Inspired by the brief clip of the film in Johnny Gaddaar, I dug out my copy of Johny Mera Naam. There are so many things to love about this film, but for me the best parts are Pran and the ladies. Pran doesn't get a lady, of course, as he never does. In fact, while reading his biography, it mentions that doing romantic scenes made him uncomfortable!(!) Fortunately, Dev Anand has no problem with those. No problems at all....even at 46 or so, which is how old he was here.

Johny Mera Naam is the story of two brothers separated at a young age when their father is murdered in front of them by an evil thug. Mohan, the elder, runs after him to avenge his father while Sohan, the younger stays behind with their dying father. 15 years later *cough* we run into them again - Mohan is now "Moti" and played by Pran, middle management in the gang that killed his father and Sohan is "Johny" and played by Dev Anand, a police inspector with a penchant for disguises and ascots.



"Evergreen" Dev Anand smooth talks his way into Moti's gang with no problems. He's undercover to catch the thieves!



He runs into Hema Malini (an adorable 22 here), who is a good girl working on the wrong side of the law. Why? We'll find out later! Also, she doesn't quite trust Johny. (Or maybe she has problems seeing through the soft focus.)



No problems seeing those diamonds, though!



Johny gets her out of a few tricky spots that he arranges just for him to get her out of while being picturized on "O Mera Raja!"



Meanwhile, Premnath is living pretty high on the hog as the gang boss. He enjoys watching flabby, overweight men in tights wrestle in his converted church/lair.

Yeh kya he?!



Padma Khanna shows up for an item number!



Johny and Moti work to sell of India's precious treasures to foreigners! Nahi! (Also, Johny wear some fussy outfits for a undercover cop. You would never catch Amitabh in a number like that.)



Padma gets the vamp's best case scenario ending - she dies with honor. And it turns out that Hema's father was being kept in Premnath's dungeon! Premnath was doing all his crimes in her father's name so that he could kill him when the time came and run away without a bad mark to his name. Smart. Hema is captured trying to reach her father.



Sohan and Mohan are reunited in the most touching boxing match I have ever seen. I might have gotten a little teary eyed. And then the two of them defeat Premnath and Dev and Hema get married.

The plot really doesn't matter. What makes this film so great is Pran's performance as Mohan/Moti. Not only does he get to run around in a lot of disguises - and who loves disguises more than Pran - he gets a really emotional scene at the end.



His mother, whom he hasn't seen in 15 years and who he's not even sure if she can recognize him, is getting beaten by a no good thug! He's so sad and angry!



But then he's reunited with his Ma and look at his face. Just look at it. I couldn't stop watching Pran for the whole last bit of the film. Sure, nobody simpers like Dev Anand on a good day, but Pran really sells this.

As I mentioned earlier, I loved the ladies - Hema and Padma Khanna. One of the things I love about older Bollywood films is how real the actors look. The perfectly toned, perfectly made up, perfect looking Hollywood actresses have no appeal for me. I would rather an actress concentrate on her acting rather than how many calories are in her lunch. The ladies in Johny Mera Naam are not air brushed.



Padma Khanna is a knock-out AND she has a flabby stomach. I love it! (Although, I don't love her dancing, her enthusiasm makes up for it.)



When Hema Malini has to dance a devotional number while also feeling guilty for stealing some gems from the temple, she sweats. How great is that?!



I would so much rather watch real actresses than perfectly toned robots.