Today's 'Song of the Day' is in response to the ongoing (and confirmed) reports of Sridevi and Amitabh Bachchan coming together once again on-screen in Balki's next film.
When I think of Amitabh & Sridevi, the first thing I think of is the 80s movie Inquilaab and the song 'Bichhu Lad Gaya' ... but then I can't forget the EPIC-ness of 1992's Khuda Gawah. This movie was the ultimate for me -- the pairing of these two was practically spiritual in my world.
Khuda Gawah is a tale that carries you from Afghanistan to India and back again -- detailing the lives of a larger-than-life Pathan named Baadshah Khan (Amitabh Bachchan). He falls in love with the bewitching Benazir (Sridevi), but they are separated due to complicated circumstances and Baadshah Khan is jailed in India.
In their many years of separation a daughter is born to them, named Mehndi (Sridevi, again). Baadshah Khan also befriends the jailer in India, who names his own daughter Henna (Shilpa Shirodkar). The corrupt inspector of Baadshah Khan's jail ends up getting killed and Baadshah gets the blame -- leading the inspector's son Raja (Nagarjuna) to grow up hating Baadshah and wanting revenge. Mehndi grows up under the care of Baadshah Khan's best friend Khuda Baksh (Danny Denzongpa) as her mother becomes mentally disturbed when she is told that Baadshah Khan is dead (he isn't, he just wants her to move on since he's stuck in jail indefinitely).
When she hears what happened to her father, she sets out to India to find him and bring him home. Mehndi and Raja end up meeting and falling in love. But then both Benazir and Khuda Baksh are kidnapped by the very rival that framed Baadshah Khan, which leads to a final showdown with all our players in the deserts of Afghanistan.
Yes it sounds like a crazy mess but I seriously LOVED this movie. You cannot help but love Baadshah Khan and you root for him all the way. And the songs in this movie are phenomenal! My favorite was always 'Mere Watan Main' - a duet between Sridevi and Nagarjuna (I wonder if they spoke Telugu to each other on set?), but because we're talking about Sri and Big B, I have to go with 'Main Aisi Cheez Nahin' -- a challenge of sorts between Baadshah Khan and Benazir that comes very early in the film. I ADORE this song and love the fiery chemistry between the leading two. Sridevi is FIERCE and Amitabh is so distinguished. And Danny! I love Danny!
So here's 'Main Aisi Cheez Nahin' from Khuda Gawah, sung by Mohammed Aziz and Kavita Krishnamurthy
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Now I'm not really the Valentine's Day type, personally. I don't really care for flowers (because I have a black thumb and when they're all dead and gross and decaying I'm the one that has to clean them up), I really have no business eating chocolate with hips this size, and my husband and I don't really do gifts. All the red and pink and hearts everywhere makes me gag more than say "awww" ... but I AM a romantic. It's just that my idea of romance is song and dance routines with coordinated background dancers, worldwide locales and multiple costume changes. Damn you Bollywood!
Anyway, over the years there have always been certain Bollywood pairings that had such incredible chemistry together that you were drawn into their love story. Some had real-life romances, some just had strong friendships, but either way their pairing worked their way into our consciousness.
Yesterday my friends at Dhoonya Dance posted on facebook asking about everyone's favorite Bollywood couples ... the most obvious answer was of course SRK and Kajol ... but I got to thinking about the best DANCE songs featuring these various couples ... and what song would be the best DANCE song to represent their 'jodi' ... let's imagine that I was choreographing a medley featuring Bollywood Couples. Here are the song/dance numbers I would choose to represent each pairing:
1. Yeh Ladki Hai Ya Shola (Silsila) - Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha An obvious favorite pairing of many, because of their incredible chemistry on-screen as well as the rumoured off-screen affair between them. This song always stuck in my memory because of how he was immediately entranced by Rekha's dancing and couldn't help but burst into song. There's a bit of antagonism as well as attraction here ... a bit elementary school perhaps. But the ending of this song when he pulls her in and her braid wraps neatly around his neck? Magic!
2. Zindagi Hai Khel (Seeta aur Geeta) - Dharmendra and Hema Malini Ahhh ... The Most Handsome Man in the World and Dream Girl. Whatta couple. Sure, there's more than a little moral discomfort at the fact that he was already married when they fell in love, but it appears that for Dharamji the second time was a charm. They had quite a few wonderful movies together, including some of my favorites like Dream Girl, Sholay, Ali Baba aur 40 Chor and Jugnu ... but somehow when it comes to dancing, "Zindagi Hai Khel" captures the spirit of excitement and fun that I imagine sparked their romance.
3. Humne Tumko Dekha (Khel Khel Mein) - Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh These two are just the cutest couple of all time. I just recently saw them together in the 2010 film Do Dooni Char and they are STILL so adorable together. Here they are in Khel Khel Mein, adorably youthful and clearly in harmony with each other. "Ek Mein Aur Ek Tu" may be the more popular song from this film, but I always loved this one.
