Stealing thunder…

I admire filmmakers of yore who actually looked for works of literature for their storylines. So you’ll find Hemantkumar bringing us adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle and Daphne du Maurier and Dev Anand bringing in a slew of works by a physician turned full time author, A J Cronin.

This is a wonderful adaptation of Beyond This Place. Any one who hasn’t read Cronin should do so immediately. He was responsible for bringing in the (now crumbling and dysfunctional, sadly) National Health System thanks to his experiences in the Welsh coal mining country and proximity to Aneurin Bevan. I just love his style and am a huge fan.

The hero tries to clear his father of a conviction of a crime the father hasn’t committed, gets some clues from a tawayef, and some help from a journalist, and nails the crime on the real culprit, getting his father acquitted in the end. Directed by Raj Khosla for Navketan, Kala Paani has been one of my favourites for 60 odd years. A movie with the beautiful Madhubala and the debonair Dev Anand actually have their thunder stolen by Nalini Jaywant . Nalini Jaywant not just outclassed both of the leading pairs, she coloured her character with shades which were really an eye opener and picked up the Filmfare for the Best Supporting Actress as did Dev Anand for his role. In reality I feel Nalini Jaywant‘s role and her performance deserved a Filmfare for Best Actress. Hers is definitely the meatier role in the movie. https://youtu.be/B-wVcpzMB9s

Sachin Dev Burman da in his heyday was just brilliant and this composition has lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. All the songs have Ashatai and no other ladies’ voices were used.

Enjoy the song and have a wonderful weekend, folks. Hope the rains come oblige me in my personal haven.

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