'GUDDI' (1971)

I have raved about Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s directing and Jaya Bhaduri’s acting more than once on this blog… so you can imagine my delight when I recently came across another film starring Jaya and directed by Hrishida (my fifth, after ‘Abhimaan’, ‘Bawarchi’, ‘Mili’ and ‘Chupke Chupke’). The icing on the cake is that ‘Guddi’ also stars my hero, Dharam ji, playing himself. It was an absolutely delightful find, especially in view of my recent discovery of Jaya’s remarks on Dharmendra on ‘Koffee with Karan’ (thanks again for letting me know, Sanket!)

‘Guddi’ is the story of Kusum (her pet name is ‘Guddi’, which means ‘doll’ – a very clever symbol in this film), a young schoolgirl who is in love with the movies, and especially with her favourite movie star, Dharmendra. She is so in love with him that she doesn’t want to marry a sweet, sincere young man who’s in love with her. However, through a series of visits to Hindi movie sets, she comes to discover that her ideas of glamour and perfection in the movie industry and its stars are nothing but a smokescreen, and that beneath the glowing surface, there are blemishes: inequities, crushing and monotonous hard work, disenchantment, and even callousness. She realises that the love her suitor feels for her (and which she, unbeknownst to her, returns) is real; while her love for Dharmendra is a mirage… and of course it all ends beautifully (I love the final scene so much, it’s so charming).

Gulzar’s script is a beautiful tapestry of metaphors, themes and esoteria – I love the way he intertwines expositions of ideas as varied as the role of the press in the movie industry, the team effort involved in film-making, and the awkwardness that lies in the gap between girlhood and womanhood. It’s all expressed through beautiful music (the stand-out tune is ‘Bole Re Papihara’) and lovingly sketched scenes with just the right amount of sweetness (I love the use of the ‘statue’ game), fantasy (I must admit I was totally fooled by one of the two fantasy scenes), comedy (Asrani’s scene with his mother is hilarious), and social commentary (as found in Dharam’s scene at the old studio – the commentary is totally inoffensive and sincere, and never goes over the top – which I guess is one of the biggest achievements of this film).

I love the ‘mirroring’ effect Mukherjee creates between what’s ‘real’ and what’s not in this film. The lines appear unclear sometimes, but then you realise that what’s being reflected is the magic of the movies as well as the ‘realness’ of the people who work within the movie industry. There is an appealing heartfelt, self-effacing tone to the entire film, especially the ‘movie-making’ part – I am not sure anyone but Mukherjee could have made it work so well - I think with most other film-makers it would have come off as very patronising and preachy. It’s sheer genius – it all appears really simple, but there’s an appealing ‘meatiness’, a hidden complexity beneath the surface.

And Jaya Bhaduri’s performance as Guddi is absolutely marvellous – she captures the conflict within this girl on the cusp of womanhood brilliantly. The transition of her character is subtle and realistic, and it’s expressed through slight changes in her manner, appearance (props to the costumiers and make-up people on this film) and demeanour – absolutely beautiful. I love her acting. Jaya is supported by Samit, Sumita Sanyal, Utpal Dutt, and G. Asrani (one of Hrishida’s faves, here in a memorable little role as a deluded young man consumed with dreams of starring opposite Sadhana or Sharmila).

During the film-set scenes, there’s also a range of stars making special appearances, (for some reason I found those sequences quite moving). Among others, there’s Ashok Kumar, Vinod Khanna (rocking some hot long sideburns – couldn’t get a good pic unfortunately), Rajesh Khanna and even Jaya’s future husband:

Now for a few screencaps… Jaya looks absolutely stunning in this film (those eyes!), and her evolution is great to watch – I love her first sari scene, her walk is ever so slightly and unselfconsciously awkward – I just think she is such a brilliant actress.

I love that her character never loses her ‘girlishness’, her sense of fun and liveliness – one thing you find sometimes in Hindi films is that the girl suddenly becomes sombre, boring, lifeless and even repressed when she transitions into womanhood. This doesn’t happen with Guddi – she matures, yes, but she doesn’t lose her gutsiness, vivaciousness, warmth and spirit. I love that.

