Starring: Madhuri Dixit, Shabana Azmi, Ayub Khan, Mohan Joshi, Om Puri, Shilpa Shirodkar

No country makes better movies about women’s suffrage and discrimination than India. Water/Fire/Earth, Lajja, Amar Prem (sorta), etc. And why not? It’s dramatic, and if Bollywood movies are anything…they’re dramatic (some might say melodramatic, and in many cases that’s true too.) Prompted by the fact that Madhuri is such an amazing dancer (really…if you haven’t seen any Madhuri movies, you’re missing out.) Now, while in some rights this film is nowhere near as intense as Water (for certain…reasons…) it has some wonderful elements to it, which makes the movie an all-round good film.

It begins with two women fleeing a violent and brutal crowd of men-folk. One of the women is pregnant, but the crowd is immune to her plight…they even stoop so far as to drag the poor girl through the mud. Finally…she is murdered, along with the other woman. The magistrate comes to investigate matters.

One of the village men is angry, and tells his wife, Kanti (Shilpa Shirodkar), that he’s going to go confess about what those other men did.

But he isn’t rich, and is also in debt. That’s when Tirpat Singh (Mohan Joshi) shows up, and instead of going to spill the beans to the magistrate…the guy finds himself helpless, as his wife begs for Tirpat Singh to let her work to pay off her husband’s debts. She promises to do ‘ANYTHING’ for the guy, and he agrees because of that one magic word.

The village men claim that the women were sluts with little to no sanity, and actually brought their deaths upon themselves. The mob was only defending itself from two vicious, crazy women. Of course, this whole fiasco was really all engineered by none other than Tirpat Singh. Rambaran Manto (Om Puri) attests that the village doesn’t want this inquiry, it disrupts the peace (as if that didn’t already happen.) Everyone leaves and pretends to forget about the matter.

And then we meet Ketki (Madhuri Dixit), a bubbly young woman who has just become a bride. Her husband’s name is Vinay (Ayub Khan)…for future reference. After the wedding, we get to meet Ketki’s sister-in-law/Vinay’s sister-in-law, Chandravati (Shabana Azmi). We find out early on that Chandravati’s husband is a jerk. This is illustrated by his inability to socialize with…well, anyone. He’s also an alcoholic who’s way too free with his money (real surprise there.) And it doesn’t make sense, considering the fact that he’s married to someone like Chandravati (she is played by the lovely Shabana, after all.)

But enough of that drama. Time for a song!

The upper-caste men in this village play a dangerous game of bribery and deceit, and Chandravati’s husband pays for the murder of a certain Abbot…and gains the man’s position, in turn. In doing so, he must abandon his wife. Thus, Chandravati is forced into a false widowhood. The other women in the household claim it is fate, though one says that had she born him a son…this would not have happened. Therefore it’s Chandravati’s fault, of course.

Tirpat Singh sees this as a chance to get at the ‘widow’s’ family, and gain quarry rights to their land. But Vinay’s father isn’t having it. Back to Ketki and Vinay, it looks like their marriage is turning out to be all sunshine and lollypops. But despite the fact that they’re happy together, the family faces financial strain. Due partially to their caste, and situation. But Ketki cares about her husband, and is willing to sell her jewelry for him, as a business investment. She expects to get it back in no time.

But for the sake of ambition and greed, Vinay, in essence, makes the proverbial deal with the devil by allying himself with Tirpat Singh. He is immediately (though he doesn’t realize it) betrayed by that same man, and loses his investments, along with the value of his wife’s bangles. This is of course, only part of Tirpat’s plan to bring Vinay closer to him…as a result, against his father’s wishes…and without his knowledge…Vinay signs a contract with Tirpat to quarry his land. Personally, I was surprised that he didn’t sign the damn contract in blood.

Vinay proceeds to become a good-for-nothing angry drunk bordering on abusive. And with that, the joy of marriage is shattered for poor Ketki. Vinay is a fool, unwilling to accept the knowledge or advice of his family…thus he is royally cheated by Tirpat, and doesn’t even see most of the money he should be receiving from his business. As for Chandravati, her health has begun to fail her. She is hospitalized, and seen to by Rambaran, who willingly pays the doctor’s bills for her. In the process, they grow close…and they have an affair.

Vinay does love his wife, but he’s an idiot. But she forgives him, because she loves him too. He’s grown wise to Tirpat’s tricks, and cancels his contract. Tirpat’s ticked off, of course…being the bad guy, and he promises in a congenial manner that he will get all of his money back…with interest…he’s sure of it. Thus the gong of dramatic foreshadowing has been rung.

Did I like the movie? Yeah. It was pretty good. Am I going to tell you the ending? Not on your life. My final rating for Mrityudand is 7 out of 10 bindis. However, an early warning…there may be some good songs in this, but it is not chock-full of Madhuri dance numbers. It also drags a little at times, but still well worth watching at least once. And let’s not forget Shabana Azmi (I love Shabana) who did an absolutely wonderful job in her role as well, on a final note.

Starring: Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Urmila Matondkar

First off, this was Sunny Deol’s first stint in directing. It was also a box-office flop. That’s two facts you’ll find out about this movie in just about every source that refers to it. Other than that, there’s nothing else really interesting to say about it production-wise. Now as for the story, not the most original plot I’ve ever come across. Two brothers on opposite sides of the spectrum end up falling for the same girl, and loyalties are tested. I’ve seen this plot done well, and I’ve seen it done poorly. But how does Dillagi carry it out?

A man sets off with his family to make his fortune in Mumbai, leaving his land in the hands of a close friend. Everything goes well for the first two minutes. They start a restaurant/inn, they’re happy, they go to the beach…then Kiran, the mother collapses and five seconds later we find out that she’s got cancer. Five more seconds, and she tells her young son Ranvir (as an adult, he’s portrayed by Sunny Deol) to take care of his little brother, Rocky (aka Rajvir. As an adult, portrayed by Bobby Deol.) Five seconds later…she’s dead. And all this happens in the first 10 minutes of the movie.

