indianature
I don't know how I somehow missed Amar Prem when it first released in the early seventies. The music is of course, legendary.I kept watching it in parts when it showed on TV but again never had the time to see the entire movie. I accomplished this today and I am glad I did. What a movie, certainly deserving of the classic tag.I am not sure whether today's youngsters would relate to this typical dark Bengali drama of those times. I hope they do, for it is superbly depicted by Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. Vinod Mehra was the only actor who did not do justice to his role but the veterans more than made up for it.The pathos conveyed in this movie was a typical outcome of society mores of that time, perhaps still extant in parts of rural India. The poignancy remains long after the film ends. I will not narrate the story line, this is a superb film worth watching more than once. For those who have not seen it yet, please do so.
wassupbhaskar
Well how should I describe this movie... the very first scene of the movie itself sets the background of the movie and tells about the masterpiece we are going to witness in the next 155 minutes....... Have you heard the song "doli me Bithay Ke Kanhar..."......? I bet you will forget the songs of recent times.... both son and father namely RD Burman and SD burman and the excellent sharmila Tagore will make you cry in the song............. Well you will take a long time to recover from the movie after watching it .... but if you don't watch it interestingly you will not like it much.... It is very artistic and touchy in its flavour....... It is bound to make you emotional in a very different way. Shakti Da has this great capability of making you cry by his character's plight and on the top of that the music matches the atmosphere of the movie bit by bit.... RD Burman was at his best in this movie.... the songs are incorporated in the movie to carry the viewer into the mind of the character.the lyrics are marvellous. Rajesh Khanna is unstoppable. Don't have words to express how he acted in the movie. As for Sharmila Tagore, she was the same as rajesh khanna.. the second half of the movie is quite touching..... Look at the way the song "BADA NATKAHT HAI" is used in the background when Vinod Mehra returns to search pushpa.. I recommend this movie to all who haven't seen what Indian directors are capable of. watch it to know it.............
Makarand Nalgirkar (mnalgirkar)
I don't claim to be an expert in Bengali literature (far from it), but I have always found stories coming out of Bengal to be a class apart. The characterization, the depth of the plot, the sincerity of the human emotion in those stories are the among the finest to be found anywhere. Kabuliwala is another such great movie to be based on a Bengali story.Sharmila Tagore is superb, Vinod Mehra plays the grown up Nandu with great sincerity. Rajesh Khanna lends a lot of credibility to Anand-babu despite having turned a major superstar during the making of this movie. Om Prakash is always a pleasure to watch although his role is very small. R.D.Burman and Kishore Kumar top it all off with the great music!
travised87
I have recently become more disillusioned that ever with Bollywood and its invariable churning of sugar-coated, feel good products, which lack a heart and soul. but if someone was pick up one film, as a beacon, as an example of the great emotional and spiritual waves that flow though India, it would be this one.A poignant yet everlasting drama of love and the power of compassion and humanity. it tells the story of a woman (Pushpa), who is ostracized and eschewed by society and its establishments, to rot away on the notorious fringes of it. Yet within the brothel she resides, she builds a temple of love and care for those two people that come to see her. Nandu and Anand are members of society, yet only ostensibly, yearning for the compassion that their families fail to provide them, and in search, they come to Pushpa, whose abundance of love and human sympathy far overshadows her disreputable social standing. They alone see her inner beauty, while society maligns her, yet as the director points, cannot provide the qualities of love, happiness and tranquility for members like Nandu and Anand. Pushpa's relationship with Anand is certainly one of the most beautiful you will see. Theirs is a purely platonic relationship, which succeeds where the social union of marriage - for both - fails.As they continue to meet, their bond grows, and beyond their own socially certified families, they create a little family of true love, depth and care. They receive from each other the love they so desire - motherly love for Nandu, a true companion for Anand, and a child and husband for Pushpa - though their relationship with each other has no social legitimacy. Samanta succeeds in creating a cynical presentation of society as one that compels people to stay within the confines of its social institution of family yet cannot provide for the very emotional, and spiritual ingredients that constitute it. Add the fact that it is society after all that created the brothel, where unquenched desires can be fulfilled, and what you have is a representation that makes Pushpa's relationship with Nandu and Anand all the more 'holy'.This film tackled a theme that was very much taboo in Indian Cinema, and succeeds in presenting a mature, yet never over-the-top, nor didactic story that ultimately every Indian household can identify with. The music is an absolute delight and adds to the melancholic yet redemptive nature of the relationship between the three protagonists. Setting presentation is class, with nothing done to hide the vividly grotesque nature of the red light district and the people that patronise it. It has its fair share of stereotypical characters, who function very much as symbols of the unscrupulous, cunning nature of society. Yes, you get doses of the typical Hindi film melodrama, but its very much reserved to a modicum. Where it succeeds is in teaching you about human relationships and that it is love, togetherness and understanding that makes family, and not a social ceremony or some legal document. This is a film for all generations who appreciate human relationships and its power to transcend social boundaries.
