Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Jewel Thief
(Potential plot spoilers ahead)
I am becoming quite the Zee TV watcher these days. Perhaps it is the lack of anything else to see, the fact that I am a closet masochist, or simply that I miss good old desh and watching Zee makes me feel warm and fuzzy and oh-so-desi. Yeah, all that mush. The other night however, Zee couldn’t find their regular print of Love In Goa (1983), starring Anuradha Patel and Master Mayur. Yes, the same pimply-faced adolescent who often played Amitabh junior, most famously in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978). So they mended their ways, atoned for their sins, and blessed us with — Jewel Thief (1967).
Now before we proceed to babble, a word of caution. As some of you know, the movie has some awesome plot twists. So if you haven’t yet watched it and intend to, you may want to stop reading after this paragraph. How can someone have NOT watched Jewel Thief, you say? Here’s why. You see .. people make movies like Sholay (1975) and Golmaal (1979). You, me and Patel uncle have all heard of them and, very likely, seen them. But people also make movies like Sindoor Aur Bandook (1989) and Meera Ka Mohan (1992). After all, the Hemant Birjes and Avinash Wadhawans of the world also need to justify their existence. The producers of these movies also have kids who need food, clothes and pocket money for Diamond comics. <cue song — Chunnu padhta Daaymond kaamix, Munni padhti Daaymond kaamix, mazedaar ye Daaymond kaaamix, Daaymond kaaamix!> So, for the sake of those Diamond Kaamix distributors and their kids, these movies should also be seen. So one might, since time is a precious commodity, overlook a Jewel Thief or two for the sake of a Bomb Blast (1993) and one should be forgiven for it. Thankoo.
The movie begins in style — A mannequin adorned with jewellery. An unknown man passes by. As he moves away, the mannequin’s neck is bare. Music builds up to a crescendo with an evil laugh permeating the background! And there onwards begins a thrilling ride. Who is the jewel thief? Is it Vinay (Dev), the commissioner’s son and a jewellery store employee? Or his look-alike Amar? As Vinay tries to find Amar and prove his innocence he finds himself falling in love with Shalini (Vyjayantimala), who says she is Amar’s fiancee. As he searches for his clone, the boss’s daughter Anjali (Tanuja), takes a liking for him, while Shalini’s brother (Ashok Kumar) doubts his every move, leaving one wondering if Vinay is taking everyone, including the audience, for a ride. The climax, set in Gangtok, culminates in the jewel thief’s grandest heist of all — the king’s jewels. The stage is set for a thrilling finish, with an elaborate song and dance number in ‘honton pe aisi baat‘.
Jewel Thief remains one of my all-time favorites from Bollywood, a masala potpourri of sorts. Crime caper plus film-noir plus musical from a master storyteller — Vijay Anand. A man, who along with Guru Dutt (Baazi (1951), Jaal (1952)) and Raj Khosla (CID (1956), Bambai Ka Babu (1960)) gave Dev some of his most memorable and atypical roles. The man’s output was varied yet consistent — be it his directorial debut, the road film Nau Do Gyarah (1957), a romantic Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963), a philosophical Guide (1965), a slick thrilling Teesri Manzil (1966), or a masala mix like Johny Mera Naam (1970) — each movie is a complete entertainer, with excellent music to boot.
Which comes to another of his traits — song picturizations. Think aaj phir jeene ke tamanna hai and you’ll see Waheeda and Dev amidst bales of hay in the back of a truck. Sing pal bhar ke liye koi humein pyaar kar le and you’ll think of Dev romancing Hema through an unending series of windows. Think vaada to nibhaaya, O mere raaja and you’ll remember Dev and Hema pretending to romance as they dupe the cops. Listen to dil ka bhanwar kare pukaar and you’ll flashback to Dev and Nutan inside of the Qutub Minar. Or hum maine kasam li and you’ll think of Dev and Mumtaz sharing a bicycle. Each song memorable, but the scene on the screen just as unforgettable. That’s Vijay Anand for you!
So here I am sitting with my packet of Marie biscuits, watching Jewel Thief. Two of mankind’s great creations. *chomp chomp* The doll-like Tanuja is singing raat akeli hai to Dev Anand in Asha Bhosle’s heavenly voice. And suddenly, I have this major hankering for some nice adrak chai. So we have to pause for a short commercial break. When we return, we shall dissect the scene on the screen. And since no amount of talk about Jewel Thief is complete without gushing effusively about its soundtrack, we’ll do some of that as well.
Did I mention that I love to talk about movies?
ps .. Peoples, pliss to be patient. Part two of this post is coming soon to a blog near you. Songs and their picturizations will be discussed. And Tanuja. And her seduction routine. And The Return of Jewel Thief. And anything else your little heart desireth.
Wow. Now I’ve got to see Jewel Thief! :)
And no, I haven’t seen ‘Sindoor aur Bandook’ either :P
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 2:15 AM
Marie biscuits?? Oh .. how I hated them. Never managed to eat more than one at a time.
Ever tried GoodDay biscuits(or are they cookies? - never bothered to read the label) with adrak chai? That is an awesome combination. Try the cashew or pista varieties .. not the butter flavored one. I can finish a pack of those with a single cup of tea.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 2:38 AM
have you thought of renaming yourself of your blog as IMDB… the vast database of movies…
the years of release of every movie… do u remember em byheart or is it ‘google search”… i am assuming the former
nice post and nice blog too :)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 2:53 AM
jewel thief is one of my fave movies too.
i actually watched meera ka mohan in a theatre…i have finally gotten over that embarrassment now that i find somebody mentioning it for the first time ever :p
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 3:11 AM
(Potential plot spoilers ahead)
Once you are finished watching Jewel Thief, even if you haven’t… you should watch its sequel.
Talking about song picturization in Vijay Anand films, here are couple more I distinctly remember
Ek ghar banaonga where Dev sees Nutan in his Jaam
The ever hummable Hum hai raahi pyar ke in a pick-up truck
Vyjayanti singing Rulake gaya sapna in a boat (wonder why dont we hear her panting n puffing while rowing the boat??)
