I requested this topic to be on Mouthshut, because I thought that the super hits are generally watched by a majority of people. But this category will provide the readers with the names of good films which they may have missed. So here goes my list of the movies, which I think deserved a super hit label, but were instead discarded by the public, either because of poor marketing, bollywood rivalry or some other reason.
JAAGTE RAHO(1956)
Dir: Shambhu Maitra, Amit Maitra
Prod: Raj Kapoor
Genre- Classic movies
A really well made film by the late Raj Kapoor. The film is the story of one night in the life of a thirsty villager, who finds himself in the big city of Calcutta. The film takes a highly critical view of the Bengali urban life, established by a touch of pathos, tragedy and comedy too. This also happened to be the last film in which the first RK girl Nargis did a guest appearance. This film did do well when it was re-released years after its first appearance. The song Jindagi Khwaab Hain made its mark with its soothing music(Salilda) and fantastic lyrics(Shailendra). A must see if you have missed this one.
ZARA SI ZINDAGI(1983)
Dir: K.Balachander
Prod: R.Venkataraman
Genre- Thought provoking movies
The story of three unemployed friends and their different outlook towards life. But basically it’s the story of a young man who finds it difficult to adjust with the wrong and unethical social conditions around him. His attitude makes him a loser all the way, but the viewer is left wondering as to who is the real loser- the lad or the society! Marvellous acting by Kamal Hasan. Look out for the song- Ga ma pa pa ma ga, composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal and penned by Anand Bakshi. A great movie!
ANDAAZ APNA APNA(1994)
Dir: Rajkumar Santoshi
Prod: Vinay Kumar Sinha
Genre- Comedy movies
This film must have been seen by a majority of readers, thanks to the cable television network. But for those who did not get a chance to see it, this movie was hilariousness personified. Rajkumar Santoshi proved beyond doubt his talent in making films of any genre. A story of two young men who try their luck wooing a rich NRI girl! This is laughter from the first frame to the last one. Though I felt that Karishma Kapoor had an irritating role in the film, still one could see great performances by Paresh Rawal, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shakti Kapoor. A must see for comedy enthusiasts.
NARAM GARAM(1981)
Dir: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Prod: Subhash Gupta, Uday Singh
Genre- Comedy movies
A film that brought the hit Golmaal team back to the audience. Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt were back with their mind blowing timing. But I feel that the only reason this film did not do as good as it should have done, was the advent of substandard cinema that had started raising its head in the early eighties. The film was a story of a simple employee who lands into trouble when his fiancée comes to stay with him. Trouble starts when his immediate boss...and his boss...and the main employer(who else but Utpal Dutt), all start getting romantically inclined towards the girl. Watch out for Hamen Raston ki- the original of the super hit song Saagar Kinaare(Saagar). Music by R.D.Burman and lyrics by Gulzar. All in all, a hilarious movie.
RAAKH(1989)
Dir: Aditya Bhattacharya
Prod: Asif
Genre: Thriller Movies
I could never understand why this movie did not do as good as it should have. One of the earliest Aamir Khan starrers, this movie was about a young collegian, who goes through the trauma of watching his girlfriend being gang raped. This is the story of how he refurbishes his hurt male ego by avenging his girlfriend’s rape with the help of a cop, superbly enacted by Pankaj Kapoor. The one thing that strikes you is the director’s vision back in the late eighties. The use of lights, and the use of background music(by Ranjit Barot) really makes this film a class apart. There are no songs.
IN CONCLUSION
There are many more movies like Main Azad Hoon, Sazaa, Qatl and Mera Naam Joker. One such movie which was written by Salim Javed before they achieved Star-Writer Status(No pun intended), was Aakhri Daav, starring Jeetendra, Saira Banu and Danny.
In fact, Bollywood is full of instances where praises are offered to undeserving films, and many deserving super hits never see success. Here’s raising a toast to all those fantastic people who made great movies and died unknown.
Cheers~