_____INTRODUCTION_____
This is a highly entertaining & successful commercial movie which every Hindi-knowing person should watch. It is a guaranteed entertainer. While giving a very entertaining commercial movie, it also touches to several aspects of (then) society. This movie captures the mood of a village under drastic change & underscores the facts that ’any dramatic change should be made in consent/confidence with the people that are affected by it’ & with a human-face (Are you listening BJP?)
Dilip Kumar worked with Chopras in Naya Daur first, after some time it was ’Aadami’ with Manoj Kumar & then Mashal in the 80s. Naya Daur was sort of remade (Majdur: by BR Chopra) with Raj Babbar in the role similar to Ajit. Of course changes made to the plot for old Dilip Kumar. Naya Daur was a masterpiece & still regarded as the best movie from B.R. Chopra. It covers many factors of the human nature while staying completely focused on the plot. Indian as a country & also politicians were a little tilted towards left-wing thought process (not Communism mind you: It was purposely kept out by Nehru/Gandhi/Patel). Sardar Patel was more industrialism sort but was out of action due to health. Nehru was impressed by the growth made by Russian empire & hence followed a ’controlled capitalist’ approach instead of tilting to any thought-process of complete socialism versus 100% capitalist.
_____THE PLOT_____
Industrialization versus manpower utilization. Love triangle, Man Vs. Machine. Workers Vs. Owners. The movie has somewhat socialist approach. A kind owner (Nasir Husain?) runs his mill with a human-face. His son back from education in a western country wants to utilize machines for better efficiency & profitability. The workers start to move to the cities leaving their homes/land back. Then he also starts a bus which makes all the tanga-walas obsolete. Frustrated with the dramatic change a youngun challenges the owner’s son & accepts Bus Vs. Tanga race. In parallel goes the story of two friends Dilip & Ajit, who happen to like the same girl Dilip Kumar’s Mausi ki Beti! They end their friendship due to the trick played by Dilip’s sister at the temple etc & Ajit joins the enemy camp. Dilip wins the race & also Ajit’s confusion is cleared & all ends well with Nasir Husain returning back to village to promise a human-face to industrialization.
_______THE ACTING_______
Dilip Kumar!!! Aaayy Bhaaay! One of the greatest actors ever produced..! He is a ’Swayanbhu’ actor & had no one to look upto for guidance. His style/dialog delivery/acting was HIS OWN creation. He was cent percent ORIGINAL. His anger / agitation when he cancels his sister’s marriage with the greedy people is benchmark / ispirational for many generations of actors in future. His dialog delivery & the way he flirts with Waijayanti-Mala has also been copied as is by Manoj Kumar / Rajendra Kumar & Sharukh many times. His sense of humor among the best. His display of friendship with Ajit equally intense. His performance in the songs is mentioned above.
He is more natural in this than his other movies like ’Madhumati’. The way he stands for the photograph with Vaijayanti Mala. The way he confesses his love(sort of) to his mother standing in front of a pillar. Check out my 5 best Actors review to read about his abilities. Many people have very negative opinion about his acting but they should check out his older movies & then make comments. He is BAAP of generations of actors that have followed since
Vaijantimala looks/acts sweet. Her performance in the songs is adorable. Specially Ude Jaj Jab & Mang ke sath. Ajit is consistent & lively. His presence makes Dilip Kumar to rise & perform better. It is not often that Dilip Kumar gets such a healthy competition. (Ashok K, Raj Kumar, Sanjeev K & Amitabh are more such examples).
Jony Walker gets his own song with Maini bambai ka baboo, naam mera anjaana, English school main gaanwu main hindustani gana’. This song shows socialist leanings of BR Chopra with the lines like these ’Aaya hun main bandhu Roos aur cheen main jaake..Kam ki baat batadi main comedy ganaa gaake’. Jony Walker have got some of cool songs like ’Ay dil hain mushkil jina yahan’ or one in Mr/Mrs 55 ’Jaane kaha mera jigar gaya jee’, similarly ’Tel-maalish’ This guy is a genius in his field.
_____THE MUSIC_____
My all time favorite OP Nayyar! All songs are great & still very much ’in’ despite all the new songs/music videos etc. The master of -folk-music & catchy tunes OP has given some real masterpiece here. What makes the songs more great is the presentation/filming. A small piece where Dilip Kumar comes singing simple lines ’Yaaroke pasine par hum Khoon bahaa denge ho’ & Ajit responds to it ’Dil deke daga denge’ is handled in a cool fashion.
Typical OP Nayyar song is ’Mang ke sath tumhara, maine mang liya sansar’. You will see from where Shahrukh gets his many actions & mannerisms in this song! There are quite a few frames that Shahrukh copies ’as is’ in almost every movie. Asha & Rafi are sweeeet in this song. Specially with the ’O.ho ho ho Aaaahhaa’ between the stanzas.
The song I like THE MOST is ’Ude Jab Jab zulphen teri kawarinyon ka dil machale..O jab aise chikane chehere to kaise na najar fisale’. This is no doubt one of the best display from Dilip Kumar..his perfect yet natural actions are a treat to watch. Specially checkout ’Pani lene ke bahane aaja, Ke Tera mera ik rastaa’ & ’Kabhi daal idhar bhi phera, ke tak tak nain thak gaye’. The best is no doubt is ’Tuzhe chand ke bahane dekhu tu chhat par aaja gorrrriyen’
The patriotic song which is stil famous & a commonplace on national tv is ’Ye desh hain veer jawanno ka albelo ka mastano ka iss desh ka yaaron kya kehena ye desh hain duniya ka gehena’. Dilip Kumar & Ajit are good but the credit goes to the co-dancers, specially at the end of the song the Sardars display great quick rhythmic moves. Just splendid! Reshmi salwar kurta jaali ka is also a cool one. Shamshad Begum is employed to sing in her no-need-for-a-mike voice. Make her stand in a crowded place & even then her voice will be recorded with the same clarity. Similar to Noorjahan. Rafi sings for Johny Walker in Maini Bambai ka baaboo’. Sathi haath badhana sathi re is also an imp song.
____CONCLUSION____
A must see family entertainer. A collector’s item with a certain ’repeat value’. You get to see a refreshing/Jinda-Dil-overt acting by Dilip Kumar. Splendid songs & a great story with a good bit of drama. It also shows interaction of different characters like no other. Watch this movie for sure before you criticize or show ignorance about Dilip Kumar’s greatness. He is one of the most pure, original (Swayambhu) actors of all times. Do watch this movie for sure for the legend. If you do not know about this great performances, then you are certainly missing quite a bit in your life.
Thanks for reading the review. Please do comment & rate (in that order) if time permits.