Page 46 - Seniorstoday January 2024 Issue
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his wife Sunita (Mumtaz) of having an played Bharat, the oldest brother of an
affair with Mohan (Sanjeev Kumar). Her impoverished family, who has to make
father (Rehman) gets her to divorce him sacrifices to provide for brothers and sister,
and remarry—at a time in Indian society and see his beloved leave him to marry
when divorce was rare. Apart from the a rich man. This film, like all the others
star cast, the film had a hit Anand Bakshi- had a hit Laxmikant-Pyarelal score, with
RD Burman score; every Holi, the bhaang songs like Mehngai Maar Gayi, Hai Hai
song, Jai Jai Shiv Shankar, is blared on a Yeh Majboori, Main Na Bhoolunga. It was
speakers all over the country. the apogee of his seven-film career as a
director, the quality of his work slid after
Rajnigandha: this, though Kranti (1981) was a box-office
Basu Chatterjee’s gentle success.
love triangle based
on a Manu Bhandari Woh Main Nahin:
story, starred Vidya This is the age of Tinder
Sinha, Amol Palekar swindlers and wedding
and Dinesh Thakur. cons, but PK Atre’s
Deepa is in love with the Marathi play To Mee
chatterbox Sanjay, whose Navhech was about a man
absent mindedness exasperates her; on a who cheated a succession
work visit to Mumbai, she reconnects with of women, by marrying
college sweetheart Navin, and is confused them and then running
about her feelings. The film is one of the off with their money. Mohan Segal’s Hindi
list of what came to be known as middle- film adaptation that watered down the
of-the-road cinema, which combined the satire, starred Navin Nischol as Vijay,
realism of art movies with elements from who is arrested and stands trial. But each
the mainstream. It turned out to be a hit, time a witness accuses him, he claims it
and for a while Amol Paleker, who made wasn’t him. Co-starring Rekha, Padmini
his Hindi movie debut with this film, was Kapila, Asha Sachdev, the film was funny,
called the poor man’s Amitabh, with his suspenseful and entertaining.
track record of small and medium budget
hits. Blazing Saddles:
Directed and so-written
Roti Kapda Aur Makaan: by Mel Brooks, who
That was the time also starred in it with
when Manoj Kumar’s Gene Wilder and
melodramas were Cleavon Little, this
blockbusters; for satirical Western is
this one, he lined up ranked at number six
a star cast including on the American Film
Amitabh Bachchan, Institute’s 100 Years
Shashi Kapoor, Zeenat 100 Laughs list. With his irreverent
Aman and Moushumi Chatterjee. He wit, Brooks took on corrupt politicians
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