Chalti ka naam gaadi

I am a big time fan of Kishore kumar like zillion other people. As much as his songs, his acting skills are something I am very fond of, which I believe not many give him due credit. The way in which he dances for “Bindu re Bindu” song in Padosan movie is a good example. He effortlessly performs those steps which, I would be really surprised, if they were choreographed. Being the playback singer for that song, the way he sways to the tune is pure fun. His antics often remind me of Chandrababu, great comedian of tamil cinema, who also was a decent singer and superb dancer who did his own steps. This movie had been on my watchlist for a long while and finally managed to see it last week. The other reason for watching the movie being Madhubala(Venus, she is). She looks divine and all those praises of her beauty are well justified. Wouldn’t quite say about the performance though. But if you are so good looking, enough to set the screen on fire, what else is needed.

I read in the trivia section of the movie that Kishore actually made this picture to show loss in income, for he was so sure that it would flop!!! With almost all of the songs being chartbusters and super hit, wonder what made him think this movie would bomb enough to save taxes for him!! Apparently it only added to his profits and that would’ve been a nicer headache to have I guess!! The story involves 3 brothers, who are played by real life siblings Ashok “Dadamoni” kumar (I had never seen him younger on any of his movies that I saw!!! By the time I started watching hindi movies, he must’ve aged an even 100 I guess), Anoop kumar completing the trio along with Kishore. They own a garage and possibly the characterization is the pioneer for zillions of such stories, where the brothers vow to remain bachelors only for them to change into family men towards the end of the movie, with the younger one being the first to break the rule. Every single song in the movie, has been a trendsetter and many of them I’ve heard as advertisement jingles for various products, before I ever saw them for first time on the actual movie. There has been so many remixes of these songs, several of them being chartbusters of their own, listening to the original version was a refreshing change and the tunes being so simple, voice clarity of the singers being mellifluous and picturization so easy on the eye, they make a delightful and delicious combo on screen. The story has comedy, slight melodrama, suspense, thrill elements, car chases and finally the “happily ever after” ending with fantastic music by the dad of RD Burman, who really proves to be his dad when it comes to the craft. The story as mentioned before, has spawned several milder and direct copies of this movie, which is a statement in itself of the content. It’s a delightful watch even today and makes more sense than most of the crap that is churned out in the name of being realistic.