Category Archives: My Reviews

Manchali (1973)

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Manchali is a light comedy drama Hindi movie based on a novel “Swayamber” by Satyendra Sharat, directed by Raja Nawathe. Its a fun film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Leena Chandawarkar in lead roles.

The Plot

The Manchali here is Leena (Leena Chandawarkar), who is a bold, beautiful and adventurous girl. Leena stays with her uncle “chachaji” (played by Krishnakant) and aunt “chachiji” (played by Nirupa Roy) in Shimla. Leena has come of age and is supposed to receive her father’s inheritance. But there is a catch. Leena needs to get married before her uncle can complete the transaction. It is important to note the uncle and aunt are genuinely concerned about Leena’s happiness & wellbeing. They have selected a groom for Leena and want to go ahead with the marriage at the earliest. Leena also cares for her uncle who has suffered 2 heart attacks and doesn’t want to antagonize him.

Leena has no plans to get married soon and lose her independence but is compelled to do so in order to get the money. She would prefer to select her husband herself. Her best friend Pushpa (Nazima) has placed a matrimonial ad and brought the mail responses from eligible grooms. This is a funny scene where Pushpa reads out the applications. After much deliberation, Leena is impressed by one Sushil Kumar from Dehradun. He has sent his photo and is ready to meet her. The condition being she needs to come alone. For easy identification, he will be wearing a red suit and holding a bouquet of flowers.

Leena cooks up a story and informs her chacha and chachi about her decision to marry Sushil Kumar as the husband of her choice. They are of course against this plan. But adamant Leena runs away and boards the train to Dehradun. Arriving in Dehradun, she is aghast to find an old and stooping Sushil Kumar waiting for her on the platform. He is not the young and impressive man in the photo. Undecided on what to do next, she gets down the train and climbs up the opposite platform. Here she meets a talkative coolie Sanjeev Kumar.

He is a smooth operator. He gets friendly with Leena and manages to get rid of Sushil Kumar and arrange a hotel room. Apparently he is an educated man knowing multiple languages. Leena is worried about her next move. She will be a laughing stock if she goes back to Shimla without a husband. Leena is impressed by Sanjeev Kumar and tells him her unfortunate story. He suggests she take a fake husband with her and divorce him as soon as she receives  the inheritance. Leena agrees but doesn’t know where she can find a “temporary” husband at short notice. Sanjeev Kumar confidently offers to play the role of the fake Sushil Kumar for Rs 25,000. And the deal is settled.

They reach Shimla and things don’t really go as Leena had planned. The over smart fake Sushil impresses her uncle, aunt and other members of the family. He is also a hit with her friends especially Pushpa. Leena makes plans to forcibly send Sushil with a pehelwan Sher Singh and hold him in Delhi till the divorce papers are signed.

However Sushil fights with Sher Singh and returns to Shimla. Leena is concerned when she sees an injured Sushil and for the first time develops feelings from him.

Sushil keeps acting randomly to Leena’s chagrin. She feels romantically involved with him but is unable to express her feelings. Sushil leaves no chance to make her angry and jealous. He even arranges a big party for Pushpa’s birthday and flirts with her in front of Leena.

Finally the day arrives when chachaji is ready to pass on the inheritance. Leena is shocked to find that she and Sushil have been made joint owners of the property. Will Leena be able to accept the reality? Will the fake Sushil return as per the divorce agreement? Things are sorted at the end with a satisfying ending.

The Music

Anand Bakshi and Laxmikant Pyarelal do full justice. The title song O manchali kahan chali, Gham ka fasaana ban gaya achcha and Tan man dhan sab hai tera fit the situations and are enjoyable.

My Thoughts

The story is dramatic and the dialogues are witty. Sanjeev Kumar is most effective as the supposedly fraud temporary husband. He is at his irritating best when he interacts with Leena. His catch phrase..pichli saat pushton se..talking about the “contributions” of his family’s last seven generations is enough to annoy Leena. Great coming timing without being over the top. Leena provides good support as the dominating but helpless “wife.” Nazima is impressive. Overall, Manchali is a funny and entertaining movie.

Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche (1972)

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The Ramsay brothers are synonymous to the horror genre in Indian cinema. Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche (meaning Two yards under the ground) was the first such full fledged horror movie from this group. Made on a shoestring budget with minimum production values, it was a huge hit which set the tone for many more to follow. The movie is full of loopholes but fun to watch for all the absurdity going around.

