Jhoola (1941) :
Brief Review -
Bollywood's treasurable romance from the early days, and yet so advanced! Gyan Mukherjee's Jhoola has indeed surprised me. This is a romantic movie from the early 40s and still has so many conflicts within one story that we don't see even in today's movies. Quickly about the plot, because that's what that film is all about. Ramesh is declared as a new Zamindar but abandons the house and wealth, which his brother Mahesh is trying to overtake. Ramesh takes the job of a postman temporarily and falls in love with Geeta, whose picture he had seen in a magazine. He writes poems for her by the name of Ramesh but introduces himself as Satish. Geeta's sister was mingled with Ramesh's brother, who is now trying to get mingled with Geeta. These two couples come across a crossover that creates misunderstandings between them, and Geeta and Ramesh break things up. Geeta realizes her mistake, but Ramesh is gone by that time, and here, Geeta is nabbed by Ramesh's brother. Will Geeta and Ramesh get back together? As you can sense, it's a very conflictive drama, and there is a lot of romance and a lot of poetry. I couldn't relate to the music much since it is too dated for 2024, but I am sure the contemporary impact must have been much better. But yes, I just loved those lyrics. I didn't know that the iconic "Ek Chatur Naar" from Padosan was formed here. That Meri Naav also sounded good to ears. Ashok Kumar was too young and new then, and this role set him for a long journey as a superstar in the industry. Leela Chitnis is the best performer here, followed by Shah Nawaz and Karuna Devi. The screenplay and dialogues keep the film going from the first minute till the last. Mukherjee's direction is superb, and it's one of the biggest reasons why I could relate to this romantic affair even after 8 decades. This was close to those old Hollywood's popular romantic dramas, if I can say.
RATING - 7.5/10*
By - #samthebestest.