I love the way she laughs – this scene reminded me so strongly of her laughter during ‘Shava Shava’ in ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’.
I also think she makes such a sweet couple with her co-star, and I love their playful, charming chemistry together:

And of course, there’s the obligatory funny subtitle:

This review wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention my dear Dharam’s role – playing yourself must be so hard as an actor (the divide between sheer hubris and crushing awkwardness must be difficult to straddle), but he does it with such grace, (apparent) humility and… cuteness. Through his efforts, Guddi loses her girlish crush on him in the course of this story, but I’m afraid this movie has had the opposite effect on me. It’s only made me love him more… so I must now crave your ‘forgivance’ – permit me to indulge my Dharam-love just a little bit…

Guddi’s Dharmendra scrapbook – I love how she’s crossed out his co-star’s face – such a typical fangirly thing…

This scene was fabulously done – it looked just like you’d expect Guddi to imagine it:

Sach, Dharamji?! Bahut bahut shukriya… that means so much to me!

I simply have to find a place for this picture on this blog…

April has been pretty quiet on this blog – not because my Bollyworld has been quiet, but because blogging time has been in short supply – I’m hoping to liven the party up a bit in May though. Up next… a review of the awesome ‘Awāra’, my first Raj Kapoor film – or I should say my first Raj Kapoor starrer, because I have seen a film he directed ('Satyam Shivam Sundaram'). 'Awaara' was very kindly recommended by Rajnish ji, in a comment on my ‘Mother India’ liveblog. On the contemporary tip, I’m also working on a lil’ something about Bollywood’s ‘bunny boilers’. Should be fun.

CRUSHING ON COUPLES...

I sort of made a resolution to be more serious on this blog this year – and to do fewer silly posts about crushes and the like… but as this, my very first post of the year, is undoubtedly very silly, it’s pretty obvious that the resolution has been chucked out the window (resolutions are made to be broken anyway, right?). The thing is, being silly is so much fun that I just can’t resist it…

When I have a crush on a particular guy I see onscreen, there are certain things I do. It’s really very funny, I entertain myself all the time. I smile goofily at him on the screen, I touch my heart when he makes it beat a little faster, I fan myself with my hand when I feel the ‘temperature rising’, I go ‘awww’ when he does something particularly cute, I blush (or do whatever the equivalent of blushing is for black people) when he does something really sweet and romantic, and I talk to him… like ‘You’re so cute!’ (for when he looks just mega hot), ‘I want to marry you!’ (for certain rare and random things), ‘Go on, just do it!’ (for when he’s stalling, like when he wants to tell a girl he loves her but can’t quite summon up the courage) and ‘That’s my guy!’ (for when he kicks some butt in a very awesomely cool way). Sometimes (when he gets like, unbearably cute or corny), I have to cover my eyes for a second because I just can’t bear to look. I also usually make up a silly and razz name for the fictional character, like ‘Jackostic’ or 'Jackoski' if his name is ‘Jack’ (one of my current TV crushes is named Jack, actually). And of course there are the random moans and gasps of sheer crush-induced delight. I know, I sound like a total nutcase, but I should make it clear that I only do these things when I am either watching alone (which is pretty much all the time) or with someone of similar sensibilities.

I recently discovered that many of the above silly things I do when I have a crush on a guy I’m watching on TV or in a movie; I also do when I am watching certain couples. Because they are just sooo cute. They just make me fall in love with them. I just absolutely adore them… and so I’ve realised that not only do I have crushes on guys, I also have crushes on couples. (Is that bizarre?) And so I’ve given myself an assignment – to do a post on my three most crushed-on couples in the following five categories: Nollywood, Hollywood, Nigerian TV, Other TV and (of course), Bollywood. It should be a lot of fun. I was going to wait till Valentine’s Day, but hey, it shouldn’t be hard to come up with something romantic to write about on Feb. 14 – this IS a Bollywood blog after all –you can’t escape romance in Bollywood, it’ll chase you down (and smother you). But first I have to point out that the couples I’m about to list are only the ones I actually have an honest-to-goodness CRUSH on, not the ones I like or admire in other ways. For example, I love Cliff and Claire Huxtable very much, and they are probably my fave TV couple, but I don’t have a crush on them. And so on to the fun…


