Jurmana (1979)

Very few directors could spin an engrossing tale like Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Especially with incidents  that on hindsight appear inconsequential. Like in Jurmana (1979), a juvenile challenge between two friends changes the course of lives for so many near them. It reveals character flaws, misunderstandings and ultimately you have to wait up and see what happens in the end. This is the mark of a great story teller, which Mukherjee undoubtedly was.

He also created the most unique characters for Amitabh Bachchan. I feel Bachchan got to toy with a veritable array of personas only in Mukherjee's films. Even in Jurmana, the actor gets to portray a challenging role. He puts his heart and soul into Inder and makes him easy to hate first and eventually fit for pardon. Grey to the hilt, Inder turns out way too interesting to neglect.
Inder Saxena (Amitabh Bachchan) is a rich businessman, disillusioned with women courtesy a cruel

act by the woman who he was once supposed to marry. Treating women like commodities, when Inder first notices Rama (Rakhee) in the quiet lanes of Pratapgarh, he only wants to bed her. Despite being warned by his childhood buddy Prashant (Vinod Mehra) that she is made of sterner stuff, he tries every trick up his sleeve to melt her heart. What Inder does not realise is that the girl actually falls in love with him never suspecting his lecherously odious intention.

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Bemisal (1982)

I was trekking to Gurgaon the other day from Noida, where I live. For the uninitiated, let me tell you,

that's like crossing two states!
The distance is a crawl, and a sapping one at that. Daily commuters from Noida to Gurgaon will relate to the grief I go through during such occasion arises. But, thank heavens for FM radio, which makes the journey a wee bit pleasant.
The moment I got into the car Lata Mangeshkar's Aeri pawan dhunde kise tera mann transformed me into a reverie. It's such a beautiful song. After enjoying the rendition, I quickly googled the song, traced the film and after reading the gist was piqued to watch it. All I can say is that I did not live to regret the decision.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Bemisal (1982) is an engaging drama of human relations bordering on greed and benevolence. But what I loved most was the character sketched for Amitabh Bachchan. While from afar he appears an affable, happy-go-lucky doctor, his personality is far more intriguing and charismatic than the others in the film. And it is laced with a deep sense of magnanimity influenced by the benevolence he was gifted with when times were far from favourable. His regard for those who helped him out never diminishes and his sense of duty is unparalleled. The crests and troughs of his journey is worth graphing. Dr Sudhir Roy's actions make the film so believable. Despite the tardy subplot of Ruby Dutt.
Dr Sudhir Roy, a child specialist, and Dr Prashant Chaturvedi (Vinod Mehra), a gynecologist, have been brought up by an advocate. Sudhir never ignores the fact that the rich advocate saved him from a deplorable life by adopting him and giving him a steady upbringing and education. For that he remains forever indebted. Hence, when it comes to abdicating the woman who he is attracted to for the sake of his foster brother, he doesn't waste a moment before making the sacrifice. Even though he can gauge that Kavita (Rakhee) might be more keen to marry him, he owns up his murky past to dissuade her. But more importantly he implores her to marry Prashant because that would make him happy.

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Kabhi Kabhie (1976)

I'm mentally prepared to be trolled, derided and umm... maybe ostracized even. But I need to say what I need to say. Kabhi Kabhie is Yash Chopra's most overrated film ever. Period. 

Brickbats... bring it on...

The other morning I got into an interesting conversation with a

neighbour. After the sundry exchanges about child tantrums, daily chores and the usual agonies of life in Modi's India, I quickly asked her whether she loves romances of the Yash Chopra kind. She started with a gushing take on Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and how it was her go-to film even a few years back. On correcting that the film was actually not Yash but his son's Aditya's directorial debut and perhaps his only watchable film, she revealed that it might not be as appealing today as it was earlier. Why? Because, as she put it, "Times were different then. We were different. I cannot relate to it anymore." This was my chance, my ticket to launch a tirade against a film over which I wasted three hours the previous night. Now why I did not abandon it midway? You see. I don't give up that easily. I'm a movie freak. 

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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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Despite all the goodness (Sharmilee)

I've been struggling to find time to put up a new post. Well, that's just half the truth, if I may be allowed to say so. Actually, I've been neck deep in work, but that does not mean I've not been watching films. But over 15 days I've mostly watched those films which I've already written about. My husband is revealing his new-found love for the classics and both of us have been enjoying them for the past few days. So, that does not leave me with much to write about. I just sit there with him regaling in the old films I'm so fond of, while he discovers why these classics are actually worth celebrating.
Secondly, the never-watched films that I've managed to see, didn't quite make an impression on me. Some were tepid, some were bad. So, I've been in knots as to what to write about for my next post. Now I've decided to delve on Sharmilee, Samir Ganguly's 1971 romance that I loved only in parts. The film is so good till the intermission. But after that, it degenerates into a nonsensical potboiler replete with inane twists, fights and crude drama. And I bet a more subtle approach would have done so well here. At least made me sing praises for it right here, right now...

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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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Love, after all the trouble (Blackmail)

It's quite funny that one song from Vijay Anand's Blackmail is celebrated as being one of the most erotic melodies of those times. Given the situation that the song is played in, and the circumstances the leads find themselves in, on any given day, one might be more than ready to sight it as signage of consummation. But then, for me, this song is certainly not one that will melt me into a puddle. I'd rather just call it a breaking of barriers between the protagonists, who till now, failed to unify, owing to the battery of misunderstandings concocted by the devious villain. In this song, the man and the woman realise that all shackles of bitterness are broken and if the circumstances so grant, they would be able to lead a blissful life together now. Well, for me, Mile do badan, is just about that.

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