The family business expands, and the boys grow up. Ranvir has become an upstanding and hard-working young man…while his younger brother, Rocky…is…well, not. This is illustrated by a really long motorcycle sequence to ground in the fact that Rocky is a dare-devil party-boy. There’s also a little bit where we see the cool side of Ranvir as he beats the tar out of several men trying to steal television sets from his hotel…who knew hotel owners were so manly?

Afterwards…he gives his security staff a stern talking to. At least…I assume it’s stern. I mean…he’s frowning when he says it. I miss half of the dialogue in this film, because I believe the translator who wrote the subtitles might have been sleeping on the job.

A fair warning…the director…that’s Sunny…seems to have thought it would be a good idea to turn every mundane task into an action-packed adventure. So be ready for excessive use of over-the-top background music. Later on, stuck in traffic…Ranvir spots the love of his life (Shalini, played by Urmila Matondkar) walking by. You can tell because she’s walking in slow-motion, and there’s a theme song.

After Ranvir has his fit, apologizes to his staff, goes home, and gets up in the morning (I’m assuming he got up) he goes to an inauguration with his father…and of course, Rocky shows up late. And then we get a cute musical number.

Afterwards, Ranvir further spoils his brother by giving him a new car…and Rajvir goes to party at a night club. I do find it somewhat offensive that all the girls Rajvir dances with/sleeps with/parties with are white. Yep. White women sure are tramps, that’s why they’re always hanging out with Rajvir. This proves a point that Rajvir is a bad boy, right?

…Afterwards, we get another musical number (a freakish mutation of several famous English songs/tunes mixed into Hindi lyrics. The most easily identifiable songs I picked out were ‘Does Your Mother Know’ and ‘Mony Mony’.) It is at this point that I realized this film…is bad. And not bad in the way that makes you angry…thus stimulating some sort of emotion, thus productive in a way. It’s just…bad…I’ll save you the trouble and tell you that Shalini (the girl who Ranvir saw earlier and was enchanted by) ends up falling for Rajvir. But it doesn’t end there! This happens after the first half hour…but if you really want to find out what else happens…if you couldn’t already predict the ending…then please, by all means, watch it yourself.
This movie…was BAD…and I mean really bad…that I can not even begin to comprehend why Sunny produced…directed…acted in it…and even convinced his brother to join in. I’ll give it 1 out of 10 bindis. And I’m only giving it 1 at all because I kind of liked the first song. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am now going to bang my head against a wall and cry myself to sleep over the 3 HOURS I wasted watching this.

Starring: Kamal Haasan, Sridevi, Gulshan Grover, Silk Smitha

I mainly rented this movie to catch a glimpse of Paintal, but I also ended up thoroughly enjoying this. I had to double-check the year it was released, because honestly…the film quality, and especially for an Indian film made in the early 80’s, it is incredibly crisp. Possibly one of the best-preserved Hindi films over the age of 20 that I’ve ever seen. It’s even managed to bump the 80’s up a notch in my list. Sadma is a remake of an earlier Tamil film (by about a year) ‘Moondram Pirai.’

It begins with Nehalata (Sridevi) on the beach singing with her friends. Nothing really to gab about, not even a very good song either. Then she gets into a car accident in the middle of the song (I was almost glad, I was beginning to worry it would be a long number) and ends up at the hospital not knowing her parents. The doctor explains that she has what medical professionals would call ‘Amnesia’. Search me why an average person, especially any average middle class Indian who’s probably seen several films with Amnesia plots by the time he or she is in their mid-50s wouldn’t know what amnesia is. Anyway, the doctor promises that in time she will recover her memories. But for the present, she thinks she’s 7 years old. The doctor advises that they take her to a psychiatrist and put her in a nursing home for the time being.

And then we meet Somu (Kamal Haasan) and his friend, Paintal (Paintal). Somu is a nice, timid, virginal schoolteacher. Paintal is a friend of his who hasn’t seen him in awhile…and as you can see, is absolutely dumb-founded that Somu hasn’t had the ‘company of a lady’ as of yet.

I’m not too surprised, though. They’re listening to Abba for god’s sake…

So it’s off to the wonderful land of brothels. What totally shocks me is the lack of dancing girls. Generally you always see them spinning about with groups of men surrounding them…but this place looks somewhat empty and ‘professional’. It’s almost like they’re running a business…but that’s crazy. We all know brothels are pleasant places, where young women willingly entertain men without expecting any form of remuneration in turn. Right?…right?

Since Somu ends up being terribly nervous, shy, and awkward…the madam decides to pair him up with Reshmi. When Reshmi shows her little head, we find out…big shocker, this isn’t Reshmi at all! It’s Nehalata. But how on earth did she end up here?

Somu and ‘Reshmi’ end up alone together in a bedroom. When Somu tries to politely ask her to sit down, she bashes him on the head with a silver cup. Understandably, he’s a bit upset about this. It definitely wasn’t the romantic gesture he was expecting…she apologizes, and begins to cry. And Somu, well…not one for awkward exchanges with innocent prostitutes…decides to leave.

Back at home, we find out how she ended up there. Though her parents have no idea that she’s in a brothel of all places…apparently, Nehalata ran away from the nursing home.

Somu returns and decides to give it another try to get to know Reshmi better. No, not in…that…sort of way. He just feels sorry for her, and a friendship begins to blossom between the two. She even tells him her real name, and explains that a man took her away from the doctor and told her he would take her to see her mother, but instead left her there at the brothel. Watching her tell this story is really heart-breaking. After a bit of thought, Somu decides to pay the madam to take Neha away for the evening…but really, he’s taking her away from that awful place forever. They flee on a train, with ice cream (and Iftekhar too)…never to look back…

Back at Somu’s home in the country, we meet his next door neighbor…a nice little old lady, and Soni (Silk Smitha) who obviously really has a thing for Somu. Now, while she speaks in a ‘smoldering’…I can’t help but wonder if she got ‘sexy’ and ‘strepp throat’ mixed up. She’s his wife’s boss, fyi.

