Jumping Jack aka Jeetendra

Going back to the 70s is a favourite pastime of mine. Yesterday I chanced on some choice songs on TV starring Jeetendra and Leena Chandavarkar (separately and together). Some of these songs are actually rollicking and great fun. Humjoli was one such movie where they combine to sing Hai Re Hai Neend Nahi Aaye, and a couple of other songs - Dhal gaya din, ho gayi shaam jaane do, jaana hai (where they sing while playing Badminton, and the sound of the shots is incorporated into the song), etc..

Next to Shammi Kapoor, Jeetendra was the most physical in his dance movements those days, and I still remember him jumping around singing the song from Farz- Mast baharon ka main aashiq main jo chaahe yaar karoon..- in a Bond style role.

He later had a string of songs with Sridevi in films like Mawaali, Tohfaa etc.(which were parodied well in the recent Dirty Picture), but the song quality had significantly deteriorated by then. But the zest and physicality of the action remained.

Some good films he later starred in were Kinara and Parichay where he had a sober look and did well too. He also starred in a comedy from Telugu (Yamagola) remade in Hindi as 'Lok Parlok' where I thought he was not as good as NTR in the original, bacause it involved long dialogue and dramatic delivery. Among other things, the hero goes into Yamalok (kingdom of the God of death) and unionises the workers there! Hilarious script.