Triangle A (Amar Akbar Anthony)

I am not too fond of Manmohan Desai films. Neither do I like Amitabh Bachchan in them. Oh yes! I really don't. The films are loud, hardly have good music, except for a feet-tapping song or two in passing and Amitabh was so in-your-face in them. The other day, I got rebuked by a dear friend for ridiculing the 'Mirror scene' in Amar Akbar Anthony which I'm told that no one else but Amitabh could have pulled off. May be. But I did not find it funny at all! And, I don't like him in these 'dhishoom dhishoom' films. I'd much rather watch him as the egoistic husband in Abhimaan, a scheming jaggery-seller in Saudagar, or the revenging husband in Ajnabi. Those are my kind of films. And I certainly like Amitabh in them.

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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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For some time pass (Man ki Aankhen)

I wouldn't recommend this film highly. But yes, if you are in a serious mood for some family drama, especially some induced by the caustic mother-in-law, then this is THE film for you. For, all sparkling fireworks, both good and bad, is reserved for Lalita Pawar. And like always, she never fails to deliver here. When she is the doting mother, she is every bit as loving to her sons. But when she bears her fangs towards the daughter-in-law she is not particularly fond of, then God save the young bride. Lailita Pawar is splendidly sarcastic, ejects poison at the drop of a hat and never minces words to declare that she truly hates this girl. And in her histrionics there is that level of perfection that makes her such a revelation to watch. Lalita Pawar is the attraction in this otherwise tepid film. And this, despite the film starring the handsome Dharmendra and the talented Waheeda Rehman.

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Peetering out (Shaadi ke Baad)

Generally I'm quite predisposed towards any film from the L V Prasad stable, but something about Shaadi ke Baad kept nibbling at me after a point of time. The cast was good, the story was fun, the performances were just and the songs were in place. But something, which I'm yet to pin-point correctly, left me quite dissatisfied. Was it the rambling turn of events after intermission, the lack of concretised drama or simply the lack-lustre script? Also, what left me pondering was why the director would waste a fine artist like Shatrughan Sinha by casting him as an aging landlord who's lost all his fortunes but is too proud to give up his royal behaviour? This actor, who's capable of turning a drab script into a enticing one, is given just about a few scenes which does him no justice.

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Smashing Sanjeev (Manchali)

There's nothing like a frothy romance to dispel the gloom. Taxing work, the cold and certain other reasons have not been keeping me in the right spirits. So, I chose to watch a film, which I somehow had an inkling, wouldn't fail. Raja Nawathe's Manchali was fun from the word go. Yes, be it the pretty heroine, the smart hero, the freewheeling plot and the easy comedy, everything in 1973 romantic comedy is so likeable. Especially, Sanjeev Kumar, who with his charming presence and uninhibited persona, lifts the predictable plot to a fun-filled roller coaster ride.

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Satisfaction guaranteed! (Aaye Din Bahaar Ke)

I'm always game to watch a film for umpteen times provided it guarantees wholesome entertainment. There might be flaws and redundant inclusions, but after it ends it should leave me happy and satisfied. Sadly, not many films of today deliver such fun. So, I keep going back to the films of yore to extract my daily quota of entertainment. I might know every scene by heart, every dialogue might just rotate in my mind and everything looks all too familiar. But nothing stops me from re-watching them. J Om Prakash's romantic drama Aaye Din Bahar Ke is one of them. Only heaven knows how many times I've watched this Dharmendra-Asha Parekh lovely, but does that mean I'll stop? No way...

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Seven day saga (Woh Saat Din)

If Sonam Kapoor were half as talented as her father, Anil Kapoor wouldn't have to tax his brains double time on how to secure a sound future for his pretty-but-plastic offspring. The father was really a thorough entertainer. He acted well, right from his first films, carried some rhythm in his toes and was cute to look at. Look at his flamboyant portrayal of a village bumpkin in Woh Saat Din and you'd know that Anil Kapoor was serious about the trade he was getting into. In his first lead role as Prem Pratap Patialewale, Anil Kapoor leaves an indelible impression on sensitive minds. The film, a funny yet sweet saga about a simpleton struggling it out in the big bad city, is a window to the talent that Anil Kapoor would only unleash in his later films. That he was not just riding the popularity of his producer father Surinder Kapoor, but striving to prove that he deserved reckoning is only too true in Bapu's Woh Saat Din.

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Mind full of Monty (Karz)

There was a friend in college who always made fun of Rishi Kapoor. She said he was too plump, too pink and too goofy to be a hero. This was the time when he was making a fool of himself in films like Prem Granth. I'm sure there must have been other duds like that. No matter how much I convinced her that Rishi Kapoor was once a seriously good-looking fellow and a very smart one at that, she just brushed my claims away. Till of course one day when she chanced upon Subhash Ghai's Karz. Next day all I could hear from her was how luscious his lips were in the film, how dapper he dressed and how crazily romantic his eyes were. The 28-year-old Rishi Kapoor had scored big time and I kept saying, "Didn't I tell you!"

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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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Two in one (Sajan)

So this is where Basu Chatterjee got the idea of Pasand Apni Apni from. Even as I watched Mohan Segal's Sajan, I could not help but notice the glaring similarities with Chatterjee's romantic comedy. Everything looked alike. The plot, characters and the developments. Only, while Segal did not give much scope to the character of the theatre company owner, Chatterjee made him a full-fledged comic personality on his film. He took Utpal Dutt for the role and cashed in on his talent. But otherwise Mithun Chakraborty's role is absolutely similar to Manoj Kumar's and Rati Agnihotri borrows from Asha Parekh's character. At least in the first half.

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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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A peek into domesticity (Abhinetri)

Wonder what kept me away from this Subodh Mukherjee film till now? I had heard about this film ever since they played the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa song in Chitrahaar when I used to be a little girl. By the time I was in my senses to retain it in my memory, I knew that Shashi Kapoor looked extremely attractive and Hema Malini looked uber-fetching in a film called Abhinetri. So then, why did I not make an effort to see this one? Beats me!

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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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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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Strong ties (Dosti)

Seldom have I seen a film that stands strong just because of the engaging series of events. It does not have a stellar cast, it has no romance as its core element, it has no dashing hero, no pretty heroine and no slimy rogue. But still, it just keeps you hooked. The melodrama and some unnecessary plot elements notwithstanding, as well as some irrational behaviour. Dosti, Satyen Bose's tearjerker about two thick friends, is a film that defines all of the above...

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Jaded stars (Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki)

Consider Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki over with the death of Asha Parekh. Figuratively I mean. For, even though the film ends after a mind numbing session of bad songs, loud performances and unexciting fisticuffs, there is hardly any more meat in the drama save the strong histrionics by Nutan. I think it is amazing that this Raj Khosla (melo)drama won a Filmfare best film award in 1978. How on earth?

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Unworthy cousin (Anita)

Anita spells the decadence of Raj Khosla's house of cinema. Gone is the splendour of Mera Saaya, the cold chills of Woh Kaun Thi, the tautness of the script, the haunting melody and above all, the superlative performances. This 1967 thriller is a sad and unconvincing sequel to its grand predecessors.
The director who gave us intriguing thrillers before, lets film lovers down in this last installment of the mystery trilogy with Sadhana. True, he tries to conjure the same suspense, drama and romance, but Anita pales in comparison to his previous ventures.

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