Cue a sweet song with Somu and Neha, which is much better than the first musical number in this movie, it’s really obvious that the two are growing very close. Not in a perverted way, Somu isn’t a jerk…

One day, Somu goes to school and leaves Neha to spend the day alone…but that’s when she meets Balua (Gulshan Grover) and…needless to say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Just look at those conniving eyebrows…I‘m a proponent of the ‘judge people by the bushiness of their facial hair‘ school of thinking. And if that’s anything to go by, then this guy is definitely one of the bad eggs, if you know what I mean. Anyway, afterwards is a dancing monkey to cool the troubled minds of the distressed audience members…so it’s all good.

After a little spat between Neha and Somu, much later…Iftekhar returns to the picture, spotting an ad for the missing Neha in the newspaper. So, alas…the peace in their house with Neha and Somu will not last forever. But what happens next? Watch it yourself and find out, or read another review written by someone else which completely spoils the ending…I’d prefer you watched the movie, but it’s not up to me. Now, I’m going to have to give this movie 8 out of 10 bindis. I’d give it more, but the subtitles were mixed up (for some reason the bottom and top were reversed…) and I just couldn’t stand Soni.

Starring: Sanjeev Kumar, Zaheeda, Aruna Irani, Keshto Mukherjee, and Parikshat Sahni.

After a very long vacation (due partially to packing up and getting ready to move) I have returned with another review. With a pretty abrupt beginning, one particular aspect of this movie stands out to me. The clear, sharp quality of the film.

Baldev (Sanjeev Kumar) is carrying a stick with several bags loaded onto it (admittedly odd to western eyes, such as mine…but it looks like it gets the job done pretty well.) He arrives home, to the ire of his friend, Naubat (Mukri). When Naubat asks Baldev where he’s been, he explains he’s been fetching potatoes. But somehow, the bags got switched…and all they find in stock are piles of coals. Apparently he accidentally switched his bag with a fellow named Nandu. When he realizes his mistake, his grandmother rushes up to him hissing and screaming (okay…not really, but she is pretty mad!) Not only did he mix up the potatoes and coals, but he also gave her the wrong bag as well. When she leaves, Baldev’s uncle comes onto the scene to scold him for giving him the wrong bag which he needed to serve food to his guests…

Baldev decides to fix his mistakes and get to work…but only after hearing Naubat’s plea for him to find himself a wife, so he has someone to help him out. Baldev has the habit of helping others a bit too much, and as a result, forgetting about his own needs. When Naubat offers to find one for him, Baldev tells him that he’s already got a girl picked out…he’s just too shy to tell her.

After Naubat is thrashed by a fat woman (for calling her an ox, I can easily understand why she decided to beat the living daylights of out him) he advises Baldev to propose to the girl he loves, Gopa (Zaheeda), before someone else attracts her attention and steals her away. Baldev takes his advice…

When Baldev tells Gopa that he ‘will marry her’, the film segues into a wonderful little song number involving taxidermy maintenance and sweet, sweet broom love.

Roll intro credits. Very plain and simple, which was quite refreshing. Behind the white text is a pair of hands placing price tags on antiques. When the credits end, the scene re-opens on an old man exiting a mansion with a sign in-hand. And then a young woman stands upon the patio with a somber look. Her family has fallen upon hard times, and her family is having an estate sale. The girl’s name is Rama (Zaheeda), and her grandfather receives an offer to save his family fortune in exchange for Rama’s hand in marriage to Madan Lal (Tarun Bose.) Her grandfather angrily turns down the scoundrel’s offer.

Rama arrives on the scene, looking absolutely enchanting. This was Zaheeda’s first big film, and unfortunately one of the few. Now, here is another detail about Madan Lal that might bring home the reason he is such a jerk. He’s the man that Rama’s grandfather is in debt to, and he intends to destroy her family’s prestige if she doesn’t marry him. Rama decides to sacrifice her happiness and pride in order to save her family’s fortune, agreeing to marry Ma-Jerk Lal.

What follows is one of the most beautiful yet tragic songs I have ever heard. Rama sings of being blessed by her family before she is carried away to her new home, which is to be her heaven. Sometimes, with a truly wonderful musical number…all one needs is the right camera angles, and the right actress. There are no dances, no meeting of couples, only a sad young woman crossing to the window near a billowing curtain, and her grandfather listening to the sacrifice she is making.

Mr. Rai, and his wife Prema (Aruna Irani) arrive on the scene ready for the auction – which was…cancelled. It begins to rain, and they go inside the mansion to discuss other matters with Madan Lal. It is not long before an unexpected guest arrives; a painter (Parikshat Sahni) who was caught in the rain, and offers to sketch Rama in exchange for a meal…because he does not like having anything for free. As he spends the storm in the house with the group, certain aspects of everyone’s nature become far more apparent. Madan Lal’s greed and pride, Prema’s strength of character and kindness, and Mrs. Rai’s quiet regrets of marrying an old man for money. When the painter departs, a group of bandits arrive on the scene (oh boy…) The lead bandit is caught unaware when he catches sight of Rama…

The bandit is none other than BALDEV! He’s grown a beard, and his friend Naubat has taken to wearing gold hoop earrings. It really is no surprise, however, when he takes off the scarf covering his face…there’s no mistaking the sad and beautiful eyes of Sanjeev Kumar.

The painter returns, having forgotten his bag…and is forced to stay by the bandits. But why has Baldev become a spy? Why does Naubat have such poor fashion sense? WHY DOES RAMA LOOK LIKE GOPA!? All this and more to be revealed when you decide to watch the movie for yourself.

