Though I usually restrict this blog to films up to about 1970, I occasionally make exceptions for films that have a 60’s feel to them—Fiddler on the Roof, for instance. And this one, which despite the bell bottoms, the unbelievably gaudy outfits of the supporting cast and the horrendous decor, has a definitely 60’s feel about it. Another reason (and one which I’m not ashamed to admit is probably the main reason) that I’ve decided to make an exception for Ek Nari Ek Brahmachari is that it stars the lovely and vivacious Mumtaz, one of my very favourite actresses.
The first half hour or so of the film is irritating and seemingly pretty pointless. It’s set in a college where the battle of the sexes seems to reign supreme. Most of the men (who—if they’re basically nice—wear skin tight trousers and chest-hugging shirts, or—if they’re the hippy variety—wear psychedelic kurtas with yellow, pink or azure bell bottoms) spend their time ogling the girls or passing snide remarks. The girls, thankfully, aren’t the cringing sort and give back as good as they get.
One person who tries to stay out of these shenanigans is the professed brahmachari (a man who’s taken a vow of celibacy), Mohan Choudhary (Jeetendra). Mohan lives in the college hostel, and spends much of his time praying to Hanuman and Shri Ramakrishna Paramhans to help uphold his vow. When he isn’t doing that, Mohan’s admonishing his male classmates to look upon all girls as their sisters.
His pals aren’t listening, but one of Mohan’s classmates, Neena (Mumtaz) is, and she’s quite won over by his nobleness, thus defeating the entire purpose of that nobleness—Mohan certainly doesn’t want any girl mooning over him.
Mohan’s best friend Jugal (Jagdeep, in what is my favourite role of this delightful actor) has, however, decided that enough’s enough. It’s time Mohan got hitched. So, aided and abetted by his girlfriend Mala (Aruna Irani), Jugal sets out to get Mohan and Neena together. This consists of switching their packages when both Mohan and Neena happen to shop at the same store, so that Mohan ends up with Neena’s package and she ends up with his.
I can’t see that this ploy is very effective: both Mohan and Neena open their packages in the company of friends, and are equally embarrassed at what emerges. Neena ends up coming to Mohan’s room to return his package, but he boots her out soon after, so there’s nothing in the way of a budding romance here.
In the meantime, we get a glimpse into life in Mohan’s home. His father Rai Sahib Surajbhan Choudhary (Sohrab Modi) is a domineering paterfamilias who holds sway at home, bossing his wife Rajlakshmi (Durga Khote) and plotting to get Mohan married. As part of his latest attempts to get Mohan married, Rai Sahib sends for Mohan—who refuses to accede. He won’t marry, he’s a brahmachari.
There is also some indication of Rai Sahib’s unbending pride at this stage. When the prospective bride’s father sends a messenger to say they won’t be able to bring the girl over for Mohan to see her, and instead can Mohan come over, Rai Sahib throws a fit and says this isn’t done, and the wedding’s off. Huh? All I can surmise from this scene is that Rai Sahib’s a bully and a stickler for what he thinks is right.
At any rate, Mohan is thankful the proposed wedding has been nipped in the bud, and he rushes back to college. Back in college, his classmates inform him that all of them are off for a picnic. It’ll be great fun, so Mohan agrees to go along too.
Here some more convoluted and seemingly pointless stuff happens. Jugal decides to play a prank on his girl Mala by stealing her handbag. Unfortunately, he gets mixed up and steals Neena’s handbag, thinking it’s Mala’s. He hides it in a bed roll in the tent he’s sharing with Mohan…
…and Mohan, coming into the empty tent for a comfortable read, opens the bed roll and is scandalised to find a woman’s handbag in it. He pitches the bag out of the tent, into a nearby river. The current carries it away swiftly, so that by the time Jugal discovers his mistake (by eavesdropping on a conversation between Mala and a distraught Neena) the handbag’s far, far away, well and truly lost.
Jugal’s also heard Neena telling the warden (Ruby Myers) about the disappearance of her handbag. It contained Rs 25, she says, along with a gold chain that her grandfather had given her years ago. It’s the chain Neena’s most upset about.
