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. )

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. ( Spoilers for the movie, but you know what's going to happen anyways, don't you... )