I loved the music, I love the acting, I loved Sanjeev Kumar (because he’s worth loving twice as much for his performance), I loved the script, I loved the look, I loved loved loved. You get the point. This movie was absolutely fantastic! I actually had to challenge myself to find flaws in it, and I couldn’t think of any. My final rating? 10/10 bindis. My first, and possibly only (at least for a long time) perfect score for a film. Put everything down right now, forget what you’re doing…just get a hold of a copy of Anokhi Raat and watch it immediately.

Starring: Navin Nischol, Rekha

Rekha isn’t/wasn’t a classic beauty. She is certainly not ugly either, but her face is definitely what one would call unique. I’ve heard her described by some as ‘cat-like’ and others as ‘just plain creepy’. I think ‘lovely’ might be a decent descriptive term in a fashion, but ‘elegant’ definitely sums her up in my mind. She became quite famous for this particular movie in Bollywood. She’d already had an acting career, but Sawan Bhadon really gave her a jump-start into fame. (I have a theory that she is also a vampire…because the woman DOES NOT AGE.)

Intro: Kaleidoscope. That’s it. It’s fine…though not very original in my opinion. It seems like something people always do with a movie intro if they want to look ‘artsy’. But with the jazzy music in the background, this really just gives you an impression of a fun film.

Vikram (Navin Nischol) has been away from home for five years, and is returning soon because his father has passed away. His uncles are worried that he’ll want every penny accounted for at the house, and his stepmother is indignant that the boy might even possibly consider asking such a thing. Nobody seems to want to fetch him from the airport, so the chauffeur is left to the task. At the airport, I believe I caught sight of a boom mic up a the top or something of the sort…what do you think?

Vikram arrives, and the chauffeur drives him home-but on the way, what’s this?! Thugs with axes? Don’t worry, Vikram can handle them. After all, in India…all young businessmen are trained to defend themselves, should the event occur that a group of angry thugs headed by Ranjeet ever attack. Fight well, young Vikram…in your forest green suit.

As the men do battle, nearby village women catch sight of the kerfuffle…they all want to run away, except for Chanda (Rekha) who motivates them all to go beat the living daylights out of the thugs. They succeed in running the guys off, but not before Chanda accidentally breaks a pot on the chauffeur’s head. Logically, he’s a bit miffed about this…but she’s even angrier that her pot is broken, and demands for it to be replaced. Vikram obligingly tells her that he’ll buy them all brass pots.

When Chanda is about to leave, she finds a choker on the ground…and when she goes home, she yells at her brother. Apparently he was the leader of the bandits. Her mother defends him, of course. He agrees that he was there, and if he sees Vikram again…he’ll kill him. He blames Vikram’s family (since they’re the village landlords) for his own poverty, and believes Vikram to be the reason he’s a pauper. And that’s when his mother lays in to him, and beats him with a stick.

Vikram arrives home, and his stepmother seems all to glad to see him…as well as his ‘modern stepsister’, Dolly. Cue party scene. Cue seizure-dancing. Cue smoke-filled room. And finally…cue musical number. It’s a cute song, but Vikram just isn’t enjoying himself. I guess seeing his little sister dance around with a bunch of men in a pink sequin-covered skimpy outfit doesn’t help.

It’s pretty much a predictable story all around. Vikram’s family only wants his money, and he falls in love with Chanda. I’d go on in detail, but you can pretty much guess where this is all going. If this had been my first Rekha film, I don’t know if I really would have been fervent to watch more. The acting was decent. The songs good. It was all ‘good’, but that’s the most I’m willing to give this film. I’d say it’s 6 out of 10 bindis, tops.

Starring: Karan Dewan, Lalita Kumari, Leela Mishra, Sheila Ramani, Nirupa Roy, Sandhya, Shashikala

Having recently reviewed a movie directed by and starring V. Shantaram, I didn’t realize this film was also directed by him as well until I watched the credits. Let me just say, V. Shantaram could very well be one of the best directors of all time.

It starts off with a city street, and a stop/go sign centered in the middle. The camera pans into the sign, and the ‘stop’ changes to ‘go’ which then changes to another sign with credits…and that’s when the fun little beat starts, while the cast and crew list are underway. And with Lata Mangeshkar as a singer on this picture, there could be no doubt in my mind that even if the movie ended up being bad (which I am by no means saying it did) that the music would definitely be a treat.

It starts off with the wives of every member of a household getting constant phone calls, but due to lazy translators…I am sadly unable to divulge the details of their conversations. After this odd exchange (of which I daresay was unimportant, as nobody spent more than 5 seconds talking before hanging up) a young woman arrives at the doorstep. She is the daughter of their newspaper vendor, but as he is sick…she has had to take on the job for the day. Everyone in the house gets a different paper (Marathi, Hindi, English, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Sindhi) and as the girl passes them out, she exchanges a few words with everyone in their chosen language. Her name is Shyama (Sandhya) and her proficiency in these languages impresses them all. The father of the family, Mr. Kushalchand (well, father of the boys…father-in-law of the wives) pulls everyone but Shyama aside and says to them that to have such an intelligent girl in their house with such varied languages would be useful, and they agree that she should be taken on as a servant.

Shyama is very grateful for the job. When she gets home, she can’t help but sing to her mother and father about the good news. Her father asks her why she needs the job, when she already has one singing on the radio. Her mother says it’s an unpredictable profession, and her father contests that it earns her respect and fame. Shyama explains that she’ll take leave from her work whenever they need her at the radio station…then her father worries about her working in a place with so many men. This guy seems like one of those ‘the glass is always half-empty’ sorts…

A friend of Shyama’s who also sells newspapers rushes up to her later to tell her that all of the papers for the day have been sold. She’s cheerful enough about it, but she needs him to escort her to the radio station in the evening. He asks why he should…it isn’t as if she’s attractive. Shyama’s used to remarks like this from her step-mother (and I’m sure others as well) and brushes the remark aside…though she does check the mirror before the scene transitions to her singing. When she finishes, an eager crowd rushes up to a fair-skinned woman, calling her ‘Ms. Kokila’ and asking for autographs…she tells them that Shyama is Ms. Kokila, and points to her. They look at Shyama, surprised…and hold out their notebooks to be autographed. So Shyama goes by ‘Ms. Kokila’ when she sings…

One of her fans, standing close by says ‘she sings and writes quite well, but unfortunately she lacks the looks’…to which, I’m given to wonder…couldn’t the jerk have waited until he was out of earshot to say that about her? His friend tells him ‘If only she was pretty…she could achieve great heights’…and they’re not even really whispering…they’re stage whispering.