The Plot

The film opens with a graveyard scene. Rajvansh (Surender Kumar) has come to offer flowers to his dead wife’s grave who passed away a year ago. He is a rich widower staying in a big house with 2 servants for company – Ramdas (Dhumal) and Chanchal (Smita). He is also a chemist constantly experimenting in his laboratory set up in the house. One day he is collecting plant samples near the forest, when he sees a girl screaming and goons running after her. Being the hero, he tackles them easily. The girl is Anjili/Anju (Shobhna) who is staying far away in Khandala. She has a mother and uncle (mamaji).

Rajvansh brings her home for the night. She settles down by wearing his dead wife’s clothes and has dinner with him. Later in the night she gets scared of sleeping alone in her room and goes to Rajvansh’s room and lies down quietly. He gets seduced by her and they end up spending the night together. In the morning, Rajvansh is repentant of his actions and agrees to marry Anju and demonstrate he is a “shareef” man. Anju readily agrees as this is all a plan of her mamaji (Satyen Kappu) to entrap Rajvansh and enjoy his wealth. She is already married to Anand (Imtiaz Khan) but this is (obviously) not revealed to Rajvansh.

They get married and mamaji is a frequent visitor to their house. He always leaves with a wad of money under the pretext of sending it to his sister i.e. Anjili’s mom. Why Rajvansh keeps giving him money is never explained. The mother is never shown to come and meet her daughter or vice versa. Rajvansh is frustrated with his wife and her uncle but seems helpless.

Enter heroine no. 2 Meena (Pooja). Out of nowhere, a young girl Meena comes singing a song about being a free bird etc. As the song ends, she slips and falls into the lake. The always chivalrous Rajvansh rescues and takes her home. He seems to have a habit of saving young women (Anjili taunts him on this point too!). It is revealed Meena is a nurse working in the neighbouring town and is related to the servant Ramdas.

Meena is recovering and spends a few days in Rajvansh’s house. She sings a Krishna bhajan. Anjili insults her as she suspects Meena is after her husband. One day, Rajvansh is experimenting in his lab. He does not realize the water in the lab is contaminated and drinks it. Unfortunately this leaves him paralyzed. Meena offers to take care of him. Interestingly Anjili does not allow Rajvansh to be taken to the hospital. She has arranged a specialist doctor to come and stay with them to treat Rajvansh.

The doctor is none other than Anjili’s husband Anand. He reluctantly agrees to be part of the plan. Mamaji further plots to inject poison and kill Rajvansh. Anand is against the plan of murder but agrees on Anjili’s insistence. The plan is carried out and Rajvansh’s body is placed in an old trunk and buried do gaz zameen ke neeche.

But the three plotters realize they are unable to find the keys to the Godrej safe where Rajvansh used to keep the money and valuables. They even dig up the body but the keys are not to be found. Surprisingly they are found in mamaji’s pocket and Anand suspects mamaji of planning to keep the money for himself. They open the safe but its empty except for blood inside which is taken as a bad omen. However they find Rajvansh’s diary which reveals some important details.

Things here take a twist. As per Rajvansh’s diary, he had instructed Ramdas (Dhumal) to transfer the money from the Godrej safe to a safer place. Also, he was studying about American zombies and how the soul ( aatma ) can make a dead body walk. He had been successful in finding this formula.

And soon Rajvansh’s dead body returns to take revenge of his murderers. Will he be successful? Did the formula work? How will all this end?

The Music

The movie does not have scope for any songs and Sapan Jagmohan’s music is wasted. There are 3 songs including an item number of Helen.

My Thoughts

While being a pioneering movie, it is as bad as it can be. And that makes it hilarious too. It seems to be shot completely on location in Mahabaleshwar; the rooms are typical hotel rooms. The movie is a sequence of random things happening. The background music is suspenseful even when the scene is not.

Among the actors, Surender Kumar has personality but the two ladies Shobhna and Pooja are lacking. Imtiaz Khan (Amjad Khan’s younger brother) is impressive.

The concept of a full horror movie, that too with an adult rating would have been a novelty at that time. And credit to the Ramsay brothers, for identifying the opportunity and making a successful movie. It could have been a better movie with better actors, better budget, better direction, …almost better everything. But yes, in spite of its flaws, the movie went on to become a cult classic and served as a template for many more horror flicks in India.

Dr. Vidya (1962)

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Starting on a lighter note, English cinema had Dr. No in 1962 and Hindi had Dr. Vidya. Dr Vidya starring Vyjanthimala and Manoj Kumar is about an educated woman whose husband leaves her because she is educated. For her, he is a Pati parmeshwar and she will not rest until he accepts her back wholeheartedly. The concept is obviously dated today but well, those were the times. Happy birthday Vyjanthimala, whose birthday is on 13th August.

