Friday, July 17, 2009

Movies of Yester years

To day I saw the Chori Chori dvd. It is an A.V.M.production. Raj Kapoor, Nargis and Pran were the main stars of the movie. Surprisingly Rajacholana appeared in a small side role. It’s a simple story. Rich and aristocrat Nargis escaped from her home in order to marry Pran. On her way she meets poor writer Raj Kapoor and both fall in love. After a slight misunderstanding lovers united in the end. It’s a remake of Hollywood film. It Happened In one night.

The film was released in 1956.This movie might have been appealed to the public when it was released. I could not remember. I was 10 years old. My known knowledge of Hindi film at the time is Janak Janak Payal Baje. My father was a great fan of V.Shantaram. He took the entire family to watch the movie. I could not understand Hindi. Yet I liked the dance sequence filmed in Brindavan Gardens. I succumbed to Hindi movies when I entered the college. The captivating songs drew me to Hindi films repeatedly in those days. Kishore Kumar became my icon. Listening to Hindi songs became a lifetime addict to me.

When I watched Chori Chori with English sub titles I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Westernized acting of Raj Kapoor is a welcome change from that of theatrical acting styles of Tamil actors of that period. Chori Chori is a musical hit. The music by Sanker Jaikishen is marvelous. Raj Kapoor Shankar Jaikishen is a highly successful combination. The Latha solo Rasika Baloma is one of my favourite hits of all time. The tilting Mannedy-Latha duet A Raat Bheegi- Bheegi and Aaaja Sanam Mathur haunt me even after fifty years .. Surprisingly Mukesh did not sing for Raj Kapoor. Why I don’t know. Any body knows the real reason? Chori Chori deservedly won the film fare award for best music for 1957.

Listen to the songs



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