Kohinoor

Year: 1960

If you have always wondered, why is Meena Kumari’s beauty so over-rated, Kohinoor is a must watch! The lady looks like you must have never seen before… She looks absolutely ravishing as the princess!

To be truthful, the movie drags a bit, has patchy script, and a bad direction… but considering those times, when movie-making techniques were not-so-sound… it can be pardoned! But, the area where the movie scores is music and acting! Dilip Kumar scores yet again! He is fantabulous! I had no idea the guy could manage such good comedy!! I guess I hadnt seen enough of his movies to appreciate that!!

In this movie, my fav scene is when the villain comes drunk to Meena Kumari’s room and Dilip Kumar is standing there behind a frame. The drunk villain thinks it is his own image in a mirror, but is confused cause his eyes see Dilip Kumar. Then follows a five-minute mime in which Dilip Kumar does exactly what this villain does, to give him the impression that he is seeing his own image in the mirror. If you liked the scene in which Amitabh Bachchan talks to his own mirror image in Amar Akbar Anothy, you will absolutely love this one!!!

Coming to songs, oh! I love them… I could find two on youtube… the rest simply arent available! Amongst the songs that arent available, my favorite is Dil me baji pyar ki shehnaiyaan by Lata. Very melodious and a great rendition by Lata! The other by Rafi and Lata combo is Do sitaaron ka zameen par hai milan. Watch the video here…

Another classic song is Madhuban me raadhika naache re. This song can be easily said to be one of Rafi’s best songs ever! Watch the video of the song here…

This song reminded me again how much I love Kathak and want to learn! Ab Hong Kong me Kathak teachers kahan se dhundu 😦