, make sure you watch it), the sweet 'Chori Chori koi aaye' and my personal favourite the haunting 'Aaja Re' (see below). The simple storyline, the character's, plus wonderful cinematography, the beautiful locales and classic music is what i believe made Noorie a box office hit in India.




Total Score: 6/10
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