In which film’s climax did a mother shoot her own son dead for the sake of a woman’s honor (he was abducting her)…a couple of years before Mother India was made?
Carla’s review of Mother India brought this one to mind.
Our hero’s training continues with an endurance test inside the Room of Ice…as the temperature gets colder and colder! Mogambo urges him on—even Mike is rooting for him. Will he survive?
Oh, the suspense! The tension! The gazillion beeping gadgets!
Has there ever been anything sillier, dear readers?
We interrupt our Maha Badmaash serial to send you lucky people to the funniest review of Love Story 2050 you will ever read.
We catch up with our hero as he checks into the Hotel Hilton. He is shadowed by a girl in green hot pants and floral go-go boots.
This film could have just as easily just been a comic book. A racist, stupid comic book, but a comic book nonetheless. So that’s how I’ll pass it along to you, faithful readers—in installments, since it’s hard to swallow this much insanity all at once.
Oh my. How do I begin to describe this film? It’s very definitely Manmohan Desai’s work. It has all the usual hallmarks of his stories: poverty, heavy-handed symbolism, religious motifs, good versus evil, sin and redemption. There are parts where ideas are presented so powerfully it takes your breath away. But it’s also filled with the ridiculous: mind-boggling coincidences, over-the-top drama, loony comedy and one plot twist after another.
This film felt larger in scale and ambition to me than any of his others. Fate is a hard task-master here, and Rajesh Khanna gives an excellent performance as its victim, driven by his basic needs but haunted by his wrong-doing.
If you are entertained by a crackling great story, brisk direction which keeps things moving along, and a cast of stalwarts who give good performances, you will like this movie. The central theme explores the importance of honor over money—it’s hackneyed, and we are beaten over the head with it, but the plot is engrossing. Love, betrayal, vengeance…be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster ride. Get your hankies out!
More often than I should probably admit, I see props in Hindi movies that look suspiciously similar to things that I myself own.
Nutan in Dilli Ka Thug has a little bobbly dancing-doll thingy:
This is the movie that propelled me into helpless and undying Shammi infatuation. I did go willingly! It’s a lovely romantic story set largely in the beauty of Kashmir, with songs to match by Shankar Jaikishan (including the completely fabulous Helen number “Suku Suku”). Shammi is so engaging as a stern, unhappy man who is transformed by love. He is very ably supported by Lalita Pawar, Shashikala, Anoop Kumar and others—and Saira Banu in her debut film.
Warning: this is a long post with many screen shots, because I can’t talk enough about this film (and I can’t seem to stop taking Shammi screen caps)!
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