Mr X in Bombay can be termed as one of the first movies to depict the “invisible man” concept. And when its Kishore Kumar playing the lead character, you can be assured of silliness, comedy and some great songs.
The Plot
Our hero is Kavi Sudarshan (Kishore Kumar), who joins Nritya Kala Mandal as a poet cum singer. Here he meets the heroine Shobha Mathur (Kumkum), an actress and dancer. Sudarshan falls for Shobha. Its not exactly love at first sight! Shobha meets him dressed as an old woman (a character from the play) and then dances on his poetic creation as a young woman. Sudarshan falls for the younger version!
While initially Shobha makes fun of his simple look (read dhoti kurta), she falls in love with him. Sudarshan undergoes a makeover in his dressing sense as well as his music. Sudarshan happily announces to his mother (Leela Mishra) that he has found the “bahu” for her.
Shobha’s father Professor Mathur (Randhir) is a scientist who is inventing interesting(?) products like energy tablets which make humans jump high up in the air and cars that fly.
Shobha tells her father about Sudarshan but he reminds her of the bitter truth and reality. Enter the villain Rajan (Madan Puri) and Neena (Jeevan Kala). Rajan knows a dark secret about Prof Mathur and is blackmailing him. He has sights on Prof Mathur’s promising invention that will make him rich and wants to marry Shobha too as part of the deal.
Now comes the “invisible” plot point. Due to Rajan’s pressure, Shobha is compelled to reject Sudarshan’s marriage proposal and insults him in her house. Unable to face the reality, Sudarshan writes a suicide note. He sees a poison(?) bottle conveniently lying unattended and drinks it after singing a beautiful parting song – “Mere mehboob qayamat hogi.”
As expected, the so called poison liquid is one of Prof Mathur’s inventions which makes a person invisible. But why is it kept unattended in the house instead of the laboratory is anybody’s guess!
Sudarshan’s tranformation to invisibility leads to those typical Hindi movie funny situations. People cannot see but hear him and term him as a bhoot/atmaa.
The invisible Sudarshan meets Shobha, the professor and his mother and convinces them he is alive. It gives him a chance to teach Rajan a lesson leading to a car chase, kidnappings, a bit of suspense revealing followed by the villain’s bashing and reunion of the lead pair at the end.
The Music
This was one of Laxmikant Pyarelal’s initial movies in their long career. Mere mehboob qayamat hogi is a classic. Other catchy tunes are Khubsoorat haseena janeja janeman and Ye rang-e-mehfil, ye jashn-e-bahaara.
My Thoughts
While an interesting subject when the movie was made, it doesn’t translate into a very entertaining final product. The invisible sequences seem stretched out and the special effects don’t look that convincing. You are invariably reminded of other movies like Mr. India which seem so funny and memorable. It’s the songs that stay with you in this otherwise forgettable film. Kishore Kumar is up to his usual antics. Madan Puri is good as the negative character.
Trivia shot: Kishore Kumar and Kumkum had starred in another film in the same year (Ganga Ki Lehren).
Cine Gaurav 