4. Jai Jai Shiv Shankar (Aap Ki Kasam) - Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz Yes I know most people would say that it's blasphemy to not name Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore as your favorite jodi ... but I loved RK and Mumtaz's songs together. And well ... dancing isn't quite Rajesh's forte is it? So being under the influence in this song probably helps things a bit.I love his sky blue pant suit. And I just love Mumtaz, period.
5. Nainon Mein Sapna (Himmatwala) - Sridevi and Jeetendra Obviously I am a huge Sridevi fan, and became one during the Sri + Jeetu era. And I think this song is ICONIC ... the matkas and feather dusters are just icing on the cake that is Sridevi + Jeetendra choreography. How can you listen to this song and not want to dance?
6. Aap Ko Dekh Ke (Kishen Kanhaiya) - Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor I love love love these two together ... it reminds me of the 90s and movies like this Tezaab, Ram Lakhan, Beta and this one. They are both so lively, so timeless and fun together. I think this is one of the best Bollywood dance songs out there ... it's unfortunate that it's mostly forgotten by people. I still love it though, and I love Madhuri + Anil!
7. Disco Dandiya (Love Love Love) - Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla There is something SO sweet and innocent about these two together. Everyone fell in love with them as a pair in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, and they were also paired together in Tum Mere Ho, Aatank Hi Aatank, Daulat Ki Jung, Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke and Ishq. The magic was never quite the same as QSQT, but to this date when I think of Aamir I think of Juhi. And hey, who doesn't love Disco Dandiya?
8. Ude Jab Jab Zulfen (Naya Daur) - Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala Ok, I know it's supposed to be Dilip Kumar and Madhubala, but I honestly thought their dynamic always seemed tragic, while Kishore Kumar and Madhubala had that lighthearted fun that I enjoy (granted, both situations turned our tragic in the end). But I loved Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthi on-screen together - particularly in Madhumati, but also in Naya Daur. And I think this is one of the loveliest 'old is gold' dance songs out there.
9. Pehle Pehle Pyar Ki (Ilzaam) - Govinda and Neelam Govinda and Neelam represent the 80s youth and the disco generation. I love them together! They're both great dancers and were super cute. Ok, if nothing else, the video is worth watching for Chi Chi's teeny tiny shorts in the 1st music interlude.
10. Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna (DDLJ) - Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol Ok I give in to the mass hysteria. Though I'm not a rabid fan of either SRK or Kajol, I will give that they definitely have great chemistry on-screen ... probably owing to the fact that they are great friends and are really comfortable with each other. And though I was never as crazy about DDLJ as everyone else was, there is a certain EPIC-ness about this song. So it deserves a place on the list, for sure.
So there's my Bollywood Jodis dance medley ... who are your favorite jodis and what are your favorite songs featuring them? Let me know!
I love Neelam. Girlfriend was just awesome. She could act, dance, was super cute and had great hair. The last time I remember seeing her in a major film was Hum Saath Saath Hai, where she was relegated to the 'sister' role vs. one of the main heroines ... something I will never understand. Before that she made a special appearance in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. But I loved her in movies like Jawani, Love 86, Ek Ladka Ek Ladki, and Chor Pe Mor, amongst others.
Chor Pe Mor(1990) was a relatively unnoticed comedy directed by Kapil Kapoor. The film tried to bring back jodis like Karan Shah + Neelam and the odd Naseerudin Shah + Sonam pairing. It was a pretty bad film, as far as I remember, though it had moments. The soundtrack was what stood out to me, and surprise, surprise ... it was an R.D. Burman album!
My favorite song by far from the the soundtrack was the Asha Bhosle number "Baaj Uthe Ghungroo" ... it gave Neelam a chance to show of her dancing skills and Asha's trilling was perfect for Neelam's cuteness. I was humming it to myself this afternoon and thought I would share and see if anyone else remembers this song? And hey, did Aamir steal Karan's hat and wear it in Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin?
Apparently this song was based on a Bengali song ... would love to hear about the original if anyone has the deets.
You can view a clip of Baaj Uthe Ghungroo at about 0:51 seconds into the following video (the other songs from the film are featured if you view this video in its entirety):
I did love this movie - the angsty Ajith, the lovely, delicate Shalini, their TRUE chemistry ... the bad guy who changes for love ... aah! It had great, catchy songs too - I love Satham Illatha Thanimai Kettaiand Unnodu Vaazhvadu. Even Sondha Kuzhalil Paadu started out annoying, but I ended up humming it too.
So here's Tamil dancing star Lawrence in his "item-number" from Amarkalam (1999), which starred Ajith Kumar and child-star-turned-heroine-turned-filmstar-wife Shalini:
Though I was a big fan of the Sridevi-Jeetendra jodi, they did perhaps peak around 1984, because some of the stuff that came out after that time was very questionable. I didn't get to watch many of their films together post 1985, and after watching this video, I'm not sorry.
This video was SO full of WTF-ery I just felt miserable for Sri that she had to be in it. From the 1985 film Balidaan, here is "Aaja Ek Hoja".
First of all, someone explain to me the big giant shower rooms with only a half-wall separating them? And then there's a convenient chunk of wall missing for Jeetendra to get his Peeping Tom on?
