The want of privacy (Piya ka Ghar)

I'd gone to Mumbai (how I still love calling the maximum city Bombay; it sounds romantic) in 2009 with my husband. After a day of sightseeing, we both took time off to meet our respective friends. While he sat down for his beer and gossip with his school friends, I went about town with a friend-cum-colleague. We went from one part of the city to another, and I suitably gaped at Jalsa, Mannat, Salman Khan's house (his dogs were being taken for a walk at bandstand!), Kareena Kapoor's house and Shahid Kapoor's house. While we licked our ice-golas and chatted with merry candour, Aditi (that's my friend) told me that she has been very busy trying to let out her family's 1BHK flat. And guess what they were charging as rent? Rs 40,000 for 750 square feet! The moment she quoted the numbers, many things crossed my mind (apart from almost choking at that point!).
I said to myself, "So there goes the dream of darling hubby of ever living in this city. How can I give up a comfortable life in the Capital for a matchbox existence in the city he loves so much? Yes, I love films alright, but it's absolutely okay to watch them on television. I don't have to live with the stars in this city! Rs 40,000 for 750 sq ft!!! Are they kidding me?"

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A tidy little gem (Abhimaan)

Let's not even deliberate on the resemblances that Hrishikesh Mukherjee's 1973 classic Abhimaan shares with the life of real-life couple Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan. For, some might say the movie is almost similar to how Amitabh tries to uproot Jaya in terms of popularity, some might declare that all that is bunkum. So, let's just avoid the oft-discussed.
Instead, let's immediately delve into the beauty of this marvellous emotional drama where love, ego and understanding forms the crux. Abhimaan is not just a film, it an experience that needs to be felt. When the good times roll, we need to regale in the mirth. When the storm of ego and pride clouds the halcyon state of affairs in Subir and Uma's life, we need to take a leaf out of it and realise what goes wrong and how it needs to be avoided. While the two lovers suffer, we pray that everything turns out just fine and that music ultimately irons out all the differences that has crept in voluntarily as well as involuntarily.

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Till death do us part (Yeh Vaada Raha)

As a teenager, I suddenly got gripped by Danielle Steel romances. It was then that her Promise impressed me. Fate construing against two lovers, only to have the tables turned back against it by the sheer power of their love-- this theme really touched my heart. Then one day, I saw a film called Yeh Vaada Raha, Kapil Kapoor's adaptation of this romance, and I realised how perfectly the story turned out in reel life. Here the love between the young souls appears even more sweeter, the mishap is much more unfortunate than it looks in the book and the incidents that count up to the halcyon ending is so well stitched together. Yes, this 1982 romance is one film I'd recommend to any hard-core mush lover.

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Behind the scenes (Guddi)

There are several scenes in Guddi that I love. For, there are several scenes in this 1971 film that you aught to love. Deftly balancing a sweet romance with a poignant take on the true life in the inner precincts of film studios in Bombay (yes, I prefer calling the place so), Hrishikesh Mukherjee spins a tale that is so didactic. Interesting anecdotes populate every moment and lovely performances make this film a roller-coaster ride. At one point you feel that it is after all a coming-of-age sage of a young girl heavily infatuated with her matinee idol, at another point it is the stark depiction of the strange world of films.

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Sound suspense (Anamika)

I think I've managed to zero in on my favourite Jaya Bhaduri film. Easily, it's Anamika, the 1973 mystery romance directed by Raghunath Jhalani. There is something very charging about the Jaya Bhaduri here. She is different and immensely enjoyable. Not that in her other films she is not. But here, she is spontaneous, sprightly and extremely jaunty. Her character undergoes several changes in dimension and she slips from one mood to another with utmost ease. There are times when she is funny, clever, endearing, teasing, sad and angry. And this range is hardly ever visible in any of her other films. She wears some great clothes, rather experiments with her looks and makes a sweet romantic pair with Sanjeev Kumar. In Anamika, Jaya Bhaduri shines. But most importantly, it's the script that sails along so properly with the histrionics of its protagonist and the other characters. Yes, Jaya is great in and as Anamika...

