Last month was a bumper at the movies. I watched 11 movies in total and a lot of them were old Hindi movies. It’s fun to go hunting for movies to watch on Youtube, especially when a lot of them are free (but not ad free). Here’s the last set of four movies from April…

Do Ladke Dono Kadke

 
Rating: ***/5 – Could Watch!!
Release: 5 January 1979 (India)
Language: Hindi
Running Time: 1h 57m
Director: Basu Chatterjee
Actors: Navin Nischol, Amol Palekar, Moushumi Chatterjee, Asrani, Keshto Mukherjee, Dina Pathak, Ranjeet
Music: Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay

The story of two broke young robbers who impulsively kidnap a child that was supposed to be the target of a kidnapping gang. What forms is a triangle of sorts, the pros are demanding ransom while searching for the stolen child, the amateurs are caring for the child and making novice demands, and the parents and police and in knots trying to untangle the multiple calls and demands.

I picked this movie to watch on a whim and wasn’t disappointed. But I wasn’t sold on it either. It’s supposed to be a funny movie but I didn’t find it humorous. Palekar’s falling in love with a widow and immediately turning a good leaf is cliched in both departments. The end also is very unbelievable. It as if the director got tired of doing his thing and ended the movie with the first ludicrous happily-ever-after idea he thought of.

Chhote Nawab

 
 
Rating: ****/5 – Should Watch!!
Release: 1961 (India)
Language: Hindi
Running Time: 2h 22m
Director: S.A. Akbar
Actors:  Ameeta, Mehmood, Johnny Walker, Helen
Music: R. D. Burman

Chhote Nawab isn’t chhote, he is a 20 year old who behaves like a 5 year old because he was born on February 29th. Spoilt and pampered he has no understanding of the world and it’s ways. When his father suddenly passes away Chhote Nawab is left floundering. A friend of his fathers find him and takes him away to Calcutta where he grows up rather quickly.

An old movie but a gem, not only for Mehmood but also the ideas, emotions and situations explored. There are a lot of layers to  this movie. My only complaint though is the sudden jumps in time the director made maybe because he was running out of time. the pace of the first half and second half are mismatched.

Excellent music! Especially ‘Matwali Ankhon Wale’, it was a treat to watch Mehmood dance with the beautiful Helen.

Tahaan

 
Rating: ****/5 – Should Watch!!
Release: September 5, 2008 (India)
Language: Hindi
Running Time: 1h 45m
Director: Santosh Sivan
Actors: Purav Bhandare, Anupam Kher, Sarika, Rahul Bose, Rahul Khanna, Victor Banerjee
Music: Taufique Qureshi
Cinematography: Santosh Sivan
Editing: Shakti Hasija

Based on the life of a little boy in Kashmir who is trying to reclaim his donkey that the family lost to debt. This is a story of borders, militancy, violence and the people of Kashmir.

The story explores various things, but what stood out for me was the ease with which children can be used for terrorism. Their innocence misused. That said the intelligence of children is also shown. An good movie both for children and adults.

Lucy

 
 
 
Rating: ****/5 – Should Watch!!
Release: July 25, 2014 (USA)
Language: English
Running Time: 89 minutes
Director: Luc Besson
Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, Amr Waked
Music: Éric Serra
Cinematography: Thierry Arbogast
Editing: Julien Rey

The normal everyday man uses only 10% of his brain. What would happen if he used more? That’s the premise of this movie.

Lucy gets used as a drug mule, the substance leaks into her system and give her powers. She is able to use more than 10% of her brain. What happens when you use 100% of your brain is the story.

That’s it from April. What did you watch in April? Any outstanding movies?

 
P.S. – Day Twenty-Two of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge.

April was a month of movies. I watched quite a few and am hopefully on target for my 100 movies this year challenge. I also managed to watch a fair number of old hindi movies.

Actually 9 out of 10 movies I watched were Hindi and 2 were really old. The other stand-out thing was YouTube Movies. Except for Lucy, I watched all the other movies on YouTube and for free!

Here’s two movies I watched in the last four weeks –

Kissi se na kehna

Rating: ***/5 – Could Watch
Release: 1983
Language: Hindi
Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Actors: Utpal Dutt, Saeed Jaffrey, Farooq Shaikh, and Deven Verma
Music: Bappi Lahiri
Cinematography: Jaywant Pathare
Editing: Khan Zaman Khan

A cast of comedians like Utpal Dutt, Saeed Jaffrey, Farooq Shaikh, and Deven Verma you can’t go to wrong in the laughter department. This is a movie about one lie and then the many lies told to cover the first lie.
Nothing spectacular and in today’s time it may seem a little slow both in story and humour. But back in those time this would have been a fun movie.

Nauker

Rating: ****/5 – Could Watch
Release: December 7, 1979 (India)
Language: Hindi
Director: Ismail Memon
Actors: Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bhaduri, Yogeeta Bali, Mehmood, Lalita Pawar
Music: R. D. Burman

A story about disguises and deception. Amar a widower switches roles with his ManFriday and goes to find a mother for his child. The family he is staying with has a maid, Geeta. Amar finds himself being drawn to Geeta.
Geeta reminded me of Cinderella, the sister who is treated as a pariah but is the most good-natured and beautiful of the sisters.
Of all the songs my favourite was the lullaby – Chandni Re Jhoom.
This movie is a simple entertainer.

I’ve got a 8 more to go and I’ll share them over the next few weeks.

I’m always on the lookout for must watch old Hindi movies, which ones would you recommend?

 
P.S. Today is Day 1 of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge.

In the last two weeks I haven’t been able to watch any movies, so this morning as I walked the dogs I scratched my head and stared into the sunrise trying to figure out what I would write in today’s #TATM.