Aaja aaja with Asha Parekh in her jazzy pink top
Bit of trivia: Teesri Manzil also had Salim Khan of Salim-Javed duo (and also the father of the infamous Salman Khan) playing a small role. Last but not least, Teesri Manzil gave RD his first major hit!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 3:43 AM
Though we ALL would have watched jewel thief, yet, i’m still so tempted to speak out, WHO the jewel thief was… I loved the suspense this movie created the first time i watched it, many many years ago!
My knowledge/exposure to all oldies began courtesy my dad’s extensive interest in movies…both of us wud sit up late into the night (okay, at that time 10-11pm was late) to watch those doordarshan movies……i’m already missing those days :( though i’m yet to leave :(
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 4:02 AM
hindi movies hmm… juicy topic indeed.
thanx for reminding me of the otherwise forgotten “Avinash Wadhwan” ,apart from Ashwini Bhave -now tat was one deadly combination (no better than Sumeet Saigal and Farha)
coming to the movie in blog “JT” -well i luv the song “rulake gaya sapna”. i wish u cud’ve elaborated more on the seducing tactics deployed by Tanuja in the song “raat akeli hai bhuj gaye diye” n of course the choreografy of “honton pe aisi baat”
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 4:39 AM
Other than Sholay, I haven’t seen any of the movies listed in your post. :(
Did I miss much? The names look scary though!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 8:02 AM
I got to know Ashwini Bhave when she was going around with Akki a.k.a Akshay Kumar *drool*…or was it so?:)
Sindoor aur bandook? yeah! some Tamil movie must have been made out of that! so lemme go check it :)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 9:43 AM
For some reason I hate zee tv but watcing Jewel Theif and such movies is not a bad idea for sure especially after watching fox news reporting whose basement was under fire and how “Ninny” the cat was found by its owner since it got lost during the weekend trip to the local park(ah ! breaking news).
I did watch “Meera Ka Mohan” as a dutiful movie watcher back then and some of those other Avinash pot boilers whose story line invariably had something to do with humans turning into reptiles a.k.a snakes or vice versa. Also if you notice, these movies usually have one wet song ..I mean one song in which the heroine is taking bath by the river side or a rain song or a waterfall song that had the actress clad in a white dress and getting wet(like mandakini in ram teri ganga maili)….u get the idea…they have bollywood written all over.
I used to watch a serial on DD called “Tehqikaat” that had Vijay Anand. Great guy who didn’t click as an actor. As for Dev, I think his b/w movies were classier than the color ones(exceptions to the rule exist).
So u like Marie biscuits :))
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 11:07 AM
Although I am relatively new to your blog I was thinking of posting a comment yday asking u to blog more regulalrly. But then I decided to go into ur archives and I actually read the longest blog ever known to mankind in response to someone’s comment abt a similar complaint :)
Nyways gr88 post abt the Jewel thief. I was wondering if u wud miss out abt the ‘Honthon mein aisi baat’ song picturisation but u didnt and also u remembered to mention Teesri Manzil when accounting for the Crime caper plus film-noir plus musicals of Indian cinema. Nice to see there are fellow cinema buffs like u around :)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 11:09 AM
Ah, Meera Ka Mohan….what a movie…..full of astounding larger than life Avinash in whiter-than-white (Rin ki safedi)trousers. I, unfortunately, had to undergo the trauma of watching 3, yes, 3 of his movies from start to end, over the years, for reasons too embarassing to disclose. And while Meera Ka Mohan was brilliant, I always thought his Academy-nomination-esque performance was in KC Bokadia’s magnum opus disaster ‘Police Aur Mujrim’. Have you tried sitting through it?
And yes, Jewel Thief rocks. One of the few Hindia suspense movies I’ve seen where the story had a fairly reasonable logical conclusion. Though, IMHO, Raj Khosla will always be the master of that genre within Hindi movies….
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 11:32 AM
Helen in that outfit dancing on that bar..Hee Hee! Nothing new but never disappointing!
That movie had some cool murals hanging all over those plush settings…notice them?
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 12:39 PM
Excellent post!
Hmmmm, let’s see, where can we make the Bollywood connection to this??????
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 12:52 PM
Wow, Jewel thief !! btw, I still remember an interview of Avinash W (cant even get to type in his full name) where he expressed an interest to work with Big B. With the rate Big B is going, Avinash W might not be far behind in the queue. Where has he gone nowadays ? Need him again !!
Megha, u should start a film blog where u list all movies like u have mentioned and we all can rack our brains to get them and then watch them :)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 1:11 PM
Marie biscoots and adrak chai..waah, waah kya comvo hai !
Cute post :)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 1:14 PM
i am already waiting in the theatre my house waiting for part two of this post - any previews????
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 2:26 PM
I hate Dev Anand!
But, Hema Malini! *droool* Item thi woh!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 2:52 PM
Part two even?? Nooooo….. well, actually me wants Marie biscuits too! (Heh heh, which is why me is grabbing attention).. Err. Daaaymond Kaamix? Me has unfortunately been affected by this creation and my mind has hence resorted to blogging :D.. me shall be back to see part-2. else, me has to come see you with an AR-15 !!!
(ok, me ends threats here.)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 2:54 PM
Hey [Sagnik], pass the popcorn!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 3:00 PM
Hey [Sagnik], can u also get the adrak chai, although I much prefer the oily samosas and coke bottle :)
“hands rubbing in glee” (and ticket bought in black) for part 2. [Mustang], you are right, the sequel featured the ever-green Madhoo and was a smash mouth success (at least in my dictionary). It also had a peppy title track…
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 3:54 PM
Anti! Hema Malini?????
Come re, you can do better than that! She was SO IRRITATING as that Vasanti in Sholey, I have never fully recovered.
She is far better now…if you like doing the older (MUCH older, you are a BACHHA according to you) woman thing..