Jugal confesses all to Mohan, who is very remorseful at the thought of having thrown away Neena’s handbag. He must make amends, but won’t spill the beans about Jugal’s role in the affair.
So Mohan goes off to talk to Neena, who is very forgiving about it all. Mohan promises that he’ll get another gold chain made for Neena. In the meantime, will she please accept his gold chain (with a pendant cameo of Ramakrishna Paramhans)? Neena initially refuses, but finally accepts it and puts it around her neck.
While Mohan and Neena are walking back to rejoin the rest of their classmates, a couple of the more idiotic lot fling a fake snake towards Neena—who squeals and grabs Mohan. This is all a setup, of course, and another classmate is ready with a camera to take a very incriminating photo of the brahmachari and the belle.
The scene now switches to Mohan’s home, where Rai Sahib’s oldest friend (Mukri) has come to ask for Mohan’s hand in marriage for his daughter—who happens to be Mala, Mohan’s classmate, Jugal’s girlfriend, and Neena’s friend-cum-roommate. Rai Sahib is amenable to the match, and promises to go look up Mala whenever he next visits Mohan’s college.
Rai Sahib hasn’t realised that Mala shares a room with another girl; so when he enters the hostel room and meets a pretty girl who’s very polite and sweet, he assumes she’s Mala, and is thoroughly approving. The sudden arrival of a somewhat less appealing Mala shatters his illusions, and he’s distinctly miffed at the thought that this girl may well become his bahu.
What’s worse, on his way out of the college, Rai Sahib runs into a bunch of Mohan’s unprincipled pals, who’re brandishing those incriminating photos of Mohan and Neena in each other’s arms. That’s the last straw; Rai Sahib decides his son must marry before he sows any more wild oats.
With Rai Sahib gone back home, plotting the brahmachari’s downfall, Mohan’s friends decide it’s time to help along Mohan and Neena’s nonexistent romance a bit. They write a love letter to Neena, forging Mohan’s signature at the end, and then get a lot of vicarious pleasure out of spying on Neena while she’s reading the letter and swiftly falling in love with Mohan.
Unfortunately for Neena, though, her romance is short-lived; when she goes to Mohan’s room to say thank you for the letter and to assure him that his love is reciprocated in full… he raves and rants at her. Doesn’t the dumb girl realise he’s a brahmachari? He didn’t write any letter to her, he isn’t in love with her, and he has no desire to have anything to do with her.
Neena is hurt and annoyed, but just as she’s getting ready to leave Mohan’s room, she notices a photograph lying on his table. It’s a photograph of a young man (Shatrughan Sinha), and when Neena asks Mohan who this is, he tells her it’s his elder brother. Why? Does she now want to weave her spell on him? Neena, the epitome of the woman scorned, flounces out of his room, vowing that one day she’ll come to Mohan’s home as his bride.
And sure enough, sometime later, with college over and Mohan away in Calcutta on work, Neena arrives at his house with a baby in her arms. To Rai Sahib and Rajlakshmi—both flabbergasted—she reveals that she is their bahu, and that the baby is their grandchild.
But is it? Neena swears by all that’s holy that the child is their grandchild, and she refuses to budge from that stance, not even when a panicking Mohan rushes home to confront her and try to expose her lies for what they are. She has his love letter; she wears his chain around her neck; Rai Sahib has seen a photo of her in Mohan’s arms. She is Mohan’s wife, his parents think… but what about the baby? Where’s this kid turned up from? Who is he?
What I liked about this film:
Mumtaz. I so like her, effervescent and lively and oh so pretty. And a good actress too (though Ek Nari Ek Brahmachari doesn’t really give her much scope for showing off her skills as an actress).
Jagdeep and Aruna Irani. As Jugal and Mala, they’re one of the most endearing supporting couples I’ve seen in Hindi cinema. Funny, affectionate, loads of fun—and their love story, as they try to get married and then keep body and soul together as an impoverished young couple, is as much a part of the film as the main storyline.
