Jab Jab Phool Khile

Directed by: Suraj Prakash

Starring: Shashi Kapoor, Nanda

Released: 1965

My rating: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

Clearly the awful Raja Hindustani drew much inspiration from a film lot older, lot sweeter, and less blatantly sexist and prejudiced. Perhaps not as equally successful, but very successful still. Those were my initial thoughts after watching Jab Jab Phool Khile, a picture full of beautiful songs, terribly unrealistic studio sets, sophisticated Lolita-reading Nanda and above all the cutest, handsomest Shashi Kapoor. Perhaps no other actor has had innocence so clearly mirrored on his face. Mr. Shashi is simply adorable as a simple Kashmiri falling in love with a wealthy lady.

For most part Jab Jab Phool Khile is pure joy to watch. The wealthy girl is spoilt, but not rotten spoilt and does not think that poor people stink. She is wearing western clothes, but the traditional Shashi does not tell her off because of it (unlike Aamir in Raja Hindustani). She is, actually, clearly educated, sophisticated and has a strong will and sense of independence. Very early on she makes it clear that she has not yet thought her own life through, so why think of marriage. And she keeps the same attitude until love comes her way. Then too the wedding is not quick affair in a rush of emotions moment. Nanda has been known as the „homely“ heroine with sweet, inoffensive charm, and she essayed the role of Rita perfectly.

In the very soul of the story, however, is Raju (the most Shashilicious of all the Kapoors), his naive dreams and devoted persistence, which, as should be mentioned, never goes out of control. Far from being a stalker who puts himself in front of every step of the lady he fancies, Shashi loves Nanda from a certain distance. This distance always remains respectful, and for once the hero is not creepy at all. In fact he is completely loveable. Shashi with his gentle eyes and shy smile is forever my crush and whatever damage to his image was done by Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Jab Jab Phool Khile repaired seamlessly. The Kapoor men have always had incredible energy and gusto with hich they performed set them apart from other actors. Shashi´s excitement and unbounded joy as he sings about his hopes are infectious.

The smooth narrative, unfortunately, does have a few dents, most of which one is willing to forgive given the release date of the movie, and the fact the rest of it is so sweet. Still, they did take a away a bit from the viewing experience. The hero tries to fit into an unfamiliar world of his beloved without making it seem like a huge sacrifice of his moral conscience, and unlike in Raja Hindustani he is successful and not ridiculous at all. But just as I was ready to cheer for the movie, the eternal „west is bad“ idea crept into it and ruined the ending. When Shashi and Nanda dance at a party thrown by her parents, she goes on to dance with someone else for a bit. Within seconds the sweet Shashi turns into a lecturer on morality. Because how dare you dance with other men. It basically means you are a used thing with no worth. Naturally Nanda ensures a dramatic finale, during which the imagery is all too clear: Shashi having the moral high ground stands in a moving train, while she trips on down below on the pavement, begging him to take her away from everything what has been her life. I feel like inserting the „you tried“ meme here – for the makers.

Oh – the comedy bits were.... painful.

In the end it should be noted that the only saving grace of Raja Hindustani today is the music. Jab Jab Phool Khile, on the other hand, is still a pleasing cinematic piece. When two do the same, it is not the same.

Satyam Shivam Sundaram

Directed by: Raj Kapoor

Starring: Shashi Kapoor, Zeenat Aman

Released: 1978

My rating: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

I guess every director has a bad movie or two (or all, righ, Mr. Bazmi?) and Raj Kapoor is no different. Or perhaps Satyam Shivam Sundaram is not „bad“ per se, but the story is just so prepostrous and Shashi Kapoor such an asshole in it, that I cannot help but hate it. And mind you, I am among Raj Kapoor´s most ardent fans. And Shashi Kapoor´s. Which makes it even harder to forgive.

