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Reviews
Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye (1977)
A simple nice movie that you can/should watch with your family.
I watched this movie in May 1979 when it was still in theaters. Since then I have watched it on VHS and recently on DVD. I loved the movie then and still love it. Story: Unlike movies of that era, this movie was well focused on the main theme. I liked the fact that the movie did not indulge into extreme emotional drama, didn't have characters shouting, crying. There were no goondas or fight scenes as they would have been totally inappropriate for this movie. The storyline was simple, clean, and well strung story, which made this into a very likable and enjoyable film. This was not a surprise as it was a Rajashri production that has given some really nice and memorable movies. Songs: Ravindra Jain's music excels with the most memorable song 'Lekar aye ho hume'. Acting: Rameshwari did fabulous acting. Prem Kishan was not bad, but did not succeed after this movie. Madan Puri was in a different role; not as a villain but likable grandpa. I like the movies categorized as dram that leave you in a happy mood at the end. I wish they made more of these type of movies.
Taxi Driver (1954)
An average movie from Dev Anand
Story: Hindi cinema of the current times has matured considerably since the golden era in that writers generally stick to one well-defined theme and characters are nicely developed throughout the story. While Taxi Driver' succeeds in sticking to just the main theme instead of going all over the map, it fails in delivering a structured flow where the scenes do not feel disconnected. I mean, we have goondas sporadically dropping in and out throughout the film. The story and the presentation was not gripping. The movie is ideal for putting on the DVD while doing your chores and occasionally curiously glancing at TV, say every few minutes.
Action: When I was growing up, I saw Dev Anand as a chocolate hero. He came from an era prior to a time when the hero was usually modeled as a macho image -- not unlike the one painted by Amitabh Bachchan in Janjeer. The action scenes shown in this movie were probably good enough for the 1950s Hindi film standards. But still, watching Dev Anand beating up four goondas was not even laughable.
Songs: I've was familiar with a couple of songs before watching this movie. The rest were new to me. The music was not the typical SD Burman kind. It sounded more like RD. Overall, it was just OK.
Rating: Had this movie been made after ... say 1980s, I would have dropped the rating to 2 or 3. But just like my other reviews of old movies, I've included extra points for the nostalgic factor and, thus, have placed this movie at 5.
Sachaa Jhutha (1970)
Watchable but not the best from Mahmohan Desai
If I had NOT known this was a Manmohan Desai film, I would have dropped the rating by 2 points. I have come to enjoy Manmohan Desai films as a mindless entertainment. In 1970s when I saw his films, initially I had hard time appreciating his films. They seemed incredibly silly. In spite of this, I kept on watching his works: Dharam Veer (1977), Chacha Bhatija, Parvarish, Amar Akbar Anthony, and Suhaag. But by the time I watched Naseeb (1983) in theater, my brain had become immunized to preposterous coincidences, incredibly resourceful villains, and 'brawny-no-brains' heroes. I actually had enjoyed Naseeb. I think Amitabh Bacchan had a big part for why I continued to watch his films.
I had not seen Sacha Jhuta back in 1970s. I happened to watch it on DVD forty years after it was made. My immunized brain tolerated the story -- I even almost enjoyed it. This movie had plenty of 'coincidences' and villains smarter than the hero. In this movie, the hero starts out as a moron and changes into a smart guy. Only Manmohan Desai could make such an extraordinary transformation possible. Desai had always some interesting twists in his story. This film was no exception.
Also, his movies never had outstanding songs. However, there were always a couple of popular and enjoyable ones. Again, no exception here. Rajesh Khanna produces his trademark acting. Over the years, I have watched many comedian performing a mimicry of his dancing style. It was fun to see the original. I consider Mumtaz as one of the good looking actresses of her time. She looked better in some of her other movies, though.
Not much scope for acting in this movie. However, interestingly Rajesh Khanna won Filmfare award 1971 for it. I rate this film at 7, which includes 2 points for the nostalgic value. If you are a younger generation, probably you might consider this at 5.
Humjoli (1970)
Watch only for its nostalgic value. Unimpressive story
Story: The overall theme is nothing new, but could have been written into a good story. However as it turns out the story is completely idiotic and many details are painfully illogical.
Dances: Physical Training (PT) scenes are portrayed in an amusing manner. For a few minutes you can enjoy them as 'what are they doing?' In any classical sense bad.
Songs: A couple of songs were above average.
