Weak procrastinator (Amar)

Mehboob Khan's bold drama Amar happens to have a yo-yo effect on me. There are moments when I am swept away by the tight narrative, and there are times when I brush aside the nonsensical goings-on on the screen. There are times when I love Dilip Kumar for having the gall to undertake this grey part, then there are those situations when I feel like whacking him for tediously lengthening the film with his procrastination. There are sighs that I let out for the unharnessed rustic charm of Nimmi and there is the utter exasperation when instead of breathing fire she whimpers and simpers into love for her violator. But there is one person who takes my breath away... Madhubala, for being so heartbreakingly beautiful, so smart, so compassionate and then in the end doing what she aught to be doing. In relinquishing her rights and love, she emerges as the strongest character of this 1954 super dramatic film, that is hailed as being ahead of its times for no tiny reason.

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Supporting it strong (Beti Bete)

One thing's a given when you sit down to watch a L V Prasad film; there will be a plethora of twists and turns in the life of the main protagonists, family members will be separated by a freak stroke of fate, while one sibling regales in wealth, the others will have tormented livelihoods, there will be umpteen occasions when the members will come face to face with one another without each realising that they are related and most importantly every crease will be ironed out as the climax approaches.

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Powerful Pawar (Memdidi)

Memdidi, directed by the master of simple yet sweet tales, is a unique enterprise. It has no conventional leads, it stars Keysi Mehra whose name provides absolutely nothing on search pages and it is pulled off by people who have made a name for themselves playing character roles. But here, they become the heroes, they make you laugh, cry and sing along with them, they warm your hearts with their goodness and they tell you that blood ties are not necessary to forge long time bonds. Sometimes people who are not even remotely related turn out to be so close to one another that they can go to great lengths to keep each other happy...

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Soulful sonatas (Maya)

This is one film that will stay on with you because of the wonderful music. The story has been heard before, the characters seen and the denouement expected. But these songs are so powerful even today that whenever they play they bring bliss to my senses. I'm talking of Salil Chowdhury's fantastic score in  Maya, the 1961 romance directed by D.D. Kashyap. The film has a likable plot and famous faces. But more than anything, the songs just stand out from the crowd of events and situations, pulling you into a soulful reverie that lingers on for eternity...

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