Boyfriend 1961

Before I start with Rajesh Khanna special this week, there are two movies that have to write about. They have been pending for more than two weeks now.

After I read memsaab’s review of Aakhri Khat, I went to all the video stores in the city hunting for it and finally found it in one. There I saw Boyfriend (though it was a VCD and not a DVD). Not that I need an excuse to buy a Shammi Kapoor film, but doesn’t this look tempting?

The movie begins with a little boy running on the street in a dark night with few men behind his heels. He halts to catch his breath just below this notice on a wall.

An elderly couple visit a temple. One of the pujaris enquires as to who they are and why they come to visit the temple every year on the 2nd of January. The elder pujari introduces them as Thakur Harcharan Singh (Shivraj) and his wife, Rajni Singh (Amirbai Karnataki) from Ambala.  22 years ago, they had lost their son elder son, Madan. So they come every year on that day with a hope of finding him someday.

In Shimla, Madan aka Shyam is being released from  jail after being arrested for the second time for petty theft. First time he was arrested as Madan and later on as Shyam. Inspector returns him his gold locket and sends him off with a piece of advice on leading a good life ahead.Also says no matter how many times he changes his name, but he’ll get caught everytime he does something wrong.

In Thakur Harcharan Singh’s house in Bombay, they are talking about Madan. Even after all these years Rajni feels that they will find him someday. Their younger son Sunil (Dharmendra) makes an entry at this point. He’s a Police Officer and says he is working on a murder case and wont be returning home that night. Rajni is diappointed the he goes around solving everybody else’s problems but doesnt put in enough effort to find Madan. Then in typical filmy ma style she says : Na jane mera Madan kahan hoga, kis haal mein hoga  (Don’t know where my Madan is, how he is).

At this, the scene shifts to the scenic beauty of Shimla and finally we get a proper glimpse of Madan/Shyam’s (Shammi Kapoor) singing Mujhe apna yaar banalo .

Enroute to Bombay, Shyam meets Shantilal in the train. When Shantilal addresses him as Madan, he says he’s Shyam and not Madan. They were together in Shimla jail during Shyam’s first sentence. Shantilal is ill and he tells Shyam about his daughters – Sangeeta and Sushma who live in Bombay.  He had left his family and fled Bombay after taking Rs. 50,000 from Thakur Harcharan Singh.

Shyam tells him they will go together to Bombay and find his daughters. But the following morning he gets up to find Shantilal gone. As he had given a word to Shantilal that he would find Sangeeta and Sushma, he sets out on his mission the moment he reaches Bombay. He asks every girl he meets if her name is Sangeeta/Sushma. Finally he bumps into Sushma (Nishi) but by the time he realizes it’s her, it’s too late, she’s already gone.

Thakur Harcharan Singh is the owner of Stage Center. And Sangeeta does dance shows for him. Shyam reaches the stage and stands outside. Thakur and his wife pass by him.

They see Sangeeta (Madhubala) practicing dance inside and praise her for all the hard work she’s putting up for the show. Sangeeta says she’s dancing so that she can earn enough to pay her father’s debts to him. That’s the Director/Dance Master of Thakur’s shows in the picture.

There’s this guy hiding in the shadow and eyeing Rajni’s necklace. He manages to steal it when she is leaving Stage Center.

Sunil arrives at that very moment and seeing Shyam there he suspects him of stealing the necklace. He takes Shyam’s talashi but doesnt find anything on him and lets him go. When police arrives the real theif  puts the necklace in Sangeeta’s makeup box kept in a taxi and runs away. But Shyam sees him putting the necklace.

So Shyam goes to Sangeeta’s house in the night and steals the necklace from her makeup box. He battles against his will to sell it and finally decides to return it to Sunil the following morning hoping it would give him a chance to prove him that he’s innocent. When he’s still making up his mind on the next course of action, a Hawaldar on duty spots him and asks him what he’s doing there so late in the night. He says he came in search of Sangeeta. On being asked if Sangeeta knows him, he tells the Hawaldar to take him to Sangeeta and he could see it for himself. The moment Shyam tells he knows Shantilal, Sangeeta calls him in. Hawaldar now convinced that he had actually come to meet her, leaves assured.

Both Sangeeta and Sushma are delighted to hear about Shantilal but are hurt at the sametime that he himself didnt come to meet them. As it starts raining very heavily outside, they ask Shyam to stay back that night. Seeing Sangeeta sleeping, he sings Salaam aapki meethi nazar ko.

The sisters get up in the morning to find him gone. Shyam goes to Thakur’s house early the next morning to return the necklace.  But he is stopped by Sampat (Dhumal), Thakur’s man servant. When Sampat learns that Shyam has come to return the stolen necklace he flicks it off from Shyam’s pocket. Unaware of this Shyam goes to Sunil but is surprised himself when he finds the necklace gone from his pocket.  Anyways, he tells Sunil that he has changed now and will find some proper job soon.

