Matinee Masala

Continuing with film releases, the combination of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt spelt magic at the box-office when GolMaal released in 1979. The same combination continued when they again teamed up to give Naram Garam. Naram Garam was released on 28 February 1981, produced by Subhash Gupta and Uday Narayan Singh.

It was a typical Hrishida film from start to finish with memorable performances by Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt. Hrishida almost came up with the same starcast of GolMaal except for a rural backdrop. Naram Garam was a hilarious situational comedy for which Hrishida was known for. The story revolved around the boss played by Utpal Dutt who falls in love with his employee Amol Palekar’s love interest. How Amol gets back his girl and how he ends up getting married makes the film very funny, also earmarking the debut of Swaroop Sampat.

Music was by RD Burman and lyrics by Gulzar. Naram Garam was clean comedy that went down well with the masses and the classes. Going down memory lane it’s remembered as an extension of GolMaal. Worth again a dekho even today.

Yash Chopra’s Kabhi Kabhie was released on the 27th February 1976. A film that still lingers as one of the most refreshing performances of the angry young man- Amitabh Bachchan who was riding high those days after a string of successes.

Produced and directed by Yash Chopra, Kabhi Kabhie also had Shashi Kapoor, Rakhee, Simi Garewal, Waheeda Rehman, Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh. This was Yash Chopra’s second directorial film with Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor in the lead roles after the mega success of Deewaar (1975). The movie was a great commercial success with excellent performances and haunting music by Khayyam.

Kabhi Kabhie was an idea developed by Yash’s wife Pamela Chopra while reading the great Sahir Ludhianvi’s book ‘Kabhi- Kabhie’ which also had quite a few lines narrated by Amitabh Bachchan in the film. Kabhi Kabhie was a matured effort deftly handled by Yash with heady lyrics, lilting music, pithy dialogues and a theme that explores myriad aspects of romance, both young and mature.

Studded with a huge starcast, Kabhi Kabhie was written by Sagar Sarhadi which takes you to a whole new world of romances with excellent performances by everyone. Lines where Amitabh says, “Humein koi haq nahin pahunchta ke hum apni khushi ke liye apne maa-baap ke armanon ka gala ghont de” or “ Daag maine daaman par nahin dil pe liya hai, aur yeh sab karne ke liye bade himmat aur hounsle ki zaroorat hai” or my favorite line when Amit and Pooja meet- “Kabhi rastey mein mil jaao toh takraake guzar jaana, humey aiyse taknaa jaise pehchaana nahin tumne, humaara zikr jab bhi kahin aaye toh yun anjaan ban jaana ki jaise naam sunkar bhi humey jaana nahin tumne” - who can forget?

Khaiyyam’s music and Sahir’s lyrics take you on a poetic journey with gems like- Kabhi Kabhie mere dil mein, Main pal do pal ka shaayar hoon, Main har ek pal ka, Pyaar kar liya toh kya, Tere Chehre Se, Mere ghar aayi ek nanhi pari, Tera chandi jaisa rang, Surkh jode ki…

Kabhi Kabhie is a tribute to Sahir and his poetry. It’s one of the finest works or may be Yash Chopra’s best work to date. Have a look incase you haven’t as Kabhi Kabhie gives me goose flesh even today when I watch it on DVD.

Chameli Ki Shadi was released on 21st February 1986. This Basu Chatterji comedy, one of the surprise hits of 1986 was presented by Prakash Mehra, produced by Ramesh Ningoo & Shashil Gaur and music by Kalyanji Anandji. It starred Anil Kapoor who tasted success in Meri Jung (1985) and Amrita Singh along with Pankaj Kapoor, Amjad Khan and Om Prakash.

Chameli Ki Shadi was a light hearted comedy about a small town romance between Charandas and Chameli played by Anil and Amrita respectively who belong to different castes. Basu Chatterjee along with co-writer Sharad Joshi successfully managed to capture the spirit of western UP in the film to make the result quite hilarious.

I remember Chameli Ki Shadi for unpleasant nostalgic reasons. Although the film released on the said date but I happen to see it on 18th April 1986 when India was playing Pakistan in the finals of the Australasia Cup at Sharjah. It was Javed Miandad who hit Chetan Sharma for a six of the last ball leaving every Indian shell-shocked and disappointed. I and my friends got the video cassette of Chameli Ki Shadi to change the mood but nothing could erase the disappointment which still lingers in my memory.

But now whenever I get a chance I do watch this film as it remains one of my favorite Basu Chatterji flicks. If you like simple comedies, CKS will surely tickle your funny bone and make you enjoy every bit of it.

