Odd Films That Stayed With Me

Jangal Mein Mangal was one, mainly because of one song. "Tum kitni khubsoorat ho"- sung with a lot of feeling by Kishore Kumar.

Gumnaam, because of two songs- Mehmood singing Hum kaale hain to kya hua dilwaale hain, and Helen singing Gham chhod ke manao rang reli, aur maan lo jo kahe Kitty Kelly.

A Fish Called Wanda, due to a scene in which a guy is caught with his pants down-hilarious.

The Naked Gun, due to Lelie Neilsen's antics on a Baseball field.

Lootmaar because of the Asha Bhosle song picturised on Simple Kapadia - "Jab chhaye, mera jadu, koi bach na paaye."

Bombay to Goa,..one dialogue stands out- "Amma, pakoda."

Aulad, where Mehmood and Aruna Irani sang - "Jodi hamari banega kaise jaani, hum to hai angrezi, tum ladki Hindustani.."

Barsaat, due to the colourful shades/glasses that Bobby Deol wears in it.

Yeh Dillagi, due to its rollicking song- "Jab bhi koi ladki dekhun mera dil deewana bole Ole Ole.."

Adavi Ramudu starring NTR and Jayaprada for the song "Aresukoboi paaresukunnanu ..."

Saboot, due to a scene in which Rajendranath has wipers on his glasses..

A dialogue by Mehmood in Naukar, "Nahaane ke pani mein kewda, Peene ke pani mein bewda," while praising his host's hospitality. 

Biographies- 2

Continuing the previous post, about biographies I was reading. Of Hindi cinema artistes.

Nanda was a girl actor, Baby Nanda, as she came from a film family- Master Vinayak, her father, was an acclaimed actor and producer/director of Marathi films. She started acting to support her family after his death, and continued into Hindi films due to unexpected success. She acted with Dev Anand in Hum Dono, Rajesh Khanna in The Train and Ittefaq, Shashi Kapoor in Jab Jab Phool Khile, Manoj Kumar in Gumnaam, and with lots of other heroes. After many successful films, she withdrew from the film world. She was to be married to Manmohan Desai, but he died suddenly before it could happen. She was friends with Waheeda Rehman, Shakeela and Helen.

Rajendranath is known as a comedian in umpteen Hindi films. His brother Premnath was a villain in films. Their sister married Raj Kapoor, so they were related to the Kapoors through marriage. But each one tried out his own thing. Shammi Kapoor and he spent many penniless days while they struggled to establish themselves. They also played many pranks on people. Rajendranath became popular as Popatlal after he played this character in a film (Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai). He was contented doing his own brand of comedy, and entertained us in many films. He was Nasir Husain's favourite. I still remember him in Saboot, wearing spectacles with tiny wipers on them.

B.R. Ishaara was not even his name, but he acquired the name along the way while struggling to make his place in films. He did a lot of menial jobs initially, then became an assistant to some directors and learnt the craft, before branching out on his own. He made a lot of films, many controversial, on bold subjects. Chetana, with Rehana Sultan, and Charitra, with Parveen Babi when she was new. Her hero was the cricketer, Salim Durrani. Not all films succeeded commercially, but that did not bother Ishaara. He was quite uncompromising, and made exactly what he wanted to, depicting hypocrisy in society in many films. He also gave breaks to lot of FTII students. Shatrughan Sinha, Reena Roy, Anil Dhawan, Raj Kiran, Shekhar Kapur, Danny all acted early in their careers in his films. 

Sing-song Comedians

Singing songs is the preserve of heroes, heroines, and vamps (an endangered species today) - right? Wrong. The comedians do it too. And some have had superhit songs to their credit.

Deven Varma sang Mummy o Mummy, Tu kab saas banegi? in one of his memorable roles.

Johny Walker sang several, including Jangal mein mor naacha kisi ne na dekha, and Sar jo tera chakraye, ya dil dooba jaye.

I recently discovered a song sung by Rajendranath, which goes, Aye haseeno, tumne sadiyon, aashiq ko tadpaaya, .....Meri lottery lag jaane waali hai.

Mehmood sang in Gumnaam, Hum kaale hain to kya hua dilwaale hain, and it became a raging hit. He also sang with Kishore Kumar in Padosan, one of the all-time hits, Ek chatur naar, badi hoshiyaar...

Mehmood also did a Charlie Chaplin act in a movie called Aulad starring Jeetendra and sang a fun song, Jodi hammari, bane na kaise jaani, hum to hain angrezi, tum ladki hindustani, with Aruna Irani. I loved it when I first saw it in the early seventies.

Other instances of non-comic character artistes singing are also known. For example, dad Bharat Bhushan singing the best song in Pyar Ka Mausam - the Kishore Kumar version of Tum bin jaoon kahan. Shashi Kapoor later sings the Mohd. Rafi version, which is not a patch on the first.