What I didn’t like:
The decor, of course. And the costumes of much of the supporting cast. And the very last frame, which is hard to beat when it comes to sheer corniness. But, most of all, the badly scripted first half of the film. This meanders into unnecessary scenes, pointless dialogue and action, and more stuff that irritated me and nearly made me give up. Thank heavens I persevered—the second half is much more fun.
Not one of the best romantic comedies to come out of Bollywood, but entertaining enough. Just be patient through the first half.
Dustedoff 
This is worth watching?! I usually see the Brahmachari part in the title, and coupled with Jeetendra on the DVD cover, it stifles any desire to pick it up in my local video store.
And for a moment there, I thought I must be seeing things when I recognised Sohrab Modi in one of your screen caps. I thought he was done for, long before this! (imdb says he was around till 1984! So I guess I should check my assumptions.) I just might pick up the film for him, but the first half doesnt sound like I would make it through to the second half.
Let me guess what happens in the second half. Neena had a sister who was secretly married to/seduced/raped by Mohan’s brother in the photo. Said sister is probably dead, and Neena only wants Munna/Munni to get his/her rightful place… True? If thats way off-base then I am going to get the film ASAP! :-)
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bollyviewer, remember me saying on your blog that you should take to writing film scripts? I rest my case. You’re spot on re: the plot! :-)
The brahmachari bit (not to mention Jeetendra, who is definitely not one of my favourites, though he’s tolerable in some of his early films) would’ve put me off too. Only, as it so happens, I saw this film way back when Doordarshan was the only source of entertainment and we watched everything that was telecast… I rather enjoyed this film then (probably mainly because of Mumtaz, Jagdeep and Aruna Irani – I had an even lower tolerance level for Jeetendra then), so decided to buy it a few years back. Good time pass.
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Sorry dear, the plot sounds so sick!
“Neena, the epitome of the woman scorned, flounces out of his room, vowing that one day she’ll come to Mohan’s home as his bride”
Why would anyone want to do that? Gettng hitched to a guy, who doesn’t love you? And her appearance at his home with a child! O God, I hate such films.
There are really very few college movies from the 60s and early 70s, which I like! They are either full of mcp’s or uptight righteous men (and the one doesn’t exclude the other) and the girls are Sitadevis or sex sirens! No normal people there.
But as you said, Mumtaz looks awesome! Her beauty, her ‘namkeen’ness!
It is a treat just to look at her pic. Her good mood is so infectious! another plus I see is Sohrab Modi-Durga Khote pairing. The first one after Prithvi Vallabh?
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Arre baba, I was trying to be sarcastic!
Yes, she does sound silly at that point, trying to get hitched to a guy who doesn’t love her – though of course her motive turns out to have been different. I was a bit amused at the way the usual 60’s male-pursuing-reluctant-female plot element got turned on its head, though.
Like bollyviewer, I too hadn’t realised that Sohrab Modi acted in films till so late – and beyond, as it appears. He and Durga Khote make an appealing couple, but I must admit that for me it’s Jagdeep and Aruna Irani who are the highlight when it comes to the couples in this film. They are a delight.
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This sounds appealing… I love Mumtaz, and I actually don’t mind Jeetendra at all, especially in his earlier movies. And the Aruna-Jagdeep’s jodi sounds cute…
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You seem to be on a Jeetendra roll these days :0) i have nothing but love for the man. I love Mumtaz too but most of the films i’ve seen her in tend to cast her as the pretty babe who doesn’t get much chance to do anything with the exception of Khilona, which in fact made me a lifelong lover of Her, what other films would you recommend to see her display her acting chops
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“Arre baba, I was trying to be sarcastic!”
Oh! *deeply embarassed*
But I believe she does say something of that sort, doesn’t she? Stupid! Poor Mumu!
I just can about tolerate Jeetendra in his early films. And his 80s film… ? Oh no!
If you want to get all my dark secrets out of me, you just have to bind on a chair and set me in front of Himmatwala or Toofah!
Though there are some 70s films of his, where he is subdued like his Gulzar films or Aasha.