Sunil and Sushma are in love. Sushma has a pic of Sunil inside her book and is busy talking to his pic when the phone rings.

It’s Sunday, the only day when Sunil’s off. He tells her he’s coming to her house to meet her. But she has a prior commitment of going shopping with Sangeeta. She makes up an excuse and manages to send Sangeeta alone.

Here Shyam goes to Sethji (who seems to be extremely fond of Shyam) to clear his earlier debts. Shyam owns a room in Bombay and Sethji says he’s planning to get his son married that year and asks if Shyam could give his room to his son. During the conversation Shyam discovers that Thakur and Director are in search of a tall, fair and handsome hero (there’s so much stress on this – 6 foot ka lamba, khubsoorat sa naujawan) for their play “Boyfriend” to cast opposite Sangeeta.

Off he goes to meet Thakur who approves of him at first sight itself. But they still ask him to give an audition and he dances to Mujhe apna yaar banalo and bags the role. He’s introduced to the entire unit including Sangeeta but she puts up her price and doesnt even talk to him properly because he left home that morning without even telling them and she’s angry with him! But not for long (And I dont blame her for that. How could anyone resist his charm for long?)

They sing Aaigo aaigo yeh kya ho gaya on their way home. He drops her at her place and goes to his room. Shantilal comes to see him. He says he doesnt have the courage to face his daughters after all that they have had to go through because of him and the debts he had taken. He is very ill and knows he’s dying. He gives Bhagwat Geeta to Shyam, tells him to give it to his daughters and dies.

The sisters are devastated by the news. And Shyam consoles them.

The all leave for Shimla for a Stage show there. Their show in Shimla “Miya Biwi”  – Dekho Na Jaao Ae Jaan E Man  proves to be a huge success.

After the show is over Shyam and sangeeta go skating. Sangeeta falls down and breaks her leg. This accident leaves her crippled and she can’t dance anymore. Shyam holds himself responsible for it.

She’s all sad and depressed thinking that Shyam may not like her anymore. But Shyam says he’s in love with her soul and she’ll always remain the same for him. But she says she can never dance with him again.  To which he says he had joined the theatre for her and not because he enjoys dancing and acting.
 Sangeeta : You are god to me

Shyam :  What do you know about me to treat me as your god?

Sangeeta : You think I need to know you more than what I already do? What I know of you is more than enough and I trust you more than anyone else

Once they are back in Bombay, Shyam goes to Banwarilal to buy a gift for Sangeeta. He says he needs something that will cheer her up. And Banwari shows him a necklace. Shyam feels it’s similar to Rajni’s necklace that was stolen but Banwari argues that there can be more than one necklace of the same design.

Now that Sangeeta can no longer work for him, Thakur sends his manager (Moolchand) to Sangeeta’s place asking them to either pay his debt of Rs. 50,000 or to vacate the house. He says if they can arrange for Rs. 2,000 (i.e., the interest amount) in 2-3 days, then he can convince Thakur to give them a time of one month to pay the remaining amount. He even gives them a court notice.

Shyam is shocked by Thakur’s behaviour. 

Thakur on the other hand is looking for a heroine for his play. He wants a girl to cast opposite Shyam in “Boyfriend”. But Shyam arrives at that very moment and says he wont work with Thakur anymore. He has an argument with Thakur on how he has treated Sangeeta. Shyam challenges Thakur that a day will come when he’ll have to beg Sangeeta for help and that day he would think of him(there’s so much of stress on 6 foot ka haseen naujawan again. In fact this is how Thakur addresses him throughout the movie).

Sangeeta, Sushma and Shyam are desparately in need of Rs. 2,000 so that they dont lose their shelter at least. Shyam sets out to sell the necklace he had bought for Sangeeta. But since he asks only for Rs. 2,000 for it, everyone feels there’s something fishy about it and nobody buys it.

Tensed that he couldnt arrange for money, he sings Mujhe apna yaar banalo once again (this looks like an all-purpose song ;-)). He gets an idea. He goes to Sethji, gives his room to Sethji’s son and takes Rs. 2,000 in return.

Then he goes to Thakur, deposits Rs. 2,000 and takes a receipt. Now the sisters won’t have to leave the house at least. But Sunil comes and asks him where he got the moeny from. He still feels that Shyam has stolen it. Thakur offers Shyam to come back to stage but Shyam says if he comes back on stage it’ll be with Sangeeta. He again says the 6 foot ka haseen naujawan dialogue – in short, every dog has its day!

Shyam goes to consult a doctor. After seeing Sangeeta’s reports he says she can be cured and she’ll be able to dance again. But he says he will have to do a major operation and that will cost Rs. 5000. Shyam says he’ll arrange for the amount and fixes an appointment with the doctor.