Acting: Overall below average. Jetendra was fine, but Leena Chandavarkar was not so good. I have seen some good acting from her in other movies. Here, she looks as if she just cannot act. Just as an example, in at least one scene she glances directly into camera while delivering a dialog. An actor cannot do that, unless they are addressing the audience.
Action sequence: Fight scenes were pathetic. Would have been fine for a kid's movie.
Comedy: Excruciatingly painful and misplaced intermittently throughout the film. Apparently the producer/directors must have been taught that comedy scenes are (were in 60s) compulsory in any good Hindi flick. So they forcefully added comedy scenes that had no relevance to the main story. Mehmood, for instance, was an outstanding comedian in his time. Unfortunately, he was used in extremely ludicrous ways in many Hindi films and 'Humjoli' is no exception. Just like the fight scenes, the comedy is suitable for kids under age of 8.
Overall Rating: 5. This includes 2 points purely for the nostalgic value you get from watching a 1970s movie. So, if you are a younger generation, you might consider this film as a '3' or lower. Even though I rated it so low, I did not think I made a mistake in watching it. I still wish to continue watching more 1950-1979 movies - again, for the nostalgic attribute.
Anuradha (1960)
A simple nice and quite realistic movie. A must see if you like old black and white movies.
When I saw director Hrushikesh Mukherjee's name in the credits of the film Anuradha, I immediately knew I was about to see a good movie. And I was not disappointed. The story is very simple, nice and quite realistic; in a space of two hours and 20 minutes, Mukherjee traverses the relationship of an idealistic, humanitarian doctor and his wife, the titular heroine who aspires to be a singer and escape the rustics of the provincial life. In the last millennium there were not many movies you could genuinely call 'realistic'. By realistic, I mean, you could say, "Yes, this could have easily happened." The wife used to be this famous singer before she enters into a love marriage and gives up music. The world then loses a great singer to a marriage. The story sounds simple, but is it really? The way it is developed, the film shows how a deceptively simple story can become quite complex in real life when human emotions and nature comes into the equation. To Mukherjee's credit, he handles it without any extreme theatrics. If I were thinking hard where the story becomes unrealistic, it really feels like finding a needle in a haystack.
I was in two minds about rating between 7 and 8. I could have rated it at 7 because in spite of a nicely made movie, it is slightly boring. But then I compared it with the film Guide, which was made few years later. It also dealt with emotional complexities around man-woman relationship. Guide had fantastic music, dances and songs. However, ultimately the story writer seemed to have lost control. So I bumped my rating of Anuradha to 8. Lastly in terms of music-- what can you say when the music director is none other than the legendary Maestro Pt. Ravi Shankar. The songs are outstanding. I only wish we had more of these beautiful songs. All in all, Anuradha is a good movie to see with your family on an evening when you just want to sit in front of TV and relax.
All Rounder (1984)
Deserves a negative rating
IMDb provides 1 to 10 for movies produced. There should be a rating for movies that should not have been produced. I won't be too harsh. I won't rate this one at -10. But -2 would certainly be appropriate. I don't know the IQ of the story writer. I cannot blame him. We need to be tolerant. But what surprises me is that Kumar Gaurav, Rati and Shakti decided to take this film. In 1984 I assume they were not that desperate. The only reason I saw this movie was because it has a cricket background. Oh what a shame. I seriously doubt if the producer, writer and directors know anything about the game. The bowling and batting actions of the players don't even measure up to those at the college level cricket, and director had audacity to cast them as at international cricket level. If you are planning to watch the DVD because you love cricket, don't do it. Just go back and watch Lagaan 17th time or whatever is your current count.
Swades: We, the People (2004)
Govarikar scores a perfect 10
After a long, long time I saw a Hindi movie which has no villains, but still illustrates vividly the miseries of life, which has no feuding families but still manages to bring out the realities of love, marriage, and adjustments. There are no corrupt politicians but rather heads of the village, with real issues and real ego; but still clearly human; the real people. There are no events for shock values but still the storyline is gripping. Perhaps it is not for teens and young people in twenties, who would rather be in a dream world idolizing a person with super powers. The movie is as realistic as any of my Desi colleagues I meet everyday at work here away from my Swades. Such a simple story but so well presented. After having to watch stupid Hindi TV soaps every evening where women are either screaming or slapping each other and less said about the male roles the better, it was a real nice change to spend yesterday evening watching this beautiful movie with the whole family. I really like movies that leave me in a happy state of mind. This was definitely the one; a rare one; a jewel.