I watched Tere Mere Sapne (1971) last night – another Bollywood film I’ve seen recently that I enjoyed a lot. It is a bit of a tear jerker, and some people won’t like so much pulling of the heart strings, but it pulled those strings well… And it’s one of those old(er) movies with some strong messages in it too. There’s a message about how a good person (this time a doctor who becomes famous) should not let success go to his head; there’s the message about not letting the practice of medicine be subjugated to the pursuit of wealth; there’s the very realistic message that someone with a lot of money can inflict a terrible tragedy on people and completely get away with it… There also are amusing scenes with the characters complaining about justice and morals and everything else being lost to people’s pursuit of individual status and their greed. (Once again, an old Indian movie – this time from the ’70s – contains social commentary that is all too relevant to “my own” country of the present day.)
Sometimes the main characters, Doctor Anand Kumar (played by Dev Anand, of course) and his good wife Nisha (Mumtaz) become a bit too one-sided. For instance, when Anand becomes too successful, he also becomes a bit too obviously a jerk (at least for a while). And all through the movie, Nisha might be a bit too unfalteringly good. (All right, maybe she’s not perfect – a bit stubborn, certainly, and maybe a little quick to feel jealous, but especially later on, I just wished she had some kind of temper (like just about everyone else here) or some vice. Mumtaz seems to play her well, though; I’d like to see her in more films.)
Also, at first, the couple together become a bit too sweet of an item; there was a point, in fact, where things got slightly mushy for my tastes, even in the S.D. Burman soundtrack (although he has some great tunes in this movie too).
(“Hey Maine Aasam Li”)
But then other things happen to complicate matters: There is the accident that seriously injures Nisha, the aforementioned tragedy caused by someone who can get away with it because he is rich. The movie certainly becomes more interesting after that.
And then there’s the appearance of the potential other woman, the famous actress called Malti Mala, which really livens things up. I think this character is pretty good, too, both sad and sympathetic but often a bit funny, the morose and attention-hungry movie star who feels that fame has caused everyone to stop appreciating her as a real human being. (A familiar character type, though done nicely to the hilt.) But Malti Mala becomes particularly impressive because of the real movie star playing her.
I’ve seen a few movies with Hema Malini, including the most famous – i.e., Sholay – but this is the first time that I began to feel that she has to be one of my favorites. (I know that I have a lot of company in that club…) It was inevitable that I’d fall for her dancing, considering her skills and vitality and the way that she uses bharatanatyam (among other classical forms), and, yes, I always saw her as being one of the prettiest. (An obvious heiress in these ways to a couple of South Indian actresses who became prominent in the ’50s – who are my favorites of all.) But I greatly appreciate the way she acted in this role too.
I found Malti Mala refreshing as the glamorous potential-other-woman because she actually is a sympathetic character, not the kind who would at all consciously think of seducing the good doctor into evil ways. In fact, it’s Malti Mala who suffers misfortune because of the sincerity of her feelings, and though she might seem a bit spoiled sometimes, she turns out to have dignity and grace.
I love the scene when Malti Mala learns about Anand’s marriage and his devotion to his wife (although that devotion has somewhat come under question in other scenes), and she runs out of the room to cry hysterically, then returns smiling and acting as though everything is fine. Hema Malini plays that scene perfectly, by the way.
Malini’s dance for the song “Thai Thai Thatha Thai” is out of this world. I love the elements of bharatanatyam – especially those yogic poses that involve balancing on one leg – mixed in with moves that are probably very far from that form. The glamor element is over-the-top (especially near the close), but deliberately and amusingly so. And the singing by Asha Bhosle is memorable.
(“Tha Thai Thatha Thai”)
Although I like Asha’s singing in “Mera Saajan Phool Kamal Ka” even more. And, as I said months ago, I love the dancing here by Jayshree T.; I think she is very unique as well as being agile and incredibly swift in her movements; plus, she surely is one of the greatest Bollywood vamps.