There is this V Shantaram film of his where he is tolerable: Boond jo ban gayi moti. But that film is *yawn*
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I’ll gladly bind you on that chair Harvey, i love Tohfa & i’m about to watch Himmatwala, indeed such movies had the silliest of plots but the songs and picturizations more than made up for it. One of my all time favourite bollywood songs and picturisation is ‘Naino mein sapna’ i simply love the colours and the Bugsby Berkeley style arrangements of the dancers and props
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The title of the film is provocative enough.
But I always shudder to have to watch Jeetender films. With his tight pants and white shoes…eeewww! (Sorry fans!!!)
I’m sure there must be some nice films of his and I don’t know about them.
Can one watch only Mumtaz with one eye closed and avoid looking at Jeetender?
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bollywoodeewana, looks like you’re outnumbered. ;-) I must admit to being part of the majority commenting on this post – I am not a Jeetendra fan! I can tolerate him in his very early films (Ek Nari Ek Brahmachari, Farz, Boond Jo Ban Gayi Moti, Humjoli or Caravan, for example) but not much beyond that. I think the only one of his somewhat later films in which I’ve liked him was Parichay. There’s something about (as pacifist mentions) those tight pants and those white shoes that puts me off.
Unfortunately, by the time Mumtaz was getting more prominent roles than the bimbette ones of her early days, she’d decided to get married and leave cinema. So there aren’t those many films that have her in very substantial roles. Khilona, of course, as you say – also Aap ki Kasam, Tere Mere Sapne or even Jheel Ke Us Paar… plus some films she made with Rajesh Khanna.
DG: Yes, despite the hackneyed romance-novel plot, it’s a fairly entertaining film. I’ve seen much, much worse. At least this has the advantage of not being depressing! And it has Mumtaz. :-)
harvey: Years ago, in the good old days of the Sunday 5.45 Doordarshan film (which we’d watch no matter how bad) I remember reading a synopsis in the newspaper about a film that was to be telecast. Whoever wrote it was obviously not a Jeetendra fan either, because it read something like this: “Both women, no matter how hard to believe this may be, fall in love with Jeetendra…”!! :-D
I recall having seen Boond Jo Ban Gayi Moti. Jeetendra was passable in that, though his character’s speechifying got on my nerves. But Mumtaz was there too!
P.S. Just noticed: you have a blog now. Yippee! But do please do more posts in English. My German only extends to danke, guten tag, eingang and ausgang (probably also heil, drang nach osten and sturm und drang! ;-)
pacifist: Have you seen Jyoti – Jeetendra and Hema Malini (she’s made to marry him, even though he’s been drugged and bullied into a state of retardation)? Or Sada Suhagan (Jeetendra and Rekha – with a young Govinda among their offspring). Until you’ve seen those, you don’t know what tortures Bollywood is capable of. Believe me, Ek Nari Ek Brahmachari is a song in comparison!
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Mumtaz turning up with a kid (given the earlier reference to Shatrughan Sinha) part is quite predictable – I had exactly the same prediction as what bollyviewer mentioned above.
I neither am very fond of Jeetu nor am totally against him…I’m neutral. Like some of his movies, esp the earlier ones. Haven’t watched many of his 80’s movies. In fact it’s not just his movies, somehow late 70’s and 80’s movies dont appeal much to me.
@ bollywooddeewana : I would be more than happy to join you in binding harvey on that chair ;-)
I like Naino mein sapna …it’s such a catchy number. Same goes for Ek aankh maroon toh from Tohfa. And his dance used to be so entertaining and hilarious.
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Good for bollywoodeewana that he’s found someone to help him do the tying! ;-) I am also with harvey on this – you’d need to tie me up too to make me watch something like Himmatwala or Tohfa. In any case, I am not a fan of most of the Hindi films made in the 80’s. And Jeetendra, on top of that… Nahiiin!
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Hee hee….Movies like Jyoti and Sada Suhagan were real emotional atyachar!!!
