A tale of two movies... !!

In the past month or so, I have got the opportunity of watching re-runs of two of my favorite Hindi movies. Of course, I have seen and loved them in the past. But then, there was no blog to pen down your thoughts about them. But now, one just needs to start putting (digital) pen on (artificial) paper. And the fact that the two movies are as different as chalk and cheese made it all the more imperative that I write about them. So here goes...

The first one is Yash Chopra's poetic 'Kabhi Kabhi' (1975). Actually this movie is actually a series of different stories that merge together at the end. At the start of the movie is the unforgettable sight of Raakhee reciting 'Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Main' on her wedding night. A poem that is symbolic of her past and of the man she loved, the poet Amit (one of the Big B's most understated performances). Then who can forget her husband ??. One of Indian cinema's most endearing characters is Vijay Khanna (Shashi Kapoor). A man that lives life kingsize and has a heart of gold. One who is unapologetically flirts with his to-be samdhan (Simi Garewal) and tries his hand at poetry ('Aap ki aankhen itni haseen hai jaise.... garib ke ghar main lantern jalta ho !!'). Then there are the love-birds in Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, whose romance provided Yash Chopra the opportunity to capture the stunning beauty of Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh like never before. And to add further spice to the surroundings was the immortal music score by Khayyam. Whether its 'Kabhie Kabhie mere dil main khayal aata hai' or 'Main pal do pal/har ek pal ka shayaar hoon' or 'Tere chehre se nazar nahi hatati', Sahir Ludhianvi and Khayyam(along with Mukesh, Lata and Kishore's vocals) simply create magic. In my books, one of the best music scores in Hindi film history. And a must-watch movie as well !!!

If Kabhie Kabhie had sublime poetry and romantic moments in plenty, the other movie that I am talking about is almost diametrically opposite in content (though it also has decent music). Violent and hard-hitting, N Chandra told the story of the transformation of a bright and idealistic young man to a gangster, who then, by the end of the movie, expels all the acid inside of him and returns to his rightful place in society. And quite fittingly, the movie was called 'Tezaab'. The reason I liked that movie was because it somehow exuded a raw and no-holds-barred energy, that was evident in the fantastic dialogues written by Kamlesh Pandey (even Madhuri had lines that were too rough for the leading ladies of that time). Each of the characters in the movie were well etched out, whether it be Chunky Pandey (the scene of the marwari at the restaurent is still remembered), or Lotia Pathan (Kiran Kumar) or Anupam Kher or Suresh Oberoi playing the good cop. To add to that was Madhuri looking a million dollars and 'Ek Do Teen'.But the film, of course, belonged to Anil Kapoor. Right from his entry ('Tumhari zindagi aur maut ke beech ka faasla Munna ki chaaku ki dhaar se zyaada nahi hai'), Munna dominates the movie. And Tezaab still remains one of Anil Kapoor's best performances. In fact, Tezaab was one of three very good movies of the same genre but dealing with different topics within it, that released around the same time (1988-89). I have already written about Parinda in a previous post, and the third movie was JP Dutta's little-known gem 'Hathyar' (Dharmendra, Sanjay Dutt and Rishi Kapoor). Though I remember little about the movie (except Sanjay's death at the end in the toy shop surrounded by all the guns and pistols that, during his childhood, prodded him onto the road of violence), it somehow has stayed with me and I will watch it in full someday.

So that was about two very different yet very good movies in their own right !!

Cheers
Amit