Not looking good:
The palm trees remind me a lot of those in Aadmi:
Before we can find out more about the fate of the infant, the voice-over takes us to a royal palace, where the king is dying. He was hoping to be reunited with his estranged son (who married against his father's wishes, and who might just possibly be one half of the couple lost at sea), but he dies before he even learns of his son's death. His loyal administrator knows about the accident, and the possibility that the heir may still be alive, so the throne will remain vacant and the property will be in trust until the fate of the heir has been ascertained.
It's an impressive home to miss out on:
The deathbed:
Amazingly, this guy turns out not to be evil:
Back, at a somewhat less impressive, but still by no means small, house, several years has passed and the foundling is now called Shankar. He has been adopted by the owner of the somewhat less impressive mansion, and while he is very close to the daughter, Roopa, her brother, Ramesh, resents him as an interloper and frequently picks fights with him. Luckily, their father is aware of Ramesh's behaviour and protects Shankar. Less luckily, the father also suffers from an unspecified but possibly cardiac-related illness, which does not bode well.
Not bad as a second choice:
I hope you like him, we will be seeing a lot of him:
Shankar:
and Roopa:
Is shawl wearing a a sign of impending doom, either for the wearer or his immediate family?
He is trouble:
Alas, the father's health problems lead to his premature demise and Shankar's life very swiftly becomes a lot less pleasant as he is now treated as a servant and can't continue his studies, though he was a good student (in contrast to Ramesh). Time passes and we get to watch many, many different kind of flowers bloom. Once we are finished with the flowers, Roopa has grown up into Waheeda Rehman and Shankar into Dilip Kumar. The two are very much in love with each other, although Shankar is employed in all sorts of manual labour and Roopa is mainly downtrodden by her brother and doing embroidery. The down-treading is done by Ramesh (Pran), who has grown up into a rather unpleasant adult (how unexpected).
Shankar:
And I don't blame him at all for having fallen for her:
It's a cruel fate to have him as a brother:
I wonder what the motive is:
After a brief comic interlude which involves a gentleman named Murlidhar (Johny Walker), his wife (Tun Tun), their nine children and a moneylender who wants the money Murdilal owes him, we are back with our ill-fated lovers. Ramesh, who enjoys being mean to Shankar, tells him to fetch a gun which he left behind at a neighbour's house. The house is a considerable distance away and he needs they gun within the next hour. This gives us an opportunity to meet the neighbour in question, Satish (Rehman) and his sister Mala (Shyama). It turns out that the gun was never left at their place, Ramesh took it home with him earlier, but when he is told this he just shrugs off all the trouble he caused Shankar.
They are not very colour-coordinated:
Sherlock?
Looking less than impressed:
Oh, that gun, silly me:
Before things can get too depressing, we have our first song, which confirms that Roopa and Shankar are very much in love with each other. While they are chastely affirming their devotion to each other, Ramesh is up to no good, indulging in alcohol and loose women. One of the latter has taken his fancy in particular, namely Tarabai (Rani). She, however, is also part of a convoluted plan of Murlidhar to repay is creditor whith Ramesh's money. Shanker and Roopa, on the other hand, continue their romancing during daylight hours, which may not have been the wisest choice ever.
Lovebirds:
Now with more daylight:
Up to no good:
I suspect he has found his match:
They have some very scenic ruins in their village:
After some more romancing and another song, trouble begins to brew. The people in the village have started to talk about Shankar and Roopa, and the family's loyal retainer is worried, partly because of the possible damage to the family's reputation, and partly because of what will happen to Shankar when Ramesh finds out that he has fallen in love with his sister.
One day, Mala comes to see Roopa, and she has brought her brother, Satish, who would like to have a word in private with Roopa. They are less alone than he thinks they are, as Shankar, who had brought some flowers to Roopa's room is hiding behind a curtain. It is all incredibly awkward, especially since Satish does realise that there is another person in the room eventually. He leaves, leaving Roopa to ponder his proposal. (And he really isn't a bad second choice at all). Shankar, of course, is aware that his position doesn't really allow him to marry Roopa, in spite of his love for her, so everybody is left feeling low.
Surprise visit:
You are less alone than you think you are:
This may or may not be symbolic of something:
Satish is also rather less than impressed with the company Ramesh has been keeping, but Ramesh won't listen to his possible future brother in law. Nevertheless, he invites Ramesh and Roopa to Mala's birthday party. Roopa had been asking for some flowers, but the evening still sees Shankar and the bouquet in his room. When he finally brings them to the party, after Mala and Roopa have treated us to another song, there is really nobody left who doesn't realise that Shankar is more than a little fond of Roopa. This irritates Ramesh so much that the two come to blows.
Maybe he would also like a different hair colour on Ramesh:
Look who is attending the party:
Bad ideas Shankar had today:
Ramesh is fuming:
Back home, Ramesh takes his revenge for Shankar's behaviour and has him whipped, much to Roopa's distress. That night, she comes to meet him in the scenic ruins and after much railing against fate and the resident deity (which is never a good idea), the two come to the conclusion that maybe eloping is the way forward. Alas, the next morning still finds them in the scenic ruins and Ramesh, supported by a large number of men with sticks, comes to find them. After a (more or less) exciting fight, which does showcase the architecture of the ruins rather nicely, Shankar ends up being thrown into the sea and Roopa is dragged home.
