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Junglee (1961) : Brief Review -

A delightful super-hit rom-com with a typical family drama and two chartbuster numbers. After making 3 movies with Dev Anand, Subodh Mukherjee finally turned his horses towards emerging star Shammi Kapoor and newbie Saira Banu. Junglee has garnered huge popularity for its music and the way Shammi Kapoor has excelled as a wild romantic hero. It indeed deserves that hype, but I think there are several other factors that deserve some praise as well. First of all, Saira Banu. We have seen heroes teasing heroines, flirting with them, calling them by names, being naughty, chasing them, etc. Here, you see the heroine doing all that stuff, and it's damn adorable. Saira Banu has probably played the romantic heroine of the time, and my heart is jumping right now even while describing what she has done in the film. That entire Kashmir chapter is ruled by her, her beauty, and her screen presence. As we come to the end of that chapter, Shammi takes over with his iconic "Yaahooo" scream. Before that changeover, we see him playing a stern manager and the very disciplined son of an overly disciplined mother. He gets a changeover by the intermission point, but his mother takes it until the climax. The film is about a pompous, rich heir who can't speak with kindness to anyone. All he sees is business, money, and discipline. During his trip to Kashmir, he falls in love with a local girl, whose father is a doctor. After coming back home, he learns about his fixed marriage and then makes all attempts to abandon it. Simultaneously, we have the love story of his sister, who is in love with the clerk and is pregnant too. Will the mother accept them? There's a typical masala and family drama at the end, and we get a perfect Hindi cinema's mainstream entertainer with a lot of funny moments. Mukherjee's direction is much better in the first half compared to what we have in the second half. Junglee still has enough material to keep you entertained.

RATING - 6.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Junglee Was Directed By Subodh Mukherjee ...The Same Director Who Had Directed Munimji,Paying Guest & Love Marriage ...With Dev Anand In Lead...All Were Successful Movies...So Better Was Expected...The Writer Is Again Subodh...The Script Is Very Attractive ...Screenplay Is Better..The Story Revolves Around A Rich Dictator & A Poor Girl..How They Fall For Each Other & Consequences ...The Plot Is Similar To King Uncle Which Was Made In Early 90's With Jackie Shroff & Shah Rukh Khan.

Dev Anand Was In But Due To Some Issues ...He Was Replaced With Shammi Kapoor...And Everyone Knows How Shammi Kapoor Was In The Movie No Explanation Needed ...He Was Outstanding...Especially The Comic Scenes...It Was Saira Banu Debut Movie But Her Acting Was Compliment To Shammi Kapoor... Lalita Pawar Who Use To Be Mother In Most Of The Movies In Those Days...Was A Strict Mother..With Discipline & Set Of Rules...Shashikala Was Fine...

Music Of The Movie Is The Strongest Part Of The Movie ...Music Was Given By The Very Best Shankar Jaikishan...Every Song Is A Masterpiece ...The Numbers Like Ehsaan Tera Hoga Mujhpar By Rafi, Karoon Main Kya Suku Suku By Rafi With Shammi Kapoor With Helen Was A Treat ...And The Most Unique Composition " Yahooo Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe" Was The Best Of The Lot...

There Was Nothing Wrong About The Movie...But The Plot Would Have Been Better...Overall A Excellent Entertainer ...Watch It If You Want To See The Best Of Shammi Kapoor On Screen.

