Gumnaam has so many of the things I love about Bollywood, which I shall detail below, but the number one thing about Gumnaam that really epitomizes Bollywood for me is this: the mystery doesn't matter, what matters is how the characters react to the mystery. For that reason, this review is going to remain spoiler free for those who haven't seen it yet and want to be surprised.




Here is one thing I will spoil for you: Ted Lyons & His Cubs + Laxmi Chhaya = Awesome. When I get my inevitable book deal, I'm going to pitch a coffee table book of photos of item numbers and item girls - giving due to ladies like Laxmi and Padma Khanna! Who wants a copy?

( More screencaps under here! )

The mystery is wrapped up neatly, but it doesn't really matter because that was never the point. It's too bad that the people over at Lost haven't figured this out. That show could have - and did for a bit in the first season - work like Gumnaam. Meaningless clues, red herrings, and Ted Lyons are a lot more fun than overly complicated plots that have to conform to "reality."

Hum Dono could have been much better than it actually was. I'm a big fan of Goldie's screenplays in general and I love double roles - "How could this possibly be bad?" I thought.



Two Dev Anands, but only one moustache and pompadour between them.

( More Dev Anand and Dev Anand shenanigans inside here! )

Because it's Friday and, as the comment on youtube for this video says: "I have never seen Rajesh Khanna jump around so much."

(Plus, I have a date tonight! Yay!)

Here is Atif Aslam singing the same song! He has such a pretty voice, but very different from Rafi's.