Thursday 26 February 2009

Ilzaam (1986)

Ilzaam is another movie starring Shashi as older police-officer (Inspector General, to be precise) and a very young Govinda. It also has a not completely predictable plot, which does make a nice change.

After a title-sequence which is ever so slightly on the garish side, we meet a motorcycle gang who helpfully discuss there plans for the evening in great detail. A guy named Ajay (Govinda) is going to dance in the street, and the rest of the gang is going to rob the flats while their owners are outside getting irritated by the nocturnal dance performance. It sounds rather convoluted to me, but it does lead neatly to our first song, the imaginatively entitled “I am a street dancer”

You might want to invest in some sunglasses before watching this:
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We soon learn that Ajay can't be all bad as he refuses to go along with killing an older man and his daughter in order to rob the money meant for her dowry. This leads to him falling out with the gang and making his way to Bombay, followed by a police inspector Yadav (Ramesh Deo), who has seen his face. On the way he encounters a very good looking young woman, who obviously knows him.


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The young woman turns out to be Aarti (Neelam) the daughter of Danraj (Prem Chopra) and she is overjoyed to have found Ajay again, who appears to have been her boyfriend at some point. Her father points out that he finds her joy rather misplaced as Ajay should her up on the night of their engagement. As her father is played by Prem Chopra I can't help the feeling that he may have more to do with Ajay's non-appearance than he lets on.

Father-daughter bonding:
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Meanwhile, another family reunion takes place in the house of the Inspector Genera, Ranjit Singh (Shashi Kapoor) whose son Satish (Raj Kiran) has returned home after a year in London. Ranjit is obviously very fond of his son, but we get a bad feeling about him very soon.

Father-son bonding:
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Hmm, I am not sure about you:
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Gratuitous Shashi-picture
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The bad feeling about Satish turns out to be fully justified in the next scene. Not only does he drink and drive he also offers a life to an innocent and somewhat naïve girl, and promptly tries to rape her. Luckily, Lakshmi (Shradda Verma) is rescued in time by no other than Ajay. She takes him home to meet her mother, who promptly welcomes him into the family and offers him a bed for the night. During the night Ajay is tortured by his conscience, wondering who a thief like him can stay with these nice people. He decides to leave but is stopped by Lakshmi's older brother Suraj Prasad (Shatrughan Sinha), a police officer who mistakes Ajay for a thief.

Instant Maa-approval:
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He really is rather cute:
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You know, this bears all the hallmarks of major awkwardness to come:
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When Suraj learns why Ajay is staying with his family he quickly accepts him as his younger brother. Shortly afterwards, he follows a rather reckless motorcyclist, but when he stops the driver it turns out to be a woman, Kamal (Anita Raj) who urgently needs to get medication to her father. Suraj is rather impressed with her filial devotion and makes sure the medication reaches her father safely.

I spot a love story developing;
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It also turns out that Suraj knows Inspector Yadav, so he takes him home to meet the family when he arrives in Bombay following the thief. Ajay manages to avoid being recognised by a cunning disguise involving the applications of rather a lot of soap.

Hmm, maybe the Inspector needs glasses:
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Ajay sees a job advertised in a dancing school, and he goes with Lakshmi to apply for the position. It just so happens that Aarti is also at the school talking to the director about a donation. When she confronts Ajay he claims not to know her and tells Lakshmi that Aarti probably lost somebody who looked like him and has become slightly unhinged in her grief. Lakshmi is only moderatly convinced by this.

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Before the suspense of what exactly happened between Ajay and Aarti claims any victims we are treated to an expository flashback, triggered by this peace of interior decoration which does seem oddly familiar:
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First, it is confirmed that Ajay and Aarti where in love. They do spend some time running around trees and singing. Unfortunately, Aarti's father would have preferred a more affluent son-in-law, so he at first does not agree to the match unless Ajay comes up with a substantial amount of money. After a passionate speech given by Ajay he seems to relent and agrees to the engagement but on the night of the engagement Ajay doesn't turn up.

I don't trust you:
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Not the position you want to be in at the end of your engagement party:
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Aarti is convinced that what stopped Ajay from getting engaged to her was his lack of money. So she wants to organise a dance competition with a substantial prize, in order to make him confess his true identity. She asks her father for money; and shortly afterwards we learn that Dhanraj isn't an upright business man, but a smuggler (not that that is that much of surprise, in fact I would be much more surprised if he wasn't a smuggler).