All that staring made my eyes hurt but a ray of light appeared. [corny no? 😀 ] I remembered that I was supposed to make a post with a list of old Hindi movies I want to watch this year. And that solved the dilemma.

I got thinking about some old movies I’ve watched over time and would like to watch again and 10 jumped out at me with ease. There are some movies that made a mark and some I could watch again and again and never be bored.

Some of these are on Top 10 lists, 100 Must Watch lists and such but some aren’t that famous or popular. Well, these are my favourite movies that I’d like to rewatch this year, at least once. 😀

1. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron – 1983

Director: Kundan Shah
Actors: Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Bhakti Barve, Satish Shah, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, …

This movie was a milestone in India Cinema. A simple yet powerful story with so many hilarious twists and turns that even a non-Hindi speaking person would roll about in laughter. Two photographers stumble upon a murder and embark on a journey of finding justice, but what they find is rampant corruption at every level and no justice to be found anywhere.

2. Chhoti si baat – 1975

Director: Basu Chatterjee
Actors: Ashok Kumar, Vidya Sinha, Amol Palekar, Asrani

Another comedy with some hard hitting truth, this is the story of a simple boy who wants to woo a girl but does know how to. Each time he tries the suave romancer steals the show and the girl from him. Will he get street-smart and learn the ways of wooing? That’s the story.

3. Angoor – 1982

Director: Gulzar
Actors: Sanjeev Kumar, Moushumi Chatterjee, Deven Verma, Aruna Irani

Based on Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, this is the story of two identical brothers and their man Fridays who are also identical. What follows is a complete mix up and confusion when they get switched.

4. Chupke Chupke – 1975

Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Actors: Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri

A newly wedded husband takes up a challenge from his wife to test out her Uncle who is an astute judge of people. With a little help from friends and support from his wife he goes on to baffle the Uncle and create hilarious situations as he plays the role of a driver in the Uncle’s house.

5. Gol Maal – 1979

Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Actors: Amol Palekar, Bindiya Goswami, Deven Verma, Shubha Khote

Amol Palekar plays the role of Ramprasad and invents his twin Laxman Prasad when his finicky boss catches him at a football match. The boss Bhavani Shankar played by Utpal Dutt has very strict rules and believes an man without a moustache is a man without character. The maintaining of a fake twin brother leads Ramprasad into a series of wacky situations.

6. Saudagar – 1973

Director: Sudhendu Roy
Actors: Amitabh Bachchan, Nutan, Trilok Kapoor, Padma Khanna

This a movie with a lot of depth, that it also has awesome music is a bonus. I watched this movie first as a child and have enjoyed it since then. Each rewatch bringing more detail to the forefront. The story is about Moti who collects and sells gurd. He is in love with a PYT but cannot afford to marry her. So, he actions a plan of marrying the woman who makes his gurd to save more money and divorcing her to marry his PYT when he has enough saved. How it all works out is the story.

7. Khatta Meetha – 1981

Director: Basu Chatterjee
Actors: Ashok Kumar, Rakesh Roshan, Bindiya Goswami, Raju Shrestha

A feel good movie that makes me smile. Lots of moments in this movie that I love. Centred around two Parsi families that become one, this is a story of coming together, learning to love, adjusting, sticking it out and standing up for each other.

8. Anand – 1971

Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Actors: Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Sumita Sanyal, Ramesh Deo

A complete tear-jerker this is the story of Anand who is suffering from lymphasarcoma of the intestine and is destined to die in a few months. His impending doom though does not stop him from bringing a smile to many a face.

9. Masoom – 1983

Director: Shekhar Kapur
Actors: Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Tanuja, Jugal Hansraj

The illegitimate child of a man turns up one day at his doorstep with a letter saying his mother is dead. What is the impact of his arrival on the unsuspecting wife, his legitimate children and the man himself? Most important what happens to the child who is innocent of all indiscretions of the adults?

10. Khubsoorat – 1980

Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Actors: Ashok Kumar, Rekha, Rakesh Roshan, Shashikala

Manju’s sister Anju marries into a very strict matriarchal family. The family don’t like the rulings of their mother but go along to keep her happy and keep the peace. That is until Manju turns up to visit and then turns their world upside down.

11. Bawarchi – 1972

Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Actors: Rajesh Khanna, Jaya Bhaduri, Usha Kiran, Harindranath Chattopadhyay

This is a hilarious movie about the Sharma family of Shanti Nivas who have been unable to hold on to any cook beyond a few months. Their squabbles and arguments drive every cook away until a young man named Raghu turns up. Raghu gets a grip of the kitchen and the family pretty quickly and soon they cannot do without him.

12. Pestonjee – 1988

Director: Vijaya Mehta
Actors: Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Kiron Kher

I have seen this movie just once and be warned this one is serious and has depth. I’d like to watch it again and understand it better. The story is about two friends who fall in love with the same girl. One is a serious man and the other happy go lucky. And then the story rolls as the years go by.

I may have made mistakes with the stories and such for all of this is from memory or how I remember the movie. That said these are still 12 movies that have made a mark and deep enough that I remember them even after years.

I used to watch and rewatch some like Chupke Chupke, Khatta Meetha, and Chhoti so Baat repeatedly but even that has slipped by in the last 7 years. I’m looking forward to catching up with these movies through this year.

Each one of them will bring along 3 hours of smiles and nostalgia. 🙂

Photo Credits: Wikipedia – Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Chhoti Si Baat, Angoor, Chupke Chupke, Golmaal, Saudagar, Khatta Meetha, Anand, Masoom, Khubsoorat, Bawarchi & Webamall – Pestonjee