Blogadda Who are you reading today?

Visit blogadda.com to discover Indian blogs


Friday 27 January 2012

The correct dose of drama (Khandan)

Too much fun, I tell you. No wonder I'm never absolutely disappointed by A Bhimsingh's films. Revolving around family relationships in a big joint set-up, mostly set in villages where traditions and customs are heeded, a simplistic plot containing melodrama and awesome performances by a superlative cast. That's the crux yet again of Khandan, one of the biggest grossers of 1965, I'm told. What's not to like here? Sunil Dutt paired with the lovely and rustic Nutan, Om Prakash is sarcastically funny against Lalita Pawar's caustic stupidity, Manmohan Krishna and Sulochana are the quintessential good people, Sudesh Kumar the eternal goat, Mumtaz, the pretty damsel and best of all, Pran, the forever evil villain. And here, with a comic twist! On a roll!!

Khandan has a simple plot. Jeevandas (Om Prakash) and Shankar (Manmohan Krishna) are two brothers who are absolutely thick. They are well-off (well property and the division of it forms a major core of the tale here) landowners. Jeevandas and his wife Bhagwanti (Lalita Pawar) have no children, while Shankar and his wife Parvati (Sulochana Chatterjee) have two sons, Govind (Sunil Dutt) and Shyam (Sudesh Kumar). A cruel stroke of fate in his childhood has left Govind partially crippled but that has not dampened his lust for life. He is robust in his jokes, laughs and smiles all the time and is extremely loved by his uncle Jeevandas, his parents and his brother. Only Bhagwanti cannot tolerate him and often fights with Jeevandas on his pretext, but Govind does not bother much as he feels his aunt is just being rude but hardly malicious. Bhagwanti however, loves Shyam dearly as she feels he is much more able than Govind as he is currently doing his higher studies in the city. Jeevandas and Govind tease Bhagwanti around a lot but everything is in good humour.

The music by Ravi though is lukewarm here, I must say there is a nice bhajan in the beginning. Ab der na kar nandlala (Mohd Rafi) is so sweet. Anyways, so while everything is happy-go lucky, trouble arrives in the form of Navrangi Lal (Pran), Bhagwanti's nephew and his sister, Neelima (Mumtaz does look good here but she hardly is given a scope to perform). From the very beginning, Navrangi Lal plots and plans to divide this happy family and the gullible one that Bhagwanti is, she readily agrees to all of her nephew's plans, little realising that he has his own merry benefits in mind.
Soon misunderstandings creep into the halcyon Lal household and Navrangi plays one dirty trick after another to poison the peaceful setting in here. Bhagwanti forces Jeevandas to divide the property and the family home threatening to torch herself if he does not do so. When Shyam arrives from the city Navrangi unleashes the charms of Neelima on him and he slowly drifts away from Govind and his own parents towards the more pretty looking but devious characters. As it happens, Bhagwanti decides to get Shyam and Neelima married against the wishes of everyone of the family and she sticks to her decision. Shyam is such a spineless goat that he cannot speak without Navrangi's assistance and blindly follows the laid out plans.
Govind on the other hand is heartbroken by the sledging that Bhagwanti does everyday regarding his crippled state and though Radha (Nutan) loves him dearly, he is not ready to accept her hand in marriage because he feels she is just pitying him. But once he realises that Radha is actually in love with him, he agrees to marry her and their union is a joyous one, much to the ire of Bhagwanti and her clan. The only person still praying for the well-being of Shankar and his family is Jeevandas who is deeply suffering after being forcibly parted from his brother.
Plenty of incidents take place and lots of tears are shed before everything is sorted out. But it's the small events and emotions played out there that endears this film to me. Like when Radha is pregnant, she wants to have raw mangoes. And this is how Parvati gets to know that she is going to be a grandmother. Also, it's so sweet how Jeevandas fools his weird wife to give two mangoes to Radha. So heartwarming! Then there is the time when he blesses Radha's son with a silver utensil instructing Radha to feed him milk in that. These quaint rituals projected, and which highlight the customs of a traditional Indian family, makes the film even more entertaining. 
What do I say about the performances, they were stupendous, yes all of them! Mumtaz was supposed to be haughty and pretty and she was exactly that. Sudesh Kumar was supposed to be stupid and he looks and behaves that. Sunil Dutt is powerful and his body language as the crippled one is immaculate. Nutan is soft, sensitive and sweet. Though she does not look her best, I think we can forgive that. For, there are plenty of things to keep us busy in this film apart from Nutan.
Om Prakash is spot on and so is Lalita Pawar. She is adequately caustic and cruel. When her tongue unleashes those harsh words, you really feel like shaking her up. Oh! What a perfect performer this woman was. And she is absolutely effortless. And here Pran gives her good company. He continuously twists his face and the fate of these simple and good people, little realising that all bad deeds come to and end. Pran is the perfect comic-villain here and makes this family entertainer a delectable joyride!!

