Theme: Love
Language: Hindi
Watched it on Youtube
A naive orphan hero Raj Kumar (by Raj Kapoor) decides to stay honest rather than fall for the cunnings of the world. In doing so, he is called Anari (simpleton in Hindi). Although ridiculed by many, he earns the motherly affection of his landlady Mrs. D'Sa (by Lalita Pawar) and the young love of Aarti (by Nutan). In being so, he fails to retain a job in the world due to his honesty and good nature but wins the good-will of a wealthy businessman Seth Ramnath Sohanlal (by Motilal) who is the guardian of Aarti. The rich-poor divide plays in and the plot thickens with the death of Mrs. D'Sa due to poisoning for which Sohanlal is to be blamed for. But money power bends the law to make Raj Kumar the murderer of Mrs. D'Sa that he so loved. Aarti rebukes her uncle only in vain. Unable to bear losing to Raj Kumar's honesty, the egoist Seth admits to his mistake in court. The movie ends with Raj Kumar and Aarti living in Mrs. D'Sa's house, possibly along with her ghost.
The play is a duel between two characters - one filled with love, innocence and honesty while the other is filled with enterprise, shrewdness and practicality. This is a movie that shows the Indian philosophy of virtue over enterprise, a big puller of masses. Simplicity is shown as the ultimate personality trait for lovable women. The story writer has no basis to establish the love story properly, just relying on a few scenes of integrity and naivety of Raj Kumar to amuse Aarti. The jodi is thus perfect as per old Indian cinema that tries to cater to whims of people's perceptions rather than tell stories that mould them. The director Hrishikesh Mukherjee just falls flat in exploring his lead or in daring to increase the depth in his characters. Despite resources, the movie fails to stand up to anything substantial but went on to become a superhit.
This movie stands for the wonderful songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan and lyrics given by Shailendra/Hasrat Jaipuri. Each song is penned, composed and sung carefully to suit the scene almost giving it a feel of a musical (most Indian films are so). The songs 'Kisi ke muskurahto pe..' and 'Sab kuch seekha humne..', both sung by Mukesh and penned by Shailendra have become evergreen classics that are relevant and very popular to this day. The first song is also my favorite part of the movie.
As much as the music, the movie's plot is enriched by the presence of two ladies who captivate the audiences with their wonderfully dramatic portrayals. Nutan's grace and quick facial movements have made the movie bearable as Raj Kumar's linear portrayal is way too boring. Mrs. D'Sa on the other hand frequently breaks into very strong emotion, all in close-up shots. But the character is so loving and portrayed with so much conviction that it seems believable and true despite all the glitches. Background music is used frequently with heavy dramatic effects with thunder, violin etc.. Here are some shots of Nutan whom I have loved through out the movie:
Such strength in female characters is a typical Raj Kapoor mark film which helped bridge the difference between art and commercial movies in India, for a while at least. This is a simple love story where the impetus is on virtues of good and bad - all characters are thus set as black or white which doesn't help the setup realize its potential.
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