Also, I hope someone has seen this movie and can explain them entering these giant shower rooms with their clothes on? Sridevi seems to have a special bathing dress inspired by Satyam Shivam Sundaram on (with a faboo silver belt, I hope it doesn't tarnish!), but Jeetu is in red shortie-shorts!!! AAAGGGGH my eyes!!!
Then we're jetted off to a dream set, which is another giant shower room, but this one is tricked out with greek columns, statues, arches and stained glass windows. And of course they had to put poor Sri in a white sari.
At around 3:45 we're transported off again into a giant bubble bath of WTF. Jeetu seems to have jumped in wearing his tennis shorties, because he's still got his socks on. Looks damn uncomfortable. And inexplicably, there are showerheads running all around and above the bubble bath. I keep looking around for Helen because it looks like the kind of place she'd hang out.
It doesn't seem like any of the usual suspects have blogged about this movie, and I can definitely see why. I'm curious because this video makes absolutely NO SENSE, and this coming from someone raised on Bollywood WTF-ery. I'd definitely love to hear from someone who saw this movie that could possibly tell me about the plot points leading up to this song.
When I was younger, I never really recognized why I was able to connect to certain movies so well and others seemed like a different world. I wasn't aware, you see, of the many divisions even within what's considered a single culture in India. I knew we were Tamil, and yet, we were different from so many other Tamil families that we knew. And then we were from Bombay, which further separated us from the Madras Tamilians we knew (not to mention Sri Lankan Tamils, Malaysian Tamils, West Indian Tamils, etc.). But there were even further divisions that I didn't recognize till much later. Now I know that we are Palghat/Palakkad Iyer Brahmins, a sect of Tamilians that emigrated to Kerala, and picked up nuances of the language Malayalam.
When my husband, who hails from a traditional Tamil family deep in the Thanjavur District of Tamil Nadu, told me his family was teasing him for marrying a Malayalee, I was surprised and insisted that I was Tamil, not Malayalee. He said, "But you're from Palakkad," and I said, "And?" ... with a deep sigh he said, "Palakkad is in Kerala!" --- I'm an idiot. I never realized that Palakkad was in Kerala, I had no idea! I thought it was perhaps right on the border with Kerala, and I knew our Tamil was mixed with Malayalam, but didn't know our ancestral village was actually IN Kerala. So Tamilians don't consider us entirely Tamil, and Malayalees don't consider us Keralite.
I went and asked my mom after this conversation, "Mom, are we Tamil or are we Malayalee?" and she answered, "Yes." So I tried again, "Nooo, Mooooom, Are we Tamil or are we Malayalee?" and she thought for a moment, and told me, "We are Tamil Malayalees."
Thanks, Mom.
Anyway, Tam-Brahms as we're sometimes called, aren't often portrayed in Cinema ... our dialect is too affected and difficult for many actors, and our culture has so many particular practices that I imagine many people cannot relate. There are some portrayals, such as Vikram's role of the Iyengar "Ambi" in the tamil movie Anniyan, or the mother-in-law played by Julie star Laxmi in the tamil movie Rhythm. Songs like "Iyengaaru Veetu Azhage" (Anniyan), "Madathile" (Veera), "Kalyanathaan Kattikittu" (Saamy), and "Ennathu Solvennungo" (Sivakasi) highlight the Brahmin background of the characters.
Then of course, there's "I am Krishnan Iyer M.A." from Agneepath. Oh, Mithun.
Anyway, few movies delved into the everyday life of our community vs. displaying Brahmins as evil/greedy/ultra-conservative/stupid/weak or getting jollies off the idea of a Brahmin girl running away from her community for the love of a non-Brahmin man, like Trisha's character in Saamy (incidentally, Trisha is a Palghat/Palakkad Iyer like me, as are Vidya Balan and Priyamani).
Two movies that come to mind immediately when I'm thinking of just normal, everyday, fun portrayals of Brahmin families are both Kamal Hassan movies. The first is the HILARIOUS Michael Madana Kamarajan, and the 2nd is Meendum Kokila (1982), in which the story doesn't revolve around their Brahmin background at all. The story could have taken place in any community. For this story, they just happen to be Brahmin, that's all. It's not to create caricatures or devise elaborate costumes for humor.
Meendum Kokila is the story of Y.R.S. Mani, a young lawyer looking for the right opportunity for his career to take off. He is married to the beautiful, young Kokila (Sridevi), a Brahmin housewife that wears the traditional 9-yard sari called "madisaar" (I wore one for my wedding, and let me tell you, it's a doozy. I can't imagine wearing one every day like my great-grandmothers did!).
Eventually through some connections, Mani meets a famous actress named Kamini (Deepa Unnimary) who hires him as her lawyer, giving him his first big case. Mani gets increasingly besotted with Kamini and begins lying to Kokila and spending all his time in the actress's company. Eventually his lies are exposed and the happy marriage is threatened.
