Let's start off with a movie which starred two of my old school favorites, Mehmood and Asha Parekh. The movie being, of course, Love in Tokyo. The main couple is played by Asha and Joy Mukherjee, whereas Mehmood and his lady love are basically comic relief. The story begins with Ashok (Mukherjee) being sent to Japan to reclaim his now orphaned half-Japanese, half-Indian nephew under the command of his steely mother Gayatri Devi (played by Lalita Pawar, who acted the part of Shammi Kapoor's steely mother in Junglee). However, the nephew, by the name of Chi Ku, refuses to leave Japan and runs away, only to encounter Asha (Parekh), who is also running away because her uncle is forcing her to marry the wicked Pran (played by, you guessed it, PRAN). The music was decent, the only two songs that I really liked were "Sayonara", which in the end, was a bit overdrawn and "Koi Matwala Aaya Mere Dware", which has the lovely Asha dancing in a classical setting. Family drama, silly escapades and a hilarious masquerade ensues. If you don't mind winding story lines, have some time to spare, and just want to watch a cute bollywood classic, Love in Tokyo is the movie for you!
Next up, a film, which I put off way too long seeing is Chak De! India. This film deserves all the praise it has so far received. No winding blah blah blah, just straight to the point of telling this inspiring tale of a women's hockey team that no one believed in. No actual singing or dancing, but the standout song is the title song for sure. Shahrukh Khan gave one of his best performances yet, as a broken, but brave ex-national team captain, Kabir Khan. He gave his full attention to this character and didn't play Kabir as overemotional as he can tend to do with some of his roles. All the hockey team actresses did their parts well, my favorite however, would have to be the character of Balbir(played by Tanya Abrol) for her comedic relief, Komal (Chitrashi Rawat) for her fierce attitude, Soimoi (Nisha Nair) for her "ho" (watch the movie and you will find out!), and Preety (Sagarika Ghatge) for her determination. If you want to get inspired, pumped up, and to have a few laughs in between, this is the movie for you. If you haven't seen it, go check it out!
Last one for today, we will discuss a Yash Chopra Forever Classic, a film which achieved many firsts in Hindi film history,most notably, the then taboo discussion of extramarital affairs. The film is of course, Silsila, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar,the always graceful and beautiful Rekha, and Shashi Kapoor. The story begins with two brothers, Amit(Bachchan), a playwright, and Shekhar(Kapoor), an Indian Airforce Pilot. The former is just beginning a love affair with Chandini (Rekha), while the latter is informally engaged to wed Shobha( Jaya). However, tragedy strikes and Shekhar is killed in the line of duty and through unforeseeable circumstances, Amit feels it is his duty to marry Shobha in the place of his brother and break his love for Chandini, which devastates her. However, as fate would have it, Chandini and Amit meet once again, but now both are married and are in quandary. Do they let the past stay the past or do they rekindle their passion and risk losing face? The songs and music are decent, though nothing of note, besides the song"Neela Aasman" and the version of it which is sung only by Chandini. I enjoyed the story line for the most part but I felt that somehow the ending didn't fit quite right. However, I will let you decide and experience Silsila for yourself!
(PS-the above song titles are links to their music videos on youtube)Look forward to a long post next time on two films dealing with the Mughals AND another post on a Hrishikesh Mukherjee film, can you guess what they are?! Comment below!
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2 comments:
Hello Elizabeth,
It's always pleasing to read your movie narrations. One wonders how you might have gained such a good command on Hindi? Besides, you must be doing a decent amount of googling before writing down those character names etc.
Speaking about Love in Tokyo, those were the days when Hindi movies would draw in crowds by titling along famous western cities/ places...Night In London , An Evening In Paris, Love In Tokyo, Around The World In Eight Dollars. As regards to Silsila, it's one of Amitabh's few successful non-action movies from his heydays. The other noticeable name being Kabhi Kabhi.
Btw, have you been visiting Big B's weblog recently? I read one Elizabeth getting in argument with other Big B fans there...lol. The millennium star has been drawing in some good audiences there as well.
Thank you very much for your comments and compliments. I actually dont have to spend too much time googling, since I normally use the website IMDB.com to search films and see their casts and characters.
I am flattered that you think I have "a good command of Hindi". I am teaching it to myself with the aid of a Teach Yourself Hindi book series, Hindi films and music, as well a little bit of help from my neighbor who is a native "Delhite". My comprehension is pretty good, my reading and writing is decent, but the speaking lags a bit, as I don't often have a chance to practice.
I did not even know that Big B had a weblog! Thank you for letting me know, I just saw your posts on it and I am going to look it up RIGHT AWAY!
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