Screen cap from Miss Mary (1957)… Not my favorite film among those I’ve seen lately, but it has its moments, especially in the early part, where this dialogue took place (with actors Om Prakash and Gemini Ganesan). I might write it up sometime…
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P.S. I also can relate very much to this sentiment expressed by Miss Mary herself (played by Meena Kumari):
I love this film, especially Kishore’s song where he pretends not to know how to sing…
Hope you find a job sooooon! Fingers crossed for you.
Thanks for the good wishes, Memsaab.
Did you ever have a chance to watch Aasha? Kishore’s song in Miss Mary looked to me like a rehearsal for his version of “Eena Meena Deeka.” Or maybe it was a spinoff. Both movies came out the same year, so it’s hard to tell. But I liked Aasha more.
Om Prakash’s street performances near the beginning reminded me of Bhai-Bhai, without Nimmi. I liked Bha-Bhai more.
I thought Miss Mary was better near the beginning. Once everybody was settled into those nice houses and the faked marriage got launched on its predictable trajectory, everything seemed a little too, well, safe.
I thought that Meena Kumari was the best thing about this movie, and I’ve never been a big Meena Kumari fan (so far). She was very funny here. And that scene around the “ritual” was excellent.
Meena’s fine comic performance was one of the only two real surprises that this film held for me. The other was seeing Gemini Ganesan acting in Hindi, without Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini or Vyjayanthimala anywhere in sight. Well, as you may know, when I first launched into my Indian film obsession, I was watching more Tamil films than Hindi ones. I’d like to see the Tamil version of this movie (with subtitles, if it could be found), just wondering how it compares.
Anyway, looks as though I’ve already started the writeup here! That’s no guaranty that I’ll finish it (so much to do and so much on the list), but maybe.
As one who is also on the lookout for a job I can totally relate to Gemini Ganesan’s sentiments! :-) All the best in your job-hunt.
Like memsaab I am a big fan of this movie and also of Meena Kumari’s comic turns (apart from this, the only lighthearted roles I’ve seen her in were Azaad and Bandish). Kishore Kumar I can only tolerate in small doses, so Asha didnt appeal to me so much (it didnt help that the print I saw broke off before the mystery was resolved and I was left with several loose ends!).
My knowledge of classic Bollywood is very limited (which is why your blog offers such fun learning), so please excuse the low filmy value add associated with this comment, but I just wanted to wish you the very best for the search. Good luck!
Bollyviewer, thank you for the good wishes, and good luck to you too. Like you and Memsaab, I also thought Meena Kumari was very good in her comic role.
It’s too bad you didn’t see the last part of Aasha. Depending on where your copy dropped off, you might have missed the best of it.
I read your writeup of Bandish, and I should see that one sometime. I also like Ashok Kumar. (Although I’m surprised he wasn’t included in complaints in your the “Evergreen” thread on your blog about middle aged guys being paired with very young women in Bollywood films. In an off-blog correspondence, one Internet friend was complaining to me about the creepiness of 38-year-old Ashok Kumar being in love with 16-year-old Madhubala. And almost ten years later, there they were together again in Howrah Bridge.)
You should take a look at Bhai-Bhai if you never saw it. That has Ashok Kumar in the role of a character with a lot of flaws (which is a role that, I agree, he can be most fun to watch in). I thought it also brought out some of the best of Kishore Kumar (who knows, even you might like him in this). And Nimmi was great here!
Regarding your other recommendation, Azaad… Well, I haven’t found that yet, though I looked in a couple of the stores in Jackson Heights. But obviously, I want to see that one, so I’ll keep looking.
Bollywood Fan, thank you for the good wishes, too. And I’m flattered that you’re actually learning something about classic Bollywood from this blog, since I haven’t had this preoccupation for very long at all. I am learning some things from your blog also…
Yes, I think Ashok Kumar did flawed characters very well – even better than he did the saintly/good ones. He was considered for the list but lost out to other (and better) contenders!!! He did play the hero well into his late 40s, but in B/W movies where very few actors actually looked old (the only exceptions I can recall are Raj Kapoor and Pradeep Kumar) and to be fair to him – he didnt dance around trees or play the callow youth. By the time the colored movies came in, he was into character and older side-hero roles.