When Shyama gets home, this time she looks in the mirror distraught. But when she goes to her father, he comforts her tell tells Shyama that her beauty is ‘one in a million’. This is a sweet moment, and there are some really wonderful lines in her father’s speech. Shyama’s character is of a cheerful nature, and her father’s words quickly ease her sadness.

The next day at work, Shyama meets the over-worked chef…and helps him out. So as not to spoil the scene, I’ll just say ‘it is a very cute bit’ when she rushes out to serve everyone their food. Shyama manages to charm everyone into a good mood, and keep the house in order. Later on, several washer-people and a tailor drop by with clothing for the family…But before I go any further, I must point out one very integral part of the story…this really odd couch. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of it…

The doorbell rings, and Shyama complains about all of the people dropping by…she exclaims that this one must be a barber. When she opens the door, he looks a bit confused about the barber remark, but says he is one…and takes a seat…then spins around for some reason. Shyama tells him to leave, but he refuses, so she picks up a chair…and he calls for his mom. Apparently the elder couple have yet another son, Ramesh. Shyama is more than a little shocked and embarrassed.

In the way of romantic comedies, Shyama gets the chance to apologize to him later when she brings him food. They talk, and seem to like each other well enough. But who could dislike Shyama? Honestly, she’s just too sweet. Ramesh is writing a dictionary, and finds that Shyama knows several languages, which just might help. Shyama sees a lovely portrait in Ramesh’s office, and asks who it is. He asks if she recognizes her, and Shyama says she doesn’t. He tells her that this is a portrait of a wonderful singer on the radio who he wishes to meet in the coming week…Kokila. Shyama is a bit startled by this remark. She warns him that the real deal may be a disappointment, but he disagrees. The man is smitten with ‘Kokila’, and refuses to believe that she is anything but ravishing.

For a moment Shyama allows herself to be overjoyed that someone has fallen in love with her…but she immediately decides that if he were to see her face, it would destroy his image of Kokila…so she decides that she will avoid him when he tries to meet her at the radio station.

Shyama tries to avoid Ramesh at the station, but he manages to catch her running away. He quietly leaves her, and goes to his room…where he tears his portrait of the fake Kokila to shreds. Shyama’s heart is broken…so she rushes into the pantry and sings. There is something about the lighting here, which makes the tears on her face glisten beautifully. The song suit’s the mood perfectly (at least the tone of it does…there were no subtitles, but emotion carries across language barriers pretty effectively.)

Not long after, all of the girls at the house decide to bring home a ‘modern’ friend of theirs…who forces Ramesh to dance with her, and grossly abuses her right to speak ‘hinglish’. She calls Shyama ugly, and asks why there are such hideous dark-skinned women in the world…she says it quite a few times, and finally Shyama decides she’s had enough, so she speaks up for herself…the ‘modern girl’ yells at her, slaps her, and inevitably knocks a tray of (soda?) all over herself, ruining her make-up. Shyama rushes off, and Ramesh follows…telling her that she insulted a guest. Shyama tells him off and quits.

And of course that’s when Ramesh realizes he truly loves Shyama…

So what happens next? You’ll have to find out for yourself. It’s not as good as Do Ankhen Barah Haath, but it is still pretty enjoyable. I give it 7 out of 10 bindis.

Starring: Jayapradha, Rishi Kapoor

This is a Hindi remake of a Telugu film (Siri Siri Muvva), according to the dubious source known as ‘Wikipedia’ and the more valid source known as IMDB. Both films star Jayapradha, and might I just say…she was a marvelous dancer. At the time that Sargam was made, she couldn’t speak much Hindi…but that wasn’t really called for anyway, as her character is conveniently mute. And with Asrani in this, I knew it would be at least decent…

A field, trees, animals, and Hema (Jayapradha). The wind blows, and Hema places a hand to the side of her mouth, as if to whistle. She makes no sound, and receives only the continuous gales of wind in reply…she pulls out two anklets(?) bedecked with bells, smiles, and tosses them into the air. They freeze, and emblazoned upon the screen in yellow text is the word ‘Sargam’. This time when she ‘whistles’, flocks of birds respond, and she seems overcome with joy. She straps the anklets on and runs to and fro, as Raju (Rishi Kapoor) appears coming over a hill. Hema has begun to dance to the tunes of the bells and the birds…so Raju sneaks up on her and beats his drum. The credits roll.

I rather expected a cute sort of dance to play while the credits appeared on the screen, but all I got were pictures of the characters in mid-action, rather like a slide reel. Oh well. It’s a nice song anyway.

Hema has taken her step-sister, Champa’s (Rajni Sharma) trinkets, the bell-anklets we saw her playing with earlier. Everyone at the house is in an uproar, because Champa can’t have her dance lessons without them. Champa’s dance teacher (G. Asrani) can’t really give her any lessons without them. Hema’s stepmother, Savitri (Shashikala) is pretty upset, because she was already forbade to even touch them! Hema arrives on the scene, and her father covers for her, saying that they were broken and she took them to get repaired. But Savitri isn’t so easily convinced, because as we all know…evil step-mothers are psychics…

And what does Hema’s father do? He says ‘Savitri!’ When she threatens to cut off Hema’s legs…that’s about it. What a great dad.

