I was really taken with this song-dance from Gehra Daag. The choreography makes really effective use of the chorus dancers with Rajini. She has such an energy that is only enhanced by all of the sweeping shots of her running between the rows of the chorus and ducking out of the frame at last second.




Ralhan knows how to pick his item dancers!

Gehra Daag (1963) was interesting for me coming after a week of colorized, cotton-candy late 60s and 70s Ralhan. All of the pieces were in place for later films, they were just a lot more muted.



The unquestioned star of Gehra Daag is Rajendra Kumar. He plays Shanker, who is sentenced to 14 years of prison for manslaughter. See, what happens is that some dope offends Shanker's sister and Shanker gets into a fight with the guy that escalates out of control when the dope brings out a huge claw-type weapon and Shanker kills him with it. He made a mistake and paid his debt to society. Will people be able to forgive him his crimes or will he suffer forever for one mistake?

( More Gehra Daag under here! Click me! )

All of the later O.P. Ralhan trademarks are here in embryonic form -




1. A comedy sub-plot involving Tun Tun as the maid of Lalita Pawar's sister!

2. The theme that crime is separate from criminals. Crime should be stopped, but not by eliminating the people who commit crimes, who are human. This running theme makes me wonder about O.P. Ralhan's personal life. I wonder if he had a friend or relative go to jail and then come out changed and unable to find a job or be treated fairly. *indulges wild speculation*

3. Excellent camera work/direction by Ralhan. We get some nice long panning shots and effective cuts - not quite as nice in black and white, however. He works better in color, I think. Black and white doesn't suit his pop art style.

4. Strong female characters - from Mala Sinha, a confident and forgiving young woman, to Shanker's sisters, Lalita Pawar and Tun Tun - no doormats here.

I also want to add that the film is built on Rajendra Kumar's performance as Shanker, and he really sells it. There isn't much plot and much of the film is taken up in little household moments and vingettes, which would flop if not anchored by strong performances - especially by Rajendra who is really a compelling figure on-screen.

I'm not sure I would recommend this for anybody except those who are curious - like I was - about early O.P. Ralhan or for huge Rajendra Kumar buffs. It was a very sweet film, but also very slow-moving: Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...! with a leftie-liberal social conscience and less comedy.

Talash tells the story of two best friends, Rajendra Kumar (hero) and O.P. Ralhan (comic relief). There were so many wonderful things about this film that I watched it twice yesterday. TWICE!

First a quick plot run-down - Raj Kumar is a spoiled college graduate. He wants to become a wealthy man more than anything else. (O.P. just wants to chase ladies around.) ( Every film needs a nice romance... )
This is merely the skeleton from which Talash is built, but it's a strong one. The story hits a number of things that I like and are kind of unusual as far as 60s films go. For one thing, the woman is the agressor in the main story. She spots him, sees the potential, and then sets the hoops he has to jump through for him to earn her as his life partner. She always has the upper hand. He is totally at her mercy, but he doesn't come across as less than masculine for being so. He's manly, but not macho. It's a nice combination. Plus, Sharmila and Rajendra have very good chemistry. ( And here are the two best Sharmila/Rajendra scenes, in my opinion... )



The female as agressor motif was also used in the beginning as a horde of women - can someone help identify all of them - chase after Raj when they mistake his name (Raj Kumar) for his title and think he is a prince. ( One of the ladies is Nadira and I think Daisy Irani is another... )
Along with the Sharmila/Rajendra scenes of wonderful romantic angst, O.P. Ralhan won my heart forever with his Helen subplot. ( How many screencaps of Helen could I possibly have, you ask? Ek lakh? Ek crore? )

O.P.'s Helen subplot had a sub-sub-plot involving O.P.'s father trying to set him up in an arranged marriage. ( Does it get better than this? )

Talash had so many of the things I adore in films, from the money can't buy happiness plots to hilarious sight gags. O.P. Ralhan focuses on what is important and glosses over the rest - in the finest masala tradition. Raj's business career is gloriously undefined. We don't find out what the company does nor does it matter. His rise through the ranks takes place in about 3 minutes complete with something like 5 star wipes to move things along. The sub-sub plot regarding O.P.'s arranged marriage, on the other hand, has a hugely detailed set-up. Priorities are important!

The one complaint I had was with the subtitles.



The subtitler must be a frequent txt messager because "U" was constantly substituted for "you" and "Ur" for "your." That got very old very fast.

After the wonderfulness of Phool aur Patthar and Talash, I've got Hulchul and Pappi coming from Netflix in the next week or so. I cannot wait!