Movies to watch before you die: Masoom

My first post on a series of films that I personally think you should watch - some of my favourite films.

I'm starting off this series with what is probably one my favourite ever Hindi films - Masoom. No, I'm not talking about the 1996 film starring this annoying little shit:



I'm talking about the 1983 classic starring Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, and Urmila Matondkar and Jugal Hansraj as child artists.

The plot of the film is fairly simple - DK (Naseeruddin Shah) is happily married to Indu (Shabana Azmi), and has two daughters Pinky (Urmila) and Mini. DK suddenly finds out that he also has a son from an affair with another woman (Supriya Pathak). Following his mother's death, DK is contacted to pick up his son Rahul (Jugal Hansraj). This, expectedly, causes friction in the household - Indu cannot handle having DK's love child in the house, where DK start to bond with the son he didn't know he had. As the tagline of the film states: 'Can this boy destroy your family?'

What makes Masoom work big time is the realism in the film. The family is loving without always gushing over each other, the arguments are heated without being melodramatic, the kids are cute without being annoying. The realism is achieved for three factors - Shekhar Kapoor's direction, Gulzar's screenplay, and the performances all round.

The direction is refreshingly low key - no unnecessary songs or action sequences (even though this film came in the same year as the Jeetendra potboilers Mawaali, Himmatwala and Justice Chaudhry). The camera seems to follow the family around on their daily life, which was perfect for this story. Gulzar sets up very natural situations, and creates three-dimensional characters - it's easy to sympathise with DK even though he has cheated on his wife, and you can understand where Indu's anger at Rahul comes from, even though he isn't at fault. Of course, these characters work because of the performances.

Naseeruddin Shah gets his role pitch perfect - as the father who wants to do the right thing by his family, but can't ignore his heir. Shabana Azmi gets some of the film's most evil scenes - when she portrays her hate towards Rahul, you want to shout abuse at her......but you can't as you understand exactly where she's coming from. As mentioned before, as the two sisters who have found a new playmate in Rahul, Urmila and Aradhana are childlike without being annoying. But the knockout performance in the film comes from Jugal Hansraj. As the confused child who loses his mother, only to gain another family, and then faced with the threat of losing it again, he is the life of the film. The title of the film perfectly suits him, and it's a pity that this was his best performance to date.

I can't not mention the music of this film - the Gulzar - R.D. Burman combo always provided fantastic songs, and this film was no exception. My personal favourites are Tujhse Naraaz Nahin Zindagi




and Do Naina Aur Ek Kahani



although Lakdi Ki Kaathi is probably one of the more popular songs from the film.

A word of warning - if you decide to watch this film, be prepared to cry. It sets me off everytime I watch it!!

With regards to copies of the film, the best available print appears to be the one that I've included the links to above on Youtube. Unfortunately, this print doesn't seem to be available to buy. There are three DVDs available - one by Baba Traders, one by T-Series, and one by Ultra. I've seen all three, plus the version shown on Set Max, and own the Baba and Ultra DVD version (I told you I like the film). Of these, the Ultra version is the best one to get (available here: http://www.induna.com/1000002799-productdetails/)

Rahamat Ali (Bengali)

Mithun Chakraborty. Partho Ghosh. Remake of Ghulam-E-Mustafa.

Dialogue: 'Jar namer aage Rahamat aar pore Ali, saara jannat bajai taali'.

Downside: No 'Gutur Gutur' as in the previous Mithun-Partho combo Dalaal.