The story is that of a young girl Roopa, whose mother had died while giving birth to her, and who, because of an accident from childhood, has the right part of her face and neck covered in ugly scars. Considered „cursed“ by one and all in her village, Roopa still remains a good soul with great trust in God. Her love for the Creator is only matched by her love for a handsome young engineer (Shashi), who arrives to the village to supervise building and reparations of a nearby dam. He falls in love with her too. Or rather – her voice. Because that is the problem you see: he has never seen her face, which she carefully hides whenever they meet. And she is all too careful never to show herself to him, since he cannot tolerate any ugliness. He doesn´t dislike it, neither he is „not comfortable“ with it – he cannot tolerate it, not even his own reflection in a joking mirror at a fair (seriously, dude?) When a bit later in the film Roopa asks him if he would love her still should she not be beautiful, he completely avoids answering by stating some shit about „not possible you have to be sundar cause you sing so well.“

Ultimately he marries Roopa, and only after marriages sees her face. He is horrified and convinced she is not his beloved. And so poor Roopa chooses to serve his selfishness and in disguise keeps meeting him outside their home, instilling the twisted belief there are two women instead of one even further. (yeah, that would totally work in her favour. Geez girl, have some self-respect!) The whole thing with a covered face may have worked a lot better if it actually remained covered throughout. However the character of Shashi sees almost all of Roopa´s face, more than once, and so his argument about „I´ve never seen it“ makes no sense at all. Further more he never questions the girl as to why won´t she show herself to him. And finally, in the end he recognizes her by her voice. And me, already fed up with all the nonsense and Shashi´s asshole ways, couldn´t understand for the life of me why she just didn´t sing to him an hour ago, which would have saved her loads of humiliation and me thousands of brain cells.

He sees THIS much of her face.

And THIS much. 

And how much more do you need to see???? WTF man???

It is, indeed, the story which makes the whole film an unpleasant experience. One cannot protest about the production values, because they are (for the time the film was made in) excellent. From colour play of the early morning in the temple to a bit psychadelic fantasy song, the camera presents everything beautifully. The music is actually a highlight, and till now I have goosebumps listening to Lata Mangeshkar´s voice in the title song. 

Performances are fairly good (aside from Zeenat´s emotional scenes which reveal her limitations as an actress), unfortunatelly 90% of the characters are unlikeable. I have never imagined it was possible for me to dislike Shashi Kapoor in any avatar, but his own brother made it possible. To see little Padmini Kolhapure in Roopa´s chidhood avatar was a sweet surprise for me and she did very well, especially considering how awful most of Hindi cinema child artists are.

Semi-nudity in Raj Kapoor films somehow never bothered me (be it Simi Garewal´s butt in Mera Naam Joker, Mandakini´s breasts in Ram Teri Ganga Maili or Roopa´s overal semi-nudeness in this), even though I realize what effect it must have had on certain parts of the audience. I suppose that what makes the marginal difference lies in how the people on screen react to Roopa. She chooses to wear the clothes she wants, and others around her are unconcerned. They would have treated her the same (awfully or well) had she been fully covered from head to toe. Roopa is also obviously at peace with her body, so why should I be concerned? It is not like she is selling herself at the market. She bathes. She changes clothes. She walks the fields under a blazing sun. Now, if people off-screen see her only as a titillating sexual objects because of the clothes (or rather lack of it), it is above all because they have a filthy mind.

Satyam Shivam Sundaram is definitely, so far, the weakest Raj Kapoor film I have seen.

Awaara

Directed by: Raj Kapoor

Starring: Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Prithviraj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Leela Chitnis

Released: 1951
Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

Sometimes you see sparks of brilliance in a starting artist. They obviously need more time to grow and polish their skill. But that was not really the case of Raj Kapoor. Awaara was his third directorial venture after movies Barsaat and Aag, but instead of sparks of brilliance it completely shines with it from beginning to end. A very talented actor, he was no less amazing behind the camera. With Awaara he not only entered film history, but also proved that if you have capable performers and are able to give everything a form, you do not need a complicated story that would take you on a roller-coaster ride with various unexpected twists or sudden changes of heart. All you need is talent and will. And a lot of belief in what you are doing. Awaara stands as a testament to that.

A story told in a retrospective is, as I have already mentioned, very simple. It tells us about a young aspiring man ruined by life circumstances, but remaining pure in heart, and finally redeeming himself – a pattern very popular through all the decades and witnessed in countless movies from Ganga Jumna to Khalnayak and many, many more.

Mein toh asli khalnayak hoon in this story.

Once young and just married judge Raghunath takes his wife for what is supposed to be a romantic trip into the country. However as soon as they get comfortable in the house she is kidnapped by a goon Jagga. You see, Jagga was not always a goon. But Raghunath, whose greatest belief in life is that „good people are born to good parent and criminals can only conceive more criminals“, convicted him for a crime he did not commit simply because Jagga´s forefather had been bandits, sending him thus to jail. When he is released, Jagga, filled with a huge desire for a revenge, indeed becomes a goon. His plans to ruin the judge by kidnapping and raping his wife are only half-finished. Because Mrs. Judge has recently become pregnant and Jagga immediately comes up with a much better scheme of how to destroy the judge´s happiness and show him that his belief nature always tops nurture just may not be right.