The Plot

Geeta (Vyjanthimala) is a fiesty college girl. She is good at studies and dancing and the upholder of Indian values. Her friend is Shanta (Helen), who is married. Shanta is the opposite of Geeta and influenced by western culture. Shanta’s husband Jagdish has returned from London and Shanta is aghast to find him unaffected by western influences and insisting on Indian values. Another classmate is Kundan (Prem Chopra) who is supportive of Shanta’s thoughts as a modern, independent woman.

Its Geeta’s birthday and the point between India vs western culture is highlighted again. Its also an opportunity for Geeta to present a semi classical song, dancing to Pawan deewani na mane udaye mora ghungtaa. Shanta is embarrassed by her husband’s behavior as he is supportive of Indian traditions and they have a fight upon returning home.

Geeta’s parents (played by Shivraj (as Lala Hansraj) and Mumtaz Begum) are looking for a suitable match for her. Her father conveniently remembers his old friend Chowdhury Hiralal (Nazir Hussain) and his son Ratan (Manoj Kumar). We come to know through a flashback that Geeta had fallen down the stairs as a child. There was a risk of losing her leg. Hiralal promises Hansraj his son Ratan will marry Geeta irrespective of Geeta’s physical disability. Luckily Geeta recovers and the risk is averted (of course, as she has to grow up as Vyjanthimala, an accomplished dancer!).

The match gets fixed. Ratan lives in the village and is hardly educated compared to Geeta. He is a zamindar who works closely with the farmers and their welfare. One day, Shanta, Kundan and their friends arrive at the village for a picnic is the village. Ratan accuses them of dancing in the field causing damage to the crops. He humiliates them and asks them to leave immediately.

Soon its marriage time. Shanta recognizes Ratan and is surprised Geeta is marrying such a uncivilized and uneducated villager. She openly humiliates Ratan. His friends also emphasize Geeta’s education and how she will dominate him. A stung Ratan is unable to face the reality. On the first night, a happy Geeta sings in anticipation of her husband but he doesn’t arrive. He has decided he cannot live with her and is ready to leave the house and the village.

The parents make him see sense but he is adamant. Geeta accepts this dejectedly and returns to her father’s house. Later Hiralal visits Geeta’s house. He falls sick while returning home and passes away at the railway station. Coincidentally, Ratan is at the railway station preparing to leave. He has a sudden shock seeing his father’s body. He returns home to stay with his mother and carry on his duties as a zamindar but not as a husband. He wants no communication with Geeta.

Geeta’s father Hansraj is practical and tells her to persuade her education and she becomes a doctor. She writes a letter informing Ratan of her success. He refuses to read the letter and sends her a substantial amount of money for her expenses. Hansraj is furious at his son-in-laws attitude.

Meanwhile Shanta has drifted away from her husband and wants to be a modern woman meaning wearing western clothes, speaking English and disregarding Indian culture. Geeta lectures her how she is wrong but Shanta disagrees.

Geeta has her own plans to win back Ratan. She goes to his village with her cook Nyarelal (Sundar). Nyarelal will pretend to be a doctor and she is Vidya, his uneducated niece. She assists Nyarelal when he is attending patients.

And rest of the time she is wooing Ratan by singing songs and pretending to be a simple, unsophisticated girl. As expected, Ratan falls in love with Vidya.

But will he marry Vidya when is still married to Geeta? Will circumstances change for the better? And there are a couple of villains waiting to do their job – Madan Puri (who is after Vidya) and Prem Chopra (pursuing Shanta).

The Music

While not the best of S.D. Burman, it has some good songs like Pawan deewani, Khanke kangana, and Jaani tum to dole. Vyjanthimala gets to dance in most of the songs.

My Thoughts

The movie is inspired from the Marathi movie Shikaleli Bayko meaning educated wife. Usha Kiran had played the title role. Dr Vidya is a collection of many filmy formula elements but make the final product boring. There are too many characters and sub plots. The Indian v/s western track was not required. The movie should have stuck to the core story of Geeta and Ratan and how they resolve the differences to reunite as husband and wife. The leads lack chemistry which only improves towards the end of the movie. It is difficult to believe why a qualified doctor would make her servant a doctor without thinking of its risky implications; that’s too far fetched. Overall, Vyjanthimala is fine, Manoj Kumar is O.K. Helen shines in the supporting role which is not limited to a couple of songs.

The verdict – watch Dr. Vidya only for the memorable songs and Vyjanthimala’s dancing skills but watch Dr. No any time!