22 comments:

  1. This was one of the films that was in my 'unbearable' category, and I'm usually very tolerant of many of the tropes you mention. I agree with you that the cast did a wonderful job with what they were given, but what got *my* goat was the horrible Tu hi meri mandir, tu hi meri pooja - nice melody, as melodies go, but I'd like to get hold of the lyricist and tell him what a regressive nut he is! Even though I understand that it is apt to the background of the film, and that I'm watching it from the vantage point of living in a more modern world. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know, I know! :-D
    I love family dramas. Inspite of everything they offer simple stories with melodrama (normally I don't mind it) and a good happy ending.
    Love them.

    pacifst

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, I have to agree completely with Anu on this one. The Tu hi meri mandir business got on my nerves (so did the end, actually) and the melodrama was just too much for me. Oddly, Sunil Dutt and Nutan seem to have done a fair number of these melodramatic family sagas in the late 60s - Milan, Meherbaan, and (as far as I remember) Bhai-Behan.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Sharmi
    How are you? This is one of my favorite movies. I am now reading day night the missed posts. Let me see what all have I missed.
    Bhalo theko

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Anu: Well, no wonder I never even mentioned that song that got your goat!! But I just found all the melodrama and everything so much fun. Was laughing away!

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Pacifist: Exactly, simple stories these are. Just to make you happy!

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Dustedoff: Bhai Behen starred Sunil Dutt I remember. But did it star Nutan also? No I don't quite think so! And yes, I totally feel this one was so much better than Milan :(

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Sharmi: I just cross-checked my notes on Bhai-Bahen (there are at least two of them, by the way - one b/w one with Baby Naaz and Daisy Irani). Yes, Sunil Dutt was in the later one, opposite Nutan. Padmini acted the part of his long-lost sister.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Dustedoff: oooo, I have to check whether I've seen that one then.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Sharmi
    Exploring through old movies gives lots of happiness to me ..( I am no patch on you in this regard, though, Ha ha ). Dustedoff above has referred to the old Bhai-Bahen. It has one great song by Sudha Malhotra. But I think the 1969 version was a hit and not the old one of 1959. I get lot of info from this site ( which I am sure you know). Khandan is one movie I love to watch time and again and I switch off the modern age and can go back to my old days ..
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388768/
    Have a nice week ahead

    ReplyDelete
  11. @Ushnish: Thank you so much for the hefty compliments. It gives me great pleasure to see you people enjoying my posts :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. @Sharmi: Back to trivia again.....Khandaan is a remake of the original tamil film - Bhagapirivinai (1959) - directed by Bhimsingh with thespian Sivaji Ganesan in the lead. It actually set the tone for the "pa" series of films from the same director (tamil film titles phonetically beginning with "pa") and the actor/director combo brought out some classics. Incidentally Bhimsingh was not a Sikh, but belonged to a tamil christian sect from the Madurai region. That Sivaji was so engrossed in that character, that he forgot to put his right hand down even after the film was completed is film folklore!

    ReplyDelete
  13. @Sharmi: Oops....that was Sivaji's left hand (as opposed to Sunil Dutt's right)....

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Sharmi,
    Congratulations on your having "done" Khandan!! Like Anu and Madhu, it pricked my eyes and ears and taste so much I could hardly finish watching it! I couldn't summon up the energy to blog about it! So it's nice to see that you enjoyed it, and (worse, aagh!) that perhaps you're right, that it actually has all those qualities you mention, lol!
    yves

    ReplyDelete
  15. @Yves: Hmmm, interesting observations!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Just the type of review this little underrated movie needed. The best part for me was PRAN doing something different to his villains instead of being repetitive.
    Add the film 'Gauri' to Sunil Dutt-Nutan starers in late 60's. I would be surprised if it gets a positive review.Check memsaab's review and watch/avoid it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. @Chris: I'm always game for melodramas provided the cast is good. Memsaab's review of Gauri was bad but I might just go ahead and watch it just for Nutan :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. @Sharmi: Melodramatic or not, I like the song Tu hi meri mandir :) I usually avoid melodramas but this seems to have lot of fun moments so I might watch it, especially for Pran!

    ReplyDelete
  19. @Sreenath: Yup you just might like it!

    ReplyDelete