When after several days judge gets his wife back, he is relieved and overjoyed. But as soon as her belly starts to grow so do his doubts and insecurities. While she is looking forward to the baby, he is becoming more and more scared she may have been unfaithful to him, until finally she throws her out of the house right at the moment she goes into a labour. And so his son is born on a dirty street, destined not to know his father (because his saintly mother with no self-respect really never tells him anything about him except praising him) and fight hunger in poverty.

Suffering from sock-ophobia.

Skip ahead a few years and Raj, as the kid is named, is a school-boy. His best friend is rich and carefree girl Rita, but their friendship makes an abrupt end as the girl moves into another city. Raj is at the same time forced to leave school and after his attempts at finding a job fail, Jagga makes an entry into the story again, manipulating the fate of the child according to his wishes and turning him into a thief. Up until he grows up and meets his lost friend Rita (who has grown up to be a lawyer), he never really questions the way he is walking on. 

"There´s new McDonalds across the street!"

 But together with flames of love Raj is soon consumed by flames of guilt and bad conscience. Both are captured gorgeous through several scenes I can imagine must have seem quite daring at the time (bathing together in a pond, changing clothes, singing about making love...) and of course through songs. The iconic Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi taking place in a dream and showing us both heaven, where innocent and pure Rita of high principles waits for her lover impatiently, and hell, from where is Raj trying to free himself in a desperate attempt to reach the skies. I hope nobody will ever try to re-release Awaara in colour, because the black and white give this particular song a beautiful fantasy quality. All in all the cinematography of the movie seems completely modern. Often the movies technically do not stand the test of time, but Awaara does – another proof of the timelessness of the movie.

Heaven... a classical dance...

Hell.... techno party!

Waiting has never looked more beautiful...

"Swich off that techno please...."

What makes it a pure classic is also a complex painting of all the feelings that can ever enter one´s heart. From vulnerability, love, hate, guilt to anger, revenge, passion, sacrifice and devotion. And all protagonists are perfectly perfect in capturing all those emotions. As someone who has a thing for family ties and clans I was excited to realize Awaara is among other things also a stage for a big family meeting of the Kapoors (although back then they were not yet considered the reigning filmy clan). Prithviraj Kapoor in the role of a judge nurturing his prejudice, is as imposing as he seemed to me in Mughal-E-Azam, only more human and bit less dignified. Shashi Kapoor as a schoolboy Raj, was a delight for my heart. You see, Shashi-ji is a huge crush of mine, and to watch him being adorable and good at such a young age just made my fangirl heart proud.

When huge crushes were little....

The stars of Awaara however (and understandably so) are the leading pair. It was my first encounter with Raj Kapoor the Actor. I had heard a lot about him being great, but was a bit wary since if anything I am a source of unpopular opinions, but all my fears were put to rest in the very first scene itself and I can finally add my voice to his praise. Excellent - that and nothing else can be said about him. He has a certain tragic to him, even when acting joyful. Some curious sadness is his main feature. And all his beautiful effort is met with even more success when he shares the screen with Nargis, who was just absolutely charming, enacting her role with admirable ease. I also need to say that I was initially a bit let down with her looks, that did not fit my idea of „beauty“, but more I watch her, the more I am in love with her face, with her clear profile and bright eyes, expressiveness and purity you feel from her. 

Jodi of dreams....

The gorgeous, gorgeous Nargis...

That much said Awaara did not touch the most inner me, although I cannot really explain why, because it doesn´t lack anything. I did have issues with the character of Raj´s mother, who was just too humble to make her any good. There is a limit to what a woman can take before she should stand up for her own image, even in a world as strongly dominated by men as India fifty years ago, but instead of being all tears over her faithful love to a man who not only disrespected her, but threw her out of his house while she was in labour and never tried to find out what happened to her, I was actually somehow disgusted. When your guy doesn´t deserve your devotion, he just doesn´t, and he can be a hundred times your husband. Not saying she should have hated on him, but the amount of love she still had for him and holding absolutely not even a slightest grudge against him whatsoever was just ridiculous.

Although I personally loved Shree 420, that has not only similar casting but also a similar theme, more, Awaara still remains a must-see. 

Hats off to you sir. Am a fan.