Marrying a widow (Prem Rog)

There is something that makes Raj Kapoor films immensely enjoyable. Even if you do not like some aspects of the films--say the melodrama, the OTT quotient or the excessive stretching of the plot, his films do rev up my interest in the happening. What mostly attracts me is the believable social thread that he ties his characters with. His characters are part of a community that suffers from some social malady or the other and through his story-telling method, he strives to drive home a point about this evil custom and how the protagonist struggles and succeeds to overthrow this societal sickness. This process is presented by Raj Kapoor extremely well through his films. They start off as family dramas, but in the folds of the plot, he sheds light on some social custom that needs to be demolished. His films become social commentaries without resorting to pontification. And that is the best part about the RK films. Look at Shree 420, Awara, Jagte Raho, Ram Teri Ganga Maili and the like. If you watch them carefully, you'll know what I'm hinting at.

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Powerful Pawar (Memdidi)

Memdidi, directed by the master of simple yet sweet tales, is a unique enterprise. It has no conventional leads, it stars Keysi Mehra whose name provides absolutely nothing on search pages and it is pulled off by people who have made a name for themselves playing character roles. But here, they become the heroes, they make you laugh, cry and sing along with them, they warm your hearts with their goodness and they tell you that blood ties are not necessary to forge long time bonds. Sometimes people who are not even remotely related turn out to be so close to one another that they can go to great lengths to keep each other happy...

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Rollicking romance (Deya Neya)

 I've had a very juvenile belief since I was really small. I believe that if you do something on the first day of the year, you'll keep doing that for the entire year. So, ever since we were children, I made sure that my parents took me out for goodies at a pastry shop on January 1 every year. I made sure that I wore great clothes on this day when I was an adolescent. I made sure to be happy no matter what on this day, with the hope that happiness will reside in my abode the rest of the year. I made sure not to touch books to the utter displeasure of my parents. I made sure not to sulk over anything. And I made sure of many other things!! Children and their wishful thinking, you see...

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Quaint quadrangle (Benazir)

The high point of Bimal Roy's Benazir is Husn ki beharein liye. Not only is this a brilliant ghazal from S D Burman, rendered with haunting precision by Lata Mangeshkar, Shakeel Badayuni's lyrics also point out the poignancy of Benazir's state. Here is a woman, seen as a fallen one by society, torn between her love for a young man and her gratitude for the favours she has been receiving from his elder brother. As much as Benazir would love to declare her affection for Anwar, she is forced to stay mum because she is bound by her promises to the Nawab. And of course, her innocent love would be regarded as crafty lust by the world.

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Thrill pill (Jewel Thief)

Chor bahut chalaak hain. But, even more clever are those who created this chor. The year was 1967. Navketan gifted filmlovers a movie whose magic is yet to be replicated. Dev Anand and his younger brother, Vijay outdid themselves. They made Jewel Thief, a rare suspense thriller that is sleek, stylish and engaging. In the same genre as Hitchcock, and maybe a little of Bond, this jewel of a film sends chills down my spine after every frame. I am yet to be done with it...

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What a beginning!!! (Masoom)

There is a scene in Shekhar Kapur's Masoom where Mini tries to lighten the air of tension looming large over dinner. She doesn't know that her parents have had a nasty fight, resulting from her mother's new-found knowledge that her father has cheated on her in the past. Ignorant of the prevailing bitterness between the couple, she breaks into a mischievous, "Tayyab Ali pyar ka dushman hai hai..." before fading off to just a whimper.
This scene, eminently forgettable to many viewers, stay etched in my mind to this day, almost 15 years since I first watched Masoom, Kapur's directorial debut and definitely one of his best treatises on the complexity of human emotions.

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