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Favorite Decade of Bollywood (2024)


zen

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13 hours ago, zen said:

Do Badan (1966)

 

Starring Manoj Kumar & Asha Parekh. 
 

In a way, it was like watching a male Cinderella sad-story. The lead character goes through one bad incident after another (a bit like Nirupa Roy’s character in Amar, Akbar, Anthony where she has TB, then goes blind, …) that it can appear comical (rather than tragic) to some. The song “raha gardishon mein hardam” sums up the tone of the film.
 

It is said to be based on Deedar (1951), which was re-released in the 1960s. Manoj Kumar took Raj Khosla to see the film and then they reworked the story.
 

For the rona-dhona genre, Do Badan works but it is mostly for those like or don’t mind watching such films. 
 

But for songs, I saw the movie as a comedy , unintentionally though. Ending is hilarious. Some Manoj Kumar movies are this bad

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3 minutes ago, coffee_rules said:

But for songs, I saw the movie as a comedy , unintentionally though. Ending is hilarious. Some Manoj Kumar movies are this bad


Yeah, songs are good and of course Pran. 
 

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Posted (edited)

@coffee_rules

 

There is another Manoj Kumar & Asha Pariekh film called Sajan (1969). 
 

It had many of its romantic elements used in Ghajini. I don’t know how Sajan holds up now but may revisit it if in the mood for a Manoj Kumar film. 
 

The romantic part of the story is said be “inspired” from from Happy Go Lovely (1951).

Edited by zen
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Sajan (1969)

 

Both Sajan (1969) & Ghajini (2008) use similar formula - first half is taken from Happy Go Lovely (1951) and the 2nd half is taken from I Killed the Count (1939) and Momento (2000) respectively. 
 

The first half is a good timepass, while the 2nd half appears to have been stitched up to increase the runtime. 
 

 

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Posted (edited)

Intaquam (1969)

 

Starring Ashok Kumar, Sadhna, & Sanjay  Khan. 
 

Overall, a nice film with good songs including “kaise rahun chup”. 
 

Edited by zen
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Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, coffee_rules said:

Where do you watch these movies? @zen YT has bad prints


Mostly on YT, where I search for serviceable prints (films on Zee Music Co, Red Chillies, for e.g.).  I also watch films on ZEE5, Netflix, etc. 

On YT, if the aspect ratio is totally messed up (you can see that during titles where the names can be cut or if the actors appear stretched out), then I skip the film. Many times, the old uploads are unaltered. 
 

 

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Posted (edited)

Manoj Kumar is on my good list but after watching his last few films mentioned here, he is in the danger of joining Amitabh and Rajesh in the “actors whose films are now not so great/good” list. 
 

For e.g. Do Badan was a Rajendra Kumar type of film, and Rajendra Kumar could have elevated it to a different level. Manoj Kumar turned it into more or less an unintentional comedy film. 
 

 

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Dharti (1970)

 

Starring Rajendra Kumar, Waheeda Rahman, & Ajit.

 

The film opened with Ajit doing his scheming so it quickly grabbed my interest. A part of the film is shot in Europe. It is one of Rajendra Kumar’s “action” films. 
 

Overall, it is a good timepass film. 

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Posted (edited)

A few more action films:
 

Saccha Jhutha (1970)

 

Rajesh Khanna & Mumtaz 

 

I could not get into this film as Rajesh Khanna’s monotonous “Bhola” character is off putting. The “Jhutha” character is probably how he acted/was in the real life so no acting was needed. 

The action and robbery scenes are average and can date the film. There used to be Batman TV series in the 60s whose concepts are probably used here in robbery sequences like people turning into statues (freezing) after drinking Coco-Cola.

 

Can be watched for songs or if it is difficult to find better options. 
 


Lalkar (1972)


Rajendra Kumar, Dharmendra, Mala Sinha, & Kum Kum

 

Among the last films as leads for Rajendra Kumar, Mala Sinha, & Kum Kum. 
 

The concept is nice but the execution is average. Also suffers from using unnecessary comedy sequenences after a serious one.
 

I can’t find a strong reason to recommend it. Maybe watch it if in the mood for a war action movie or for Kum Kum! 
 


Agneepath (1990)


Amitabh, Mithun, & Danny 

 

I liked this film when I watched it 3-4 years ago but now found it difficult to complete. 
 

It is full of typical characters in this genre. Scenes where the telephones ring continuously are irritating. Amitabh’s “hain” was irritating too. They even made the kid do “hain”. Mithun was ok but now such comedy is stale. The police commissioner, the mother, etc = :yawn2: … Liked Danny esp. in the Mauritius segment. 
 

Mostly for AB fans who like him in such roles (I used to be one). To be watched when in the mood for such a film.
 

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Watched a couple of Dilip Kumar films - Aan (1952) and Naya Daur (1957). Earlier had watched Ram aur Shyam (1967), which I mentioned on this thread. No need to say that all 3 films are brilliant. Watching Dilip Kumar in such roles is fun, a treat for his fans!
 