Right from the start the film breaks the fourth wall and begins speaking to us, the audience, saying:
Essentially Mani is waiting for his big break ... he has yet to book a big case. They also introduce us to Sridevi's character Kokila right away:
They show the couple in pretty normal domestic scene at home, Kokila bringing Mani some coffee. Very quickly, though, they expose Mani's greatest downfall ... his extreme fetish for the exposed skin of a woman's waist that shows when they wear the madisaar!
When Mani sees this, he just can't contain himself. A special, themed mridangam and kinnaram (South Indian Carnatic drum and cymbals) music starts playing, his nostrils start flaring, and before he knows what's he's doing, he's reached out to grab & pinch!
So the narrator takes us on a journey back to when they first met ... the special "bride-viewing" or Ponn Paarkkal as we call it. Having seen this movie as a child, I spent years planning and practicing various songs to sing at my own Ponn Paarkkal someday, really believing that this situation was going to happen for me. My husband and I ended up being a love marriage (gasp! SCANDAL!) so I never had a Ponn Paarkkal and no one ever wanted me to sing. If they had though, I would have been ready!
So at Kokila's Ponn Paarkkal, they ask her to sing, and a veena is brought out, her brother pulls out his mridangam, and she sings the lovely "Chinnanjiru Vayathil" which is equal parts sweet and funny. Kamal Hassan provides the funny, Sridevi provides the sweet. As Kokila, Sridevi is wonderfully innocent and demure. Her eyes convey a million messages in this scene, especially at the part where she forgets the lyrics - her discomfort is evident without a single word! Finally Mani joins in the song to save her, and the slow, sweet smile that creeps onto her face is absolutely breathtaking. You can see how charmed she is by him, and he in turn gets to be her dashing knight, saving her from embarrassment.
We come out of the flashback and learn more about their home life, which is a very normal, middle-class living. Mani is inexperienced in his career and waiting for his first big break, but refuses to take a post as a junior lawyer. Because of this they are being supported by Kokila's family. You can automatically see the tension between the couple from this arrangement. They also have a lovely little girl named Manju, who softens much of the tension (whether actual or sexual) between them with her timely quips, my favorite being when they are standing close to one another and Manju yells "M for Man! L for Lady! K for Kiss!".
In Mani's quest to be with the "right" crowd to get himself ahead in his career, Kokila is dragged along to situations in which she feels very uncomfortable. She was raised to be a housewife and only minimally educated, so when they are invited to dinner by a colleague of Mani's, she worries that the other guests will come doused in fancy perfumes and even worse:
She's right to worry too. At the dinner, the men are being typical, passively sleazy men. They ogle at a random ugly aunty simply because her sari falls down to expose her bosom. And poor Kokila, in her attempt to eat with a fork and knife, accidentally sends her food flying directly at the lady's bosom. Sridevi's expressions in this scene are adorably pathetic. The only actress who has come close to such a sincerely touching performance that I can think of is Kajol in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, in the scene where she tries to wear a skirt and make-up to look like Tina.
So Mani attends Actress Kamini's film shooting along with his colleague, who is working as her auditor. The scene is a royal Swayamvaram, where all the princes and kings of the land gather in a court and a Princess garlands the husband of her choice. There is lots of GRATUITOUS BODY SHOTS of Deepa Unnimary (one of my favorite Tamil item girls!) as Kamini before we finally see her in all her glory.
When she has been fully exploited by the cameras, we finally meet Kamini!
Kkamini from Salaam-E-Ishq ain't got nuthin' on you honey!
The shoot is interrupted when Kamini throws her garland and it lands directly on Mani. They meet and Mani makes an impression with his wit and humor. From then on Mani spends increasingly long hours in Kamini's company, playing pool and talking. When a newspaper prints negative and false rumors about Kamini, she immediately hires Mani to take up a case against them. This is cause for great celebration for Mani and Kokila, but little do they know that it's the beginning of all their troubles.
The scenes where Mani is doing his first appearance in court are sweet and funny. Unlike most Indian films where the hero is perfect at everything, Mani is nervous and bumbling in court, dropping papers and addressing the defendant as "Your Honor" instead of the judge. But as he goes on, he gets his bearings and begins to gain confidence.
This movie is both endearing and disturbing. I'm definitely not a person that takes cheating lightly, even in fiction. I didn't enjoy movies like Sindhu Bhairavi, Chinna Veedu, or even KJ's Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, no matter how much the filmmakers try to make you sympathize with the cheating husband (or wife, in KANK's case). It's strange because in Meendum Kokila, there isn't technically cheating going on ... they are just very good friends. There are moments where he still shows great love and affection for Kokila, and even tries to romance her, most notably after he attends another one of Kamini's shootings. Kamini is performing in a rain scene, and the pretty, albeit slightly raunchy "Ponnanameni" inspires him to go home and try to re-create the scene with his wife.
This is a MUST-SEE scene, particularly starting at 2:22 when he goes home. So funny and sad all at once.
But then there are clear signs that Mani is besotted with Kamini. In one scene he's trying to cuddle with Kokila at night, and she is irritated with his efforts and pushes him away. He rolls over and immediately starts imagining Kamini lying next to him, and fantasizes about cuddling with her.
