Filmi Geek

Kabhi Kabhie (1976)

कभी कभी

Dir. Yash Chopra

For the "Neetu Singh-along" - the weeklong blog tribute to Neetu Singh conceived by Beth - I decided to watch Kabhi Kabhie ("sometimes"), my second Yash Chopra multi-starrer in a row after Waqt.   With respect to Neetu ji, I should have quit while I was ahead.  Yash Chopra presumably tacked the "e" on the end of his film's title for favorable numerology - but in this case, "e" stands for "eh".  

Amit (Amitabh Bachchan), a brooding, sensitive poet, falls in love with Pooja (Rakhee), a young student moved by his lyrical way with words.  But Pooja's family has engaged her to a businessman called Vijay Khanna (Shashi Kapoor), and rather than challenge their wishes, Pooja tearfully parts with Amit and marries Vijay.  Vijay is spirited, cheerful, and doting, and Pooja's life with him is not unhappy.  They have a son, who grows up to be an equally energetic young man, Vicky (Rishi Kapoor).  Vicky courts and wins his schoolmate Pinky (Neetu Singh).  Upon their engagement, Pinky learns that the loving couple she thought of as her parents (Simi Garewal and Parikhat Sahni) are adoptive, and she sets off to find her biological mother (Waheeda Rehman).  Vicky follows her, and the layered entanglements that ensue threaten to reopen ancient wounds for the older generation that Vicky and Pinky never imagined.

Beth summed up Kabhi kabhie in two words - hypocrisy and moping - and I almost feel I have nothing to add to that.  The film plods along through acres and acres of people feeling sorry for themselves, especially Amitabh Bachchan, who is lethargic, inert, and thoroughly wasted in this role.  The hypocrisy is saved for the very end, but is also borne on the shoulders of poor Amitabh, who seems to have been charged with the task of sucking all joy and entertainment value from the movie.  Vijay is more forgiving than Amit, but Shashi does so much shouting in this movie that I stopped listening to anything he said halfway through, and barely registered his magnanimity at the end.

Thankfully the younger generation provides some much-needed spark, and Vicky and Pinky's early scenes (and songs) are charming enough to keep the audience awake through the film's middle section.  But the loyal Vicky's arc takes a turn for the "WTF?" after he lovingly follows Pinky on her quest, as he inexplicably and insincerely courts Pinky's half-sister Sweety (Naseem), causing needless heartache to both girls.

In fact, it's the women who salvage whatever there is that makes Kabhi Kabhie worth watching - the indefatigable grace of Waheeda Rehman biting back secret sorrows; the poise of Rakhee torn between the memory of passionate love and the present kindness of a dear, doting husband; and Neetu Singh, who manages to keep the ingenuous Pinky charming and sympathetic despite her boneheaded insistence on marching unannounced into her birth-mother's life.

And so it is not a complete waste to have watched this film for the Neetu Singh-along, because its dull mediocrity throws into sharp relief just how much she brings to the table.  In contrast to another of her multi-starrers, the magnificent Amar Akbar Anthony, which had so much going on that one is left wishing there were time for more Neetu (among other things), watching Kabhi Kabhie I wish there was more of Neetu and less of nearly everything else.  I'll go back to listening to the lovely title song - one of the first film songs I ever heard and loved before I'd seen a single Hindi movie - and forget the rest of this largely forgettable movie. 

Waqt (1965)

वक़्त

Dir. Yash Chopra

I love 1960s Bollywood, with its grand homages to modern style and its riffs on the tension between tradition and modernity.  My favorite Hindi films of that era delight me with their heady fusion of East and West - not to mention stars in cigarette pants dancing the Mashed Potato or driving flashy mod roadsters, and sets decked out in elaborate mood-lit pastels.  And for a generous helping of all of these, the multi-star hit Waqt ("time") absolutely delivers.  

Lala Kedarnath (Balraj Sahni) is on top of the world.  With a booming retail business, a beautiful wife Laxmi (Achala Sachdev) whom he adores, and three adorable little boys, Kedarnath believes that fate has dealt him a winning hand, and life will only get better.  But, the film tells us in the opening voice-over, time's "moving finger" has other plans for Kedarnath.  A terrible earthquake destroys Kedarnath's business, and his family is scattered in its aftermath.  Laxmi wanders through refugee camps with their youngest son, eventually finding work as a seamstress, and the boy Vijay grows into a serious young graduate (Shashi Kapoor).  The middle son is taken in by a wealthy childless couple, growing into Ravi (Sunil Dutt), a playful young man on the threshold of a career in law.  The oldest son Raja, after a brief stint in an orphanage run by a cruel schoolmaster (Jeevan), escapes to a life on the streets.  Taken under the wing of a crooked diamond dealer named Chinoy (Rehman), Raja matures to become a suave hustler (Raaj Kumar).  After learning of Raja's treatment at the orphanage, Kedarnath murders the schoolmaster in a fit of rage and frustration, and spends upwards of twenty years in prison.  But destiny works toward reuniting the star-crossed family.  Raja and Ravi both fall for the same girl, Meena (Sadhana), the beautiful daughter of an upstanding jurist.  And Ravi's adoptive sister Renu (Sharmila Tagore) meets the studious Vijay in school and pursues a romance with him.  Vijay, eager to earn some money to help the ailing Laxmi (and to be worthy of Renu), takes a job as Chinoy's driver.  Soon, Chinoy's shady dealings bring the three unknown brothers together, with lives hanging in the balance.

The box cover of the Waqt DVD claims that the film is a pioneering multi-starrer that defined the Yash Chopra style for decades to come.  I can easily believe this.  Waqt is truly enormous in scope, with equal attention given to all its numerous stars.  (Though, I couldn't resist the thought that the movie could have been even more epic had the brothers been played by Shashi, Shammi, and Raj Kapoor.)  Even the parents get a song of their own, the beautiful qawwali "Ae meri zohra jabeen", picturized on a dashing Balraj Sahni and a blushing Achala Sachdev. 

The movie's ultimate message is that the wheel of fortune never stops turning, and even its happy ending is tempered by Kedarnath's somber reminder that joy in the moment is only fleeting, and luck can change in an instant.  In addition to that sobering idea, such themes as destiny, sacrifice, familial devotion, and transcending of class barriers that characterize many Yash Chopra (and, later, Aditya Chopra) films are amply explored in Waqt as well.  Young Vijay is prepared to sacrifice his career prospects, his love for Renu, and even his principles to save his ailing mother - and his piety protects both of them, in grand dramatic style, when he breaks down after swearing on a copy of the Bhagavadgita.  Ravi initially turns up his nose at Vijay, telling him that a driver should know his place - but he is set straight by a chastisement from the democratically-minded Renu.  Even the hardened Raja is not immune from the pull of fraternal responsibility, willingly laying everything he values (including Meena) at the feet of Ravi when he learns of their true relation.  Three decades before Karan Johar made a film under the Yash Raj banner, Waqt was all about loving your family.  

Even more than that, though, Waqt is about epitomizing the visually sumptuous style of its time.  In a competition that feels almost prescient of American Graffiti, Raja and Ravi drag-race their tiny convertibles with high mid-century elan.  Vijay and Renu's adorable dockside song "Din hai bahaar ke" exemplifies the style as well.  From Meena's colorful outfits to the lavish decor of her home, from Raja's tailored tuxedos to Ravi's cigarette pants and V-neck sweaters, every lovingly-composed scene in Waqt is packed full of mod.  The screen capture at the top of this post offers a taste, and while I don't normally use a lot of screen captures in my posts, it's unfair to Waqt not to, so here are a few more (click to see them larger).