Part of why I have been so busy movie watching is that during the last sale at Eros I went slightly mad and bought everything they had on sale for under a pound. That is a lot of movies, and I was subsequently banned from buying any more movies before I had watched them all and I have mainly stuck to this, but it is also a great incentive to watch these cinematographic gems.
Dhongee looked interesting as it had Farida Jalal in it, in what I presumed was a non-maternal role. I was wrong:
But, at least she isn't an adult's mother.
She plays Geeta, a young woman living with her brother Anand (Randhir Kapoor) and in love with Rajit. Rajit's father demands dowry, but Anand doesn't have the money. He has, however, his own love interes, Neelima (Neetu Singh). On his way back from his failed visit to the last resort for getting money he has an accident and a body is identified as his. Anand isn't dead (I think I would have been more surprised if he actually had died) and he is nursed back to health by a Nepalese gardener (or something along those lines). When he is recovered enough to go back home, he is just in time to watch his sister getting married to Rajit. This was made possible with the money from his life insurance, so he decides that it is his duty as a responsible older brother to stay disappeared. Charming, considering he left behind a grieving girl-friend. Up until this point the movie seemed entirely normal, not terribly exciting, maybe even a bit dull, though there was the occassional odd choice in tie:
Anand decides to retire to Nepal, so the authorities won't find him. And this is when things start to go slightly weird. First, if I wanted to leave the country quietly and not draw attention to myself, clearly, this is my perfect choice of clothing:
Secondly, Anand is greeted at the airport as Mr. John and treated with great respect. Apparently, these people mistake him for a great Don. The viewer learns fairly soon that this is a ploy by the real Mr. John to have Anand arrested, so he can continue to be evil in peace, and make more forged currency. Mr. John has a rather impressive lair with a fairly awsome door:
and also some wallpaper which isn't good for the eyes:
There is much fighting and intrigue (Anand's family winds up in Nepal, too), and a long lost father turns up about three quarters into the movie, much to my puzzlement, but the main fun was watching Anand's impressive collection of Nepalese headgear:
It is colour-coordination:
The songs are okay, but not amazing, though one suggests that there may have been a sale of streetlamps going on close by:
and there is a long song in which Anand confronts the real Mr. John, who somehow fails to be threatening in this get-up:
And this happens in the middle of the final fight (having a lunch break, advertising cabbage, your guess is as good as mine)
Was this fun to watch? Yes.
Would I recommend it? Only if you have nothing better to watch. Especially the first half is not very exciting. There is no need to avoid it, and the second half is at least funny, if mainly unintentionally.
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