Another great Sridevi scene is when Kamini has to play the role of a Brahmin woman in madisaar, and none of the costumers on set know how to tie the madisaar for her. Mani immediately goes to bring Kokila to help tie the sari for Kamini. Her expressions of distaste and discomfort when she learns that a man usually dresses Kamini are amazing! Subtle, but they convey so much! Then once the sari is tied, we hit trouble. Remember Mani's fetish? Oh yes. He reaches out and grabs. Right in front of his WIFE. Needless to say, Kokila is FURIOUS.
He manages to convince her that he did it because he was imagining HER in the sari, not Kamini. It takes a while, but she eventually forgives him after he emotionally blackmails her and pretends he is going to kill himself if she doesn't believe him. V. annoying, but in the very next scene there is a wonderfully funny dream sequence with the song "Radha Radha Nee Enge".
Still his emotional affair with Kamini continues. She invites him along for a film shoot in Bangalore, and he lies and tells Kokila that he's going for a friend's wedding in Bombay. In a very cute parting scene, she packs and gives him three huge boxes of homemade snacks to give to all their relatives in Bombay. In Bangalore he and Kamini become even closer.
These scenes were definitely disturbing to me, because even if he wasn't physically involved with Kamini, the intimacy between them grows very strong. For him it's particularly unforgivable, he's lied to his wife and is traveling and sightseeing with another woman, as shown in the song "Hey Oraayiram" (in which Deepa is dressed in the MOST unfortunate outfit for her body type. I should know, it's pretty close to mine. That darned Mallu booty!). And even if they aren't romantically involved but he's fantasizing about it and spending so much time with her, isn't it still cheating in a way?
Even for Kamini, who is mostly portrayed as a nice person in the movie, at some point don't you have to question why a married man is spending so much time with you. Mani lies to her when she asks about Kokila, and tells her that Kokila is thrilled that he's spending time with Kamini. But honestly, you KNOW when you're overstepping boundaries, and I saw Kamini as a lonely character who allowed herself to be swept along with the flow of their friendship and didn't question it too much because she had too much to lose.
While gallavanting about Bangalore, they end up running into some excessively rowdy fans of Kamini's that end up attacking her. Mani is forced to call upon his ancient martial arts lessons, and his memories of Bruce Lee movies, to fight off the goons. This is a particularly memorable fight scene because the hero isn't naturally a fighter, able to fight off multiple rowdies single-handedly. He falters often, which makes for wonderful comedy. He ends up with a broken nose, but is able to save Kamini.
Naturally this kind of celeb news will not escape the papers. The news comes back to Kokila in Madras that her husband was involved in a scuffle with goons defending Kamini in Bangalore. Together with her brother, they confront Mani with the news article when he returns, still claiming that he was in Bombay. He covers up the story, claiming that he went to Bangalore for one day only to work on Kamini's case, but still Kokila is angry. She tasks her brother with following Mani about town, and of course, finds out just how often he is visiting Kamini's house, and grows more and more stressed, angry and sad, driven half-mad by her suspicions.
Eventually Kokila is driven to go directly to Kamini and (in a heartwrenching scene) beg for her husband back. Kamini seems genuinely shocked and upset by Kokila's request. In a confrontation with Mani, she claims that she had grown close with him thinking that she had finally met someone intelligent, with whom she could truly have an innocent friendship, but she is disappointed and hurt to know that he was besotted with her just like so many others in her life. With a heavy heart, she tells Mani she doesn't want to be the cause of a family breaking apart and throws him off her set and out of her life. Mani is dejected and begins wandering the streets aimlessly.
Meanwhile Kokila is dealing with something far more serious. Baby Manju has developed a high fever, and Mani is nowhere to be found. Will it take something life-threatening for their child for Mani and Kokila to work out their issues? And what role will Kamini play in Manju's illness? Therein lies the climax of the film, which ties a neat bow but still leaves me unsatisfied.
I found myself troubled by Mani's obvious fixation with Kamini and his lies to his wife, while at the same time it seemed to me that he was still genuinely in love with his wife. Then again, perhaps this is the more life-like tale, showing how people CAN be in love with their spouse and still have a crush. So then is it ok, is it just human nature? Is it forgiveable as long as one doesn't act on it?
Can a man and a woman just have a platonic relationship? And if Kamini REALLY saw their friendship as completely innocent, why didn't she ever ask Mani to bring Kokila along to spend time with them too? Did her loneliness influence her to ignore the warning signals in her own head and move freely with Mani despite the fact that he was indeed a married man?
Personally I've battled with these questions a lot - watching how one by one I seemed to lose all my male friends after getting married, or trying to preserve friendships when underlying feelings made it virtually impossible. I'm of the opinion that you can't really go past a certain level of friendship if you want to remain respectful of your spouse. I would probably be far more upset if my husband had a close, intimate friendship with another woman than if he had a physical tryst. And when I meet the girlfriends or wives of close male friends, I KNOW that I must go out of my way to befriend them and make them comfortable with the fact that I am no threat to their relationship with their boyfriend/husband. If Kamini truly wanted to maintain an innocent friendship with Mani, shouldn't she have befriended Kokila too? What on earth could have made her think that it was appropriate for him to leave his wife and child at home and travel to all her location shoots with her?
