While in Vienna Beth and Babasko, who can be extremely persuasive, asked me to translate one of our features into English - and I just can't say no, especially to lovely people like that. (Although I can now type नहीं - which is cooler than simply saying 'no', don't you think?)
So, let's take a break from Shashi's films for a little while and concentrate on his fabulous shashitastic fashion! Mission BAS proudly presents:
This part features Sharmilee (1971) as well as two of the 13 (according to IMDb) films in which Shashi acts alongside Sharmila Tagore: Aamne Samne (1967) and Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973).Let's start with Aamne Samne, a love story and thriller starring Shashi and Sharmila Tagore.The film starts on a sinister note: Deepak was accused of having murdered his wife but has been acqitted because there was no evidence. He changes his name and moves to a new apartment. His neighbour is Sapna, who is not only beautiful but also rich. And engaged to Prem (Prem Chopra). Of course that's not a problem and soon they get married in secret. Not long after somebody tries to murder Sapna ...After the initial romantic bit, Aamne Samne quickly turns into a thriller. Shashi's character is delightfully shady and you really aren't sure if he's a bad guy or not. Shashi's performance is fantastic as is Sharmila's and the two actors are definitely the best thing about the film. Director Suraj Prakash manages to create some real suspense but there are also lots of scenes, especially too much unneccessary comedy, that disturb the pace of the film and the climax is a wee bit too over the top. However, it's definitely worth watching and of course, the music is great. (Lots of psychedelic 60s head shaking! Yay!)
Next: Sharmilee (or Sharmeelee) , in which we get to watch Adorable!Shashi (in a uniform!) and equally cute Rakhee (in a double role!).Kanchan and Kamini are twins but totally different in character. While Kanchan is pathetically shy, friends with all sorts of small, furry animals and unfortunately also sort of boring, Kamini is the exact opposite: she's the epitome of the westernized girl, lots of fun and very likely to get in trouble.
Which she does right away, while on a trip to Kashmir. Luckily, the soldiers whose kitchen she tries to raid are nice blokes and don't try to shoot her on sight and so she gets to meet our dashing hero, Ajit. Who writes poetry. *sigh* Of course soldierboy is completely fascinated by Kamini - but doesn't manage to get her adress or anything. India is a small country after all ...Visiting his foster father Ajit is asked to consider marrying the neighbours' daughter - Kanchan, who he of course mistakes for Kamini. And trust me - he's not happy when he finds out the truth ... Sharmilee is quite enjoyable to watch (and not just because Shashi is extra good-looking), the songs are nice, the fashion is fantastic and the actors are a real pleasure, especially as the chemistry between Shashi and Rakhee is wonderful.However, the characterizations, the morals and the overall message might be a bit difficult to digest from a point of view that is as far removed from the context of the film as mine is for example. There are great posts by Beth and Carla on that question and also a really interesting article over at Bollywood501 - go read them now! (Okay, you can wait until after you finish this post ...) And finally: Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973) is definitely even more fun: Shashi! Sharmila! Rollerskates! Manmohan Desai! RD Burman! Shashi plays Prem, a rollerskating teacher who isn't the luckiest of people. He has just lost his job and is pretty broke when he meets Preeti, who is studying medicine. Of course she thinks he's an idiot, he falls in love with her etc. When Prem has to save Preeti's life by warming her up one night, she gets pregnant (for an in-depth-discussion of that crucial scene read Beth's post at Desicritics). Everything could be perfect if it wasn't for Preeti's dad, who doesn't want her to marry just any poor guy. His chosen son-in-law is the good-looking doctor Amar (Shatrugan Sinha) and so he does everything in his power to tear our happy couple apart. And he's successful. For the time being.The music is great fun, there's rollerskating galore, the lead actors are great in their roles (I especially liked Shatrugan Sinha's character) and this is one of the few films which have a child actor (Master Tito) I not only manage to tolerate but actually really like. Manmohan Desai manages to combine the plot of a romantic comedy with some great lost-and-found masala fun into a highly entertaining package. If you're prone to sentimental tears - make sure you have a few boxes of Kleenex ready!