Who can forget "Yahoo Chahe Koi Mujhe…", when Shammi Kapoor slides down the snowy hill in the beautiful Kashmir with the beautiful Saira Banu? And then the dance with the dancing sensation, Helen, in "Ayaya Karume Kya Suku Suku?" And finally the romantic songs, "Ehsaan Tera Hoga…" by both the late Mohd Rafi and the nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar? This film was Saira Banu's first film and it was opposite the then top actor, Shammi Kapoor, who is known as "Elvis Presley" of Hindi cinema, now more famously called "Bollywood." Born into a family who has extremely strong and perhaps even draconian rules, which also includes no one allowed to laugh in the household, fall in love or even go out led by the old time favourite, dreaded mother, played by Lalita Pawar, who heads the family and Chandra Shekhar (Shammi Kapoor) as her son, who, even those working for him, consider him and call him "Junglee." But there is his sister, Shashikala, who is totally the opposite of him and the mother. She laughs and likes to go out and meet her boyfriend, who, happens to be a clerk in Chandra Shekhar's firm. Naturally the mother suspects that her daughter is up to something and sends her packing with the brother on a holiday to Kashmir. Here there some very hilarious scenes with Chandra Shekhar and Raj (Saira Banu) whenever they meet. But then the fate takes a turn and the god of love firs an arrow and love starts to blossom and Chandra Shekhar realises what he has missed all his life and the sister is absolutely shocked and cannot believe that it is her brother behaving in the way he now is.

With the combination of the late Mohd Rafi, Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikeshen as the composers, one knew at the time, that the music and the songs had to be good. In one scene, Raj, the character played by Saira Banu, calls Chandra Shekhar a "Bunder," monkey and in true sense of the word, it can be said that his expressions, until romance starts to blossom, are that of the monkey. Related to Naseem Banu, an old time favourite actress, Saira Banu is perfect in this role.

Shashikala, who later played roles similar to that of being an evil mother – in – law or sister – in – law, who falls in love with a clerk, in her brother's company, is perhaps a flamboyant here as she is totally the opposite of her brother and her mother. The part of her lover is played by the late Ashok Kumar's (Dadamoni's) brother, Anoop Kumar, who is good in supporting Shammi Kapoor in this film.

Finally the rock of the family, Lalita Pawar, who controls everything in terms of rules of the house. She is just perfect as an authoritarian character, who is stubborn and will do whatever she can to ensure that her late husband's rules are carried on.

This movie, for those who watched it when first released 47 years ago, will take down memory lane, which has some of the most memorable songs by Mohd Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and is supported by good, excellent comedy and scenery of Kashmir as well romance.

This film possess all the qualities of the classic Bollywood film as it has developed since the 1950s. It has romantic love triumphing over social convention and the caste system; the stifling oppressive family with a dominant matriarch: the scheming, grasping enemy, seeking to thwart the lovers;the battle of good versus evil at the end, with good triumphant (of course).

In addition, the film has splendid musical scenes with lavish settings and dance routines at various points. Settings are suitably escapist, ranging from the lavish house of the rich family, to Kashmiri summer countryside, snow-covered slopes, and an isolated wooden hut in a raging storm. Certainly, there is no danger of urban or rural social reality entering this story.

The acting also shows some of the special qualities of Bollywood, with wildly exaggerated, stylised performances especially from the male and female leads. The editing and production values are clear, (jump cutting, rapid blurred pans, unrealistic acrobatic fights, etc) I highly recommend this film, quite an early example of a colour feature from Bollywood It is entertaining. and once the viewer becomes accustomed to the genre it is highly enjoyable.

Who ever gave this move less than 10/10, is an idiot. It's arguably the best movie of all time.

Shammi Kapoor is from an upper class family that has this tradition of not laughing because they believe laughing makes people careless and common, among other things. That is the premise, even if you don't think that sounds funny; check it out before passing on it.

Shammi Kapoor is hilarious. He plays two completely different, but equally funny characters.

Very well thought out and put together, in all aspects. And every actor did an excellent job.

The songs are really nice too, to say the least.

If you like older films like me, don't listen to the other reviews.

This is a fantastic film, for its time and even today, it will beat any new film in SONGS, STORY, ACTING and THE best actors of all time.

No kidding, the songs are just absolutely beautiful and brilliant!

I'm sorry if you don't understand Hindi and have to rely on the captions, they do NOT do the film justice, but thats okay, it's still a #1, first class film.

Any questions? No, Okay. Watch it, enjoy it, and pass it on!

KK

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