A problematic film in that it doesn't answer these questions or really give any consequences to Mani's actions, but it certainly pieces the elements together in a way that one can really enjoy. Kamal Hassan embodies the role of Mani with mastery, showing weakness and folly, his intentions and his actions, all convoluted so much that even he himself probably doesn't know what he wants. Deepa too brings a sympathetic angle to Kamini, and you want so much to like her, particularly in the final scenes when she tries to do the right thing. But the reigning queen of this show is definitely Sridevi as Kokila. Her range of expressions, her descent into jealousy and rage, and her transformation from innocent and trusting to the emotionally ravaged person she is at the end are tremendous. It is no wonder she received the Filmfare Best Actress Award (Tamil) for this film. She is a revelation in it, and you cannot help but love Kokila and cheer her on and want to clock Mani for hurting her so much.
Worth seeing for the lovely songs, the subtle comedy scenes and for Sridevi's incredible performance as Kokila. It also forces you to ask yourself a lot of serious questions! No matter how disturbed I am by Mani's behaviour in this movie, it still remains in my favorite movies list for the lighthearted moments in the first half of the film!Source URL: https://jembutmuwsexywallpaper.blogspot.com/search/label/jodis Visit jembutmuw sexy wallpaper for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection
Jaani Dost, released in 1983, is a multi-starrer campy masala flick that was considered a box office hit. The lead pairs were Sridevi & Jeetendra and Dharmendra & Parveen Babi. This was one in a series of South Indian films re-created in Hindi by Director K. Raghavendra Rao. As much as today's bloggers criticize this film for being over-the-top, poorly edited and lacking in storyline, it remains today one of my absolute FAVORITE movies from my childhood.
We had the record (LP) of Jaani Dost that had one of those sleeves that folds open to show more images, and ours had pictures of the two couples on the inside - the Parveen-Dharmendra one was from the "Beauty Queen" song and had Parveen in a pink glittery salwar, while the Sridevi-Jeetendra one was from "Baaghon Ki Tu Rani" and had Sridevi wearing a buttery yellow frock with matching hair ribbons and her hair in pin curls. I used to sit and stare at those pictures and wish with all my little 6-year-old heart that I had that dress and ribbons.
This was the image, wish I could find a better copy. I didn't recall the outfits on Dharam and Jeetu. Perhaps I blocked it out.
My sister and I also used to put on the record and dance around our living room to each of the songs - we'd play this game in which we'd each be one of the heroines (she was Parveen, I was Sridevi) and act out the songs with our invisible heroes. We cleverly dubbed this game "Nothing" - that way when our grandfather asked us what we were playing, we could honestly tell him "Nothing." "Nothing" wasn't limited to Jaani Dost - we also played it with the LPs of Satte Pe Satta (she was Aradhana and I was Rajini), Burning Train (she was Parveen, I was Hema), Shaan (she was Parveen, I was Bindiya), Parvarish (she was Neetu & I was Shabbu) and Mahaan (she was Parveen, I was Zeenat). We drew our limits at movies like Tohfa, because really, who wants to be Jaya Prada?. We even used our own made-up Hindi gibberish, with real words thrown in here and there.
So anyway, back to Jaani Dost. The film opens with a quick backstory, mostly in still shots, of a wealthy guy who receives a threat (via his manager, the evil Cobraji) that his wealth is going to be seized and confiscated by the government, so he runs with his little son, leaving his pregnant wife behind. He's attacked and killed on a train, and his young son is thrown off the train. Luckily the kid lands in a pile of hay and is picked up by a local village lady. Unfortunately, his foster dad isn't so nice and ends up throwing him out of the house later. The neighbor's kid is also thrown out by his stepmother and the two kids meet and decide to run away together to the big city. Incidentally, the younger kid (the rich guy's son) is ADORABLE but has the most annoying girl's voice dubbed for him.
Once there, they decide that one of them will work and earn money, and the other will attend school. They argue a bit over which one will do what, and then the older kid (Raju) decides they will leave it to God. They stand before a Shivalingam statue, each in front of a separate lamp, and Raju says they should close their eyes and pray, and whoever's lamp goes out first will be the one to work, the other will attend school. The younger kid (Veeru) agrees. The temple priest sees the two children praying and stands there with a generally benign interest in the proceedings. As he watches, Raju peeks to check that Veeru has his eyes closed, and then blows out his lamp. He then tells Veeru that God has decided that he should work, and Veeru should attend school.
We are then treated to a credits montage showing Veeru attending school and Raju doing menial labor, shining shoes, washing cars, etc. And guess who did the "Thrills"?
His finest work in my opinion!
From the credits we are immediately thrown into a "Bachaao" scene! How can anyone not love this? Parveen Babi is being chased by some goondas and luckily she is saved by Kick-A$$ Raju, who has grown up to be Dharmendra. He is a scruffy, tough, wise-cracking lorry-driver ... who just happens to have named his truck Sholay! He beats up all the goondas and saves Parveen, aka Meena - who insists on taking care of repairing his truck after the fight. She also wants to intro him to her Mother, because obviously she was smitten by his adorable teddybearness.
