Page 8 - Seniorstoday April 2022 Issue
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Vijay Anand had a feel for the pulse of the Raj Kapoor, reeling under the debacle of
audience, the genius to tell colourful stories his Mera Naam Joker, made this young
with flair and he could picturise songs love story, with Rishi Kapoor and a
like no other director in the business. Dev gorgeous Dimple Kapadia, in which class
Anand was still going strong, Hema Malini and religion do not deter the two lovers,
was fresh-faced and stunning, still to make as they struggle to change the hearts and
a successful pair with Dharmendra (later minds of their hostile families. It had the
her husband). Anand tweaked the lost-and- most memorable meet-cute inspired by
found formula with scripting brilliance, the director’s own life (and meeting with
and had sequences like the fist fight Nargis), in which Bobby opens the door to
between long-lost brothers (Pran being the Raj with her face smeared with flour and he
other one), during which they recognize is smitten. Great songs, innocence, rebellion
each other, and Padma Khanna’s strip and the leading lady’s casual sex appeal
tease—that were emulated for years. rewrote the rules of romance in Bollywood.
Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971): Zanjeer (1973):
The hippie movement, a new bold ‘heroine’ arrives and
the peak of RD Burman, the man whose music symbolised
the music of the decade
The hippie movement had reached India,
drugs, free sex, rock ‘n’roll. A new bold
‘heroine’ Zeenat Aman arrived on the scene
and it was the peak of RD Burman, the
man whose music symbolized the music
of the decade. Arguably Dev Anand’s best The Angry Young Man is born.
film as director, it captured a movement of Prakash Mehra took the Salim-Javed
rebel youth trying to break the shackles of a script to several actors, who did not find
conservative society. the sullen hero appealing (what? no
songs for him?). It finally landed with
Bobby (1973): Amitabh Bachchan (reportedly on the
recommendation of Jaya Bhaduri, later
to become his wife), who had proved his
acting talent but had not yet found his
groove. The Angry Young Man was born,
who would take over the superstar tag and
come to symbolize a decade of upheaval and
unrest in the country.
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