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 4:05 PM
This is a loooooong comment response. A lot of random and pointless (and not so random and pointless) movies have been talked about. You have been adequately warned. And for those of you who DO get to the end of this comment, you have my utmost admiration and respect.
[Rajesh] I suggest you put them both on your must-see list pronto. And don’t go and do any bhed-bhaav. Watch them both equally dil-se! :)
[blogman] How can one hate Marie biscuits? They were an integral part of my childhood along with Parle-G! A sacrilege, to say the least :) Yesh, I love GoodDay too, especially the butter kind, although the cashew kind are quite nice too. Not a big fan of pista and elaichi in biscuits/cookies of any kind, in general though. I remember there used to be a biscuit in India, whose name I cannot remember now, that had a jam center! Used to lovvvvvvvve those. And then there’s the fruit biscuits from local bakeries in Hyderabad (dunno if you get there in the rest of India as well) .. Karachi Bakery and Bulaqi Kashmiri Bakery (near Lakdi Ka Pul) used to make them and they were sheer bliss! I could gladly make a school lunch out of them!
As for the cookie/biscuit nomenclature - When I was an FOB in the US, I was explained thus - Biscuits in India = cookies in the US. Biscuits in the US are the ones fed to a dog. I, however, cannot bring myself to call Marie or Parle-G cookies. I grew up calling them biscuits and they remain so in my head. Never checked the packet to see what the manufacturers call them though :)
Never imagined Jewel Thief leading to a discussion on cookies! Not that I am complaining :)
[rumpelstiltskin™] Aww, no no. See, if I did that, I would *have* to talk about movies, instead of choosing to ramble about them as and when I please, like I do now. As for the years of the movies - I have to dissappoint you. I remembered the years on Sholay, Golmaal, Jewel Thief and such, but I *did* look up the years of Meera Ka Mohan and Sindoor Aur Bandook :) I am known to watch many a bad movie, but remembering the years of MKM would be pretty deplorable even by my standards, no? Thank you! Glad you liked post and blog :) Nice to see you stop by!
[Chugs] And look at the number of co-sufferers you found thanks to this blog! :) This commentspace has turned into a IWMKMAIWMMB association. That’s ‘I Watched Meera Ka Mohan And I Want My Money Back’, in case you wondered :) Glad you could get that confession off your chest. Hope you feel better :)
[Mustang] Argh! The sequel is going to be the title of my post’s part two! But yes, when it comes to bad movies, ROJT is rather high on the list.
Speaking of ‘ik ghar banaaoonga tere ghar ke saamne‘ and Dev seeing Nutan in his jaam, I remember there’s a moment where Dev’s friend drops an ice-cube into his drink, and the image of Nutan in his glass shivers at it, so Dev promptly takes the ice-cube out for Nutan’s sake. An absolutely memorable moment, I thought! :)
Teesri Manzil - *sigh* I am tempted to watch it again and do a post about it. Soooo much to say about the movie. And the music - not only RD’s first big hit, it remains one of his best ever, in my opinion. No amount of words can be enough to describe the magic of those songs. But i’ll probably still try anyway :) I had no idea Salim acted in TM! I know of Gulshan Bawra and Anand Bakshi’s special appearances in RD movies, but Salim I never knew about. Which scene? What role?
[Atta Girl] The suspense is delicious, isn’t it? A lot of my Hindi movie watching happened thanks to my dad as well, so I have similar stories of staying up late night :) I remember the first time I watched Jewel Thief though. My dad was heading out of town, so as he left for the airport, he strongly suggested that I not miss a single scene. I continued to watch spellbound, of course. About 45 minutes later (which was almost exactly the moment when the jewel thief is revealed) he called from the airport to ask - So? How was it? :) I of course, was too excited and hyper to talk so I just jumped up and down on the phone! :) When do you head here, btw?
[Swathi] Oh yes, Ashwini Bhave, how could one forget her. I remember I used to think she was soooo pretty. Am not sure exactly what I saw in her, but then again, I was a weird kid :| As I mentioned in the end of my post, any talk of Jewel Thief is incomplete without talking about the music of this movie. So yes, I do intend to elaborate more on the songs in the part two of this post. On popular demand (yours) we shall discuss Tanuja’s seduction tactics too :)
[loverBoy] WHATTT!? I can understand you not having watched Meera Ka Mohan or Bomb Blast, but you have not seen Golmaal and Teesri Manzil?! Okie, here’s a list of movies from my post that you absolutely HAVE to watch, in my opinion. Drop everything you are doing, go to a video rental store, and begin making amends right away —
Jewel Thief (1967)
Golmaal (1979)
CID (1956)
Guide (1965)
Teesri Manzil (1966)
Johny Mera Naam (1970)
*walks away shaking her head wondering to herself - how has not seen Golmaal!?* Tsk tsk :)
[IBH] I didn’t know she too was on Akki’s list? Ayesha Julka, Shilpa Shetty, Raveena Tandon .. these are the ones I can remember. Sindoor aur Bandook - almost has the sound of being a dubbed-from-South movie no? :)
[pingoo] You have watched MKM as well eh? Please refer to my response to [Chugs] above for membership details. And your comment about reptile movies will be responded to in my part two post :)
Zee TV serials are just plain annoying. Maybe I should watch some of them so I can write a post making fun of them. Nah, not worth the pain. But Bollywood Tonight and its assorted varieties are fun. And Jhalkiya is always entertaining, since it is just a modern version of good old Chitrahaar :)
I agree about Vijay Anand the actor - I thought he was reasonably good as the doctor in Tere Mere Sapne (1971), but was downright painful in Double Cross (1973) and Ghughroo Ki Awaaz (1981), the latter being a Ramsay brothers movie with Vijay Anand without doubt being the most scary part of it, but for all the wrong reasons. Both Double Cross and GKA have wonderful music by R D Burman though, which explains why I know about them and have seen them.
