This was a movie that launched Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma. They created some fascinating music which transformed an average film into a huge hit. Parasmani was more about these composers than Mahipal and Geetanjali, the key protagonists of this musical drama.
Six songs embellished the movie; six songs that lifted the fortunes of the movie. There may not have been much to rave about the story or performances; the film may have suffered on account of technical deficiencies but it had the desired qualities that make an entertainer. It may not appeal to the multiplex crowd of today but it was a movie that stood out for its music and smooth performances by mostly now-forgotten actors.
Forty eight years have passed since the movie caught the imagination of cine lovers countrywide but Ooi Maa Ooi Maa Yeh Kya Hoga can still leave you in a trance. The captivating voice of Lata Mangeshkar and
the artistic movements of Helen make for a heady combination. It is the first song of the movie and sets the trend really. Mahipal is Paras, separated at a young age from his father, chief of army. A locket is evidence of their relationship. The son grows into a musician and predictably falls in love with the princess of the state.
The king, at the instance of his army chief, is opposed to their meetings. All because he has been told that the son-in-law would be the cause of his death. The army chief (Jugal Kishore) is unaware of Paras being his long-lost son. The only way out, as plotted by the army chief, is for Paras to fetch the parasmani, a stone with mystical powers to give life to the dead.
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