Six sweet hours (Solva Saal)

I'm extremely fond of Dev Anand in this avatar. In Raj Khosla's Solva Saal he is a naughty, smart, charming and gorgeous man who devastates with his smile, which thankfully comes across quite often. The best part is that he is witty, fast and makes light of almost every situation. So, you get to see his fascinating smile all the more. He flirts with elan, is in command of every situation and romances so cutely. In 1958 he was yet to become heavily dependant on his signature mannerisms. So, what we get is a free, casual and rollicking character in Prannath Kashyap. Yes, even the name has an element of fun in it.

Solva Saal might not be Raj Khosla's best. It hardly is anything near to his later awesome works. But then the film never promises much more than being a freewheeing romance with a bit of drama and thrills thrown in. I will not say that the suspense and intrigue are of top quality but I did not mind sitting through it just to see how Kashyap comes up trumph in his pursuit of the missing pearl necklace. This is not a gripping mystery, neither does it have the chills of Khosla's later works. But what it does have is a pleasurable love plot between that main protagonists.

The entire story is played out in a matter of six hours. But given that, I feel the editor could have done a better job with the scissors. For there are scenes towards the end that appear tedious. The film should have been at least 20 minutes shorter, if not more. And yes, there was no reason to stretch the chase scenes to this extent. Mr Khosla, it seems, was surely gearing up for his later blockbusters. (If I'm not mistaken, he does appear before the camera here, playing a film director on the sets of a film!).

Laaj (Waheeda Rehman) is the eldest daughter of a respectable man. She is in charge of the entire house as well as her tiny siblings. But time comes when her father wants to get her married to a man of his choice. But problem is that Laaj is in love with another man called Shyam (Jagdev), who knows full well that Laaj's father will not approve of him. So, he instigates Laaj to elope with him and the cunning man that he is, tells her to take some jewels from her father's home. So, the gullible Laaj leaves her father's abode at the dead of night with a string of precious pearls costing RS 10,000 and meets up Shyam in the railway station. Suffering from anxiety and trepidation she tells Shyam of the necklace. Shyam tries to hoodwink her in the station itself and tries to run away with his catch but them he is not able to do so. So, Shyam and Laaj start the journey. What they do not know is that someone is eavesdropping at their whispers. This is Prannath Kashyap, a journalist in search of juicy stories for his newspaper. He is with Gogi (Sunder), the photographer. Prannath realises that the two youngsters are running away from home and breaks into Hain apna dil to awara to lighten the air. This song (SD Burman's music is good; though I won't say that I'm a fan of Hemant Kumar's Hindi singing) also helps in diverting the suspicion of Laaj and Shyam from Prannath.

At the first chance that he gets, Shyam deserts Laaj and runs away with the necklace. Laaj tries to follow him but is stopped short by Prannath when he sees that she is risking her life by coming in the way of a moving train. But Laaj is not happy that Prannath has saved her life. She chastises him for stopping her and even asks him to follow Shyam. The cheeky man that Anand is playing, he throws caution to the air and constantly flirts with this gorgeous woman, while he helps her out to get back the necklace.
It is the adventures of Prannath and Laaj that make the rest of the film. It shows how Laaj starts believing in this stranger and is attracted to him, how Prannath is absolutely smitten with this damsel and how the two fool the crooks to get back their belongings. The ending is the best--- happy and sweet.

Waheeda Rehman is a good actress and here she is no different. She plays Laaj to perfection. Initially in love with Shyam, it takes her little time to realise that she had trusted the wrong man and acted rather impulsively. When Dev Anand is serenading with another woman in the title track, it's cute how she is stung with a wee bit of jealousy. But she is not the best part of the film, I'm afraid.
Dev Anand is, in a very easy and effortless way. I'm not considering the scenes where he puts up an inane charade to get to the thieves. I'm talking of the jaunty parts where he delivers to perfection. Like in the song, Yehi to hain woh (Mohd Rafi), it actually looks like he is enjoying himself. His expressions are funny and perfect. Also in the title track, he is flamboyant and chirpy.

I love the scene where the two are changing their clothes on either sides of a curtain. I love the innuendos in which they talk, revealing more than hiding the state of their heart. Dev Anand here wears his heart on his sleeves and he is not ashamed to declare that Laaj is playing havoc with his senses. He has no inhibitions at all. His face full of fleeting emotions and his eyes gleaming with that mischievous laughter, Dev Anand, the roguish charmer, sure is in top form...