NOLLYWOOD

STELLA DAMASUS-ABODERIN & RICHARD MOFE-DAMIJO (RMD): These two actors are probably one of the most successful couples in Nollywood. They have really nice chemistry together, and you can tell that they like and respect each other in real life. These two are so good in all their movies that there have been rumours (untrue) of a real-life romance between the two. An example of their work together is Charles Novia’s ‘The Bridesmaid’, but there are many more. RMD is a great leading man, he does well paired with almost anyone, but I really like him with Stella.




GENEVIEVE NNAJI & RAMSEY NOUAH: These two have done a lot of movies together; unfortunately I can’t remember the name of a single one at the moment (Nollywood movie titles can tend to be forgettable). Just found a picture for one called 'Super Love' - don't think I've seen it, though. Anyway, these two look really good together and act very well together… I like them.

STEPHANIE OKEREKE & ST. OBI: Steph and Saint make a very handsome couple, they’re both tall and striking. And they had great chemistry in the one film I’ve seen them do together – I can’t even remember what it was called but they were fantastic together. Haven’t been able to forget it. They had my aunt in tears in the final scene.


HOLLYWOOD

Okay… this is going to be hard… I can’t possibly do just three in this particular category because there is so much material for this category in ‘old’ movies (which I love) alone… ok, I’m going to bend the rules a bit and do seven.

LESLIE CARON & LOUIS JOURDAN IN ‘GIGI’: Aww, they were so cute. Leslie Caron as ‘Gigi’, the irrepressible tomboy growing into a woman and falling in love at the same time, and Louis Jourdan as ‘Gaston Lachaille’, the playboy finding out that love has been under his nose for years. I love the moment when walks around Paris singing the song ‘Gigi’, he has this wonderful look of exhilaration in his eyes like he’s just coming alive, then at the end of the film, there’s resignation, but also still that passion, as he realises that his life has changed forever – but he likes it. Kinda corny, but beautiful.

TALIA SHIRE & SYLVESTER STALLONE IN ‘ROCKY’: I am a ‘Rocky’ nut – a real junkie. I have all the ‘Rocky’ movies and can’t wait to see ‘Rocky Balboa’. There is just something I love about the movies. In the first movie (which is really the only one which really focuses and zooms in on the romance between this couple – for which reason it’s the least loved of the more macho ‘Rocky’ fans), Talia and Sly play ‘Adrian’ and ‘Rocky’, a couple of neglected, socially inept, lost souls who find a new lease of life in each other. I love their chemistry, and the fact that they don’t need to say much to express their feelings. It’s like they’ve found themselves in each other. I love the moment when they kiss and slide down the wall together. Awesome.

JULIE ANDREWS & CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER IN ‘THE SOUND OF MUSIC’: This movie was a big part of my childhood and I still love it. A friend of mine expressed its appeal well – it has everything: music, comedy, thriller elements, war, villains, and of course, romance. I love how Julie Andrews betrays traces of her attraction all through the film, while Christopher Plummer tries desperately to maintain his state of denial. And I especially love the moment in the garden when Maria and Captain von Trapp finally come clean. When I was younger, I used to cover my eyes when watching it ’cos I just thought it was so embarrassingly romantic.

MEG RYAN AND TOM HANKS IN ‘YOU’VE GOT MAIL’: These two have done a number of movies together, but ‘You’ve Got Mail’ is my fave, which I guess is unusual as most people prefer ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ (‘Sleepless’ was of course inspired by an older classic movie starring another couple I have a crush on – Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr). Anyway, I just love their intelligence as a couple in ‘You’ve Got Mail’, the way they bounce off each other, the way their attraction and connection is so much more than physical – it comes off as way deeper than it should – after all, it’s portrayed in a 90 minute film.

