I know it's not fair, but I'm laying the blame for the epic dullness of Bandhe Haath right at the (stylish) shoes of the Big B.

"Why?" You may well be asking. "Why blame the Big B? And aren't you scared that he will post a detailed rebuttal on his blog now that he is so taken with the Internet?"

Ha! I welcome any behind-the-scenes information Mr. B has to share. Until then, let me spell out the crimes of Bandhe Haath:

* Too much use of the voice-over = internal monologue convention. I can live with a little voice-over. I always appreciate the voice-over reading of a letter, for instance, so that the words are translated for those of us who cannot read. I also enjoy opening narration, so we don't have to waste too much time in setting up the plot. What I cannot stand is Wonder Years-style voice-over every scene where nobody is talking.

Here's an example where Bandhe Haath falls flat in this way: ( Illustrative example )

* Amitabh tries his best smouldering Dharmendra impression and ends up just looking kind of constipated. ( You know you care about Bandhe Haath... )

I'm going to be honest and admit that I couldn't finish this, even the music is boring. And my last O.P. Ralhan film... why didn't he direct?! Hmm? This could have been so good. Ah, well, I'm going to go start my letter writing campaign for a DVD release of Pyaas.

From Bandhe Haath, which is turning out to not be quite as good as some of O.P. Ralhan's other works, although Mumtaz is deliciously plump and wonderful. Maybe part of the problem is that Ralhan didn't direct this one or perhaps Amitabh doesn't have it within him to capture the earnestness/angst over being good person yet being a criminal of a Dharmendra (Phool aur Patthar) or a Rajendra (Gehra Daag) or a Zeenat (Paapi) which make Ralhan's other films work so well. Amitabh in this era was more angry than contrite.

Dang, yo! Amitabh burns up the screen in Trishul! He is a one-man wrecking machine as he fulfills his oedipal Angry Young Man destiny. ( Let me tell you more about his suits with the big check prints on them. )

Overall, I really enjoyed this. It had plenty of romance, dishoom-dishoom, socialist messages about money not being worth selling your soul for, feminist messages about how ladies can do stuff, AND lots of shots of Shashi and Amitabh with their shirts unbuttoned to the navel. How could you lose?!

I watched Trishul last night. (LOVED IT! Review coming later today...) The music was okay, but when this song began, I got chills just from hearing Kishore's voice. A very lovely song and sweetly picturized on Amitabh, The Shash, and Hema with Rakhee lurking in the background.

Well, I suppose it's official: I am a Manoj Kumar fan.



(I'm making this face right now.)

While watching Roti Kapada aur Makaan, I had such sympathy for Manoj Kumar, beyond sympathy for his character, who was quite nice and broody. Seeing the effort and detail that goes into a Manoj Kumar production, I was overcome with a sense of outrage that Farah Khan would mock him so meanly in Om Shanti Om. That was when I knew I was an official Fan (tm). Where are the earnest young (handsome) men making films like this today? Politics, romance, melodrama, action, and some wonderful songs all wrapped into one package. Rang de Basanti comes close to a Manoj Kumar production. I need to rewatch that, I think.

Roti Kapada aur Makaan is a wonderfully intricate story of a guy named Bharat (natch!) who can't get a job in 1974. The story spreads out to encompass Bharat's brothers and his sister and his lady friends, but leaving out the parents in a very modern way.

( Follow me for more Manoj Kumar plus The Shashinator in some excellent 70s suits. )