While Champa dances inside, Hema is forced to stomp her feet in mud outside doing her chores…but as the music plays…her smile grows, and her mind wonders to a world where she is dancing as well…

When the song ends, her fantasy continues, and Champa’s dance teacher confesses to her father that he had seen him dance as a youth, and from that moment on was inspired to become a teacher. Their father has a cane, and was seen earlier teaching schoolchildren, this is the first instant in which a bit of his past is revealed…apparently he lost his leg in an accident. The teacher claims that Hema shall indeed excel in dance as her father did, because she is a true goddess of the art…while Champa is more like a child…and then Savitri arrives on the scene, angry that he would say such a thing…this isn’t Hema’s fantasy, but a memory. This was the day Savitri bitterly decided that Hema would no longer receive dance lessons.

Back to the present, Hema’s stepbrother has just read the newspaper and discovered an opportunity for Champa to play the heroine in a film…and through her, he’ll be able to become famous. As if on cue, Hema’s father has some sort of asthmatic attack…she tries to bring her step-mother and step-brother to help him, but they misinterpret her signs of distress as signs of jealousy that Champa is going to be the heroine in a film…mind you, it was impossible for her to overhear, but they don’t seem very bright anyway…so they just ignore her. But he doesn’t die, so don’t worry. Enough of this drama…it’s time for Holly!

This is a matter of opinion, but I believe only two actors ever really looked perfect for Rafi’s voice…The first is Sanjeev Kumar (the greatest actor the world has ever or will ever know) and Rishi Kapoor…and he is so marvelously cheerful in this dance that you just have to tap your feet (or in my case…dance like an idiot in my bedroom because nobody else can see me, and therefore it shall always remain a dark secret between me, my readers, and my mother when she comes in without knocking one day.)

Hema takes Champa’s anklets again and dances outside. Cue a musical number with her and Raju, only to be ended as Savitri catches her outside and burns her ankle as punishment.

Hema’s father decides he has to marry her off to protect her from her stepmother…meanwhile a letter arrives in the mail for Champa. She can get the role if she has 10,000 rupees to spare. So where are they going to get the money? There’s an ad in the newspaper for social services that helps poor young girls get wedded to well-off men, and they’ll pay all the costs…so why not get Hema married, and take 10,000 for ‘wedding expenses’? Hema’s dad finds out about a wedding plan without his consent, and demands that Hema is allowed to meet her possible groom and decide, his name is Prakash (Shakti Kapoor.)

Raju congratulates Hema, and asks to perform at her wedding. He also asks that she doesn’t finalize the date until he returns from his trip to town. His plan is to sing and earn money to buy Hema a pair of silver anklets. On his trip he encounters a woman who’s husband is trying to make her into a prostitute, and ends up defending her from him. But what happens next? That’s up to you to find out.

This movie wasn’t bad…it was good. But it wasn’t great. I’d say to give it a pass unless you’re a big fan of Jayapradha and Rishi Kapoor. Or if you’re a bit obsessed with Asrani  (like myself.) I’ll give it 6 out of 10 bindis. I really struggled to watch this for some reason, and almost feel bad about it…but I know there are a good deal of people out there who would probably enjoy it immensely.

Directed by: V. Shantaram

Starring: V. Shantaram (Rajaram Vankudre Shantaram), Sandhya, Ulhas, B.M. Vyas, Paul Sharma, S.K. Singh, Gajendra

I keep expecting huge disappointments from black-and-white Hindi classics, but time and again…I find a wonderful film that inspires me to find more such as them. Rather, I thought this was just going to be a moral lesson on the depth of humanity, and perhaps with a few repetitive self-indulgent speeches on the part of the writer. Fortunately, quite the contrary, I loved this film.

If the intro to Don was a perplexing nightmare with red negatives and blazing yellow texts, then the intro to DABH (Do Ankhen Barah Haath) was a work of art. A pair of eyes overlooking prisoners like some almighty being, against a gray wall…and then…like a flash of lightning, a group of arms appear on the wall, and one by one…hands are removed to reveal black prints of ink, with the credits printed over them. The text is a bit wavy, but that can be accredited to the available tools of the time.

Adinath (V. Shantaram) is an optimistic young warden. He is introduced with his back to the audience, while a prisoner scrubs the floor and watches him intently. Adinath places his knife upon his desk and stands up to look at the bookshelf. The prisoner snatches the knife up, and tries to kill Adinath…but the warden is no light skirt, and wrestles the knife from his hands…when he has the guards grab the man, he tells them not to report this, and simply asks why the guy tried to kill him. It was because he wasn’t allowed to see his children, though he’s been begging time and again. That’s when Adinath indicates a slip of paper which proves that indeed, he was going to see his children soon. Adinath forgives him, and pretends it never happened.

He’s been petitioning for an experiment for some time now, and finally has the go-ahead to take six prisoners, all murderers, and rehabilitate them by taking them to a small patch of land in pretty bad shape…and having them take care of it, eventually making the earth fertile and farming to survive.

His deed seems to be a very good one, though a bit overly-optimistic (some might say stupid, crazy, and ridiculous…) I applaud the job nonetheless, though it is a bit questionable why Adinath chose a child murderer to be part of the group…a man who dug his ax into two innocent kids while they slept…why should he deserve a new lease on life? This is where I believe the screenplay writer made a mistake, as it will be impossible to have any sympathy for this character especially.

Almost all of the prisoners first tasks involve the weapons with which they murdered. And, disturbingly enough…they have flashes of memories, then get down to work with more than healthy enthusiasm. One of them is angered by his task of fixing the fence, and claims that there were bars in prison…but there are barbed wire fences here…at which point, he should be slapped mercilessly, considering all of the freedom they’ve been given so far (the doors are not locked at night, they’ve just been handed weapons, the warden is the only person for miles…and could be easily overpowered by six men…) Adinath takes this remark to heart, gives the prisoner another job, and tears down the fence to everyone’s surprise.