“Both women, no matter how hard to believe this may be, fall in love with Jeetendra…”!! :-D – ROTFL
I happened to see the likes of Farz, Boond Jo Ban Gayi Moti, Humjoli, Caravan, Jigri Dost (Raat suhani jaag rahi hai), Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke (don’t remember much of it but that song was very sweet – hum tum chori se), Parichay first. Haven’t seen much of his later movies apart from Sanjog and Judaai .
And Jyoti and Sada Suhagan were real disasters…had seen them when I had gone home for holidays. Living in a missionary hostel, where we had only Doordarshan and that too transmitting programs in regional language most of the time, anything in Hindi used to be more than welcome to me. Famished for good-old movies, those few days at home, I would watch literally every movie aired on tv. And I guess it was only because of that I could sit through these and many more such movies which I would have never seen otherwise.
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You hit the nail on the head when you called those films emotional atyachar – they’re awful!
I haven’t seen Dharti Kahe Pukaar Ke, but Hum tum chori se is a sweet song… and I haven’t seen Jigri Dost either. Wouldn’t mind seeing them, though, because early Jeetendra films aren’t usually too bad. I think by the mid-80’s or so, a lot of his films had been pretty formula, and not worth watching. Offhand, the only two films that I remember liking him in were Parichay and The Burning Train – the latter possibly because of the entire cast and story, not because of Jeetendra himself. Interestingly, whereas in Waaris Jeetendra’s was a sort of brother to Neetu Singh’s character, in The Burning Train he’s her love interest.
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Jeetendra as an instrument of torture! :-D As it happens, several scientists are looking to movies to improve interrogation techniques. I am sure they will be glad to know that Jeetu bhai is a potentially powerful weapon there. I would add his Yaar Mera (with a lovely young Rakhee) to the list of his 70s and 80s horrors – never again will I try to give Jeetu a fair chance, NEVER!
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bollyviewer, I love your post!! And, even at the risk of being labelled iconoclasts, I am willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with you re: Mother India. Okay, good film and Oscar nomination and whatever, it’s still very hard for me to watch. Very. (my sister’s comment on Raj Kumar: “As it is, I don’t like him. And on top of that, the fact that he looks as if he wears soorma makes it even worse!”)
Two more films that I’d add to the list of truly torturous ones: Black Cat (starring Balraj Sahni and Minoo Mumtaz – I’ll be reviewing it sometime soon) and the absolutely horrible Parivar, starring Nanda and Jeetendra. Surprisingly, Jeetendra isn’t what’s awful about the film – he’s pretty bearable. It’s just that the story is terrible.
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haha Your sister and I must be long lost friends, if not masala-twins!
I loved Black Cat! But then I am a sucker for Balraj Sahni’s non-Bhabhi roles and a B-grade noir is as far as it gets from there. Besides, the film had lovely songs. The mystery/thriller parts werent all that great and the villain wasnt very villainous, but I didnt really care. Balraj Sahni as detective? More please… :-)
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Oh, I didn’t mind Balraj Sahni as detective at all! I’d have liked him in more of those roles – but the film itself nearly drove me to trichotillomania! N A Ansari, his dumb moll and the absolutely mindless meandering of the plot really got on my nerves.
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“Both women, no matter how hard to believe this may be, fall in love with Jeetendra…”!!
ROTFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My brother and I had a theory that Jeetu refused to sign a film until and unless he had two heroines!
@ sunheriyaadein: “Naino mein sapna” is surely a catchy number and that is the problem with it. It jus tplays on and on in your brain, this coupled with images of jumping jeetu and sirdevi just drives you crazy.
bollywooddeewana: sorry, the plots, the dialogues, the comedy, Jeetu, the machismo are all so big no, nos for me! The only saving grace in these films were the heroines Sridevi or Jaya Prada. YOu must be surely knowing htis from which movie is that song “bhukh lagihai khana do, khana do”, where Sridevi goes begging with her kid brother or something like that. Soemhow this scene just won’t go out of my mind! HELP!
Sada Suhagan! That was torture of high order. i was never ever pleased as in this film, when Rekha died! BTW did you know that the producers wanted Madhuri Dixit to play the role which afterwards went to Anuradha Patel. Govinda thinking that Madhuri didn’t want to act with him, refused to sign any films with her until they came together in a very forgetful movie with Dilip Kumar called Izzatdaar.