JACK NICHOLSON & DIANE KEATON IN ‘SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE’: Old people in love=cute. I am not a fan of Jack Nicholson, but I have to admit he’s a great actor – and a great (if highly unlikely) leading man. I loved him playing against Helen Hunt in ‘As Good as it Gets’, and Kathy Bates in ‘About Schmidt’ (although they weren’t a couple), but I loved him most of all with the divine Ms. K in ‘Something’s Gotta Give’. They are soooo cute. I love that they made it 100% believable that Diane’s character would leave a hunky young doctor (played by Keanu Reeves) for Jack Nicholson’s aging-Lothario character.

REESE WITHERSPOON & JOAQUIN PHOENIX IN ‘WALK THE LINE’: I love the way these actors portrayed the connection between Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. I love the fact that they showed all the ‘ugliness’ as well as the beauty of the relationship. I love the way they made the friendship between the characters come alive, not just the romance. I just loved them together – my favourite bit is the proposal scene at the end when Johnny stops singing and just stares at June like she’s the most amazing thing he’s ever seen, and she’s staring right back like ‘What? Do I have a wart on my nose?’

CATE BLANCHETT & JEREMY NORTHAM IN ‘AN IDEAL HUSBAND’: I am a Cate Blanchett fan and I really liked the chemistry between her and Jeremy Northam in this film. They play a husband and wife who find out the truth about each other (well actually, it’s more Cate’s character finding out the truth about Jeremy’s). I like the progression in their relationship from utopia to disenchantment to a greater appreciation of and deeper love for each other. I love the way Jeremy Northam says ‘my wife!’ in this film – quite random but I love it. Rupert Everett and Minnie Driver, who play the other couple in this film, are cute too.


NIGERIAN TV

ENE OLOJA & MACARTHUR FOM IN ‘BEHIND THE CLOUDS’: Ene played ‘Efe’, and MacArthur played ‘Nosa’. This was a fantastic couple, they did the whole ‘young love’ thing so well. Efe stayed in love despite the strictures of her father, Mr. Okonzua (we preferred to call him ‘that wicked Mr. Okonzua’), brilliantly played by the great Zack Amata; and Nosa was just a young sweetheart – he was adored by all the Nigerians who were addicted to their weekly dose of ‘Behind the Clouds’ (8pm every Sunday, just before ‘Newsline’). When MacArthur died tragically, Nigeria mourned him, the cast cried onscreen, and the show was never the same.

EGO BOYO & RMD IN ‘CHECKMATE’: Ego as ‘Anne Haatrope’, and RMD as ...can't remember his name ( but he had this cool tic where he ran his finger under his eye) were just a great couple. They had great chemistry, and kept us glued to their characters’ games with each other.

IRETIOLA DOYLE & RMD (AGAIN!!!) IN ‘SOLITAIRE’: Iretiola Doyle is, in my opinion, one of Nigeria’s best actresses. In ‘Solitaire’, she and RMD play the stereotypical Mills & Boon-type couple who ‘hate’ each other but have all this attraction and sexual tension simmering beneath the surface. They work together, and RMD’s character can’t seem to stop baiting Ireti’s character. They have loads of witty repartee to exchange in the script, and it’s a lot of fun.


OTHER TV

Again, I must bend the rules – I’m doing five…

CARLOS BERNARD & REIKO AYLESWORTH IN ‘24’: This is my ‘crush du jour’. Now I just love these two. I don’t know why. I love them to pieces. There is just something about the way their characters, ‘Tony Almeida’ and ‘Michelle Dessler’ really just fancy each other to bits. They are just so cute together, surreptitiously checking each other out while all busy saving ‘millions of lives’. Even in Season 3, when they are playing a married couple, they’re still cuter than high school sweethearts. And in Season 4, even when they’ve split up, they’re still so cute exchanging ‘secret’ glances. I just love their chemistry. When they kissed for the first time in Season 2, I was in raptures. And they are both so cute and so… well-matched. A pity their chapter's closed for good.