As it turns out, there is someone near…a young village girl. She traverses the parched desert singing…the prisoners prop up a piece of the fence, and stand behind it…watching her. Adinath calls them to lunch, and they eagerly run inside. He manages even to persuade them to fold their hands in prayer before they eat. But that doesn’t stop them from criticizing his cooking (they didn’t realize he made it, as they were unaware the cook/servant fled after their first night there.) They decide it will be best if they all take turns cooking. At this point, one can’t help but sort of like them…they really aren’t that bad…except for the child murderer, he’s still pure evil.

The next day, Adinath tells the others it’s time to work…and they go on sleeping. He goes out to work alone, because it isn’t jail…and therefore he won’t force them to do anything. Guilt gets the better of them though, and they rush outside to do their jobs. The day wears on, and the men catch a glimpse of the singing girl again…here we find she is bedecked with instruments. They call her, and she rushes over, surprised that someone is living there…she also asks if they’d like to buy any of her wares (apparently she’s a toy vendor…oh boy.)

They irritate her, and she realizes they don’t want to buy anything…so she walks away. One throws a rock at her, she turns back with her trusty shoe ready to thrash them…and they run inside, frightened of the woman’s wrath. As we all know, slippers are the most deadly weapons known to man.

Kishen, the man who had tried to kill Adinath in the beginning, is one of the prisoners…is greeted by his mother and two children, they have dropped by for a visit. He is overjoyed, though distraught when he finds out that his mother is losing her sight and having to work hard to take care of the children (the woman must be at least 80.) It’s a heart-breaking moment to watch them leave…but then Adinath stops Kishen’s mother and asks her to let the children stay there, he will take care of them…

The other prisoners see this as a gesture that Kishen is Adinath’s favorite. The kids try to run away, but the singing toy vendor appears and bring them back to the house, where she sings a song for them…‘Tak Tak Dhum Dhum’. It’s a cute little ditty. The kids chime in. The prisoners rush to the window to watch. The prisoners join in…If you don’t want to watch this movie at all, at least look up this particular song.

Everything seems to be going well. Too well? Perhaps. Perhaps not. You’ll have to find out for yourself.

This movie is lucky enough to win 9/10 bindis from me…there’s one counted off because of the child murderer…but there you go.

Directed by: Shaad Ali

Starring: Rani Mukherjee, Abishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan

At the urging of several acquaintances, I finally got around to watching Bunty Aur Babli. The film started, and a thought entered my mind…One quarter of the movies Amitabh is in seem to have him narrating at some point. That’s something you don’t see in American movies anymore. Sometime in the early 1990’s, it sort of died out altogether (two cookies go to a person who can name a mainstream Hollywood movie made less than a decade ago that had narrating in it.) This was by no means a work of art. It was entertaining though, I’ll give them that.

After a rambling introduction on India, we meet Rakesh (Abishek Bachchan)…through a song. And then we meet Vimmi (Rani Mukherjee) at the point where a bunch of bronzed shirtless men have a dance. I’ll hand it to her, she’s probably having the time of her life at this point…and so is that guy in the back with the diaper…

Rakesh and Vimmi are two small-town people who just want to get out and live. So far it’s looking pretty good. Pretty scenery, beautiful dresses (Not on Rakesh, of course…) and a fun song.

Rakesh isn’t really making his parents very happy. He missed a job interview, and his pop isn’t to happy (he gets another chance, thanks to his good old dad’s urging.) The problem with Rakesh is that he’s a dreamer, really. He seems to think there’s something wrong with having a decent government job, and tells his dad just what his opinions are on the matter. So after he lets his father know how unimportant his career is, the ungrateful young man is told that he can either go to his job interview the next day or get lost. This seems like a pretty sound decision on his father’s part, in my opinion. So far I don’t really like Rakesh, but let’s hope that can somehow change later…

We then see Vimmi talking to some magazine cut-outs. She wants to be a supermodel. She’s childish and carefree, and a bit of a brat. Her parents want her to get married to a head clerk, and…she doesn’t want to. She threatens to run away, and her father jokingly says she can as long as she has lunch first. The engagement hasn’t been set yet, but there’s obviously nothing Vimmi can do to stop it…or is there?

Rakesh steals his father’s suit and catches a train. Vimmi flees her home on the same train…and it’s off to the real world for both of them. Rakesh tries to start a company, but finds that it will be a bit more difficult than he thought. Vimmi tries to enter a beauty contest, and isn’t even allowed past the gate…

Let me just say that though she isn’t allowed to enter, I think Vimmi would win over these chicks any day. I mean just look at the girl in purple! Her dye job is awful, she’s got split ends, it’s fuzzy and dead from the neck down, and there’s no telling when’s the last time she washed it. Frankly…I think she should be disqualified immediately.

Returning to the train station, Rakesh and Vimmi meet, with one romantic question on Vimmi’s lips…”will you escort me to the bathroom?” Afterwards, they really get down to talking…exaggerating their experiences and claiming that they both came to the city and their endeavors were successful, etcetera. Etcetera. But then Vimmi starts crying, and the truth comes out on both sides.

So the plan? Go to the next city together, part ways…and try again. Unfortunately for Rakesh, the same man who told him his financial plan wasn’t going to work decided to go to this very same place and pitch the idea to a company executive…as a result, he got a 10,000 Rupee bonus…Rakesh’s idea was stolen, and he has no way to prove it. As for Vimmi…she gets the chance to enter the beauty contest again, but only if she sleeps with the guy taking applications. She refuses…Rakesh and Vimmi meet again, and Rakesh hatches a plan to get revenge on the guy who stole his idea. They scam him, and get a good amount of cash out of the guy before fleeing. It’s Rakesh’s plan that they both go to Bombay and try…yet again to make it big.

They catch a bus together, and when the driver asks Rakesh his name…he says ‘Bunty’…but before Vimmi can tell the driver her name, Rakesh immediately says ‘Babli.’ And thus Bunty and Babli are born…but where does it go from here? They decide they just don’t have enough money, so they’re going to scam a few more people…with a song. I mean, they’re going to scam people and there’s going to be a song while they do it. A fun…but VERY long…song…slash scene.