Count me in your numbers dustedoff and bollyviewer, I am also not a big fan Mother India except for the beautiful picturisation of the gangetic plains. And a major disappointment no good songs despite Naushad!
Jigri Dost is a hoot! I love to watch the song “Mera tu, tu hi tu”, where the Jeetu and Mumtaz sprint thro Brindavan Gardens! Our neighbour’s opinion about the picturisation of the song should have been recorded for generations to come. A pity that I can hardly remember anything! No nothing indecent, after all the whole family was seated to watch it.
Balraj sahni in a bad film! Poor chap! Didn’t bollyviewer write a review on black cat, few months back? Looking forward to yours, dustedoff! Thanks for the word trichotillomania! Wow, sound slike a mania for centipedes to me!
I am all for buying loads of wine and stacks of junk food and watching Parivar together. I luv the way hindi films tackled family planning in the 70s! ;-)
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And as for the blog. I’m seriously thinking of moving to wordpress. but will have a look at it after 25th April.
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Unfortunately Harvey i don’t know what movie the ‘bhook lagie’ song is from but as soon as i find out i shall let you know
Dustedoff its fine, i’ve noticed that for a lot of things i seem to be alone in my tastes e.g. Rajendra Kumar, Movies from the 80’s etc I don’t mind at all :0)
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harvey: The loads of wine and junk food sounds good (I remember you recommending red wine with pakoras was it?), but Parivar is painful. Actually, though, that’s probably the only way to watch it – when you can entertain each other with completely mad comments levelled at the idiocy of the film!
bollywooddeewana: Ah, but the world would be such a boring place if all of us had the same tastes!
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Jeetender reminds me of the worst of the cheap eve-teasing guys who used to hang round women’s colleges…dress, hair, clothes….all I want to do is hit him on the head, although that is probably not his fault at all!
Probably: because he could have gone in for a different style I guess.
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Bawa: my words! Agree totally!
bollywood deewana: I like Rajendra Kumar in his early movies like Dhool ka Phool and Dil ek mandir.
@dustedoff: not all sorts of red wine, zweigelt goes quite well with it. the heavier the better. According to me they are the best with indian food.
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bawa: You hit the nail on the head! That is the reason he’s never quite appealed to me. Strange, really, considering that he didn’t act the persistent lovesick Romeo that much – if that was the case, someone like Shammi Kapoor would probably never have been among my favourites! But it’s probably the style, as you say: those tight pants and the white shoes (not to mention the black net shirt – in the first screen cap of this post; I was hoping nobody would notice that!)… just not nice.
harvey, bollywoodeewana: Yes, come to think of it, I don’t mind Rajendra Kumar in some of his earlier films. Not Dil ek Mandir much, but Mere Mehboob.
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Bollywood deewana, I too like Rajender Kumar films :-)
There just one which I don’t.
I can’t remember the name, I haven’t seen it, but happened to watch a song – aa meri rani le ja challa nishani’ – which sounded so cheap coming from him that I was appalled.
Apart from this I think Rajender Kumar was likeable.
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I do hope Black Cat left you some hair. You better write it up and warn everybody that only the bald may watch safely! ;-) (I gave it a glowing review and dont want to be responsible for any incidents of trichotillomania in blogland!)
Bawa has described Jeetendra to a T – he does remind me of cheap eve-teasers and I dont think its his clothes or hair but something undefinable about him. As you say, Shammi, for all his onscreen eve-teasing never came off as cheap. And Jeetendra’s clothes were pretty standard issue hero wardrobe – Shashi Kapoor was equally prone to white suits and white shoes and Vinod Khanna to tight pants, but neither of them come off as roadside romeo material. Jeetendra just projected an unsavory persona onscreen!