They may be about to make a decision:
Aaaw:
Don't mess with him:
Oh no:
Don't worry Roopa, we haven't been shown the body:
Satish reaffirms his willingness to marry Roopa but is also prepared to wait, given that she has had somewhat of a shock. He is still underwhelmed with Ramesh's lifestyle and persuades him to let Roopa stay at his place, rather than in a house which is frequented by dancing girls (and he will also have more opportunity to press his suit if she is his guest, but he doesn't say that) . Meanwhile, somewhere on the coast, Shankar is found by helpful fisherfolk. He is not dead, nor has he lost his memory or eyesight, or anything of the sort (I am really rather amazed at that). Instead, he decides to earn lots of money, so he can come back and be worthy of Roopa (the sort of plan that makes the assumption that she will wait, which is okay if you have actually discussed it, but likely to backfire if you haven't had a chance to tell her). Roopa, for her part, has become rather depressed, and the fact that her brother spends most of his time with doesn't help, though it means that amid all the doom and gloom we get treated to a rather nice song.
His...:
...and hers matching depression:
Thank you, for providing some relief:
Once the song is over, we are back to our suffering lovers. Satish is determined to get Roopa to marry him, but she is still grieving for Shankar, and while grateful to Satish for the shelter he offers her, not willing to marry him (yet). Shankar, on the other hand, has found work in a factory which just happens to have belonged to his grandfather (how convenient). One day, the administrator is visiting and Shankar is more than a little puzzled by seeing the same crest on the car, as the pattern on his locket. The administrator, however, has serious problems. His son is fed up with being a loyal retainer and hoping for the lost grandson to return and would quite like to use the king's riches for his own (probably debauched) purposes. When his father refuses to even contemplate the possibility he hits him over the head with a blunt instrument, and sets off to rob the royal resources (well, the vault really).
I am still amazed that the administrator isn't evil (not that I am prejudiced or anything)
Ah, somebody's identity may be clarified in the near future:
Unsurprisingly, the administrator isn't actually dead. Instead he is found by Shankar, who not only helps him back to the palace but also defends him against his son, and is provided with enough exposition to realise that he is the long lost heir to the kingdom. He swiftly finds himself installed on the throne, but alas this is also the time when his already not too plentiful supply of marbles starts to dwindle even further.
Helpfulness pays (at least in this case)
Somehow one would expect him too look at least a bit happier:
For some reason, Shankar's first thought does not seem to be to go and find Roopa, which is somewhat of a mistake. Roopa had been living in Satish's house for some time now, and people have started to talk. All the nasty rumours come to head during a New Year's Eve party after a confrontation with her brother and his inappropriate girlfriend. After a sleepless night and some more disapproval and emotional blackmail by the family's loyal servants and being confronted with her father's stern picture, Roopa decides to give in and gets engaged to Satish.
The red light of public diapproval:
Thinks are getting rather too much for Roopa:
It always puzzles me that men are so keen on getting married to someone who quite clearly is more than a little distressed at the prospect:
This is, of course, the perfect moment for Shankar to reappear. But first, Roopa pours out her misery in song. Then Shankar confronts Ramesh who is more than delighted to tell him that Roopa has abandoned her childhood love and is now happily engaged to Satish. Shankar is not prepared to belive this, saying that he is more willing to believe that she committed suicide than that she became somebody else's fiance, however, when he goes to Satish's house, he is confronted with a scene which leads him to believe that Roopa is now in love with Satish (of course, asking her point blank isn't an option, and neither does he seem to take into consideration that Roopa had very good reason to believe that he was dead; especially as nobody has as yet told her, that he is still alive). It also becomes very obvious that Ramesh is an alcoholic and possible not any longer quite in his right mind; and has lost most of his not insubstantial property to Tarabai.
I am not sure which of the two is saner:
Misunderstanding about to happen:
Not looking at it won't make it go away:
Before the general misery and heartbreak can get to us to much, we check in with the comic relief, whose wife has just given birth to multiple children.
Shankar is now bent on revenge. He first starts to get interested in Tarabai in order to make Ramesh jealous. He arranges for the already irate Ramesh to walk in on them in a compromising situation (not that I can blame Tarabai for looking for a change of companion). He also confronts Roopa at a party held in his honour that night. The poor woman has only just realised that the prince everybody talks about is her believed to be dead beloved; and she swiftly learns that he feels betrayed. She finds herself stuck between a fiance she doesn't want but feels obliged to be loyal to, and the man she loves, who thinks she has been unfaithful to him. No wonder she is beginning to look rather stressed.
Now this is a woman who knows what she wants:
I suspect that a plan may be hatched here:
Hmmm;
Roopa is subjected to more than her annual share of disapproval:
At least there are very impressive staircases for Shankar's marbles to bounce down:
Before we can get too depressed we are treated to another dance by Tara; during which Shankar flirts rather openly with her, which does not end well for poor Tara when Ramesh looses the last remnants of his self control.
Well, at least she isn't bleeding all over a priceless carpet:
With Ramesh on the run from the police, Shankar installs himself in his house, which he bought from Tarabai, and proceeds to torture poor Roopa (and Satish) by flirting with Mala. Will it all end in tears? Will Mala recognise that Shankar isn't interested in him? Will Satish heroically renounce his claim on Roopa? Will Roopa ever be able to make up her mind as to whether she wants duty or love? Will Ramesh turn up to wreak further havoc? Will there be more dramatic zooms up and down giant sweeping staircases?
Personally, I like this movie. I love every overly melodramatic minute and it doesn't feel too long to me. Other people have felt differently about it and put their thoughts in writing. I would say, if you have low melodrama resistance or have seen Aadmi (or Deedar) and found that to melodramatic, it's best to avoid this one. There is also a lot of eye-candy and nice music.
Gratuitous Waheeda pictures:
