Reviews

Dev Anand abhors violence and initially refuses to join the armed forces, but has to bow to his father's wishes. After some time there, he comes back, but as destiny would have it, he finds himself in the thick of things, when he sees the enemy working against the country's interests. Leaving his beloved, Wahida Rehman, behind, he goes abroad to unveil the conspiracy and befriends Zahida, the enemy's moll. Wahida follows him but is dejected seeing him with Zahida. In time Dev also comes back and is engulfed in full scale war to defeat the enemy.

Dev's first official attempt at direction, though it is said that he had a lot to do with the direction of "Teen Devian" and "Gambler". He did a reassuring job. The lead players were all good. Technically the film was polished. Yet again, Sachin Deb Burman gave excellent music. His own rendering " Prem ke pujari, ham hain" was superb. Kishore Kumar's "Phoolon ke rang se, dil ki qalam se" was another excellent number, and so was Lata's "Rangeela re, tere rang se, yun ranga hai, mera man". Another typical Burman duet was "Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye, phoolon ka shabab", sung by Kishore and Lata. Punjabi folk music came out beautifully in "Doongi tennu reshmi rumaal", sung by Lata and chorus. Other good numbers include Manna Dey and Mohd. Rafi's "Taqat watan ki hamse hai", the marching song, sung with chorus, and the happy-go-lucky number "Gham pe dhool daalo, kehkaha lagalo", sung by Kishore and Bhupendra. Lyrics by the renowned poet, Neeraj, were excellent.

Overall, a reasonably good film by Dev Anand.

The inexperienced and bungling advocate, Dev Anand, goes looking out for rented accommodation in the metropolis, but nobody was prepared to entertain a young bachelor. Dev disguises himself as an old bearded man, shoulders drooping with age, and manages to land himself as a paying guest in the apartment of a retired man, who has a young daughter, played by Nutan. And of course, the secret is out before long, and both fall in love. Dev starts working with a very renowned advocate, played by Jagirdar, whom Nutan's friend, played by Shobha Khote, had married as he was immensely wealthy. In no time, she starts feeling lonely as the old man was oblivious of the needs of the young woman. Shobha starts wooing Dev. Yaqub, Nutan's good for nothing and drunkard brother-in-law, starts blackmailing Dev and Shobha, and in the process, Jagirdar is killed. The long drawn out climax in the court room, ends with the culprit being identified, and the lovers united to "live happily ever after".

The more enjoyable moments in the film are when Dev looks for the accommodation, his impersonation as a Muslim old man, and later when he tries to woo Nutan. Their romantic scenes are very infectious. Both Dev and Nutan form a very lovable pair, as was seen whenever they acted together in other films also, like "Manzil", "Baarish" and "Tere Ghar Ke Samne". Both of them gave creditable performances. Yaqub also gave a good account of himself.

S. D. Burman came up with another stunning musical score. Kishore Kumar's "Mana janab ne pukara nahin, ya mera saath bhi gawara nahin" and "Hai hai yeh nigahen, are kar den sharabi jise chahen" are his evergreen numbers. Burman dada's unique style in duet composition is again visible in everlasting songs like "Ho, nigahen mastana, dekh saman hai suhana" and "Chhod do aanchal zamana kya kahega". Lata Mangeshkar was exeedingly good in the sad song "Chand phir nikla, magar tum na aaye". She also had another pleasant number in "Chupke chupke, rukte rukte, maine dekha".

In short, a very enjoyable fair.

Vijay Anand, who wrote and directed the film, had Dev Anand proceeding to Bombay by road, in a ramshackle truck converted into an all purpose van. On the way he finds that he has company in the form of Kalpana Kartik, who was running away from home, as she was being married to a man she did not like. A simple narrative made thoroughly enjoyable by excellent screenplay and dialogues, and, as was expected from the house of Navketan and their almost permanent music maestro, S. D. Burman, a feast of hauntingly melodious musical score. Dev Anand, the epitome of the urban youth, was his usual debonair self, and had the viewers spellbound by his charming portrayal. Kalpana Kartik was adequate. Shashikala was good. Technically, all the departments did excellent work.

Burman dada was always at his best when scoring for Dev Anand. Kishore Kumar's "Ham hain raahi pyar ke, hamse kuchh na boliye" to this day is one of his best numbers. Dada continued with his unique style of composing duets, and gave three excellent numbers in "Kali ke roop mein, chali ho dhoop mein, kahan?" by Mohd. Rafi and Asha Bhosle, "Ankhon mein kya ji, rupahla baadal" by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle, and "Ho' o' aja panchhi akela hai", again by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle. The cabaret song by Asha Bhosle and Geeta Dutt "Kya ho phir jo din rangila ho" was very catchy. Asha's "Dhalki jaaye chunariya hamari ho Raam" was a haunting number, whereas her "Jaane jigar hai hai, dekh to idhar hai hai" was a seductive number. Vijay Anand's picturisation of the climax, as Shashikala dances to Geeta Dutt's "See le zuban" was quite ably done, something which his elder brother, Chetan Anand, had done in "Taxi Driver", again in the climax, when Shiela Ramani was dancing to Lata's "Ai meri zindagi, aaj raat jhoom le". It is, however, to be noted that the story and screenplay of that film was also written by Vijay Anand only.

Overall, an excellent entertainer.

Though the story may seem hackneyed now, it had not been used too many times when this film was released. It was ably directed by Subodh Mukerji. The film was a personal triumph for Dev Anand, who carried the whole film on his shoulders, and acted with aplomb in three different get ups, that of the "munimji" with long moustaches and stooping shoulders, his usual dashing self and that of a soothsayer. He lost the Best Actor Filmfare award that year to Dilip Kumar, who was also seen in a swashbuckling role of "Azad", also donning three different get ups in the film. Dev was ably supported by Nalini Jaywant, Pran and Nirupa Roy, who was to become famous for similar roles, culminating in "Deewar" as Amitabh and Shashi Kapoor's sacrificing mother. Another highlight of the film was Sachin Deb Burman's music, with the majority of the songs becoming chartbusters. The most popular song was Kishore Kumar's "Jeevan ke safar mein rahi, milte hain bichhad jane ko". Lata's sad version of the song was equally well rendered. Among Lata's other numbers was the classical based light number, "Ghayal hiraniya, main ban ban boloon", picturised on Nalini Jaywant, when she is waiting for Dev Anand in a forest, and as she is singing, she gets frightened by wild animals and birds, all beautifully composed in the song and the sargam. Her other numbers were "Ek nazar bas ek nazar", "Ankh khulte hi tum chhup gaye ho kahan". Other good numbers were "Nain khoye khoye, tere dil mein bhi kuchh hoye re" by Lata and chorus, "O' Shiv ji bihane chale palki sajaye ke" by Hemant Kumar and chorus, and "Zindagi hai zinda" by Geeta Dutt and chorus. A peculiarly melodious song was "Dil ki umangen hain jawan, rang mein dooba hai saman" by Hemant Kumar and Geeta Dutt, with a comic element added in the voice of one Thakur, wherein Pran tries to woo Nalini Jaywant by singing to her when he sees Dev Anand doing the same.

In short, an enjoyable movie with lovable music score.

Ramesh Saigal, who had earlier given films like "Shaheed" starring Dilip Kumar, Kamini Kaushal and Chandramohan, "Shikast" starring Dilip Kumar again with Nalini Jaywant, as also "Railway Platform", in which he introduced Sunil Dutt, has not given a film meeting his standards. Dharmendra and Sadhna are adequate. The only highlight of the movie is the musical score by Sachin Dev Burman. Lata Mangeshkar's numbers are all beautiful, including "Tum mujhse door chale jaana na", "Main to tere rang rati", "O' mere bairagi bhanwra", and "Sach kehti hai duniya, isaq par zor nahin" are lovely numbers. Another beautiful number is the Lata - Rafi duet, "Yeh dil diwana hai, dil to diwana hai". Rafi's "Mehbooba teri tasveer" is also good.

The story is set in the picturesque locales of Simla before moving to the bylanes and music industry of Bombay. Dev Anand, who had just returned from England after studying in the Royal Academy of Music, and K. N. Singh, his father, have a constant tiff as Dev wants to make music making his career, while Singh wants him to carry on with his civil contracting business. Things worsen when Nutan comes to meet Dev. She coaxes him to go to Bombay and prove that he can make a successful career in music also. Dev becomes successful, but falls prey to the machinations of a dancer, who breaks all links between Nutan and Dev. He goes to see Nutan, but she was being married to Krishan Dhawan (the only weak link in the story). A dejected Dev comes back and takes to drinks. When Nutan comes to know of the truth, she comes to Bombay to stop him from ruining his life and career. On the day when Dev has won a major award for his work, both Dev and Nutan have a confrontation, later joined by Krishan Dhawan, who dies in an accident, and the two lovers are united.

Dev Anand gave a scintillating, and restrained, performance as a lover and later drunkard. Nutan, as usual, was superb. Sachin Deb Burman gave a memorable and haunting musical score in this film as well. His experiments of giving new ambiance to the duets in Indian Film Music, which started with films like "Paying Guest", "Nau Do Gyarah", "Kala Pani" etc., continued in this film, and he gave three lovable numbers in "Dil to hai deewana na, mane na bahana na", "Chupke se mile pyaase pyaase kuchh ham, kuchh tum" and "Ai kaash chalte milke, yeh teen raahi dil ke, chaand aur main aur too". His continued experimentation to give a different form to ghazal was evident in Manna Dey's "Ham dam se gaye, hamdam ke liye, hamdam ki qasam, hamdam na mila". Manna Dey's comic number "Are hato, kaahe ko jhoothi banao batiyan" was an excellent composition, equally well enacted by Mahmood, in the role of a paan-shop wala, crazy about singing. And of course, the most popular number was the sad version of "Yaad aa gayin, woh nasheeli nigahen", soulfully sung by Hemant Kumar.

Dev Anand again plays the role of an anti-hero with a lot of restraint and deftness. A rare film, by Indian standards, where the heroine is shown falling in love twice. Wahida Rehman is initially in love with Vijay Anand, who, having gone abroad for higher studies, falls in love with another woman, and so does Wahida, who, after initial reluctance, falls for Dev Anand. The film is also notable for the fact, that in this film, all the three Anand brothers, Chetan, Dev and Vijay acted together. Chetan Anand gave an excellent performance in a cameo role of an Advocate, who fights for the reformed Dev Anand. With excellent screenplay and dialogues, the film showed the calibre of the young director, Vijay Anand, who was directing his second movie only. Another highlight of the film was its music by Sachin Deb Burman. Mohammad Rafi's "Apni to har saans ik toofan hai" and "Khoya khoya chand, khula aasmaan" are excellent numbers. Another good song by him is "Sooraj ke jaisi golai, chanda si thandak hai paai". His duet with Geeta Dutt "Rimjhim ke tarane leke aai barsaat" to date remains one of the best rain songs. Asha Bhosle's solo "Sach hue sapne mere, jhoom le O' man mere" is one of her best songs. Her duet with Manna Dey "Sanjh dhali, dil ki lagi" is a typical experimental number by Burman da. The film also has a beautiful bhajan in "Na main dhan chahun, na ratan chahun", sung by Geeta Dutt and Sudha Malhotra.

Raj Khosla, Guru Dutt's assistant, who had already made a mark with "Milap" and "C.I.D", showed his command over the medium with this film. His acknowledged forte in the picturisation of songs, along with such masters like Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy and Vijay Anand, was witnessed in the scene with two songs, wherein Nalini Jaywant first sings "Najar laagi raja tore bangle par", almost immediately followed by Rafi's evergreen number "Ham bekhudi mein tumko pukaare chale gaye". The three characters forming the love triangle, played by Dev Anand, Madhubala and Nalini Jaywant, gave excellent performances. Dev and Nalini won the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress awards from Filmfare in this movie. The film had a lovable musical score, with numbers "Dil laga ke kadar gayi pyare", "Jab naame mohabbat leke kisi nadaan ne daman phailaya", sung by Asha Bhosle being other very good numbers apart from the two mentioned above. The romantic interludes between Dev Anand and Madhubala, including the duet "Achha ji main haari, chalo maan jaao na", are the highlights of the film. The dance song "Dil wale, ab teri gali tak aa pahunche" is a lovely number, excelled only later by Burman da's "Jewel Thief" number "Hothon pe aisi baat main daba ke chali aayi".

With women's education as its theme, the film was a reasonably good social entertainer with good music by Sachin Dev Burman. Lata Mangeshkar's "Pawan diwani, na maani", "Khanke kangna, bindiya hanse", "Jaani tum to dole daga daike" stand out. Mukesh, who has sung very few songs for Sachin da had a good song in "Ai dile awara chal, phir wahin dobaara chal".

Shakti Samanta's rare attempt in having a story with a village backdrop! Showed the uplifting of the villagers' lives with the construction of dams. Sunil Dutt did well, but Madhubala was gorgeous. Music by S. D. Burman was good, particularly the songs, "Janu janu ri kahe khanke hai tora kangna" by Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle and "Chand sa mukhda kyon sharmaya" by Mohd. Rafi and Asha Bhosle being really good. "Yeh chanda roos ka na ye japan ka" and "O' mehnatkash insaan jaag utha" were other good numbers.

A film, slickly directed by Chetan Anand and produced by Dev Anand's Navketan. A very good entertainer with very good music by Sachin Dev Burman. After having given music for a classic like "Devdas" in 1955, Burman da proved his versatality as he came up trumps with his musical score in this light hearted entertainer in 1956. Kishore Kumar's "Ai meri topi palat ke aa" and " Dene wala jab bhi deta, poora chhapad phaad ke deta" are lovely light numbers. So are the two duets by Kishore and Asha Bhosle, "Aji aaj koi na hamen chhediyo" and "Woh dekhen to unki inayat, na dekhen to rona kya"! Kishore's "Dukhi man mere, sun mera kehna" remains one of his best numbers ever. Dev Anand gave a good performance, while Sheila Ramani was a perfect foil to him.