(“Mera Saajan Phool Kamal Ka”)
Dev Anand is good in this movie. Some people seem to be bothered that he’s a bit older here than in his great classics (and maybe by the fact that he’s more than two decades older than Mumtaz?), but I don’t have a big problem with that (after all, I myself, am almost as old as he was when he acted in this movie – though I was only 9 or 10 at the time that it came out). I don’t know if he’s as interesting here as he was in some of the earlier movies, but that might be because the character isn’t quite as interesting in this movie as the one Dev played in films such as Kala Bazar.
The writer/director is the same as in those earlier movies, i.e., Vijay Anand. One thing I like about these Vijay Anand movies (at least from the few that I’ve seen so far) is that there always is an emphasis on ethics and principles, but that emphasis tends to enhance the movie without ever weighing it down. And the morals of the story are conveyed in an emotionally effective manner, right up to the end.
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P.S. Vijay Anand does a nice acting job in the role of Dr. Dr. Jagannath Kothari, a supporting character who does a lot to help the plot along. To do this character and a few others in the film justice, I would have to write a much longer review – or else work on this one (maybe sometime later?).
If I could have dinner with any five people in the history of EVER, Vijay Anand would be one of them.
I’ve added to my Netflix queue! I only skimmed this so as to avoid spoilers, but I look forward to coming back and really reading this. Thanks for the tip. :)
You’re welcome, Sita-Ji. By the way, I noticed a strange similarity between the opening part of Hema Malini’s dance for ”Tha Thai Thatha Thai” and your avatar. :)
I had started this as just a post for that song, then expanded it into a full movie review, but forgot to change the URL – but now that’s fixed.
I don’t think there are too many spoilers here; I think I revealed the plot less than other reviews I saw. But I did mention a couple of things, and I understand that desire to avoid spoilers.
Memsaab: I know you love those Vijay Anand films. As you probably know, I looked at your review of Tere Mere Sapne a couple of times; that was what gave me the incentive to finally pick this one up. (Though it had been on my list for a while.)
I remember liking the movie a lot too, inspite of old Dev (the beautiful women and the lovely songs offset it!). Its a pretty heartwarming story and its nice to see some ideals in films after watching new movies that go to the opposite extreme of glorifying crime and violence.
Bollyviewer, your comments are so true. I don’t mind films that have sympathetic characters who commit crimes (certainly there are good classic films with sympathetic dacoits) and I certainly don’t avoid films just because of a little violence (though it does put them in a better light to speak of that as “action” :)…but without ideals or clear social context (or ethics/morals), it all gets pretty pointless. I find the biggest problem with those newer films that you talk about isn’t so much that they’re offensive as that they are just kind of boring, at least to me.
I FINALLY saw this. Good movie, but I was most moved by the FANTASTIC musical numbers! This is my first Jayshree T. movie, and I LOVED her. I had to watch her number over and over, as well as Hema’s 2 dance numbers. Delightful visual candy and great dancing.
I will have to do a post soon on this, but who knows when I’ll actually do it. :) I too liked the scene you describe so well here: “I love the scene when Malti Mala learns about Anand’s marriage and his devotion to his wife (although that devotion has somewhat come under question in other scenes), and she runs out of the room to cry hysterically, then returns smiling and acting as though everything is fine. Hema Malini plays that scene perfectly, by the way.: YES! And Malti was reminding me of Brittney Spears a bit too.
Great post friend!
Many thanks, Sita-ji. Your kind words actually helped to push me into finishing up and posting my long-awaited :) review of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai. I also might finally polish up that review of Pyaasa that I’ve been holding for a couple of weeks. (But no guarantees on that – I’m finding it difficult to get that one right.) And a certain movie with Shobana is not far behind…
I’m glad you enjoyed Tere Mere Sapne so much, and it’s especially nice to see that you share my appreciation of Jayshree T. (Not many people seem to be aware of her these days, from what I can tell.)
I wasn’t thinking of Britney Spears when I watched this movie, but Malti certainly has a little of that troubled pop star personality…