[Rohan] Aww, that longest post known to mankind (a record I seem to have broken with this Jewel Thief post, btw) was more of a rant against the ‘Do you have a life other than your blog‘ question :) And thank you. Glad you liked this post! And Teesri Manzil deserves a post of its own I think. Nice to know there are fans of Hindi cinema whe enjoy discussing the Meera Ka Mohans as much as the Jewel Thiefs :) (Thiefs? Thieves? Oh whatever ..)
[Nandu] Whatt!?! THREE movies!? However embarrassing the reason is, you have GOT to share it now. I am most eager to hear it and then roll on the floor with laughter afterwards. Cmon, I have seen Ayee Milan Ki Raat (1991), so I am allowed to laugh, no? :)
Fortunately for me (well not TOO fortunate, but somewhat) the only thing I remember from Police Aur Mujrim is the song by Mohammed Aziz and Kavita Krishnamurthy - apni aakhon ke sitaaron mein chhupa le humdum. Raj Kumar, Vinod Khanna and Meenakshi Seshadri along with apna-Avi, right? And Bokadia’s name conjures up two VERY painful memories - Pyaar Jhukta Nahin and Teri Meherbaaniyan. Yes, I have watched them both. And I am sure, Police Aur Mujrim is a cinematic marvel in comparison!
Speaking of Raj Khosla, one of my absolute favorites of his remains Woh Kaun Thi (1964) - a movie that still gives me the chills. I still vividly remember the scene in the car in the rain at the start of the movie, the wipers stop working when Sadhna gets in .. Manoj Kumar turns to see her finger bleeding and asks her about it and she replies - mujhe khoon achha lagta hai. Shudder! She then gets down and disappears into the graveyard into the mist and the song ‘naina barse rimjhim rimjhim‘ begins in the background as the titles flash - Woh Kaun Thi? Uff :)
Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita (1967) are considered part of the Raj Khosla-Sadhna trilogy of sorts, but WKT remains right at the top of the three, for me. That and CID are enough to put Khosla high on my list of favorite directors.
[Gabby] Yes yes, this is the famous rooster tail song, indeed! More on that in my next post. Sadly I didn’t pay enough attention to the murals, which in hindsight, is a sacrilege. I shall simply have to watch the movie again to make amends, I suppose :)
[VC] Hmmmm.. Gee I wonder how? :) Thankoo!
[The Greatest Hokie Ever] I think the commentspace of this post might be the single largest collection of Avinash Wadhawan movie watchers ever. Don’t worry, I said watchers, not fans so you can breathe again :) And yes, I have considered writing a film blog, but I think my regular blog is already such a hotch potch of everything nonsensical and pointless that I might as well keep all the filmi bakbak here too :)
And finally! Someone else who thinks that the title track of Return of Jewel Thief was listenable and peppy! Sudesh Bhosle right?
About samosas - Please see my response to [Rajesh] below :)
[Ash] Thank you! Fundoo combo no? And thankoo for the DesiPundit link! Much flattered :)
[Sagnik] This gigantic comment post should give you all the previewing you want :) Part two coming up soon!
[aNTi] I have to agree with Gabby here - Hema Malini? When it comes to items of that time, Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman surely top the list, in my opinion. But Hema does look lovely in that Johnny Mera Naam windows waala song - bhar ke koi humein pyaar kar le. And more gushing shall be done about Dev in the next post, so please to save your anti-Dev cribs till then :)
[Sriram] So you have been introduced to the wonderful world of Chacha Choudhury then? Most excellent :) And yes, in the interest of the sanity of my other readers (you don’t have any, that’s already been established) I decided to split my post into two parts. Was getting too long, you see.
[Rajesh] Sigh. For my next post, popcorn, samosas, Marie and Good Day biscoots, adrak chai, filter coffee and coke (ice optional) shall be provided. Anything else?
[Gabby] Nahiiiiiin! Sholay was the only time I completely LIKED Hema! She was irritating, but in a cute way, which her character was supposed to be. And please please please to not make Basanti into Vasanti. That is a sheer sacrilege. That too for a movie in which she informs the audience that her name is Basanti some seventy eight times :) You were too annoyed by her to notice, I suppose :)
I am gonna resist commenting on [Anti] and older women. I am tempted to, but I shall resist :)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 5:46 PM
oh well she didnot *phew* but I did, such a long comment! I just glanced at it now let me read it!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 6:08 PM
[Priyavadan] I did not? But I did, but I did! :)
(I have no idea what you’re talking about, btw.)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 6:17 PM
Aayi Milan Ki Raat !! That was what I was trying to remember ..the serpentine connexion u c ! I think this had one nice song (not too nice though)..can’t remember the lines :|.
Talking about Karachi biscuits, I once gave my boss a pack of those bikkis and what I came to know after a few months from his very pretty daughter was - One bikki had a “cow hair” in it :|. It was so embarassing even though she was jocular about it….After that no more giving Karachi bikkis and other stuff to peepz - Ofcourse I didn’t stop eating though :) !
For Pete’s sake I haven’t seen any of those movies :) also, we ought to mention that Vijay Anand deserves credit for directing a movie like Guide.
[Gabby] Vasanthi :-s ?? Glad you didn’t refer to the movie as “Solay padam” and like Megha said, her character was supposed to be irritating and now I think she did an even better job cuz u did find her irritating :).
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 6:30 PM
umm megha rani (om prakash style) , you didnot *phew* but I did.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 6:45 PM
[pingoo] Ayee Milan Ki Raat’s title song ‘kitne dinon ke baad hai aayi, sajna raat milan ki‘ is reasonably nice, I think. Is that the one you were trying to remember? Sung by Anuradha Paudwal and Mohammed Aziz, I believe it is in the raaga Puriya Dhanashri which is one of my favorite raagas, which explains perhaps why I like the song .. maybe someone more knowledgeable can confirm the raaga fundas?
One wonders why someone specifically chose to mention how pretty one’s boss’s daughter was. Is that why someone bought fruit bikkis for her from Karachi Bakery in the first place? :) And what does a ‘cow hair’ look like? I don’t think i’d recognize it if I saw one in my cookie. Please to educate :) *scratches chin curiously*
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 6:49 PM
[Priyavadan] As I said, I have the utmost respect and admiration for anyone who reads that comment in full, regardless of whether they phew in the middle of it or not :)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 7:08 PM
I hate Dev Anand. I like Marie biscoots. btw, do you know there was a brand called “Nice” biscoots. It was the best. I liked it, bcoz it had white sugar granules, sprinkled all over the brown base. It looked good. It tasted even gooder. And it was “Nice”.
~Mishter Nice.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 7:31 PM
Well, I had watched Jewel Thief a long long time ago and have forgotten the plot now. But I do remember the songs, especially Hoton pay aisi baath …
After reading your post I gotta see the movie!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 7:31 PM
whats so special about Marie biscuits? A fondness for Parle-G’s i can understand.. but Marie? >memories of a crappy ad featuring a bratty girl singing “all i want is English Marie”<
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 7:43 PM
“ek tha jewel thief!!!”
I just remember bits and pieces …cool movie though..I saw it first time on DoorDarshan when I was in 2nd grade..
hey throw in some more details abt the movie in part (2) and deeettaailed end scene please..
or else…. :)
……and then I shall press a smoke button[a lever that fills a room with toxic gas] and then disappear down a secret passage through a closet …..
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 7:45 PM
I had no idea Salim acted in TM!
Are you tryin to tell me tht there is Hindi movie trivia left in this world tht I know and u dont??? *patting on my back, lifting my nosy nose high* well Salim plays Rocky II… he’s Rocky’s friend (jo pehle Rocky tha ab Anil hai, ya jo pehle Anil tha ab Rocky hai)
u getting tempted to watch TM has tempted me to watch it again!! O Haseena julfonwali here I come.
Talking abt Woh Kaun Thi, wht does the trick in the movie (Sadhana of course), the sound effects, be it the wipers of the car and the rain, the cemetery door, or the eerie silence… till date when I’m driving at nite in rain, thoughts of Woh Kaun Thi give me chills. Madan Mohan saab’s music to top it!
[Gabby]How could you forget “Tumhara Naam kya hai, BASANTI?”
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 8:54 PM
*LMAO at Pingoo’s “Solay padam” comment!
[Pingoo] The movie whose name has been mangled the most in Chennai was “Hum Aapke Hain Kaun”. The whole of Chennai watched it zillions of times, but chances are that most of the (then) non-Hindi speaking college going demographic will not be able to pronounce it even now. Ask someone the name of the movie the day after they saw it and the most common answer you’d get is “Ammaapke Kaenko”! A funny post on this subject is here!
[Megha]/[Gabby] Anti likes effervescent women and Hema Malini was effervescent as Basanti! And her accented Hindi was so cute. And whats wrong with guys looking for maturity in a woman, if at all the joke was on me :p
Mein baccha hoon. Woh toh sahi hai. Par dil se bachcha hoon. Or as you put it so nicely, I am a RMB! And Hema Malini raapchik maal THI! And now she is too old.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 10:54 PM
Ah, you have mentioned Woh Kaun Thi and gone up in my estimation….:) ‘Tum kaun ho??’ ‘Koi nahin’….and she’s bleeding all over the place. And its in the pouring rain in the middle of the night. And then, the stroll into the graveyard with some truly brilliant music in the background…..and all that was before the movie had even started! God, now THAT was a movie….
Well, ummm, the deal with the 3 AviWadh movies was that I was in school then, and had the hugest crush on this babe (who thankfully I er….uncrushed - if there is such a word - later….). But, sad but true, she was convinced that AviWadh was the next superstar, the next Amitabh Bachchan, so to speak. And so…
Hopefully, over the years, I have learnt to be more discerning about recognising the correct preferences in people I moon over…
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 11:51 PM
[Suhail] Ah yes, they were indeed yum! I used to try and pick the sugar crystals off and eat them first and then attack the biscoot :)
[Ashish] I had begun to dread that all I did so far was remind people of Ashwini Bhave and Aaye Milan Ki Raat, but I feel better knowing that I have been a positive inspiration, for a change. Nice to have you stop by! :)
[fingeek] Why can’t one love Marie and Parle-G both? I’m an equal opportunity cookie-eater, after all. I personally preferred Marie with chai and Parle-G with coffee. Or with Bournvita/Maltova/Boost/some-other-malted-beverage. And why don’t I remember this bratty kid? All I remember is the jingle ‘Brittania Brittania Brittania Ma-Rie!’
[sanky] Yes yes, that detailed end scene will definitely be described. Not of Jewel Thief. A different end scene. Total The End it’ll be. What say? *scowl*
Nice link on Rediff. Unfortunately, it touches upon some of the things I had written for my next post, but I shall risk being redundant :)
[Mustang] I never knew this! Okay, stop sniggering :) I never claimed to know ALL movie trivia. I know for a fact that there are readers of this blog who are much more knowledgeable in Hindi movie trivia than me. So me just small fish in big ocean types. But THAT was Salim eh? Now I will go see Teesri Manzil, and watch out for him and see if he looks like Sallu.
All this talk of Woh Kaun Thi has put its soundtrack in my head, especially the haunting gorgeous lag ja gale ke phir ye haseen raat ho na ho. This song never fails to give me the shivers. Especially when Lata sings the lines -
humko mili hain aaj ye ghadiyaan naseeb se
jee bhar ke dekh lijiye humko kareeb se
phir aapke naseeb mein ye baat ho na ho
shaayad phir is janam mein mulaaqaat ho na ho ..
*sigh* .. And then there’s jo humne daastaan apni sunaayi, aap kyon roye .. besides of course naina barse rimjhim rimjhim. And of course Asha is in her element in the effervescent shokh nazar ki bijliyaan. Ufff, what a voice!
[aNTi] Oho! Major statement. Anti likes effervescent women. Has been duly noted and filed away in the matchmaker’s notebook, thankoo. By the way, I LOVED Hema in Sholay, it is Gabby who has a problem with her :) And who said you shouldn’t go for an older woman? Wasn’t it suggested that Hema and you still stood a chance? You grossly misjudge us, Anti. We will always support your romantic endeavors, however revolutionary they may be! :)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 @ 11:54 PM
[Nandu] Nice to see someone I can discuss Khosla with :) The list of movies I am hankering to watch again is growing by leaps and bounds after this post. First Teesri Manzil, now Woh Kaun Thi and CID.
We have all done some crazy things in our life, in the name of a crush. So while I’d consider watching Avinash Wadhawan movies to be pretty high on the list and I SHOULD be rolling on the floor with laughter, I won’t. Instead, I shall be nice, smile politely, and snigger when you look away ;)
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 12:14 AM
the biscuit with a jam centre is called jim jam (made by britannia).
to think i could read thru 38 comments and the blog and found a biscuit. ‘focus’ as al ries famously said. ;)
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 2:18 AM
oh u thot Ashwini Bhave was pretty!i’m trying to find a reason - perhaps it was her hair or her brief appearance in “Henna”(of Zeba Akhtiar fame)
luking fwd eagerly(yaa nail-biting ) 2 partII where Tanuja’s seducing tactics wud b discussed(wonder how Kajol never tuk the cue)
btw ur comments section is sometimes more interesting than the blog itself n i also happen to luv those very lines of my all time fav song “lag jaa gale”
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 2:46 AM
Hmmmm Hmm *whimpering*…Megha is scowling at me again…:(
threatening dire consequences too..*cowering sanky retreats into dark lonely corner*….:(
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 2:47 AM
Bakeman’s english marie biscuits. ads used to air all the time during cricket matches. tune from My Fair Lady..
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 3:14 AM
Awesome post, megha! Hey, I love movies as well…and could go on and on discussing ‘em..I even blogged once about it - http://imsri.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_imsri_archive.html
Go through when u get time. Meanwhile, am waiting for ‘jewel thief’ sequel here.. ;)
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 4:24 AM
Oh and btw, that link I gave u? Look for the topic ‘cinema paradiso’ in it…ciao!
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 5:01 AM
Can’t find an email link on ur blog!? I reach NC on 4th aug..
Ever tried dipping marie biscuits in chai…tastes doubly yummy!!
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 7:21 AM
Sure Megs. I would very well like to see the movies you listed for me.
But this weekend of mine is fully booked with LOTR I, II, III, HP I, II, III, SM I and II.
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 8:27 AM
Megha, can the “humble” Hokie suggest the following for your afternoon viewing (on the lines of Sindook aur Bandook)
1. Dhund - The Fog
2. Asambhav - The Impossible
3. Elaan
I especially recommend seeing Dhund for the dance sequences of Amar U (of Kyunki Saas Bhi Bahu Thi fame)
Please dont chase me to “pataal” if u see these movies in full.
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 9:24 AM
[Megha] Me has no sanity? Damn it!!! I as guarding this secret so well!! how could you? (Flashback to the t-rex comment eh?:D).. me would like to take this oppurtunity (as well as any other presented to me) to state an important piece of information. “I do not SUFFER from insanity. I enjoy every moment of it!”..thankoo thankoo one and all for your applause(?)..
[aNTi] Nice one about the “Hum Aap ke Hain Kaun” but my favorite was “Dilwale diwali-ku thuni eduthaan hai” — a swipe @ DDLJ .. now that one had us all rolling on the floor, even causing us ti rupture our stomachs due to uncontrolled fits of laughing ;)
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 3:28 PM
[Dharmendra] :) Kudos on the focus but it wasn’t Jim Jam, D. See Jim Jam was a fairly hard cookie (we get it in desi stores in the US too) .. the one i’m trying to recollect was a lot softer as a cookie. The soft chewy kinds, not the hard crunchy kinds. Am guessing it wasn’t Brittania? Please to use your cookie knowledge, and shed some light on the matter. Thankoo.
[Swathi] I think it might have been her eyes. Who knows. I totally agree that the comment section of my blog is more interesting than the blog itself. It is the only part of my blog *I* like to read ;)
[sanky] Argh! You are supposed to defend yourself, not slink away into a corner! But cmon, what with you asking me to reveal the ending, did you expect me to react differently? Huh huh? :)
[fingeek] Ah, no wonder. Bakeman always had irritating ads. I remember their ‘Cream Crunch‘ biscuits ads were irritating too. ‘Bakeman’s cream crunch, really creamy, down to the last crunch‘. Bleh. See, one wrong brand choice as a kid, and you’re missing out on one of the great joys of life.
[phatichar] Thank you! And nice to see another movie crazed person! I read your ‘Cinema Paradiso’ and it brought back such fond memories! I had an almost identical experience growing up in a company township myself. Also a South Indian in a non-South town, much like you :) This was a time when there was no TV. The only entertainment was the company club movie screening every Saturday, where the entire township would assemble. The projector ‘uncle’ came from a baajoo waala gaaon to setup everything while we’d buy samosas and Thumbs Up and get ready. The projector was setup in the middle of the open air area, so people sat on both sides of the screen. Needless to add, seeing the moment in Swades just before the ‘ye taara vo taara har taara‘ sequence brought back fond memories of growing up, for me :) So half of us would watch the movie in reverse, which to a 6-7 year old kid was a thrill in itself, so i’d insist on sitting on the ‘wrong’ side always! And sometimes papa would take me to the bioscope uncle while he setup his equipment and make him explain how the movie gets screened. I’d understand very little of what uncle was saying, but i’d listen spellbound trying to soak it all in. Sigh! If only I had a time machine!
Glad you stopped by. And thank you for bringing back fond memories! :)
[Atta Girl] Its on my profile page, but you have it now anyway :) And yes, the need to dip the Marie biscuits IN the chai is what prompted me to take a break in my Jewel Thief post. A very important need that is, i’ll say! :)
[loverBoy] Hmmm.. awright, i’m a reasonable person. How about after LOTR and HP? :)
[Hokie] Why O why? Have I wronged you in some way in some past janam? When my Thakur grandfather was busy oppressing an entire village of people, were you the little 5-year-old boy who watched him with steely determination, swearing ki main chun chun ke badla loonga? If not, then why?
I will not chase you to paataal, not to worry. Instead I will ask you to watch Paataal Bhairavi (1985). Yes, sweet revenge shall surely be mine!
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 3:45 PM
[Sriram] Dammit, you sneaked in a comment while I was writing the last response!
Yes, total black and white circles type flashback moment only it was ;) And notice nobody said you suffer from insanity. You clearly revel in it! Your readers however .. that’s a whole different story, but we won’t go there yet :)
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 3:53 PM
hehe.My dad used to tell me the stories of various masala flicks as bedtime stories.esp jewel theif for he was a major dev anand fan..that could be one of teh reasons i am like this now. and tragedy is that diamond comics are plain unaffordable these days..aaj kal ke bachche are missing out on a lot of things (esp chotoo lambu comics and even such wonderfull performerslike sumeet saigal and kamal sadhana and even kishen kumar)..we must start an organisation to bring down the price of diamond comics.pls to apply formula no 42
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 3:57 PM
[Megha] - “Slunking to corner, the wrath of Pataal Bhairavi might strike the Hokie anytime”
How did you pull up that gem of yours ? Yes, yours truly was the 5 year old kid whose grandfather was the one whose wheat was confisicated :)
[Australopithecus] - I remember my Mom telling me, “Drink the milk, else I will show you Kishen Kumar singing “Aaaja Meri Jaan”, owwwwwwwww”, nasty ! btw, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0474825/ says Krishna Kumar (how dare IMDB insult the greatest and best of all times in such a manner) acted in five “films”. Can someone tell me if they have seen no.2
Yours truly has the honor of watching the other 4, missed no.2 on the list :(
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 5:06 PM
Hai bhagwan! I step aside for a minute (ok more) and people have been bashing me up left and right about Hema Malini and the ill-fated Vansati I spelled out wrong (WRONG. OK, WRONG. Now be nice to me fellow-jobless-people!)
MEGHA! You are a Southie raised in a non-Southie land, we are soul sisters girl. We are. Total Yaadon Ki Baarat type milan has to happen one day. I just know it.
Anti, you want an effervescent women? Somehow only Eno fruitsalt comes to mind. Have to lay off those mangoes. Btw, Costco has these nicely sliced HUGE dabbas of FRESH mangoes. Which I am downing like nobody’s business with salt+kharam dotted generously…
Off topic I know…but Megha encourages free spirits to roam freely on her blog…right?
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 6:03 PM
[Megha] Na, not that one. “Saawan kaa maheenaa aayaa hai Ghata se barasaa hai paani ve maahiya bujha de” was the song that I was thinking about and also this cute sa song “Kala sha Kala” with the clapping thing going on..we used to dance to this *ah those days*…the heroine looked kinda ok only in this one song (in a black shalwar I think). The song that you said reminds me of this number from Bees Saal Baad(1988), Kitne saawan baras gaye mere pyaase naina taras gaye.
I know not about raagas, so I’ll pass that :).
Well ! some one chose to mention about the beauty cuz you have certain things assosiated with certain people and thats the thing I assosiated with her :). Now, that strand of hair was not sent to a lab for DNA testing to identify if it has a bovine origin but then I dunno why she thought it was cow’s hair !! prolly for the same reason as she asked me once with an innocent face “Do cows roam around on the streets in India ?”. Well all I could do was chuckle and say “Yes they do roam around and hence I can identify a cow when I see one.. unlike here ..where you get to see a cow only on the Stonyfield yoghurt lid” and come to think of it..its not just cows but other animals like cats, dogs, pigs(not to be seen on the roads these days, dwindling numbers….some animal activist should act quickly and restore their past glory). Funny questions they ask or so I feel :). Now this info was not really needed to xplain the cow hair but its ok I hope ? ;-) educated aa?? *you can stop scratching your chin now* :)
[aNTi]That was hilarious ! now I do have a friend who says it right but pronounces it in a funny way - Hum Aap Ke Hain (Ha as in Harry and In as in India) Kaun. Got it ? :) and DDLJ as Dilwale Dil Duniya Le Jayenge :). Since we are already here, let me tell u that SRK is generally known among the household maamis as “Saarukk”, with the K in the end pulled and twisted a little (like in the song rukk rukk rukk arre baba rukk o my darling give me a lookk).
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 6:18 PM
Gabby - have u tried those mangoes with salt, kharam and lemon juice concentrate. yummmeeee!
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 6:48 PM
For a moment i thought the title read Jewel Thief :)
n when i step in, i see Ashwini Bhaves, Avinash Wadhwans, Kishen kumars(lolol, the name itself has the punch .. no need to watch a movie), Basantis, Marie biscuits, Parle-Gs, Good-Days, dog-biscuits..
LMAO …. :-))))))
I was flabbergasted !!!!
y dont u send dis to Dev Anand, i m sure he wd ‘take off’ soon :)
also saw lot of blog-oursourcing hppning ..
So am leaving my precious comment for d upcoming sequel ..
May b u can change blog into a chat room n give link on yahoo chat rooms(or other assorted ).
It wud Rock !! .. jes a thought, which wud sparkle a few hundred lines of reply i m sure ;)
(n i cudnt stop noticing the DesiPundit trackback.. kudos !!!!)