JANE LEEVES & DAVID HYDE PIERCE IN FRASIER: These two do a great job of playing ‘Daphne’ (a brassy, blunt, down-to-earth broad from Manchester) & ‘Niles’ (a posh, finicky, drama queen and neat freak), two characters who are different as chalk and cheese. I love them together. Great chemistry. I think I’ve watched the scene when they finally ’fess up to loving each other a million times.

‘GABRIELLE SWANSON’ & ‘TONY CLEMENTE’ IN ‘THE LADY OF THE ROSE’: These are fictional characters from a Mexican telenovela I watched on Nigerian TV in the 90s (yes, I used to watch telenovelas – very cheesy, I know, and I can’t imagine watching them now, but I used to like them). I don’t know what the actors’ real names are, but they were great. They were rarely onscreen together, but everything they went through in the series was about each other… and it was beautiful how they kept trying to hurt each other but finally had to succumb to ‘the love’.

JENNIFER EHLE AND COLIN FIRTH IN ‘PRIDE AND PREJUDICE’: In this BBC TV adaptation of one of my favourite novels ever, Jennifer Ehle plays the witty, independent Elizabeth Bennet, and Colin Firth plays the aloof and haughty Mr. Darcy. The scene in which Elizabeth and Darcy meet unexpectedly at Pemberley is lovely. Jennifer does very well as a girl who thinks she knows it all but finds she is just as prejudiced as she perceives others to be, but Colin Firth completely overwhelms as Darcy. He is just so… so hot, and so believable, and you can really follow the arc of his character’s development. And he does ‘the look’ beautifully. Absolutely brilliant.

ADAM BRODY AND RACHEL BILSON IN ‘THE O.C.’: I have always wished for a fictional version of this fictional show, in which there’d be no Mischa Barton playing ‘Marissa’ (I find her annoying) and no Benjamin McKenzie playing 'Ryan' (although I think he’s very cute, he’d be totally redundant in my fictional version). There would only be ‘Seth’ and ‘Summer’, who I think are just very cute together. Seth makes me laugh, and Summer is sweet. Adam Brody is great, I love him in ‘The O.C.’, but I also really enjoyed his work back when he was on ‘Gilmore Girls’.


BOLLYWOOD

SHAHRUKH KHAN & KAJOL: I love them together, you can tell they enjoy working together, and I think they bring out the best in each other. They do comedy together very well (the ‘college’ bits in ‘KKHH’), and they do the dramatic moments very well too – like the moment in the rain in ‘KKHH’. I’ve seen only three SRK/Kajol movies – ‘DDLJ’, ‘KKHH’, and ‘3KG’, and I loved them together in all three. ‘3KG’ isn’t one of my favourite movies, but I love the SRK/Kajol bits – in fact, ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ is my favourite SRK/Kajol picturization. I could (and have) watch it over and over again. And every time I watch it, it makes me happy. Kajol is all graceful and beautiful (love her clothes and make-up), and SRK is… well, SRK is… wet. Watching SRK in all the see-through shirts (and as if their transparency were not enough, they have to be all wet as well – so not fair) in ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ makes me feel a bit… ummm… voyeur-ish and slightly dirty… I mean, I really do NOT want to see his nipples peeking through the fabric (or do I?) I so cannot believe I am going to publish that last line… but I guess I am.

JAYA BHADURI & AMITABH BACHCHAN: These two are so cute. One all ‘long’ and gangly, the other cute and petite. Both so intense and great to watch. I’ve seen them together in ‘Abhimaan’ (love it when she wakes him up and he grabs her hair and pulls her down), ‘Zanjeer’ (love the bit where they just stand apart and stare at each other for eons, and the bit where he tells her he loves her with the most serious expression ever on his face), ‘Mili’ (love the exchange of letters), and ‘3KG’ (love Jaya getting up on her stool to fix Amit-ji’s tie). I love them.