We are then briefly re-introduced to the EVIL EVIL villain Cobraji, played by Kader Khan. He hangs out in his AWESOME villain's lair. He has a throne y'all. With a giant golden cobra head and revolving bookcase passageways and a big old revolving bar. He also has a bumbling assistant, played by Asrani, and a son who appears to be a Pirate (Shakti Kapoor with an eyepatch).
Occupying his own suite in this fabulous lair is Cobraji's brother Hari, played by Amjad Khan. I suppose the writers had so many ideas for the brother character that they couldn't narrow it down, and so the resulting character has a multiple personality disorder and consequently dons the costume and accent of a Catholic Priest (Father Harry), a Classical Dance Master (Bicchumaharaj), A Nawab in a Fez (Kutubdin Hari Mohammad Ali), a Pathan, Safari Man (Thakur Ranbir Ranbir Ranjit Hari Singh), a beggar (Haribhai Bhikarilal Fakirchand) and a French Soldier (Harry, King of Good Hearts Napoleon Bonaparte?!). The awesome part is that he claims he picked up these tendencies in America, where Cobra sent him to learn the world's best smuggling ways!
Anyway, it turns out Cobraji is trying to hook up his one-eyed pirate son with Meena, who he's kind of adopted as a step-daughter and isn't that just so Flowers in the Attic of him? Meena is having none of it though, and she develops a friendship with the honest and hardworking Raju. She finds out that not only has Raju built himself up from nothing, but he's also put his dearest, most cherished friend Veeru through his studies. Now Veeru is all set to be a very high-ranking officer ...
OR IS HE???
When we meet the adult Veeru (Jeetendra) it appears that he's been lying to Raju! He is actually a criminal and we get to see him escape jail and run straight to this amazing club to dance with Silk Smitha:
CLICK HERE to see the song "Jawani Jawani Jalthi Jawani"
Veeru and Silukku (as we call her in South India) do some diamond smuggling and escaping together to meet with Hari. She gets him into the fabulous lair and they do some revolving around the evil bar of doom:
Silukku hooks Veeru up with the Cobra Brothers to do some crimey things. Veeru then goes home to visit Raju, in a police officer's uniform!!! He tells Raju that he's been given a top-secret post known as "ABCD" which infuriated Bollywood Deewana, but still made me giggle after all these years! Meena almost calls Veeru out on the ABCD thing, but Raju distracts her with a FABULOUS dream song sequence that my sisters and I always wanted to be in the background for the crowning of Miss India USA.
CLICK HERE to see "Aayi Aayi Mein To Aayi (Beauty Queen)"
Curiously, watching this today makes me wonder if this movie was actually made for 6 year olds. She dancing in amazing sequins outfits and fairy-like flower headresses with a bunch of bouncy balls all over the place. No wonder I loved this as a child!!! Her final outfit appears to be a red sequins body stocking with attached boots. She looks like a superhero. I'm enthralled.
Enter Sridevi as "Karate Rani Shalu"! She is a kick-a$$ karate instructor and a superhero for her friends, as evidenced by her friend calling her from a phone booth because some goonda is chasing her. Before Shalu arrives, Veeru saves her friend from the goonda and the friend faints. Shalu finds Veeru hovering over her friend and beats him up, thinking he is the goonda.
Her friend eventually comes to and tells her the truth. Shalu invites Veeru over to her place for tea to make up for mistaking him, and when he arrives there she is wearing a pink frilly frock I think I wore for my 1st grade school photo, and telling her dead mother's portrait how she will avenge her death and find the con-artist that drove her to suicide. He tells her that he will help her in her quest, and she's all "How the hell did you get in my house you freak?" but then accepts his help.
Either she was drunk or she didn't expect you to come over an hour later!
Raju and Veeru visit the same temple from their childhood, where the old priest promptly tells Veeru about Raju's sacrifice as a child for his benefit. I'm thinking, maybe Raju was a lazy-a$$ that didn't want to study? But they run into Meena and her mother there, and Shalu also shows up (beating up some dude for hitting on her) wearing a pink satin shirt and matching hat that I'm pretty sure I made my dad buy for me when I was 8. Our main couples are now all coupled up! YAY! On with the movie ...
Veeru does a diamond-stealing job for Hari and gets drunk with Shalu, which leads them to compare each other to Kamal Hassan, Amitabh, Zeenat and Rekha! I have to also mention my favorite part in this song, where the Ganesha idol gets up from the altar and starts chasing them around a track!
Raju beats up some dude for implying that Veeru is a thief. Then there's one of my favorite fight scenes of all time, where Raju dances atop some white goondas sent by Cobraji to tabla music while the others sit on a bench and discuss Meena and Raju's relationship, in between cheering on Raju.
They switch off and Veeru beats up the dudes for a while while Meena tries to talk about where things are going with Raju. Eventually Shalu decides she & Meena are going to show them what Girl Power is all about.