When they finally get to Bombay, ‘Bunty’ realizes that he just doesn’t want to work…he’s found his niche, and it’s conning people out of their cash and goods. ‘Babli’ decides that’s what she wants to do too…and why not get married in the process? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea…

They become a famous team, conning people left and right…making thousands upon thousands in the process…but ACP Dashrath Singh (Amitabh Bachchan) is hot on their trail, and he’s not going to rest until he catches…Bunty…aur (and) Babli!

Final rating? Fun movie. 6/10. Fun music. Cute costumes. A bit predictable, long-winded and formulaic, but the acting was good. I think my favorite part would have to be when Bunty and Babli trick a rich American and ‘sell him the Taj Mahal’…Abishek is a wonderful character actor, and Rani is adorable.

Pushpa (Sharmila Tagore) is a married woman returning to the home of her family because her husband no longer wanted her. She could not conceive. He found a second wife. The credits aren’t particularly interesting. The intro song is touching when you take into account the meaning and emotion behind the song. This is Pushpa’s journey home, and it struck me that this was a very good way to start the movie. Keep going, Shakti Samanta, you’ve hooked me.

Pushpa was abused for the fact that she couldn’t give her husband a child. Her mother is unhappy that she has returned home, and insists that the fault (if there indeed is one) in her marriage is her…not her chauvinistic and abusive jerk of a husband. Of course, that’s when Pushpa reveals two horrible scars on her back where her husband and his new wife beat her with burning sticks before throwing her out of the house.

Pushpa wants to go about her daily life at her mother’s home doing chores, and even begging if need be…however, Nepali Babu (Madan Puri) suspects something ‘fishy’ is going on, so he asks Pushpa if she wants a job in Calcutta. She says she’ll have to talk to her mother. Already, bile rises to a viewer’s throat, and one wonders ‘why the hell is Pushpa trusting this jerk?!’

Nobody in the village is happy that Pushpa is back. Even her mother wishes she would find some way to return to her in-laws (though it’s obvious they wouldn’t want her back anyway.) When a child sees his uncle offering money to Pushpa for sex, he rushes off to tell his mother. Mind you, he neglected to see the bit where Pushpa throws the cash back in the man’s face and refuses…so wouldn’t you know it, the kid’s mom is so upset that she goes to talk to Pushpa’s mother. And Pushpa, of course, is horrified that her mother would believe such a lie…the little old woman hurls abuses at Pushpa…and makes my really wonder how, as a child, I ever yelled at my mother that she didn’t love me because she wouldn’t take me to Seaworld…

Pushpa is thrown out…so she decides to kill herself. Nepali Babu saves her just in time, and takes Pushpa to Calcutta. She is informed that the place she is brought to is a ‘music and dance academy‘.

Switch over to Anand Babu (Rajesh Khanna) who has just arrived at the slightly seedy side of the city…he seems disoriented and drunk, and wishes to return home…but then he is drawn like a moth to a flame by the alluring song of Pushpa. He is entranced…and when he finds the source of the song, he asks her to continue. She obliges…

Anand is the richest man in the city, but obviously not the smartest…a man with as much cash as he has shouldn’t be wondering drunk around the seedy side of Calcutta…but there you go. And hey, if he were smarter…he wouldn’t have met Pushpa!

A few years pass, and an infant named Nandu grows into a young boy. He is from the same village that Pushpa used to live in (not the one she went to when she was married, the one she was raised in and almost committed suicide in.) His father wishes to move to Calcutta, uprooting both Nandu and his stepmother. While his father, er…Mahesh searches for lodgings in Calcutta, he encounters Pushpa. She invites him into her home in the midst of a downpour. He really doesn’t want to come inside, but he does…despite Pushpa’s graciousness. She asks him to give money to her mother, whom she is worried about. She explains that Nepali has been delivering the money for years…Mahesh refuses. That’s when Anand arrives on the scene…and he is quite chummy with Pushpa now (she’s a prostitute, if you didn’t catch that.) Mahesh explains that Pushpa’s mother has been dead for quite some time…and it doesn’t matter, because to them, Pushpa is also dead…

Anand may have a slight buzz, because he’s obviously an alcoholic, but he comforts Pushpa nonetheless. And you might contest that perhaps he isn’t drunk, and he just has some sort of neurological problem, but let’s just go with drunk.

Segue into a very lovely song under a moonlight night. But it isn’t a very cheerful tune…which makes you wonder how on EARTH did he think this was going to cheer Pushpa up?! It really just looks like he invited her out to watch him drink. Good song though… while I wouldn’t want to be with Anand when I’m depressed, he seems like a pretty loving sort of person. And Pushpa is happy, though there is an ever-present look of sorrow under her smile (great acting, Sharmila, by the way…kudos.)

Later on, Mahesh walks by Pushpa’s home again with Nandu. He tells Nandu to go home and asks for Pushpa not to speak to him anymore because he could get a bad name by associating with her. But it’s going to be impossible for them to avoid each other forever…especially when Nandu sees girls dancing and singing at the brothel, and can’t help but watch…

Nepal comes to the brothel asking Pushpa for the money to take to her mother. He sends Nepal away with a lesson in shame under the man’s belt…and Pushpa meets Nandu in the street the following day. Nandu goes home and asks his stepmother for food, but she scolds him and sends him away. The woman doesn’t like him, and makes this very clear. He tries to get food anyway, but ends up breaking a jar…and is thrown out. Crying by the river, Nandu meets Pushpa, who gives him food.

Nandu begins to visit the brothel and Pushpa pours affection on him. But Pushpa’s limited bliss with Nandu and Anand can’t last forever…

What’s my final rating? I won’t say this was completely original…however, it was good. 7 out of 10 bindis.