19th February, 1971 saw the release of Dev Anand’s Gambler. Directed and produced by Amarjeet who had earlier directed Dev Anand in Hum Dono (1961) and Teen Deviyaan (1964) respectively.

Gambler was released when Dev Anand was at his peak and whatever he touched turned gold. Fresh from the success of Johny Mera Naam (1970), Amarjeet tried giving Dev Anand a role where he got unlucky in love.

Gambler was a story about how a young boy is abandoned by his mother for being illegal and how he gambles in life to get back his lost love by eventually escaping the clutches of death. Dev had great support cast in Zaheeda who was repeated after Prem Pujari (1970) as his leading lady, Kishore Sahu, Shatrughan Sinha, Zahira and Jeevan.

Written by Kaushal Bharti, Gambler had lyrics by Neeraj and music by the Navketan regular SD Burman who composed hits like- Chudi nahin yeh mera, Dil aaj shaayar hai, Mera mann tera pyaasa…

Gambler didn’t go down well with the masses as people were expecting more from a Dev and Vijay Anand combination because Tere Mere Sapne (1971) was about to release followed by Hare Rama Hare Krishna.

Gambler will always go down as a Dev film where he had this funny moustache for the first time and for the immortal songs by Sachinda. Gambler is surely a must watch movie for Dev fans.

It was 16 February 1990 when Agneepath was released. I can’t forget that day as I and my brother got tickets to attend the premier of this Amitabh Bachchan flick at Nandan, Kolkatta. The premier was followed by dinner, but who cares about all that, all we wanted was to look at the Big B in flesh and blood and get a snap with him.

We somehow squeezed thru the maddening crowd outside the theatre to occupy our respective seats before the show could start. Soon we got to see someone announcing the star cast of Agneepath on stage. In came Mukul Anand with Yash Johar followed by Tinnu Anand, Archana Puransingh, Madhavi and Mithun Chakraborty. As we were waiting with baited breath for our favorite, his name was announced- ‘ladies and gentlemen please welcome Mr. Amitabh Bachchan…’, the crowd went berserk, my brother got as close as possible to the Big B who walked in with Jaya Bachchan, to click a few snaps.

We were yet to come to terms with what we saw was real as the movie started to unfold on the silver screen. Agneepath saw Amitabh Bachchan playing a don with a huskier voice which I was told was the undoing of the film. But nevertheless an Amitabh film was an Amitabh film and Agneepath happen to be the most eagerly awaited film of 1990. Produced by Yash Johar, directed by Mukul Anand and music was by Laxmikant Pyarelal. Agneepath got Amitabh his first National Award that year.

Inspired by Al Pacino’s Scarface, Agneepath had one of the biggest openings of all time at the booking counters. The audience couldn’t accept Amitabh’s heavy voice which was later replaced with the original after a few weeks.

All I still have with me are the autographs of the starcast of Agneepath and a few snaps taken during the premier of the film which I still show to my friends. Agneepath will always remain special and perhaps my best Amitabh film for all times to come. Have a look at it again to believe me.

The all time hit pair of Amitabh- Shashi delivered yet another hit with Do aur Do Paanch. Released on 14th February 1980, Do aur Do Paanch was a hilarious entertainer directed by the Amitabh loyalist Rakesh Kumar who was riding high after the success of Mr. Natwarlal (1979). Do aur Do Paanch consolidated the successful chemistry of the Amitabh-Shashi combo at the box-office.

Do aur Do Paanch was a simple story of a billionaire’s son who studies in a boarding school and some crooks plan to kidnap the kid in order to demand ransom from the kid’s father.

Some scenes are hilarious as Amitabh and Shashi are always trying to outdo each other. The remaining cast included Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, Sreeram Lagu, Sajjan and Kader Khan. Written by Gyandev Agnihotri, Sachin Bhowmick and Kader Khan, produced by Devar Films and music by Rajesh Roshan. The songs that became popular were Tune abhi dekha nahin, Yeh zulfon ki, Meri zindagi ne…etc.

Do aur Do Paanch is a must watch for all Amitabh and Shashi fans.

If at all there would be a list made on the best Bollywood suspense thrillers, Dhund (one of my all time favorite mysteries) would easily figure in it. Dhund was released on this day 13th February 1973, a film that keeps you on the edge of your seat every time you see it.