He goes back home to find Sangeeta sleeping (which she’s only pretending to). He sings Dheere Chal Dheere Chal Ae Bheegi Hawa (asks hawa to dheere chal meri bulbul ki hai neenden jawaan and he himself sings so loud :-D)
He keeps the necklace that he had bought for her on her neck. At the end of the song, she wears the it and comes out.
Sangeeta : You think I’ll look good if I wear this?
Shyam : No, now that you’ve finally worn it I feel the necklace looks beautiful. I bought it from the footpath for Rs. 2.25 but it has become priceless

Sangeeta : You are not a human, you are god!
Shyam : Call me whatever you want but dont ever call me god
Sangeeta : If that’s the case shall I tell you the truth?
Shyam : What truth?
Sangeeta : The truth is that you are a theif!
Shyam : A theif?
Sangeeta : Yes, a theif.
Shyam : What did I steal?
Sangeeta : So you are saying you havent stolen anything?
Shyam : No, I havent stolen anything
Sangeeta : Then why are you getting nervous?
Shyam : I’m not nervous
Sangeeta (laughing) :You have stolen my heart away!

Phew!!!! That was such a releif to Shyam 😀

Sunil comes to Sangeeta’s house, meets Sushma and warns her that Shyam’s not a nice man. Sushma tries to defend Shyam. Sangeeta enters the room and Sunil sees the stolen necklace on Sangeeta’s neck.

He asks her where she got the necklace from. He also tells her that it’s a stolen stuff. He threatens them that if they dont tell him who gave that necklace to her, he will arrest both of them. Finally Sushma admits that Shyam gave it.

Sampat’s dream of robbing Thakur (has been eyeing his safe from the very beginning) finally comes true when he finds out the combination to safe’s lock. But he needs a partner to execute his plan. He tells Sevakram (Maruti Rao) to send someone. Sevakram informs Shyam about it. As Shyam desparately needs Rs. 5,000 for Sangeeta’s operation, he accomapnies Sampat in his mission.

Unaware that Sunil has revealed about him, Shyam comes home to Sangeeta. He’s shocked himself to find that it was the same (stolen) necklace. But there’s no way he can prove his innocence. He says he’s going to surrender himself to police but Sangeeta doesnt let him go. Police siren rings, but he runs away before police could arrive. He manages to escape but leaves his gold locket behind.

Thakur and his wife recognize the locket as Madan’s. And they realize that Shyam is their son. They send Sunil to find Shyam.

Shyam comes to Sangeeta’s house disguised as  Sardar Guruvachan Singh (owner of a theatre company in Shimla who wants to cast her in his next play). He takes her to the doctor (with whom he had fixed an appointment earlier). After an operation Sangeeta is cured. She can walk and dance now.

Someone’s been following Guruvachan Singh. Thinking it’s Sunil’s trick to arrest him, he tries to mislead his follower that leads to a hilarious sequence. And this ends with Kyon Jee Mujhe Pehchaa.

Sunil makes a masterplan to arrest Shyam. And when he finally succeeds in doing so Shyam tells Sunil : “It’s my misfortune that I can neither convince you nor Sangeeta that I am innocent.” There’s one more song here – Dekho na jao ae berehem

When Rajni sees Shyam, she hugs him tight and says : Madan beta, where were you all these years? Pagla kahin ka!!! But the twist here is that he refuses to admit he is Madan.

What happens next? Will they ever find the real Madan? Will Sampat get caught? What happens to Sangeeta?

I enjoyed watching the movie but there was nothing wow about it (except for Shammi)! Definitely not one of his best movies either but entertaining enough to keep one glued to his/her seat esp if you are a Shammi Kapoor fan.

I didn’t find Madhubala all that great like in her other movies. She looked kind of exhausted throughout. Chirpy and feisty, Nishi is good but her dialogues get irritating at times. It being one of Dharmendra’s earlier movies, he looks and sounds  novice. I just couldn’t  imagine him screaming “Kutte, Kamine…main tera khoon pee jaaunga” at this point of time.

But it isn’t all that bad either 😀 Shankar Jaikishan’s music is good. And as I had mentioned in my earlier post, I have a soft corner for songs the moment I recognize Rafi’s voice.

I would say it’s Shammi’s movie all the way! And if I watch it again it would be only for Shammi Shammi and Shammi (though that was the case now as well).

Tags: Aaigo aaigo yeh kya ho gaya, Amirbai Karnataki, Boyfriend 1961, Dekho Na Jaao Ae Jaan E Man, Dekho na jao ae berehem, Dharmendra, Dheere Chal Dheere Chal Ae Bheegi Hawa, Dhumal, Madhubala, Maruti Rao, Mohan Choti, Moolchand, Mujhe apna yaar banalo, Nishi, Salaam aapki meethi nazar ko, Shami Kapoor, Shankar Jaikishan, Shivraj