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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Two misleading letters (Devar)

The cast is as perfect as Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Anupama. The story is believable, the songs are in place, the performances commendable. Then why is it that Mohan Sehgal's Devar left me with a niggling feeling in my heart. The movie starts off so well and as the script is penned, it should have thrown up plenty of firecrackling histrionics. But somewhere down the line, even the talented actors lose steam, or find the going rather tedious. Adapted from Tarashankar Bandopadhyay's short story, Naa, Devar  is a tale that could have been one of the best dramas of 1966. Could have been for sure...

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Almost nothing to like (Sharada)

Those of you who have seen Sharada and have liked the L V Prasad flick, please pardon this blogger. I too, like all you old film buffs wanted to see this Meena Kumari and Raj Kapoor enterprise for a long, long time. I had imagined that it is going to be one good drama with plenty of twists, turns, histrionics and punchy dialogues. But lo! What I got in return was an utterly contorted, soppy, vague and inane film that should not have been in the first place itself. This is not the way you project a self-sacrificing and great woman. The emotions are forced, the actions are unrealistic and a great team of actors totally wasted. There, I've said it. I've said bad things about a much celebrated 1957 film and I'm ready to accept the brickbats for it. But then, I have reasons for doing so.

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