Inane accusations (Aap ki Kasam)

Now tell me something: Why is everyone in Aap ki Kasam losing sleep over how to exonerate Kamal? Why are they so driven towards showing him sympathy? Does he really deserve any? An insecure and stupid man who brings nothing but unhappiness to everyone around him, Kamal should have just been ignored and allowed to live his life the way he wanted to. I sound harsh, but please, after what he does, I feel he deserved nothing but that...

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The correct dose of drama (Khandan)

Too much fun, I tell you. No wonder I'm never absolutely disappointed by A Bhimsingh's films. Revolving around family relationships in a big joint set-up, mostly set in villages where traditions and customs are heeded, a simplistic plot containing melodrama and awesome performances by a superlative cast. That's the crux yet again of Khandan, one of the biggest grossers of 1965, I'm told. What's not to like here? Sunil Dutt paired with the lovely and rustic Nutan, Om Prakash is sarcastically funny against Lalita Pawar's caustic stupidity, Manmohan Krishna and Sulochana are the quintessential good people, Sudesh Kumar the eternal goat, Mumtaz, the pretty damsel and best of all, Pran, the forever evil villain. And here, with a comic twist! On a roll!!

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A likeable love triangle (Patthar ke Sanam)

There was a time when I thought that Waheeda Rehman was hardly a looker. Pardon me, but this was before I had seen some of her greatest black and white classics. And yes, I swallow back my words with utmost humility. For Waheeda Rehman is absolutely enigmatic and alluring in her old films. The camera loved her and the monochromes highlight the depth she had in her eyes and cast a attractive sheen on her sharp contours. Today if anyone asks me to talk about Waheeda Rehman's beauty and talent, I'll probably spend much more time waxing eloquent about her participation in the black and white films rather than in the coloured ones.

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Where the script lacks steam (Mere Hamdam Mere Dost)

I had seen Mere Hamdam Mere Dost a long, long time ago. So, I didn't quite remember much from this Amar Kumar film except for the title track and the scintillating club song, Humko to ho gaya hain pyar , picturised on the dazzling Mumtaz. In fact, I vividly remember the song Na jaa kahin ab na jaa, simply because of the long refrains in the voice of Mohd Rafi, the oh-so handsome Dharmendra in a embroidered kurta-shirt and white trousers and Sharmila Tagore, the picture of charm in a dark grey sari. The very instance of eye-candy and melodious magic in old Hindi films.

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When the past haunts (Humjoli)

I am not too fond of Jeetendra. Rather, I cannot brook Jeetendra. I think that he being called "The Jumping Jack" is no exaggeration. I think his acting is flawed, he is not much of a looker and his style sense is horrendous. So what brought me to watch Humjoli, a film that where Jeetendra plays the male lead? Well, if I am to be honest, I watched it not for the jumping jack (and how true this film proved him to be!), but for the histrionics of Leena Chandravarkar, whose films I'm yet to explore in totality, for Pran, who plays a repenting villain and for Mehmood, a guy who pulls all the stops when it comes to ribtickling comedy.

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Toying with melodrama (Khilona)

There are times when I'm game for a film where I wouldn't have to put in much thought and reasoning. I'd only have to go with the flow of the story, the ups, downs, drama, melodrama, songs, sequences and inanities. These are the times when I am lazy, tired or rather bored. These are times when one can surely watch the film Khilona. Yes, I did too. There's nothing much to say about the film except that Mumtaz looked lovely and Sanjeev Kumar was so different from his other celebral roles. But somehow, I cannot say that I did not like Khilona. There is something very dramatic about this movie that sat well with me!

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Women's lib (Pati Patni)

If you discount the main leads in this S A Akbar comedy, you are in for a jolly good time. Not that the main story is bad or the cast dismal, but it is the supporting cast that comes up trumps in the entertaining Pati Patni. The lead cast is good, the story conventional, replete with the usual romance, twists and misunderstandings. But it is the utter uproariousness of the supporting plot that takes the film to another level. The best comedians are all brought under one roof but every one of them has a special part to play. The dialogues are so darn hilarious and the situations are absolutely funny. Wonder why this 1966 film is not spoken about much. I think this film deserves much more than obscurity. It needs to be celebrated as one fine comedy. Fast paced, action-packed and utterly hilarious!!

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Family feud (Do Raaste)

Let's not get judgemental. For, it's very easy to find faults with the wicked parties in Raj Khosla's Do Raaste.  The director, whose thrillers I feel are a hundred notches better than his family dramas, doesn't put any energies in creating grey characters. He makes the good ones in the film absolutely saccharine and the bad people never do anything good. There is hardly any subtlety in dealing with emotions and every bit of melodrama is retained. Still, in my opinion, Do Raaste is one of the best domestic sagas I've seen. It's engaging, high strung and full of attractive moments. And yes, this 1969 film has solid performances...

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Twin trouble (Ram aur Shyam)

Somewhere in the middle of Ram aur Shyam director Chanakya loses steam. That's my guess. For, what starts as a perfectly exciting family drama turns into a rambling and tedious potboiler. The film just goes on and on. So dragged is the denouement that when Anjana and Shanta get to garland their heroes, I kick myself up from semi-slumber to say, "Gosh, at last the deed is done!"

Pardon me, but I think this film could have been so much more entertaining if it had been sharper and tighter. A few inane scenes here and there could have been omitted and Dilip Kumar's sometimes forced comedy could be saved for a more favourable day...

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Spooky spin (Yeh Raat Phir Na Aaygi)

When you have to share screen space with Prithviraj Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore, Nana Palsikar and Mumtaz, you better be good in your job. But sadly, Biswajit's Suraj is so not up to the mark. The tale's spooky, the drama's spinechilling, the score's fantastic and the suspense is thrilling. But, Suraj looks lost (well, sometimes he is expected to!) all the time. He carries the same expressions throughout Yeh Raat Phir Na Aaygi, a brilliant 1966 thriller directed by Brij. When he is flummoxed to see the apparition, when he is flirting

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Miscast Meena (Chandan ka Palna)

Meena Kumari's Baharon ki Manzil was enough to warn me against her later films. Her lost beauty, her bulky figure, her bloated face, the alcohol-induced heaviness in her voice, the loud makeup, everything about Kumari's persona in this slow thriller was disheartening. It kept reminding me about her faded glory and glamour; her beautiful eyes, her perky voice, her grace and of course, her superlative performances in her heydays. How we wish she would not drown herself in high spirits (pun intended obviously)...
But, something about Ismail Memon's Chandan ka Palna, drew me. Was it the lead pair (Dharmendra and Kumari again), the fun supporting cast, the dramatic plot or the music (RD Burman's score is pretty good)? A relatively unknown film starring Kumari, I was a tad curious about this 1967 classic.

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