And I love Rajendra Kumar, too. I dont care for his weepy roles too much, but otherwise, he is mostly good (especially in Jhuk Gaya Aasman) and he did age fairly gracefully…
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pacifist: That song was picturised on Rajendra Kumar?! Good lord – I hate it (there’s something so Jeetendra about it)… would never have thought it featured Rajendra Kumar, since I don’t associate him with that. Weepy, yes; stoic and stiff-upper-lip, yes; cheap, no.
bollyviewer: I’ll review Black Cat as soon as I can summon up the courage to see it again and figure out the story – it’s been a couple of months since I saw it and my mind has blanked out the finer details. All I remember is the basic plot, and that too with huge holes!
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I did some research and found out the name of the film – Anjaana
Here is a link to *that* song;
Hope I don’t spoil your day :-D
I think this is one of Rajender Kumar’s last films and he’s at that stage where he’s jumping around imitating the younger heroes.
It was sad when actors reached that stage.
There were no botox treatments and stuff that could keep them looking young. (Thank goodness).
I fear these treatments will keep established stars of today hanging on for years, and the younger lot will lose out without getting a fair chance.
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1. I thought I was the only person on earth who loved Jagdeep!!!!!
and
2. I have never been able to make it past the first half hour/45 minutes of this, but perhaps I will now give it another go :) Thanks!
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pacifist: Aaarrgggh! Awful. The total effect – his dancing, the somewhat leering look, everything – is just too cheap for words. Now I will make it a point to never watch Anjaana!
memsaab: Persevere! It’s not that bad after the first hour or so.
Re: Jagdeep, I was told a really cute story about him while I was doing the writers’ residency this January. Another writer there was the playwright-theatre actor-sometimes film actor Manav Kaul. Manav acted in Jajantram Mamantram with Javed Jaffrey, and one day, Javed’s father was on the sets. Javed introduced him to Manav, saying, “And this is my father.” Manav said he’d – for the moment – forgotten who Javed’s father was. Until Daddy grinned, ear to ear, and Manav recognised him. Only because of that trademark smile! :-)
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I love Jagdeep!! His sholay dialogue ‘kya ke rai ho’ is what I think of immediately when he’s mentioned.
He and Mohan Choti are a pair.
The trademark smile! So apt! :-)
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Yes! Mohan Choti and Jagdeep are both so much fun. I wish there were more films of Jagdeep in his heyday where he had a substantial role. This is the only one I’ve come across where, even though he’s only part of the comic side plot, the CSP itself is substantial enough to satisfy my Jagdeep-lovin’ self. :-)
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I only recently discovered that Javed Jaffrey (who I also really like and wish I saw more of in roles like the one in 3 Idiots, but larger) was Jagdeep’s son, but it didn’t surprise me in the least :)
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Yes, he’s funny too – my nephew and niece used to like him a lot mainly because he did Hindi dubbing for a Japanese game show called Takeshi’s Castle. Hilarious! Whoever wrote the commentary must be a genius, of course, but Javed’s delivery was a hoot! :-)
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Javed did a good job in Salaam Namaste ! He is also known to be a very good dancer
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I actually haven’t seen too many of his films – offhand, I can only remember 3 Idiots. I’m sure there are others I’ve seen, but can’t recall them right now…
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Please watch movies like Priyatama, Badaltey Rishtey and Khushboo. I am sure you will like Jeetendra in them.
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I’ve seen Khushboo but not the others – will look out for them now. Thanks! (and I’d add Kinara and Parichay to your list). :-)
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LMAO, I was laughing my a** of reading these comments. As for Jeetendra’s appeal, I think it is because he grew up in a chawl, and I guess that could translate his appeal onto screen. But even Jackie Shroff and Govinda grew up in chawls, and several ladies swooned for them. IDK, since I am not really their target audience.
Plus, he’s not an actor, he’s more or less an astute businessman who did these Madras stuff just to keep the kitchen burning. Anyways, a movie of Jeetendra’s that I actually sort of liked was Meri Awaaz Suno. I think it’s on youtube with subtitles. Another Jeetendra film, Bidaai, was just unbearable.
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LOL. I can’t bear Govinda, and Jackie Shroff I’ve only liked in his roles when he was past the hero stage – 1942: A Love Story comes to mind.
I don’t think I’ve ever watched Meri Aawaaz Suno. Will look out for it.
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