Dhund was another suspense mystery from BR Chopra, a film that held you till the last and the climax kept you spell bound. The story was about a crippled husband whose wife is fed-up of him and who finds solace in another man. The crippled husband is found dead and the whodunit gets underway.

Dhund was a landmark film that gripped the audience from the word go. It is one of the rare gems from the Chopra camp. The film had great background score and music by Ravi and great performances by Sanjay Khan, Zeenat Aman, Navin Nischal and Danny. Danny was such a terror that children would get afraid as he would appear on screen.

Dhund was written by the BR Chopra loyalist Akhtar-ul-Iman with every scene as gripping as the other. Except for a couple of hick-ups Dhund tops in every department. If you are a Hitchcock fan and haven’t seen it, get a DVD for yourself today.

This dialogue from Shahenshah turned out to be Amitabh Bachchan’s trademark dialogue for all times to come. As a die-hard Amitabh fan I will always remember this film for nostalgic reasons.

It was 12th February 1988 that Shahenshah released and I along with my college friends who were desperately waiting for Shahenshah to release, caught the 8.00 am bus to the theatre where we had a chance to get tickets. Shahenshah was releasing after Aakhree Raasta which was released on the 6th June 1986, and the crowd that we saw at the theatres was ten times more than we had expected. We tried all means to get the first day morning show tickets but it was as difficult as conquering Mount Everest without oxygen.

One of my friends’ friend had promised to get us morning show tickets but he ditched us at the very last minute. It’s been nearly 20 years since then but I am still waiting to meet him to take revenge. We all had saved enough money to buy tickets in black but the police vigil was so tight that the rates were sky high (each ticket was sold at Rs.150 onwards) as some political parties had come to stall the film at some theatres. Almost 90 % of the theatres were showing Shahenshah in the city and everywhere we were greeted with a ‘FULL HOUSE’ board– that was the craze of Shahenshah. We even witnessed a stampede but people were just CRAZY to get into the theatres to become proud claimants of seeing Shahenshah first day morning show; a great achievement in those days.

Somehow we did manage to get tickets for the matinee show but had to kill time till 2.30 pm as one of my friend who couldn’t find a better way to kill time than walk into a barbers shop to shave off his whiskers (he mistook it for moustache) for which the barber waived his service charges.

Shahenshah was a typical Amitabh masala film where he plays Shahenshah the savior of the poor and the corrupt policeman with Meenakshi Seshadri playing his love interest. Amrish Puri, Prem Chopra, Pran, Kader Khan and Rohini Hattangadi formed the rest of the cast.

Shahenshah was directed by Tinnu Anand, produced by Tinnu Anand, Naresh Malhotra and Bittu Anand, written by Santosh Saroj and Inder Raj Anand and music by Amar –Utpal. It had one of the last songs sung by the late Kishore Kumar that became popular- Andheri Raaton Mein…

Shahenshah had nothing new to offer to the audience as it wasn’t such a big hit that a big b film normally is but it will surely go down in history as one of the biggest money spinners of all times.

Shahenshah whenever shown on TV channels still gets in high TRP’s, a film that marked Bachchan’s comeback after a two year hiatus and his supremacy at the box-office.

A dialogue that became the signature of Ajit for all times to come. The 7th of February 1976 saw the release of Kalicharan, the directorial debut of Subhash Ghai. Going down memory lane, Kalicharan not only gave us a brilliant director like Subhash Ghai but also established Shatrughan Sinha as a lead actor. Ajit’s cool dialogues are remembered to date especially the way he said ‘Loyan’ instead of Lion.

Kalicharan was a runaway hit which had hummable music by Kalyanji Anandji. Produced by NN Sippy, the film had a formidable cast of Reena Roy, Premnath, Danny, Master Bittu, Madan Puri and David.

This day, the 6th of February 1970 saw the release of Dev Anand’s Prem Pujari. Prem Pujari was Dev Anand’s directorial debut which was an espionage thriller based on the Indo-China war. The story revolved around a young man (played by Dev) who abhors violence and initially refuses to join the armed forces, but has to bow to his father’s wishes. After some time there, he comes back, but as destiny would have it, he finds himself in the thick of things, when he sees the enemy working against the country’s interests. How he manages to save his country and bring the baddies to book forms rest of the story.

Prem Pujari was written and produced by Dev with Waheeda Rehman, Zaheeda, Nasir Husain and Prem Chopra forming the remaining cast. The film had great music by the Navketan loyalist SD Burman and lyrics by Neeraj.

Overall the film was well received at the box-office but wasn’t that successful compared to Dev Anand’s earlier hits.