Inspector Suraj manages to stop one of Dhanraj's trucks but before he can interrogate the driver he is shot by Dhanraj's men.

This guy usually has less hair:
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Dhanraj tries to bribe the Inspector General over a game of snooker (well something with long sticks anyway), who is to honest to accept the bribe and advises Inspector Suraj that Dhanraj isn't all that honest.

I am fascinated by the flower patterned curtains:
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Do I look like I would accept a bribe to you?
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Unfortunately, Satish has no qualms about joining Dhanraj in his illegal activities. He is overly fond of money and always needs more to finance his extravagant life-style. At Dhanraj's hotel he is introduced to Kamal, who he takes an instant liking to. Kamal is a dancer and we get our next dance number, which involves a lot of water and not many clothes.

Oh, hmmm, this doesn't bode too well:
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It is a miracle she doesn't catch a cold:
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Things get even more complicated, when Inspector Suraj turns up at the hotel, where he has been send to investigate. He manages to save Kamal from being raped by Satish, but lets him go because he doesn't want to embarrass his father. Suraj drops Kamal home and it is very obvious that he is more than fond of her, and doesn't even mind her working as a dancer.

Not the brightest idea ever:
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Smitten:
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Satish then enacts a complicated ploy to get the truck back which the police confiscated, using the fact that his father is so well-respected to his own advantage. Inspector Suraj becomes more and more suspicious but there is little he can do at the moment. He tries to share his suspicions with Inspector General Ranjit but he isn't willing to listen to anything negative about his son. The conversation puts quite a lot of strain on the relation between Suraj and Ranjit, and Suraj vows to make Ranjit see his son's true nature.

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Meanwhile, Satish has met Aarti at her father's house and has decided that he would rather like to marry her. Aarti is less than impressed with this development. She decides to take matters into her own hand and confronts Ajay who is still staying with Suraj's family. Their conversation is overheard by Lakshmi who is know convinced that there is more to the whole Ajay-Aarti business than Ajay is willing to admit.

Guys, you aren't as alone as you think you are:
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Before Lakshmi can quiz Ajay in greater detail, the whole family sets off to meet Lakshmi's future in-laws to sort out the arrangement for her marriage. Unfortunately her sleazy future father-in-law demands a lot of dowry. Lakshmi is heartbroken; Ajay remembers the dancing competition and joins in to earn the money for his adopted sister:

Why would you want to marry into this family?
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Don't worry!
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Of course a dance competition means another, extremely bright song (you are still wearing your sunglasses, aren't you?) performed in the presence of a somewhat bemused Inspector General:

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Of course, Ajay wins, but does not endear himself to Aarti by saying that he won the money for his sister's wedding and not to marry her. On the way out he is waylaid by the motorcycle-gang who have finally caught up with him. He manages to fight them off backstage though.

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Aarti comes home to find Satish trying to flirt with her, which she doesn't appreciate at all (really, can you blame her?). Inspector Suraj, meanwhile is trying to find the driver who helped Satish to get the truck with the smuggled goods back. He manages to find him and arrest him but he is shot in prison. Luckily, he manages to make a written statement before his death, and miraculously avoid smearing blood all over it when he clutches it to his bullet riddled chest.

Doing the right thing proves fatal in this case:
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Satish obviously wants to prevent that statement from ever reaching his father, so he instructs Kamal to retrieve it form Suraj's flat. He can do that because she is deeply in debt to Dhanraj and has a very sick father. Before she can do so, she meets his family who take an instant liking to her, especially after she has changed into a sari.

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Kamal takes the file, and on the way out meets Ajay, whom she obviously recognises, which causes her some distress. When Suraj notices that the file is missing he is most distressed, especially since he very shortly is going to have a meeting with the Inspector General.

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As can be expected, the meeting doesn't go to well. Ratish accuses Suraj of going after his son to protect Ajay, as he has now learned that Ajay actually is a thief. Surja is shocked and immediately jumps to the conclusion that Ajay must have stolen the file in order to pay for Lakshmi's wedding. He proceeds to throw Ajay out of the house. Before he can do any greater damage to Ajay, he is stopped by Inspector Yadav, of all people, and Ajay ends up in prison.

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Oh dear:
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However, not all is lost: When Aarti hears what has happened to Ajay, she goes to Suraj and tells him that Ajay won the money in a dance competition and convinces that he must be a decent person.
Suraj and Ajay are reconciled, and Aarti starts to resemble Princess Leia:

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So, how will this work out? What did actually happen on the night of the engagement that stopped Ajay from coming and pushed him into a life of crime? What part did Kamal play? Will the Inspector General ever learn of what his son is up to? And what consequences will that have? Are there going to be any more songs?