RANI MUKHERJI & ABHISHEK BACHCHAN (A.K.A. ‘BUNTY AUR BABLI’): Now Bunty aur Babli are just the cutest couple. Yes, they lie, they cheat, they steal, but they are like two kids just having a blast with each other. They are two misfits who suddenly find their ‘fit’. For me, Rani is always great to watch, I’ve seen her do well against several other actors, but I really like her and Abhi causing mayhem and having a big ol’ blast in ‘B&B’. Part of it is that I think they have a similar kind of dynamic to Abhishek’s dad had/has (onscreen) with Jaya. A shame they didn’t hit it off in real life – I don’t find the Abhi/Ash energy quite as appealing (although of course onscreen chemistry is very, very different from real life stuff). Good luck to them though.

BLOG STATS

I like to look at my blog statistics from time to time, just to get a feel for who’s been around, and what they’ve been looking for. The Google search terms people have entered (and have found my blog as a result) are the most fascinating stats.

Most often, the search terms are Dharmendra-related (seeing as this is – technically – a blog in praise of all things Dharmendra-related). Typical ones (paraphrased): ‘Dharmendra and Hema’s Bollywood romance’, ‘Dharmendra: Bollywood star as father’, ‘Dharmendra fan’, ‘Dharmendra handsome superstar’, ‘Best Dharmendra films’, etc. The most interesting Dharmendra-related one I’ve come across so far is: ‘Why Hema Malini still looks sexy’. I love that one. Not exactly sure what the Googler was hoping to find (night cream, milk baths, lotion, love, hair oil, sunshine, religion, dance?), but… it’s interesting.

There are other Googlers in search of a bit of Bollywood goss: ‘Friendship between Kajol and SRK’ was a recent one; and there’ve been things like ‘Juhi and SRK relationship’, ‘Kareena Kapoor said … (can't remember what)’ and ‘Aamir Khan marriage’ in the past as well…

Some Googlers are just looking for info on (and pictures from) their fave movies – there’ve been loads of ‘Yeh Vaada Raha’ Googlers, as well as a few ‘Dil Ka Rishta’ fans. Most Googlers that hit upon this blog are just interested in their favourite movie stars (apart from Dharmendra). There’ve been (paraphrased) terms like ‘Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan acting couple’, ‘Amitabh Bachchan best movies’, ‘Abishek Bachchan in Bluffmaster’, ‘Ash pictures in Veer Zaara and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, ‘Jaya Bhaduri movies’, ‘Jaya Bachchan has said Kajol is a great actress’ (I agree), and so on.

And how can I forget the Monalisa Chinda and Mike Ezuruonye fans who always come by to nick my screencaps (from the Nollywood guest blog I did a while back). Can't hate though, I'm just glad that Nollywood actors have such a strong fanbase.

I know this is a slightly random post, but that’s one of the things I like about the internet…. Randomness is always encouraged.

ON HRISHIKESH MUKHERJEE, JAYA BHADURI AND BEING ‘CHARMING’

'Charming'… it’s such an old-fashioned word. And one that’s slightly tainted by association for me, because of the old pervy man who told me I was ‘charming’ in the library and then tried to kiss me behind the shelves when no-one was looking when I was 13.

Nevertheless, ‘charming’ is the only word that comes to mind when I think of Hrishikesh Mukherjee movies. Comparatively speaking (for Bollywood), Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who passed away a couple of months ago, didn’t make a whole lot of movies. IMDb lists 42 movies directed by him. But a number of his movies are classics which will continue to stand the test of time. Probably his most famous is ‘Anand’, starring Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan. I haven’t seen it yet, but I have seen 3 HM movies, and they’re what this post is about.

The 3 HM movies I’ve seen are all simple, they are character films, with no flashy sets (in fact the sets were a bit dodgy), expensive costuming or bizarre storylines. No guns, no gore, and few musical numbers. They’re not even long by Bollywood standards – each one is about 2 hours long. But they are really good movies. I love the way HM made these films – they are simple, they are heartfelt, they are honest, they are about the actors, and they are about ‘ordinary’ people. He captures something about the ‘middle class’ that resonates with the viewer in a very real and engaging way. HM had a way of shooting a scene in a way that made you wonder if the simplicity you were perceiving was real or just a front for something far deeper and richer. I personally tend towards the latter view.