This film was just excellent on all counts, be it direction, cinematography, acting or music. A classic produced and directed by Bimal Roy. And what performances ! Motilal, Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala and Suchitra Sen, all excelled. And what a musical score ! Talat Mahmood's "Mitwa, lagi re yeh kaisi" and "Kisko khabar thi, kisko yakeen tha, aise bhi din aayenge" are among his best numbers. So are Lata Mangeshkar's "Jise tu qabool karle", "O' jaane wale, ruk ja koi dam" and "Ab aage teri marzi" are excellent numbers. Two other songs, "Woh na aayenge palat kar, chahe lakh ham bulaayen", sung by Mubarak Begum and "Manzil ki chaah mein" are haunting songs.

The four numbers, "Rote rote guzar gai raat re", "Jhan jhan jhan paayal baaje" "Main albeli" and "Jaane na hai ye duniyan", the first one jointly written by Kaifi Azmi and Shailendra, and the rest by Shailendra, and all of them sung by Lata Mangeshkar, are beautiful.

This was Navketan's second production, after "Afsar". Dev Anand, the Producer, gave chance to Guru Dutt to make his directorial debut. The story of an urban unemployed youth taking to crime because of circumstances, has excellent performance from Geeta Bali and equally unforgettable music by S. D. Burman, who experimented with the Ghazal format, in its orchestration, for the first time with the song "Tadbeer se bigdi hui taqdeer bana le". With this film Dev Anand picked up his style, which were to keep him on top, alongwith Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, for decades to come.

An excellent thriller of all time. Vijay Anand excels as Director and Editor. Performances by Dev Anand, Vyjayantimala, Tanuja and Ashok Kumar prove to be an asset to the film which has its screenplay worked out to the minutest detail. Cinematography adds to the mystery, glamour and other requirements of the story as it evolves. And to top it all, music by Sachin Dev Burman is unforgettable. "Yeh dil na hota bechara" by Kishore Kumar, "Raat akeli hai" by Asha Bhosle, "Rula ke gaya sapna mera" by Lata, "Aasman ke niche" by Lata and Rafi and "Hothon pe aisi baat main" by Lata, again reaffirm Burman Dada's unique stature as a top notch composer with a style of his own.

This was Guru Dutt's second movie, after Dev Anand's production "Baazi". Guru Dutt was sort of finding his bearings through commercially successful movies. And after "Baazi", this was the second film in which Dev Anand also came through as a confident star/actor, with a style uniquely his own. Geeta Bali, the most gifted actress of the Indian screen ever, gave a scintillating performance. But what stood out most was the musical score of the film. Till date, the sweetness of the melodious "Yeh raat yeh chandni phir kahan, sun ja dil ki dastaan", sung by the heavenly voices Hemant Kumar has not been equalled by any song of this type, composed by any music composure. Most other songs were based on the Goan folk music, probably first time used by a music director.

A perfect commercial film made in the 'art film' genre. One of Bimal Roy's best films. Cinematography by Kamal Bose is superb. And performance by Nutan in the role of Kalyani is one of the best ever performances by any heroine on the Indian screen. Musical score by S. D. Burman is unforgettable and shall always remain so. Two songs by Asha Bhosle viz., "Ab ke baras bhej, Bhaiya ko Babul" and "O' panchhi pyare, sanjh sakale" are among her best. Again both the songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar, viz., 'Mera gora ang laile, mohe shaam rang daide' and 'Jogi jab se too aya mere dware" are again superb. And a song each by Mukesh (O' jaane wale ho sake to laut ke aana), and Burman dada himself (O' re maanjhi) are again among their best ever. Manna Dey's (Mat ro Maata), a patriotic song, is also a soul stirring number.

In short, a classic of Indian Cinema.

It is unfortunate that a Director of Mukul Anand's calibre, could not find a better subject, instead of going in for a typical revenge story. Again their experiment of having Amitabh with a different voice failed miserably, and they had to re-dub the film and release it again. In short a technically superior film, but a great chance lost. Another sad part about this film was that, like other Amitabh starrers with violent themes, this film also has mediocre musical score.

Apart from the good direction of Raj Khosla, and good performances by the lead players, Dev Anand and Suchitra Sen, the music by S. D. Burman was the highlight of the movie. Three songs particularly stand out. "Chal ri sajni, ab kya soche", by Mukesh, "Saathi na koi manzil, diya hai na koi mehfil" by Mohd. Rafi and "Deewana mastana hua Dil" by Mohd. Rafi and Asha Bhosle.