Review : Heena was touted as Raj Kapoor’s swan song and while the movie was being made, everyone had doubts on what Randhir Kapor would come up with. The pressure was immense and the media was monitoring every move made for making the movie, be it the selection of the cast, the locations etc. The end result was very pleasing not just because of the hype but because Randhir actually made a movie which was very touching and had some genuine soul.
The title role played by Zeba Bakhtiar, was done to perfection. Zeba was the soul of this film and in all her innocence and beauty, brought out the true colours of Heena. Bubbly in parts (and not irritatingly so a la Kareena Kapoor, Amisha and the deranged brigade) and melonchaly in parts, she was truly Heena. Rishi Kapoor was seen in his last good role as a leading man and he truly did a great job (despite th red, yellow sweaters, shaking his paunch on hillsides etc). The other newcomer (Ashwini Bhave) though a fine actress, was a complete no-no however.
The highlight of Heena was Lata Mangeshkar’s golden voice which was soaked in pathos and honey. Watch Jaanewalley, the title song, anardana and above all Chithiye. The music of this movie still lives on and will do so for a long time to come. Despite all the good things, the movie was not short of cliches namely: 1) the villain (who seemed like the biggest sadist in the world) 2) the hapless father of heena 3) the very cliched climax chase The pros of the movie: 1) Amazing performances by Zeba, Farida Jalal and Rishi (in that order) 2) Outstanding music and off course Lata 3) Beautiful cinematography and song picturizations.
Definately worth a watch even though I would have been happier if the climax was better. Why does the third angle in every movie get bumped off?
Pros : Zeba and the music
Cons: cliched climax