Friday 23 September 2011

Raja Jani (1972)

I think its high time I invest in a quality laptop, the thought of coming back home and sitting for hours on end on a desktop blogging after a long hard days at work is seriously discouraging and tiring which is why I've been missing in action for a while, but I've seriously missed blogging as well as reading all my favourite blogs so much that I've designated my weekly days off preparing posts that will be automatically set to publish. My first movie review is this Dharema (thats Dharmendra & Hema Malini) romcom which i couldn't help but fall in love with

Wealthy Ranimaa (Durga Khote)  the queen of Taragarh lives in constant agony and anticipation that her long lost granddaughter Ratna who was kidnapped years ago will return to reclaim her throne


Her right hand man Diwan Gajendra Singh(Premnath) takes advantage of situations and recruits suave mobster Raja (Dharmendra) to help him find a girl who'll fake being Ranimaa's granddaughter who'll in turn hand in all the treasures to them once she's been crowned

Raja stumbles upon Shanno (Hema Malini) a street dancing village belle but Diwan thinks she's too much of a commoner to play the role of the long lost princess Ratna


Thus Raja forgoes Shanno as an option but circumstances brings them together again when Shanno escapes after murdering a leacherous man her guardians had sold her to, she finds safety in raja who takes her home  and decides upon presenting her as the lost princess Ratna

Thus begins a makeover as Raja  transfroms Shanno from Country bumpkin to city slicker, he also teaches her lovely manners

All this results in Shanno not only being fit to play a part of the lost princess but she also falls in live with  Raja (something I do not blame her for). Shanno's love for Raja turns into heartbreak when she realises all that grooming and lessons he had been giving her was all in the name of getting her to deceive Ranimaa

Shanno decides to live but is stopped by Raja's assistant Imartilal (Johnny Walker) who tells her about Raja's past scorn in the hands of an unfaithful lover (Bindu) who had cheated on him
Seriously Bindu???? cheating on Dharmendra with Manomhan

Imartilal persuades her to stay as she is the only one who can bring Raja back on the straight and narrow. Shanno listens and decides to play along as Ranimaa's long lost daughter Ratna while also harbouring plans to reform Raja and win his love


But things aren't so easy as Shanno's conscience starts getting the best of her, will she manage to deceive Ranimaa in time so that Raja and Diwan Saheb  get the treasures? Who is the real Ratnaand what will happen if she does indeed arrive? Plus will Shanno succeed in her attempts to make Raja fall in love with her? For this and many more delightful 70's bollywood retro goodness watch Raja Jani

With the exception of some minor gaping plot holes especially in the form of Shanno's murder case never been concluded, this is a cool, fun, charming and delightful retro romcom with fantastic chemistry between Hema and Dharmendra, seriously this two are at their best here, I absolutely loved them and its no surprise they went on to marry, they win my award for best filmi jodi of all time (sorry Sharukh and Kajol). Plus it was nice to see a decisive heroine even though a big part of her decision centred around gaining a man's approval to win his love but hey!! that's minor from all the goodness this film offers, there's a bit of romance, drama, thrilling moments (like the scene below) and action all packaged nicely into an endearing entertaining flick, everyone who likes their retro bollywood movies should watch this


Plus have i mentioned how fabulous the fashion in this film is, all those interested in retro bollywood fashion should see this film to learn how its done. From Hema Malini's pearly beaded top and flared trousers to her funky belted tunic with paisley headscarf she had an amazing wardrobe, head over to my other bollywood blog which I've been ghost writing for some time now to see her full looks

Dharmendra too had some lovely threads in this from his lovely bright blazers to his sharp Double breasted suits, I've never seen him look so stylish, head over to my other bollywood blog to see his other looks from the film

 And Prem Chopra was styling too, i love that blazer though i think I'd change a few things before wearing it

You also get some fab interiors  in the form of giant swiveling doors and quilt padded walls (oh how i love how you pay attention to details 70's bollywood)
Vah!!Kya Baat hai Dharam ji ladies and some of you Gents, stop drooling please



And finally the music from Laximant Pyarelal is delightful, from the amazing 'jani o jani' sung beautifully by kishore Kumar with a suave looking Dharmendra during the title credits to the infectious 'duniya ka mela' to the cheeky 'ABCD chodo' (check out the outfits in this) and then there's the lovely 'mubarak o tujhe' with an appearance from Helen simply dancing around Hema, and the flirty 'Kitna mazaa raha hai' . The song I've chosen to embed however is aaja o aaja simply because of how gorgeous Hema and Dharmendra look in the song


Paisa Vasool Rating: 7/10

13 comments:

"THE BARD WHO DOESNT HAVE TO TRY TOO HARD" said...

nice 2 hear frm u aftr a real long time :)

bollywooddeewana said...

@ The Bard thanks, it feels great to be back, I hope I'll be able to keep things up now

Anonymous said...

I'm SO glad you're back! :-) Loved this film, loved your review - and am off to have a look at your new Bollywood fashion blog. That should be a lot of eye candy!

Sharmi Adhikary said...

LOved this film. And loved to ogle at the gorgeous Dharmendra. His smile is just killing!!

bollywooddeewana said...

@ Dusted off Thank you, it feels great to be back, I think one can usually tell how much I've enjoyed a film as my reviews usually go all out for it

@ Sharmi Indeed, he was at his best here

Amaluu said...

I'm not sure but this storyline sounds very familiar. I think there's a Tamil or Telugu version of this movie with Sridevi in it.

bollywooddeewana said...

@ Amaluu maybe so, its a fairly popular storyline please report back if you do find it

Daddy's Girl said...

So good to seeing you back here!! I've missed your posts. Reading this makes me really want to see the movie... I have to get a good copy of 'Raja Jani', the one I have is dodgy so I could only watch the first 15 minutes or so (as you can imagine, my most vivid memory from those 15 minutes is of Dharam in that little robe ;-)). Love Dharam and Hema's looks in the screencaps, and also love he blog on Bollywood fashion!

bollywooddeewana said...

@ Thanks Daddy's Girl, Its great to be back and i can sympathise with tyhe bad dvd, I think moserbaer have a fine print plus their songs are more likely to come with subs, mine was eros and though the print was fine the songs were not subtitled (how very annoying). And yes I knew taht Dharam screen cap would make you weak at the knees Lol

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Nice movie!

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