Hum Dono Rangeen

Let us take the last options first: As a drama,the film works even five decades down the line. It has a wonderful story deftly and crisply executed despite the length of 160 minutes. All those intermittent but heartfelt references to war and its futility as well as the ponderings on the vagaries and whimsicalities of life and destiny are as relevant today, if not more so.

The film has an amazingly modern tenor,the songs seem like the cream of the early 70s and the only dated sequences,few and far-between,are very condensed vis-à-vis the melodramatic grammar of those times,like the clash between Captain Anand Dev Anand and his prospective rich father-in-law Gajanan Jagirdar over Anands lack of wealth,Anands mother Leela Chitniss melodramatic outburst when he leaves for Army training,and the sequences between Anands lady-love Meeta Sadhana and Anands mother or with her own father.

Coming to the storyline,Captain Anand has joined the Army to get a life and earn a decent income,because he loves rich girl Meeta. In the Army,he meets Major Manohar Lal Verma Dev Anand again who is his spitting image,but for a different hairstyle,a moustache and a hearty roar of a voice. The two become fast friends and even become confidantes,sharing details about each others joys and problems.

When Major Verma is given up for dead in the war,Anand has to convey the news to the majors mother Lalita Pawar and wife Ruma Nanda. Ruma,who has already received an earlier telegram about her husband being missing in action the era is pre-Independence,when Indians were fighting in Indo-Burma for England in the Second World War,faints with the joy of seeing him,thinking that he is her husband. The family doctor diagnoses a weak heart that cannot stand either extreme joy or sorrow. When Anand tells the doctor who he really is,the latter pleads that Anand stick to the charade till Ruma is stronger.

But thats when the drama and moral conflict begin. Ruma feels that her husband lacks his previous ardour and is behaving like a stranger. Meeta suspects that Anand no longer loves her when the hapless Anand accompanies Ruma to a temple,and she comes face to face with them. And when Major Verma returns alive but crippled,he too suspects Anand of playing dirty.

Thanks to the script and tight editing,the solution to the impasse is quick,natural and very moving. The performances are pitch-perfect Nanda as the ideal wife,Lalita Pawar as the affectionate mother of the mayor who treats Ruma like a daughter and even the melodramatic Jagirdar and Chitnis. Sadhana is a delight as Meeta.

Dev Anand leaves an indelible impression in the double roles,and proof that he has always been a grossly underrated but exceptional actor lies in the ease with which he creates two diverse characters so effortlessly. The final confrontation sequence between the two is awesome,to use a cliché.

The films colorising and acoustic enhancement are superb full marks to Jagan Mohan and his team for this. But lets face it their inspiration was the magnificent material that was already at their disposal.

The second hero of the film is writer,ghost editor and ghost director Vijay Anand. The lines,the climax,the initial bonhomie between the two look-alikes and the emotional tussle Anand goes through are again fabulously conceived,written and executed. The war sequences can beat any contemporary film for the sheer atmosphere created.

The camerawork V Ratra speaks volumes for the synergy between director and cameraman the sequence of the Army flare against the bare sky and the Captain speaking to his conscience against a black screen are magnificent in their originality of concept. The stunning and much-talked-about beginning of the movie silent visuals of romance,gentle background music and then a song even before any character speaks are clear indications of a passionate and innovative talent at work. The final sequence where a crippled Major pursues Anand is rich with atmosphere.

And of course,the final heroes are the music trio of Jaidev,lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi and singer Mohammed Rafi,with Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle dazzling us as the vocal heroines. And as this is a film review,the emphasis must be on the background score,which like so many of that era,is a textbook on how such music should be created and used to enhance a film.

Rating:

A star each for Dev and Vijay Anand,one for the music team,one for the rest of the cast and crew and a final one for those who gave modern tenor to a classic.

Rajiv.vijayakarexpressindia.com