Shalu has no problem beating up her goonda - she does so with great style, but Meena requires a little coaching from Raju. Make no mistake though, Meena is no fragile damsel in distress (at least not yet). After the goondas are dispatched, they go to discuss Meena's marriage with Cobraji who is still retained by Meena's mother as a Manager. Meena reminds him of his place and says her marriage will happen as she wants it and no one had better try and stop her!
So Veeru is working on his next big heist when Raju catches wind of his activities and jumps into his trusty lorry Sholay to go investigate. Veeru is in the midst of a pretty wild celebration of his heist.
Dancing w/ the hoes on the revolving bar of doom!
And chilling in the godfather chair at the top of the light-up disco slide!
Unfortunately this fabulous villains lair (which deserves to be on Beth Loves Bollywood's villain's lairs list!) is not very secure, because Raju drives his lorry straight in through the wall! He is angry and disappointed to see Veeru in this setting, and they begin fighting. Raju is dragged up the light-up disco slide (which has cannons at its base, in case you were wondering) in chains by the goondas, and eventually knocked out by Veeru. Raju later visits the temple of their brotherly love and angsts at God for breaking his trust and his heart. Veeru also visits the temple and wallows in self-hatred at his own hand for striking his beloved Raju. These two need to make out and get it overwith.
In the next scene, we discover the TRUTH ABOUT VEERU!!! (gasp!)
He arranged the entire smugglers convention to arrest them all, because he is really an undercover cop! Wonder of wonders! Raju finds out the news and reunites happily with Veeru. Ok, I kind of teared up a little there. Dharam is SO CUTE as Raju. Veeru wins some sort of Cool Police Guy award, and he dedicates it to Raju. Everyone loves everyone!
But it's not over yet folks. Cobraji has a new lair in the jungle and new plans! Now he has decided to expand beyond diamond, animal and sandalwood smuggling -- human trafficking is the new frontier! He's decided to capture and export tribal people for slavery or organ trafficking.
Look at the new lair! Built-in cages and a big demon face thingy in the background!
He also decides to go ahead and throw Meena's mother in the dungeon with the tigers and lions so he can coerce Meena into marrying someone of his choosing, though this all seems moot because he eventually plots for the newlyweds to crash off the side of a mountain!
Meanwhile he frames Raju for animal smuggling to get him jailed and out of the way. He hears of Meena's accident and swears revenge on Cobra, knowing that he engineered the whole thing. Unable to bear that Meena's gone (but IS SHE???), he breaks out of jail to find Cobra. Veeru can't help because he's very busy in big police meetings to make an artist's rendering of Hari, because you see all the costumes make it too difficult to know what he really looks like! After Veeru provides images of Hari in all his various get-ups, they come up with this:
It looks exactly like all the pictures IN costume. Great work, Veeru.
Shalu sees the rendering and exclaims that this is the very man who cheated her mother! It's Shalu's father - but they never quite touch on that. They set off to find Hari but are attacked by the evil henchman and flee, reaching the jungle. Now we start getting REALLY crazy, and I am completely convinced that my 6-year-old self was the target audience for this movie. Shakti the Pirate Kapoor acquires a chimpanzee named Johnny, who wears Hari's fez and has birthday parties thrown for him in the new lair. Shalu and Veeru meet a girl chimp in the jungle and sing the song "Baaghon Ki Tu Rani" in which Sridevi wears the yellow frock and ribbons!!!
Punky Brewster, eat your heart out.
Raju has gone vigilante and adopted a cape with a lion's face on it. His new disguise! Hari is contagious!
Could Raju's love still be alive somewhere in the jungle??? What do you think?
I couldn't possibly summarize the rest of this movie even if I wanted to, and I definitely SHOULDN'T being that it's now 3 am. But suffice to say that the climax of the film may or may not involve lots and lots of costumes!!!
Me too, Asrani, me too.
Ah yes, there are lots of tribal costumes for all, plus our two heroes as caped crusaders!
And in the great tradition of Hindi films in which the animal saves the day, we have crime-fighting chimps and an elephant named Laxmi!
Rani the chimp dons a costume to entice the bad guy chimp!
And what on earth could the Cobra Circus have to do with anything? Besides the fact that we ALL know that once a villain has captured the heroine, he has no choice but to make her wear a costume and dance sexily. Haven't you read my villain's lair dance post?
I can promise you one thing though. There is at least one happily married couple by the end of this movie!
What you don't believe me??? You need to see Jaani Dost, in all its glory, with your own very eyes?
No really! Click HERE to see the entire movie, with subtitles, thanks to Saavn!
Don't believe what you read on the cynical blogs of others, my friends. If you have a solid tolerance, or as in my case, fondness for 80s cheese and could possibly get a thrill out of seeing a scene transition that just may have a big blue kablooey cloud zooming out, this movie is chock-full of those kind of surprises. It also has a fabulous villain's lair, some really funny moments (like the aforementioned fight scene), some pretty spunky heroines, many outfits for your inner 6-year-old and did I mention the COSTUMES???Source URL: https://jembutmuwsexywallpaper.blogspot.com/search/label/jodis Visit jembutmuw sexy wallpaper for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection
