Seven days of 70s Bollywood: Geetaa Mera Naam

[This post is part of a week long blog-a-thon, masterminded by Beth of Beth Loves Bollywood, paying tribute to the films of 1970s Bollywood. Be sure to check out the other participating blogs for more about the best decade ever in the history of Indian film-making!]

Geetaa Mera Naam (1974)
Directed by Sadhana Shivdasani
Written by R.K. Nayyar, Madan Joshi
Starring: Sadhana Shivdasani, Sunil Dutt, Feroz Khan, Helen
Music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal

Sunil Dutt's stuffed monkey? The human waxworks? Helen unzipping Feroz Khan's shirt with her teeth? Sadhana's mad kung fu skills? The all-pervading S&M obsession? The comic book color scheme? Helen's weirdest item number perhaps ever? Where exactly does one start with Geetaa Mera Naam? I know: with watching it. NOW!

Read my review of Geetaa Mera Naam at Teleport City



Honorable Mentions:

Charas
Khoon Khoon
Be-Sharam
Inkaar
Warrant
Faraar
Nagin

Seven days of 70s Bollywood: Qurbani

[This post is part of a week long blog-a-thon, masterminded by Beth of Beth Loves Bollywood, paying tribute to the films of 1970s Bollywood. Be sure to check out the other participating blogs for more about the best decade ever in the history of Indian film-making!]

Qurbani (1980)
Directed by Feroz Khan
Written by K.K. Shukla
Starring: Feroz Khan, Vinod Khanna, Zeenat Aman, Amjad Khan, Amrish Puri, Aruna Irani, Shakti Kapoor
Music by Kalyani-Anandji

Despite it's 1980 release date, I doubt anyone who's seen Qurbani would disagree that it is a quintessentially 1970s film. It's as if director/star Feroz Khan looked back upon the preceding decade of masala excess and distilled it down to its very essence. Thus we get bikini-clad disco divas, careening muscle cars, musky bromance, and shameless bare-chested ascot wearing, all set to what has to be Kalyani-Anandji's most downright funky score ever. Qurbani IS the 70s!

Read my review of Qurbani at Teleport City

Seven days of 70s Bollywood: Yaadon Ki Baaraat

[This post is part of a week long blog-a-thon, masterminded by Beth of Beth Loves Bollywood, paying tribute to the films of 1970s Bollywood. Be sure to check out the other participating blogs for more about the best decade ever in the history of Indian film-making!]

Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973)
Directed by Nasir Hussain
Written by Javed Akhtar, Salim Khan, Nasir Hussain
Starring: Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman, Vijay Arora, Tariq, Ajit
Music by R.D. Burman

It's a sad fact that not all masala films are equal to the sum of their parts, but Yaadon Ki Baaraat is one example where everything comes together perfectly: romance, action, family drama -- all equally fascinating as individual elements while at the same time complimenting and enriching one another. Add to this a flat out brilliant R.D. Burman score, Zeenat Aman at her loveliest, and one of Dharmendra's best performances of the decade and you have just about the best introduction to 1970s Bollywood that a novice could hope for. Be warned, however: You will cry!

Read my review of Yaadon Ki Baaraat on 4DK

Seven days of 70s Bollywood: Kaala Sona

[This post is part of a week long blog-a-thon, masterminded by Beth of Beth Loves Bollywood, paying tribute to the films of 1970s Bollywood. Be sure to check out the other participating blogs for more about the best decade ever in the history of Indian film-making!]

Kaala-Sona (1975)
Directed by Ravikant Nagaich
Written by Harish Khatri, Ramesh Pant, V.D. Puranik
Starring: Feroz Khan, Danny Denzongpa, Parveen Babi, Prem Chopra, Helen
Music by R.D. Burman

Yes, of course I love Sholay. But I figured it was safe to assume that it would be paid enough lip service elsewhere during this blog-a-thon that I could afford to dedicate some space to one of my other favorite "curry westerns". Sure, Kaala-Sona may not be as soulful as Ramesh Sippy's classic, but it makes up for that with the kind of violent, pulpy thrills that make it even closer kin to the Italian oaters that inspired it. That is, until the final act, when we find ourselves playing in villain Prem Chopra's surreal realm of boundless, Wizard of Oz inspired poppy fields, at which point Kaala Sona becomes something entirely crack-headed and uniquely its own,

Read my review of Kaala Sona at Teleport City


KAALA SONA - Iqraar jane jaana
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Seven days of 70s Bollywood: Don

[This post is part of a week long blog-a-thon, masterminded by Beth of Beth Loves Bollywood, paying tribute to the films of 1970s Bollywood. Be sure to check out the other participating blogs for more about the best decade ever in the history of Indian film-making!]

Don (1978)
Directed by Chandra Barot
Written by Javed Akhtar & Salim Khan
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Pran, Iftekhar
Music by Kalyani-Anandji

For many a ferangi viewer, Don was the gateway drug into 70s Bollywood. And while some were later disappointed to find that not all Hindi films from the period borrowed so liberally from American blaxploitation films, or had heroines quite so kick-ass as Zeenat Aman's Roma, many more found much that lived up to the promise of that initial dose. After all, the badassery of Bachchan, the killer funk of Kalyanji-Anandji, and the mad convolutions of masala appeared to have been in near inexhaustible supply during that decade. Of course, seldom did they come together quite so irresistibly as in this sure-fire little addiction starter.

Read Keith's review of Don at Teleport City.

Seven days of 70s Bollywood: Rani Aur Jaani

[This post is part of a week long blog-a-thon, masterminded by Beth of Beth Loves Bollywood, paying tribute to the films of 1970s Bollywood. Be sure to check out the other participating blogs for more about the best decade ever in the history of Indian film-making!]

Rani Aur Jaani (1973)
Directed by K.S.R. Doss
Written by K.S.R. Doss, Prem Kapoor
Starring: Aruna Irani, Jyothi Laxmi, Anil Dhawan Narendra Nath, Jagdeep
Music by Satyam

Rani Aur Jaani sees Tollywood director K.S.R. Doss bringing his distinctive brand of trashy, female-centric action cinema to Bollywood -- and with it comes his muse apparent, the fugalicious and disturbingly habit forming Jyothi Laxmi. Taking the oft told filmi tale of siblings separated at birth who grow up on opposite sides of the law and giving it an estrogen-injected spin, Rani Aur Jaani comes across like Deewar as directed by the Hindi version of John Waters. Add to that Peter the sharp-shooting wonder dog, a rare and very enjoyable leading turn by the under-appreciated Aruna Irani, and one of the best rear-projection enabled motorcycle chases in film history, and you have the makings of a classic. Currently only available on VCD, this is at the top of my wish list for a subtitled DVD release.

Read my review of Rani Aur Jaani on 4DK

Seven days of 70s Bollywood: Dharam-Veer

[This post is part of a week long blog-a-thon, masterminded by Beth of Beth Loves Bollywood, paying tribute to the films of 1970s Bollywood. Be sure to check out the other participating blogs for more about the best decade ever in the history of Indian film-making!]

Dharam-Veer (1977)
Directed by Manmohan Desai
Written by J.M. Desai, Kader Khan, K.B. Pathak, Prayag Raj & Pushpa Sharma
Starring: Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman, Jeetendra, Pran, Neetu Singh, Jeevan, Sheroo the Wonder Bird
Music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal

You'll find that most of the films in this countdown of mine are contemporary urban thrillers, with one notable exception being Dharam-Veer. Which is... what exactly? Well, in short, it's knights in shining armor, pirates, gladiators, gypsies, samurai, midgets, Dharmendra in a black leather mini-skirt, and Sheroo the Wonder Bird -- all of which, once discovered, beg the question: How could I not have known this existed?

Read my review of Dharam-Veer at Teleport City.

Seven days of 70s Bollywood

Starting on Monday, I'll be participating in a week long blog-a-thon -- masterminded by my pal Beth over at Beth Loves Bollywood -- paying tribute to the films of 1970s Bollywood. Each day I'll be focusing on one of my favorite Bollywood films from that decade, resulting, I hope, in you novices out there ending the week with a handy guide to some of the best that Hindi cinema has to offer. As I told Beth, a list of my favorite Bollywood films from the 70s is a list of my favorite Bollywood films period; you just can't beat that era's films for dazzling color, alluring stars, outlandish action and irresistible tunes. And I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these seven films to anybody, regardless of taste.

Be sure to also check out the other blogs, in addition to Beth's and mine, that are participating in this event, who at this point include:

Indiequill
Memsaab Story
Filmi Girl
Octoberzine
Filmiholic
Doc Bollywood
Old is Gold
Samrat Sharma
V Love Movies
Roti Kapada aur Rum
Bollywood Fangirl
Choti Rani's Ongaku
ThinK TanK or KanT ThinK??
Totally Filmi
The Fabulous Empire of Pitu Sultan
A Fairy Filmi Ending