This is a very enjoyable movie. The plot moves along at a decent pace and there is just enough mystery going on to keep one guessing without leaving one completely confused and some twists couldn't be spotted a mile of. The music is pleasant and it helps having a lead who can actually dance when your story requires his character to win dancing competitions and be an accomplished dancer. Otherwise the result can be highly entertaining, but not terribly convincing. The different elements of the story are well balanced and everybody is doing a good job. This is actually a movie I would recommend wholeheartedly for anybody interested in any of the actors or cinema form this period. Just don't forget your sunglasses.

And to end this, you are not going to escape more gratuitous Shashi pictures:
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Oh dear:
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Sunday 15 February 2009

Dil ne pukara (1967)

Dil ne pukara is another of these rather sweet movies which are nice to watch on a Saturday afternoon without being a cinematographic masterpiece. It is the story of Asha (Rajshree) and Rajan (Sanjay Khan) who meet while they are both on holiday in Kashmir. He is instantly smitten with her; she is instantly irritated by him.

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At the same time we meet Bansi (Mehmood) and Jyoti (Helen) who have a similarly complex courtship. Bansi and Rajan are good friends, and Bansi's courtship of Jyoti will continue throughout the entire movie

She may just object to his choice of clothes:
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Rajan woes Asha by sneaking into her room, dressing up as a boatman, singing a long song, and finally playing the mouthorgan under her window in the middle of the night. Amazingly, she doesn't have him evicted from the hotel but instead agrees to one last meeting where he tells her that one day she will love him they way he loves her.

You are not winning:
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Further signs that this isn't going too well:
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Oh, stop it already:
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This is all rather irritating, verging on the creepy, but I suppose it is meant to be romantic. The day after the mouthorgan business, Asha receives a telegram that her father is ill and she is needed at home. Back home she finds her father, Dharamdas Khanna (Manmohan Krishna) in bed, but generally in good spirits.

I feel he is missing a moustache:
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We also meet the family cat:
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and, to fulfil the cuteness quota of the movie, Prakash (Shashi Kapoor), the orphaned son of an old friend of Dharamdas, who is a (very young) medical doctor. It is pretty obvious to everybody apart from Asha, that Prakash is in love with her.

All that is missing is the cat:
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Alas, Rajan has been prophetic, and Asha now spends her nights tossing and turning while longing for him. Why, I am not sure. She seems to be missing midnight mouthorgan serenading. Well, each to their own. We also learn that Asha is a medical student.

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Some days later Prakash is celebrating is birthday. Asha gives him a stethoscope, which leaves him decidedly underwhelmed. Also at the party is Rajan, who is actually a good friend of Prakash. Prakash leaves the two in each others company while he is busy dealing with his other guests.

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Given that they didn't part on the friendliest terms, the two are a bit awkward around each other. Before we can get overwhelmed by their awkwardness we get a song which involves Helen in a white swimsuit.

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Over the next days, Asha and Rajan manage to work out that they now actually are both in love, and with each other, while Bansi and Jyoti continue to have communication issues. Well, mainly Bansi gets the wrong end of the stick and then has placate Jyoti.

Rajan is now prepared to make that all-important step, introducing Asha to his mother (Achala Sachdev), which works very well.

She is now Ma-approved:
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Around the same time, Asha's father is having words with Prakash. He is a heart patient who may not live for very long, so obviously he wants to see his daughter settled, and who better to get her married to than his old friend's son, etc. pp. ... Needless to say, Prakash is delighted with this development, and when Asha comes back, he goes all shy and embarrassed. It is all rather sweet

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She asks him to stay for dinner, and after a conversation which really is a masterclass in talking at cross-purposes they part, both extremely happy.

Alas, their happiness is mutually exclusive:
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After a short interlude with Bansi and Jyoti, we are back with the happy couple expressing their joy in a rather nice song.
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Shortly afterwards, Rajan goes to see Prakash to tell him about his new-found love. Prakash at first isn't at all convinced of the seriousness of the situation, as Rajan apparently had several girlfriends in the past, but he is finally convinced that she is the one. Prakash mentions that he is in love to but doesn't mention her name, which is a good thing when he is introduced to Asha shortly afterwards. He doesn't do the best job at hiding his feelings, but the two lovebirds are rather preoccupied with each other so they remain oblivious.