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 7:55 PM
whats the difference Britannia Marie/Bakeman’s Marie… same taste of nothingness :)
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 10:42 PM
[Australopithecus] That is such a brilliant idea on your dad’s part! What could be a better source of stories to satisfy a kid’s vivid imagination :) And I couldn’t agree with you more. Bollywood’s infrastructure has vastly changed from fifteen years ago. And the unfortunate side-effect of that is that there aren’t any genuine paploos anymore! Even the B and C-grade paploos are now packaged and marketed as highly polished products, resulting in a drastic shortage of students from the Kishan Kumar school of acting. If this continues, what will happen to our kids? Who will they heckle and mock? Sigh.
[Hokie] Where did I pull that one? Out of the pain in my heart at having to deal with the suggestions you threw at me, where else? Tsk tsk. And Aaja Meri Jaan! How can I forget that movie! I OWNED that soundtrack for the longest time, until I ‘accidentally’ left it at a friend’s place once and never brought it back. Heh heh. Needless to add, said friend and I are no longer on talking terms. But before I make more fun of it, let me add on a more serious note that the title song ‘aaja meri jaan‘ is an R D Burman composition, the lone saving grace of an otherwise deplorable soundtrack. A beautiful composition woven around RDB’s favorite jalpari theme, it is said to have moved SPB to tears when he recorded it.
And words fail me here. What in the world could have possibly compelled you to watch - Aaja Meri Jaan, Kasam Teri Kasam, Bewafa Sanam AND Papa The Great? No, you cannot tell me you had a crush on a girl who thought KK would be the next Amitabh. That excuse can work for Avinash Wadhawan, but not for Kishan Kumar. So please to share your sad story, so we can all commiserate.
[Gabby] I tried very hard to resist, but you have made it impossible! Van-Sati ?? LOL! Now you’re turning her into this sad opressed woman who lives in the jungle! :D Too much this be, Gabby! And why do you think i’ve been practicing kya hua tera vaada all these days, girl? Okay, so I had a different family reunion song rehearsed, but they are all from the same family of Nasir Hussain films, so we should can at least pass off as cousins, i’d say :)
Eno’s fruitsalt! LOL! Maybe like Dev sees Nutan in his glass of alcohol and sings to her in Tere Ghar Ke Saamne, Anti can see his gal in his bottle of Eno. See how I connected this comment back to Vijay Anand even? I am so pleased.
Megha is all for the encouragement of free-spirits and their generous flapping of wings. But she doesn’t care much for bird poop :)
[pingoo] Now, thanks to you, I cannot stop humming saawan ka mahina aaya hai ghata se from Ayee Milan Ki Raat. The gal on screen was Shaheen, known to be Saira Banu’s niece. And thank you for filling a gap in my education. You see, I only know bald cows, so I was never introduced to the idea of ‘cow hair’. I feel much enlightened :)
[VC] I personally prefer raw mangoes in untouched form - no salt, no kharam, no nothing :)
[Invincible] Noooooooooo! Please to not turn my precious blog into a Yahoo chat room! But yes, we seemed to have .. um .. digressed a little off the topic of Jewel Thief, haven’t we? *grin* And thankoo! :)
[fingeek] Hmpfh. That’s what a cookie/biscuit is supposed to be like - light as air, melt in your mouth and disappear into nothingness! Double hmpfh :)
Friday, July 22, 2005 @ 12:10 AM
[Hokie ^ Greatest] How about adding the following to your list - Soch (starring Sanjay Kapoor). A veeeeery interesting movie :) Highly recommended! ;)
[Invincible] Blog-Outsourcing! LOL!!! :D
[Megha] Yes, I’ll watch Dil Se too.
Btw, I don’t think I’ve watched Meera Ka Mohan but I know I’ve watched Radha Ka Sangam. Any connection? :)
Btw, the Marie ad goes something like this -
All I want is English Marie. Oh so English the real Marie.
Crispy, Crunchy, Oooooooh!
*sigh* Nostalgia. :)
popcorn, samosas, Marie and Good Day biscoots, adrak chai, filter coffee and coke (ice optional)-
Arre? What about Orange Juice? Fresh Squeezed. No ice. :D
Anyway.
Timesheet Effort Entry -
Reading comments: 5 hours
Sifting through comments to compose comment response: 2 hours
Composing comment response: 0.5 hour
No wonder I don’t blog that much anymore…
;)
Friday, July 22, 2005 @ 1:16 AM
I know Karachi Bakery, but not the other one you are referring to.
My haunts have always been local bakeries near my home. After I got my wings (read .. first two wheeler), the base was shifted to King & Cardinal (had a friend who lived nearby).
Friday, July 22, 2005 @ 2:00 AM
Ah ! that piece of info right there, I didn’t know that, so she is Saira Banu’s niece..hmm. So u like the song ! cool song na…don’t you think Aziz sounds like Shabbir in this song ??
Can’t resist to talk about one of my fav songs when u mention Kishen Kumar :),“Acha sila diya tune mere pyar ka” from Bewafa Sanam. I think its one of the first songs that catapulted Sonu Nigam into the limelight. One of those songs which gives me shrills !
Friday, July 22, 2005 @ 10:59 AM
[Hokie] sighs and ‘beowwwwww’ sheds bucketful of tears at reading the “projector uncle’s tales”. Hokie also grew up in a “company township” and our “uncle” was nice enough to always show Kishen Kumar movies !! That was his favorite backup, but when the backup becomes the primary, you know what starts happening. btw, the aaja meri jaan composition being a RD creation was a zinger. Wow, Megha, u sure are a mine of information…
anyways, hokie also has a dubious record, once I start watching a Hindi movie, I have Never ever left it incomplete, how bad it might be. After all, the kids of the producers have to eat na ??
[Rajesh] - Soch was werry interesting, definitely worth a watch. I think Sanjay Kapoor never gets mentioned alongwith the Avinah W and Kishen Ks of this world, definitely potential material..
Hokie sings ‘Dilbar Dilbar’ and retreats to his corner sighing…
Friday, July 22, 2005 @ 11:19 AM
Soch was werry interesting, definitely worth a watch.
I agree. I’d happily give up my watch, to not have to see it again.
Friday, July 22, 2005 @ 11:55 AM