This part is not only about a truly fabulous shirt but also includes multiple Kapoor goodness as both films star Babita, the woman who would later marry his nephew Randhir Kapoor (later they got divorced), which made her give up acting because the Kapoor women weren't supposed to work as actresses.* (Boooo!) Today, Karisma and Kareena, her two daughters, more than make up for that (Yay!).
In 1968 Shashi, Babita and the most fantastic shirt on the planet starred in Haseena Maan Jayegi. And if that wasn't enough, Shashi also played a double role! Rakesh is the College's resident womanizer and really popular, probably because he gives great lessons on girls:
(Or maybe because secretly all the other boys fancy him? He makes for a fantastic courtesan ...)
One day he sees Archana and wants to make her his next conquest - but of course she isn't interested in someone like Rakesh. What she doesn't know, however, that Rakesh's doppelganger is also at the same college. Kamal is a poor orphan and an all around nice guy who even likes poetry. No wonder that Archana falls in love with him. Who wouldn't? Rakesh of course isn't too happy about that. Things get very dramatic ...
The film isn't perfect, mainly because the script is quite flawed and because there are far too many scenes with Johnny Walker, but Shashi and Babita do a really good job, some of the scenes are great and I had lots and lots of fun watching it (well, I had to admit that I didn't watch it in one go - I rewound and rewatched Suno Suno and Oh Dilbar Janiye about 15 times before I went on to watch the rest ... ). The music is really catchy and some songs are fantastic. (Btw. I'm still trying to find out which songs are used in Suno Suno - I know that one song is from Jab Jab Phool Khile but the others? Help!)
(I've just noticed that the only screencaps I have are of the shirt and the first song, but Maria has some others in her review.)
The second film is Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati, sadly there are hardly any remarkable shirts and only one Shashi, but at least the music is fabulous, Shashi is adorable, Babita grumpy, Prem Chopra suitably smarmy and nasty and there's adorable Laxmi Chhaya (famous for her headshaking skills in Teesri Manzil) and Helen! With feathers! Yay!
Plus: Most of the costumes make up for the lack of amazing shirts. And then there's this bedroom:
And some extremely psychdedelic wallpaper:
Rich girl Deepali is in love with Ajit (Prem Chopra) - a truly nasty character who is actually sort-of married to pregnant night club dancer Sherry. In his "slimy dirtiness" (I'm quoting the text on the DVD cover here) the evil villain even forces Sherry to have an abortion. While at the same time acting all charming and lovey-dovey with Deepali. Booo!
Fortunately for Deepali her uncle has more taste than she has and tries to set her up with yummy Pritam (Shashi) - and he's prepared to use any means necessary. As is Ajit.
Unfortunately the film does drag a bit in the middle - but the second half has enough dramatic revelations for five films, so that's alright.
Both films are really entertaining, while a tiny bit less over the top than most of Shammi's films and so I guess they're a good introduction into 60s romantic comedy. And did I mention that Shashi is more than schnuffig while doing the funky 60s headshake (or rather full-body-shake)? You want proof? Here it is: Here it will be, once youtube actually finishes processing. Whenever that will be.Update: Yay! Finally!
And for the Helenfreaks out there: Feathers!
* One exeption from that rule was Shashi's wife Jennifer Kendal, even though she wasn't in a lot of films.
Chronologically this is actually part 3 but as the powers that be somehow don't want me to watch Shashi's first adult performance in Dharmputra, the first half of the 60s will have to wait. (Babasko however was much more lucky than me and actually has seen the film, so click here for her review.)
But don't worry, the second half has some pretty good stuff to offer.
A Guide to Shashi
Part 2 - Mr. Überschnuffig
Such as Waqt (1965), which is not only probably responsible for introducing the lost-and-found theme but whose sets and casting are also extremely lavish (Yash Chopra obviously had quite some money to spend). And of course there's Shashi in überschnuffig-mode (Maria has some very nice screencaps in her review, my DVD drive is still broken so no caps from me - I'll put some in once the player is working).