The 3 HM films I’ve seen all featured Jaya Bhaduri, Amitabh Bachchan and G. Asrani. In one of them, though, Bachchan never appears on screen – he’s the narrator. In another one, G. Asrani only makes a brief guest appearance. And the same guy who plays a respected older musician in one of the 3 movies also plays a doctor in another of the movies. HM obviously enjoyed working with these actors, and he knew how to bring out the best in them… especially Ms. Jaya Bhaduri (a.k.a Mrs. Jaya Bachchan).

JAYA BHADURI! I simply LOVE this woman as an actress. She can do passionate and repressed, boisterous and reserved, energetic and passive, spunky and meek… and she makes it all look easy. She has a very minimalist style of acting, but it just sucks you in. All it takes is a small motion with her hands, an arch of the eyebrows, and you completely just GET (or become intrigued by) what her character is expressing. Beautiful. When I’m watching a Jaya B performance, it’s almost like she’s got me glued to the screen with just her sheer energy and spirit. She’s a great actress. As an aside, I also love the fact that she once said she would let no-one, not even Big B, the Baadshah of Bollywood, dictate the course of her career (or words to that effect). I just love strong independent women (and the men who go after them - but that's another story).

Anyway, enough gushing (I can't help it though, I'm a gusher). Time to talk about the 3 H. Mukherjee movies I’ve seen.


1. ‘Bawarchi’ (1972): ‘Bawarchi’ is a sweet little film. It’s about the Sharma family, an extended family who all live together in a house called ‘Shanti Niwas’. Despite the name of the house, it’s anything but peaceful inside. There’s quarrelling, envy, degradation, addiction, illness, and a general lack of understanding. The atmosphere is so toxic that the family is always looking for a new ‘bawarchi’ (cook). All this changes when Rajesh Khanna’s character, a ‘special’ new bawarchi, comes along. He changes everything, of course. And it’s beautiful to see.


My favourite scene from 'Bawarchi' - the fantasy number about a bride

Jaya is great in this film. The rest of the cast is pretty good too, although I felt Asrani was slightly miscast, or maybe he just didn’t really get into his role... or I just missed something. But I didn’t enjoy this movie as much as I could have, mostly because I didn’t really ‘get’ the lead role, played by Rajesh Khanna. Part of me feels that Khanna could have played it better, the other part says maybe I just missed some kind of subtext (as I'm sure I always do, not understanding the language). Anyway, I wasn’t sure I liked Khanna’s character much, he just felt like such a meddler – a busybody. So for that reason I’m slightly ambivalent about ‘Bawarchi’.

2. ‘Abhimaan’ (1973): ‘Abhimaan’! ‘Abhimaan’! I really love this movie. It’s just brilliant. It stars Amit-Ji as a famous singer who marries a simple shy young girl (played by Jaya B). Interestingly, Jaya’s character turns out to be a talented singer as well. One day, she records a song with her hubby (it was all his idea), and everything changes. Suddenly, hubby is playing second fiddle to wifey. Things get ugly – all I’ll say here is that someone eventually ‘turns into a stone’ (whatever that means).

Jaya and Amit-Ji are simply wonderful in this movie, and it’s been called their best performance together. I have to agree: they were great in ‘Sholay’, and in ‘Zanjeer’ (there was that awesome stare moment in ‘Zanjeer’ – whoa! And the way AB finally tells Jaya he loves her, with his face as hard as granite and nary a hint of a smile – awesome!). They were also lovely in ‘Mili’, which I’ll be discussing next, and even more recently in K3G. I’m sure they were also great in their other performances together (must find out what they are), but I doubt that any of them works as well as ‘Abhimaan’ does.

Jaya acts her socks off in this movie – and the amazing thing is that she says very little in the film. It’s in the look in her eyes, the movement of her head, the little gestures – and it’s powerful. Amit-Ji also does a very good job – the character he’s playing is an absolute TOAD, but Amitabh strips him down and plays him honestly, and it ends up being very appealing (didn’t really care for the lip-touching thing, though – it got a bit much). It’s an honest performance.

