Filmmaker Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay is a revered basic. There have been books written on it and cinema’s main stars have cited it because the movie that impressed them in the direction of arc lights as youngsters. Its all-star forged and crew — Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Rames Sippy and Salim-Javed — stay legends. However, individuals hardly ever discuss of Sippy’s movie Seeta Aur Geeta, a true-blue masala Bollywood entertainer that had me laughing all through.
Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), with an ensemble forged — Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Manorama, Asrani (particular look) — most of whom made it to Sholay, has all of the substances of a typical Bollywood movie because it provides comedy, melodrama, motion , romance, track and dance in beneath 2.5 hours.
It begins with the most well-liked trope of equivalent twins getting separated at beginning, with the coy one (Seeta) rising up in a wealthy family however with merciless relations. The feisty one (Geeta) grows up on the streets however beneath the care of a loving woman and a pricey buddy. Though the primary half hour of the movie made me have a look at it like a Hindi TV serial the place the heroine (Seeta) is a damsel-in-distress with a depraved, abusive ‘Chachi’ treating her as a housemaid, Sippy did not disappoint when he introduces Geeta.
A full of life, motor-mouth woman in her colorful-gypsy garments, she catches maintain of the ceiling fan within the police station, as she’s being chased by a plump ‘Chachi’, who errors her for Seeta, with the ‘Elephant March’ enjoying within the background. I do not keep in mind laughing as a lot as I did on the scene in any of the Bollywood comedies just lately. In hindsight, I am unable to keep in mind watching even mildly humorous, honest-to-god Bollywood comedy within the final decade, however that is for one more time.
Seeta Aur Geeta unfolds as a comedy of errors, the place a lot of the laughter is due to confusion attributable to a case of mistaken identities. And, Sippy made it a degree that the confusion solely makes the characters scratch their collective heads and never the viewers. The movie’s writers, Salim-Javed, have been impressed by Dilip Kumar’s 1967 movie Ram Aur Shyam, however not having watched it, for me, Seeta Aur Geeta has turn into my favourite equivalent twins film. It is adopted by Sridevi’s Chaalbaaz (1989) that drew closely from Seeta Aur Geeta. Though these movies led to an period of such movies (Kishen Kanhaiya, Judwaa, Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi), none might depart an impression like this.
Hema Malini and Manorama in a nonetheless from Seeta Aur Geeta. (Photo: Express Archives)
Hema Malini, who I had solely recognized both as a talkative Basanti (Sholay) or the perfect mom (Baghban), illustrated how she earned the title of ‘Dream Girl’ within the 70s. Her finesse as an actor is sort of seen right here as she aces each the elements, that of tormented, orphaned Seeta and of the feisty Geeta. It was a deal with to look at her train a lesson to her evil ‘chachi’ (Manorma) and her brother Ranjeet (Roopesh Kumar).
Besides her, actors Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar, have achieved an excellent job in supporting roles of Raaka and Ravi. While Raaka is a rugged man who wears leather-based jackets and an earring, Ravi is a candy physician who interacts principally by means of his smile. Manorma as evil ‘chachi’ Kaushalya held her act until the very finish and complemented Malini’s efficiency.
Hema Malini and Dharmendra in Seeta Aur Geeta. (Express archive photograph)
Sippy provides a cherry on prime with a chaotic but humorous climax. Our heroine Geeta will get to do some fist-fighting with the goons who kidnap Seeta. Accompanying her are the 2 most important males, Raaka and Ravi, who carry comedian aid within the emotional second of ‘bachpan mein bichdi hui behenon ka milan’.
The one factor that makes Seeta Aur Geeta good for me is its simplicity. In instances when racy thrillers, movies with a social message, nationalistic dramas, biopics and darkish comedies are being thrown at me from Bollywood, I do not thoughts watching some silliness which brings some happiness and pleasure with it.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
