Bhagam Bhag

I've been meaning to write a review of this for years, even rented it a second time because so much time had passed since my first viewing, now months (at least) have passed again. I didn't rate it that high, why review it? For the same reason I watched it: I'm a fan of Kishore Kumar, particularly because he was a playback singer who was also an actor, especially earlier in his career. I also appreciate his comic sensibility. This is a buddy movie for Kumar and Bhagwan (the latter of whom also directed the picture). The summary provided here on IMDb gives a good idea of the picaresque plot, and the comic duo cuts up all the way, donning different disguises and employing different accents and musical styles and I think even different religions. Bhagwan, the less handsome lead, manages to get the arguably cuter sister as his love interest. As a westerner, a lot of subtleties of the culture and music are lost on me, but I did observe obvious western influences on a couple of the songs. On "Chhod Chale Pyaari Duniya Ko", the duo has been thrown in jail, and are wearing western (not cowboy) contemporary suits, and are threatened with hanging. The music is bluesy with horns, might even be based on a U.S. song that I don't recognize, with some yodel-like trills thrown in. The song "Hey Babu" is pretty clearly derived from the melody of the song "Mambo Italiano", which was a hit for Rosemary Clooney. Kumar and Bhagwan seem like they probably had fun making this film. If you are a fan of Kishore Kumar, it might be worth checking out.