Hum Tere Ashiq Hain

Hum Tere Ashiq Hain is a very entertaining film. Obviously it belongs to Hema Malini, who plays a very common role for her own good. It's a sort variation of Basanti from Sholay, Shanno from Raja Jani - an illiterate young woman who meets an urban, highly sophisticated young man and falls in love with him. This time it's Jeetendra, and unlike Malini, he plays against type a very measured, calm man with a big heart. The chemistry between the two is pretty good, but more than anything, this little-known film actually has a very good script, and it's a great watch for Hindi movie buffs. While, quite expectedly, we get some highly familiar plot elements revealed by the end of the story, I was more engaged by its humorous delivery.

The film works as a full-on comedy, and due credit goes to Hema Malini who plays to the gallery with aplomb. Her Ramkali is streetsmart and feisty but also quite slow-witted and even a little dumb, and Malini, never shy of ridiculing herself on-screen, is affectionately enjoyable, providing many laughs all through. That we see a different side of hers later on is only to her benefit. The entire track of turning Ramkali into a princess is quite fun, indeed. Jeetendra is very good as her leading man whose kind patience appears to have limits, too. Support is good from Amjad Khan and Shreeram Lagoo, among others, and the film has some nice songs from Ravindra Jain, particularly "Naacho Re". Definitely worth a watch, this one.