Don't mind me, that's just my heart breaking:
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Oh my:
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Prakash next goes to Asha's father to ask him not to insist on his marriage to Asha but to let her marry the person she has chosen. Her happiness is his happiness, he says.

Now officially too good for this world:
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He also has to tell Rajan that he was unlucky in his love, when Rajan comes up with plans for a double-wedding, but he doesn't tell him, who he loves. Before it all gets horribly melancholy, we get back to Bansi, who has a less than promising first meeting with his future father-in-law.

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Meanwhile, Asha and Rajan are intrigued by who might have spurned Prakash, and also worried, as he is really quite depressed, so they decide to try and rectify the situation somehow. First, Asha tries to get him to talk about what went wrong with his love, but he is naturally reluctant and evasive.

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At Asha's birthday party, Rajan and Asha ask Prakash to sing. He follows the time-honoured tradition of singing about one's own sufferings and broken heart at somebody else's party, with the help of a piano, naturally. The song is so depressing and he looks so unhappy, that both get even more worried, and Rajan begins to suspect that Asha might be the object of Prakash's affection.

Depressed piano playing:
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Look, you asked him to sing; did you really think he would be cheerful:
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Prakash leaves the party pretty abruptly, clearly realising that he may have given away too much. Rajan shares is suspicion with Asha, who isn't convinced but nonetheless goes and asks Prakash point blank whether he is in love with her. Asha definitely has guts. Prakash, by now well trained in giving evasive answers, manages to convince her that she isn't his lost love without actually lying to her.

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Time passes, Bansi is looking for a job in attempt to provide comic relief, and Prakash finds new ways to torture himself:
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To be fair, he can't really not spend time with them if he doesn't want them to know that he loves Asha, as they are both good friends of his and Rajan is suspicious anyway, but it still seems a rather awkward way to spend an afternoon.

It turns out that Rajan plans to go abroad for a year to finish his studies (in Oxford, where else) as per his deceased father's wishes. Asha isn't keen on the idea, but he insists, and decided to go by steamer at Prakash's suggestion. Asha is not taking the separation very well, and it falls to Prakash to cheer her up. His methods are somewhat unorthodox but effective:

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Unfortunately, Rajan has charged Asha with finding a good wife for Prakash in his absence. As he puts it “I don't want to see him alone when I return”. After all, a good wife is the solution for all life's problems. Prakash, however, isn't willing to be paired of with somebody, he is still hurting to much from his severe case of unrequited love.

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As it turns out, a much bigger disaster than Prakash remaining unmarried is about to strike:
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Asha's father promptly expires at the breakfast table:
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It falls to Prakash to ascertain that there are really no survivors, try to comfort Rajan's mother, and make sure that Asha doesn't end up killing herself in her grief.
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He persuades Asha to put her wealth and her education to good use by opening a hospital and she reluctantly agrees. Before the viewer gets to disheartened by all the tragedy, we get another song with Bansi and Jyoti.

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Years pass, and Rajan's mother (of all people) starts to worry about Asha staying unmarried. She has words with Prakash and suggests that he should marry Asha. He is initially rather reluctant, but in the end agrees, provided that Asha agrees.

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Asha isn't exactly keen, but after some gentle pressure from Ma, and a long conversation in which Prakash assures her he really only wants to do this, if she wants it, too, she agrees, and the two get engaged. At the night of the engagement, he finally tells her that she is the girl he has loved all along.

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Everything seems to sort itself out with some degree of satisfaction for everybody, when shortly afterwards a patient is admitted to the hospital after a car accident.

Rajan?
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So, did Rajan survive the ship-wreck? And did whoever this is really loose his memory? What will Prakash do? What will Asha do? And will we ever see this rather splendid cat again?

For me, this movie has one problem, and that is Sanjay Khan. I just find him completely free of any charm and rather soporific. Which is a bit of a problem, if I am meant to feel Asha's pain at loosing him. In the context of the plot, her not falling for the guy she has known for years makes perfect sense, and I like the plot for having the guy who doesn't get her be genuinely nice, it just would have helped if Rajan had been a bit more attractive. Apart from that, I have no real complaints. There may be a tad too much comic relief, and the songs are pretty pedestrian. Personally, I would have liked more screentime for the cat, and things go a bit bizarre in the last half hour, but overly much. Do watch it as fluffy entertainment or if you are a big fan of any of the stars (and my apologies if you are a fan of Sanjay Khan). Shashi does a very fine line in kicked puppy looks here.


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