The plot: Earthquake separates family, 20 years later their paths cross. Shashi is the youngest son of the family and actually gets to stay with his mother. While working as a chauffeur to earn money for his education he falls in love with a rich girl (Sharmila Tagore) who just happens to be his brother's step-sister. Said brother has also fallen in love - unfortunately he's not the only one as brother no. 3, who has become a thief, is interested in the same girl. Lots of drama. Despite that, the film is unfortunately somewhat boring at times. And - I feel bad for saying that - the songs don't exactly help. While they are really lovely individually (and are mostly sung by Asha! Yay!), there are also quite a lot of them in the film, making it drag a bit. Still, Waqt is one of those films everybody should have watched if only because it's one of the biggest blockbusters of the time and really nice to look at.
In the same year, Shashi had another big success with Jab Jab Phool Khile, a love story set, of course, in Kashmir, which definitely deserves mention as one of the main characters as it's filmed beautifully. The film's message is a wee bit conservative but the film itself is quite sweet - and there are bits in which Shashi looks extra-adorably überschnuffig:
He plays a poor Kashmiri boy who rents out a houseboat to rich heiress Rita (Nanda) and guess what? They fall in love. The problem is that there is also a rich guy who wants to marry Rita despite her rather strange taste in hats:
And daddy dearest isn't too pleased with her choice either ...
The film apparently was director Suraj Prakash's greatest hit and the music by Kalyanji-Anandji, which is really nice, did quite well, too. If you're in need for some really cute romance this is a perfect choice. Also, you get to see an ending that has been quite ... inspirational for one or two other Bollywood directors ... Some random Shashi-cuteness:
I did promise to do an extra special Shashi post today - but as my computer still isn't doing what I want it to (Boooo!), it will take a while to actually finish the whole post. The first part is finished, though and so my Guide to Shashi (and his shirts) will be posted in several installments.
Note on the language: As Beth, who insists on saying far too many far too nice things about me and who has recently joined the ranks of Shashiists, gave me the idea for these posts, I will be doing them in English. I just can't subject anybody to the torture of autmatic translations.
A Guide to All Things Shashi including Shirts, Skirts, Poetry and Mushrooms. Part 1
Let's start with two films that sort of mark the extremes of Shashi's acting career: Awaara (1951) and In Custody (1993). (Actually, that's wrong. Awaara wasn't his first film - according to IMDb it was his 12th! - and In Custody not his last - but I haven't seen any of the earlier and later films and they are great films so let's just overlook that ...)Awaara (which is not a very funny comedy as the organisers of Stutgart's Bollywood & Beyond Festival seem to think) is one of those must-see-films that probably don't really need any introduction. There are heapsand heaps of good reviews - so I'm going to concentrate on young Mr. Adorable: He's actually very very good in the film, which shows him playing Raj Kapoor's character as a child during the first part. Unfortunately, there aren't any psychedelic shirts in sight - one drawback of black&white films - but we are talking about a film by the great master of psychedelic songs, Raj Kapoor, and so there is at least a song sequence (Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi) which really makes up for that. (Without Shashi, but well, you can't have everything ...)
In Custody, an adaptation of Anita Desai's novel, is the directoral debut of Ismail Merchant of Merchant-Ivory fame. Shashi has worked closely with Merchant-Ivory during his career - several of these films will be mentioned later on.
This film is also sadly lacking in psychedelic shirts and scenes - although there is quite a lot of alcohol and at least some drugs - mostly taken by Shashi's character, a brilliant but also very pathetic Urdu poet who prefers Keats to his own poetry, and his admirers (well, scroungers would be more appropriate). The great cast also includes Om Puri (as a University lecturer trying to rescue Urdu by taping poetry recitals) and Shabana Azmi and Sushma Seth (as the poet's wives - great performances from both!). Although the film is very flawed it still highly enjoyable and beautifully shot - and Shashi gets to recite poetry with that incredibly swoon-inducing voice of his. *sigh*