Below is a write up on Aan:

 

 

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Posted (edited)

Ankhen (1968)

 

Starring: Mala Sinha, Kum Kum, & Dharmendra 

 

Ankhen now can appear a bit comical as a spy thriller. The action scenes also look relatively lazy.
 

After watching Dilip Kumar, if you watch an actor like Dharmendra, he is going to appear wooden. His acting here is more or less limited to doing “Hello hello, Sher-e-Punjab, hello hello, Taj Mahal, hello hello”, and action scenes. 
 

Generally, I don’t like to discourage anyone from watching any classic film so watch this for Mala Sinha & Kum Kum, who perform relatively better. The foreign locations, Japan & Lebanon, look good. Beirut was known as the Paris of the East so it is good to get a glimpse of it in a period of relative peace. It also has a nice song - “Milti hai zindagi mein mohabbat kabhi kabhi”.
 

Overall, a time pass film to be watched without keeping high expectations. 


 

PS

 

 

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Posted (edited)

One of the aspects of many Indian spy films (and they appear to be inspired by Bond films) is that they probably make an effort for the lead to appear un-Bond like (to differentiate), so:

 

a) He does not care for girls. If a girl makes advances at him, he talks about his “duty” (Farz could be an exception here as it has that song “Mast Baharon Ka Main Ashiq”. Haven’t watched it in a long time).

b) He does not drink. When a beautiful girl offers a drink, he insist on coke (In one of the Agent 116 films, he even asks for milk. PS that film is probably Keemat (1973)).

c) and so on 



 

 

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The villian's den is usually eqipped with automatic sliding doors with sensors. Nobody wants to use hands to open doors, just stand in front and it opens. Why do they think that audience thinks it is cool to have sliding doors? It's not like people say - "kya mast darwaje the yaar.. apne aap khul jata hain aur band bhi hota hain baap, Ek dum jhakaas!" . Some doors have the buggest red button one can design , where the henchmen have to press to get the door open. It takes a but of an effort, but still sliding doors!

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Shikar (1968)

 

Dharmendra, Asha Parekh, Sanjeev Kumar, Helen, and Rehman 

 

This is a mystery film set in a forest environment. It has the famous song - “Parde Mein Rehne Do, Parda Na Uthavo”. 
 

Overall, a time pass film. Fine tuning the screenplay, removing unnecessary comedy and some distracting characters, and smart editing could have made it better. 

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Hamraaz (1967)

 

Starring Sunil Dutt, Raaj Kumar, & Balraj Sahni 

 

The Waqt (1965) team returns, this time, in a mystery film. 
 

The big issue with the film is its runtime that is close to 3 hours, which means that the film only begins to gather steam once it reaches around the half way stage. 
 

Raaj Kumar, who could have brought more interest to the film, has a relatively short role. Vimi looks frozen most of the time. 
 

On the positive side, Sunil Dutt looks convincing as a layman stuck in a bad situation and trying to figure a way out. Raaj Kumar when he is on screen creates interest. The songs are nice but they are mostly loaded at the front. The score has hints of Lawrence of Arabia’s tunes which makes it serviceable. 
 

Overall, a time pass film. 

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Posted (edited)

Charas (1976)

 

Starring: Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Aruna Irani, Ajit, & Amjad Khan. 

 

Looking at the star cast, you would think about giving it a shot. However, the only thing that I really liked about this film is the song “Kal Ki Haseen Mulakat Ke Liye”. 
 

After Ankheen (1968), Sagar tries to serve his Bond obsession in a different bottle but “now” it appears even more stale. He used Malta as one of the locations, however, many shots of Malta can be Mumbai and sets.
 

Smuggling charas, as the title suggests, is the theme where the “hero” is tasked with busting the gang (and he has personal reasons to go after the villains too). 
 

I was surprised that even Ajit could not create much interest. Dharmendra probably needs a film to be quite good for him to pull it. His acting is average. Hema Malini and Amjad Khan appear to be sleepwalking. 

 

In short, a below average film. Bollywood “action” films are turning out to be even worse than I expected.  

 

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Posted (edited)

Gambler (1971)

 

Dev Anand makes this film interesting. He works well in such films. As we know Dev Anand likes to fight his own case in court and here he gets to do that too!
 

Manorma has a pleasant role. Zaheeda & Zahira look good on screen. Jeevan, Shatrughan, & Sudhir play their parts.

 

The film has a few memorable songs too!

 

Gambler’s theme is similar to Kala Bazar’s (1960).

 

 

 

 

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Btw, Gambler (1971) was Zahira’s Bollywood debut film. Earlier, she had starred in the Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, playing one of the girls in the Piz Gloria segment. 

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2 hours ago, zen said:

Btw, Gambler (1971) was Zahira’s Bollywood debut film. Earlier, she had starred in the Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, playing one of the girls in the Piz Gloria segment. 

She looked so much like Anita Raaj (80s heroine) . Are they related?

 

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