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A superlative endeavour (Koshish)

Whenever I see a film about complex human emotions and end up being disappointed, I mull over the idea of how Gulzar would have treated the subject. Yes, I'm  partial to the man and his art. For me, he is the sole creator of those films that have the power of extracting the last drop of tears from your eyes. But his brand of movie making is not loud, melodramatic or heart-wrenching. He is a magician with a very subtle flamboyance. He comes, narrates a simple story and goes. And even before you realise it, the story casts such an indelible impression on you that you keep thinking about the beauty, or the surprises, that life has in store for everyone. Like how Gulzar does in Koshish. A saga that could have very well be one tearjerker is not so because of the finesse and restraint that the director exhibits. Hope and survival, the two main qualities in this film, layered with a stunning picture of love and togetherness, could not be better depicted.

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All for a sari (Phagun)

Even if you are watching Rajinder Singh Bedi's Phagun with a sensitive eye, it is impossible to evade the very inane premise that takes the story forward. An expensive sari soiled during the season of colours! Yes, nothing but that. That single pink sari is the cause of much heartburn and costs Gopal and Shanta their happiness and years of togetherness. Surely, this much-promised saga of complex human emotions could have had a more solid pretext!

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For want of a good wife (Naukar)

Now that's what I call a funny family film. The story is good, the performances able, the execution is easy and the characters are well-etched out. The comedy is entirely situational and most importantly, done by none other than the gargantuanly talented Mehmood. Even though he is past his prime in Hindi films, is awkwardly bloated and wears a hideous wig, his comic timing is just too perfect. In Ismail Memon's Naukar, this comedian gets to wear the most ludicrous shirts and trousers but there is no moment when he is not in his elements. And he is just one of the good things about this 1979 film.

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Agent of change (Mahanagar)

You can simply witness 1963's Calcutta from the Mazumdars' perspective or you can regale in the transformation of Arati from the shy housewife to the confident breadwinner who shall not brook injustice. Both ways, the profit is yours. Calcutta is photographed splendidly in Mahanagar. The sights, sounds and scenes shown  in this Satyajit Ray classic will remind you of the city where every people face the daily grind with small dreams and aspirations in their hearts.

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A lot like life (Golpo Holeo Shotti)

I consider myself extremely unlucky for not getting to meet Rabi Ghosh. Especially after learning very soon after marriage that we would have been related very closely. He would have been my uncle-in-law. The thespian from the world of Bengali theatre and films passed away at the age of 66, in the year 1997 (I was in standard 8 and nowhere near to meeting my future husband). If he would have been alive today (he'd be 79), I'm sure he would have regaled us (my father-in-law says that he was a very amiable man) with exciting stories and anecdotes about the film world, bordering on his career and experiences. That would have been quite something. Getting to know about the colourful world of cinema from Rabi Ghosh himself, the man who with his awesome performances in many Bengali films kept the audience riveted to the screen, sounds like super-duper fun.

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Chupke Chupke vs Chhadmabeshi

Game for some fun? Watch Agradoot's 1971 comic caper, Chhadmabeshi. But, don't stop at that. Move on to Chupke Chupke, Hrishikesh Mukherjee's inspired version of Chhadmabeshi. And, see the fun multiplying. A carbon copy of its Bengali predecessor, this 1975 comedy is a bomb. It explodes to hit you with action, entertainment and gags. And then, you suddenly realise how the Bengali version, though is enjoyable and has Uttam Kumar, the be-all-and-end-all of Bengali cinema, lacks punch and speed.

To the Bengali original then. Abanish Sen (Uttam Kumar), a professor of Botany, plays a practical prank on his brother-in-law, Barrister Prasanta Ghosh (Bikash Ray), who stays in Allahabad.

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Football frenzy (Dhanni Meye)

What happened??? Where was Germany's beautiful game??? Where did their famed counter-attack disappear??? They were completely outrun, outnumbered and outplayed by Spain!! I'm shell shocked, I'm upset. And, I'm angry at Paul, the psychic octopus! He had predicted that Spain would defeat the mighty Germans in the semi-final. Why God why???

Under the weather and nursing great pain, I chose to watch Dhanni Meye, Arabindo Mukherjee's funny tale on football. Right choice, I thought. This game is indeed the flavour of the season. And right, it was. For, after the film I'm feeling better. Much much better.

Packed with hilarious incidents this 1971 Bengali film (yes, I'm writing on one for the first time!) is a frothy romantic comedy with football as its crux.

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