Jaya and Amit-Ji’s chemistry in this movie is amazing. Really, it is. They just heat up the screen. And when the power balance changes (ie when Jaya starts to get some individuality in the marriage), it’s also very striking the way it instantly affects their relationship. This is one thing I like about Bollywood – intimacy does not necessarily have to be about getting naked. The intimacy and passion portrayed by this couple is very real – and maybe that’s particularly because ‘Abhimaan’ was made in the same year this real-life couple got married!

3. ‘Mili’ (1975): This is my most recent Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie, and wow! It’s beautiful. Again, simple, and about ‘ordinary’ people, but so warmly and genuinely done. ‘Mili’, played by Jaya is a happy-go-lucky, caring young woman, and also an infirm one. Into her life comes ‘Shekhar’, a traumatized young man who’s turned to alcohol after a scandal affecting his parents. This film appears to be just a regular melodrama on the surface of it, but it’s actually deeper than that, thanks to a good script by Bimal Dutta, who also wrote 'Anand'. It’s also a film about the father-daughter bond (which OF COURSE really appealed to me), about the bond between a child and the woman who raised her, about family, about love, about pain and loss, and about life. And a lot of it felt very real and true to me.

Amit-Ji tries to swallow Jaya alive...

...but hey, she gets her own back later on.

Jaya as 'Mili', with the 'girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes'... and one orange sash to match Jaya's sari.

The acting in this film is what makes it rise above the average melodrama. Jaya’s performance is never self-indulgent, it’s kinda disciplined actually. She draws you into her character’s life without ever patronising you or getting schmaltzy or maudlin. From the moment she appears onscreen, I just couldn’t look away. Just a great performance. Amit-Ji is also good in this film – although his character experiences a rather unlikely change of heart, he makes you believe it’s possible. And the scene where he tells Jaya something like ‘why would I marry one else when I love you’?? Just carry me away now!

Amitabh Bachchan all dark and cute

It’s difficult to pick the best performance in this film, as Jaya and Amitabh are so strong (Jaya more so than AB, I think), but if I had to, I would pick Ashok Kumar (who plays Mili’s father). He is absolutely wonderful in this film. The way he expresses emotion is so real and honest, it just tugs at your heartstrings. It’s beautiful. The scenes with him and Jaya? Awesome. The last scene in the film with the look on his face? His body language? My favourite scene – so raw, so evocative… so heartbreaking yet inspiring.

Great acting from Ashok Kumar... loved this scene too.

For me, this was the film's most moving scene... and so well shot.

A bit of an obvious device really, but I still like.

The imagery in ‘Mili’ is also worth mentioning. The use of height (very effective), the use of flying, as signified by the plane scenes. Death represented by the dying flowers, but the flowers also represent life – something being born in the lives of the lead characters who fall in love over flowers and notes (an awesome sequence, by the way). The use of writing, of letters (both of the alphabet and the kind you write to someone you love). I could go on, but I won’t. Anyway, I love ‘Mili’ – it’s the kind of film that makes you feel, but it also makes you think. If I had to give it a tagline, it would be ‘Melodrama done right’! I think part of the reason I like this film so much is that due to recent events in my life, I can REALLY relate to the story – but that’s a good thing. I like a story I can ‘feel’.

It's a bird, it's a plane... no actually, it's a plane.

Now, I’m going to get ‘Chupke Chupke’ (which has already been recommended by Beth), also directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and starring my dear Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore, whom I also love. Can’t wait!

But for now, I'm getting more 'Mili-licious' on here.

Amitabh all unshaven and bothered...

I like this shot because of the sculpture on the wall glaring at Amit's head... plus he looks Abhishek-y here.

I understand, Aunty, you're trying to get me to overdose on drugs... thanks.

This little girl's mama was so very excited about her daughter's two scenes in this film... that she went a bit overboard on the kajal and lipstick... and jewelry... and clothes...