Neel Kamal (1968) :
Brief Review -
Gothic horror meets aesthetic beauty in a flawed drama. Neel Kamal and Hamraaz-these two Raaj Kumar movies were hugely popular on TV. Those Doordarshan days used to premiere these two films, and from what I remember from my childhood, many people used to sit not to miss the beginning. The reason is the iconic song. Hamraaz has Neele Gagan Ke Tale, and Neel Kamal has Tujhko Pukare Mere Pyaar, and these two literally define the overall essence of the story. Neel Kamal has the gothic horror touch of an unsatisfied soul trying to win the love of his life in the modern era, while the regular Indian family soap comes to spoil it up to the flawed level. I wondered why Balraj Sahni would get this Bidaai song all of a sudden because almost every film had a similar situation but not this kind of a full-fledged song coming with some extra sentimental value. Babul Ki Duaaye is still the greatest Bidaai song ever filmed on the silver screen, but what I gather in the second half is that the song has actually got to do something with the torment Sita has to go through. That typical Saas Bahu punishments were soapy, but the song factually every single word of its existence during the Bidaai scene. The father was expecting her daughter to find happiness, but all she got was unhappiness. The sequences from the past featuring Neel Kamal and Chitrasen are testament to the aesthetic beauty of fiction connecting the dots of historical references. It was more like the male version of Anarkali, if you see. In modern times, it's Sita and Ram's love story, which is endangered by Raavan taking Sita with her (by hypnotising). At the end, love triumphs, but at both ends. That's the trick. The songs, art design, performances, haunting elements, and aesthetic beauty of the grandeur and narrative came together to lift a flawed drama.
RATING - 6.5/10*
By - #samthebestest.
