Short Review of "Aaram" (1951)
Anand Tiwari
Finally lady luck smiled at me. The local video store got a copy of
"Aaram" (1951) with music by Anil Biswas. The film stars Dev Anand,
Madhubala, Premnath, Durga Khote and Manmohan Krishna in major roles. It is
produced and directed by D.D Kashyap.
This was one movie i was searching for a long time. I could not find it
on Devon and yet RMIMers would repeatedly refer to the fact that they
possessed its video. The print quality was OK.
The movie is average. The songs stand out in the entire film and make
the film appealing. I rediscovered Madhubala in the process of
watching the film. In fact i always used to like her (and even have
a giant Archies poster of her adorning our drawing room in India) but
somewhere down the line my fascination for her waned. In this film
her features are not fully formed. She has a spark in her which cannot
go unnoticed. She goes beyond what the word "beauty" can describe.
Listen to the classic Mukesh solo "ae - jaan -e- jigar dil mein samaane
aa ja" closely while watching the movie. The words of the poet come
alive when you make the madhubala connection. The first antara says:
"dil dard se betaab hai, o jaan -e - tamanna ~aa
{ and now comes}
Aaram ka paigham sunaane aa jaa"
The song and the situation come alive because the reference is to
her. The soundtrack is unbelievable. The piano prelude to "ae - jaan -e-
jigar" defines Anil da's genius. The Lata songs are also nice and
there is a Talat solo which pales in comparison to the
magical rendering of "Ae jaan - e - jigar" by Mukesh. There are
no songs picturised on Dev (a major let down this one :-)). The Talat
solo is sung on screen by an extra (?) and "ae jaan -e- jigar" goes on
Premnath.
Dev and PremNath do not have much to do in the film. Dev looks great but
gets a raw deal as far as role is concerned. Classic
example of heroes being doled out useless roles. Manmohan Krishna
features in a major role and has also sung th song "Yeh zindagi hai
yo-yo" in the movie.
The story is threadbare. Shyam (dev) is a struggling artist. While returning
home one night he is followed by a young lady, Leela (madhubala). A storm
intervenes and Leela lands up at Shyam's
place. Over the period of time they fall in love. Leela gets acquainted
with a queen (durga khote) who wants her to become her bahu. her
son is played by premnath. Predictably Kumar (Premnath) falls for Leela but
gracefully accepts the fact that she loves Shyam. Through the queen Leela
manages to get Shyam's pictures entered in a competition thru which he attains
fame. All is well till Leela is kidnapped by a former lover who wants to marry
her forcibly. The rest of the film deals with how the lovers get united.
manmohan krishna plays Dev's friend.
It is a very simple film with no frills. Nothing stands out except the
music and Madhubala.
Anand
PS: The music of "Aaram" would probably find a place among one of the best
scores ever in Hindi films. A lot has been posted about it on RMIM. To the
best of my knowledge the music has not been released yet by HMV although
stray songs like "ae-jaan -e - jigar" are available in other compilations
(Mukesh: A retrospect). The only source for the music of this film is the
video itself.
neha...@hotmail.com
Thanks for the review Anand. I agree with you absolutely. An okayish movie, but
what a soundtrack!!?? I am glad you could see the movie afterall.
In article <6gdeo8$3...@pdrn.zippo.com>, anand...@hotmail.com says...
>The song and the situation come alive because the reference is to
>her. The soundtrack is unbelievable. The piano prelude to "ae - jaan -e-
>jigar" defines Anil da's genius. The Lata songs are also nice and
>there is a Talat solo which pales in comparison to the
>magical rendering of "Ae jaan - e - jigar" by Mukesh. There are
Actually I feel that the entire audio of the movie is excellent. Also the
background score. I would keep a copy of the movie only for that fact!. It is
simple awesome!! Also beautiful is the piano prelude(in the movie) before the
song 'man mein kisi ki preet basa le...' Lata is unbelievably sweet and totally
suits the young innocence of Madhubala.
>no songs picturised on Dev (a major let down this one :-)). The Talat
>solo is sung on screen by an extra (?) and "ae jaan -e- jigar" goes on
>Premnath.
Actually the 'extra' is none other than Talat Mehmood himself. He is referred to
as such by Dev/Premnath in the movie too.
>Dev and PremNath do not have much to do in the film. Dev looks great but
>gets a raw deal as far as role is concerned. Classic
I agree, and Premnath steals away the show from him with his small role.
>fame. All is well till Leela is kidnapped by a former lover who wants to marry
Change it from 'former lover' to 'badmash from past'.
>her forcibly.
>best of my knowledge the music has not been released yet by HMV although
>stray songs like "ae-jaan -e - jigar" are available in other compilations
This song is also available in the two tape set of 'The genius of Anil Biswas'.
--
Neha
pava...@yahoo.com
I have seen this movie 10-12 years back on Doordarshan. As far as I remember,
The Talat number was picturised on Himself. (Another Piano number)
'Dil mein samane Aja' is really great
Pavan
>This was one movie i was searching for a long time. I could not find it
>on Devon and yet RMIMers would repeatedly refer to the fact that they
>possessed its video. The print quality was OK.
>
>The movie is average. The songs stand out in the entire film and make
>the film appealing. I rediscovered Madhubala in the process of
>watching the film. In fact i always used to like her (and even have
>a giant Archies poster of her adorning our drawing room in India) but
>somewhere down the line my fascination for her waned. In this film
>her features are not fully formed. She has a spark in her which cannot
>go unnoticed. She goes beyond what the word "beauty" can describe.
>
>Listen to the classic Mukesh solo "ae - jaan -e- jigar dil mein samaane
>aa ja" closely while watching the movie. The words of the poet come
>alive when you make the madhubala connection. The first antara says:
>
>"dil dard se betaab hai, o jaan -e - tamanna ~aa
>{ and now comes}
>Aaram ka paigham sunaane aa jaa"
>
>The song and the situation come alive because the reference is to
>her. The soundtrack is unbelievable. The piano prelude to "ae - jaan -e-
>jigar" defines Anil da's genius. The Lata songs are also nice and
>there is a Talat solo which pales in comparison to the
>magical rendering of "Ae jaan - e - jigar" by Mukesh. There are
>no songs picturised on Dev (a major let down this one :-)). The Talat
>solo is sung on screen by an extra (?) and "ae jaan -e- jigar" goes on
>Premnath.
>
>Dev and PremNath do not have much to do in the film. Dev looks great but
>gets a raw deal as far as role is concerned. Classic
>example of heroes being doled out useless roles. Manmohan Krishna
>features in a major role and has also sung th song "Yeh zindagi hai
>yo-yo" in the movie.
>
>The story is threadbare. Shyam (dev) is a struggling artist. While returning
>home one night he is followed by a young lady, Leela (madhubala). A storm
>intervenes and Leela lands up at Shyam's
>place. Over the period of time they fall in love. Leela gets acquainted
>with a queen (durga khote) who wants her to become her bahu. her
>son is played by premnath. Predictably Kumar (Premnath) falls for Leela but
>gracefully accepts the fact that she loves Shyam. Through the queen Leela
>manages to get Shyam's pictures entered in a competition thru which he attains
>fame. All is well till Leela is kidnapped by a former lover who wants to marry
>her forcibly. The rest of the film deals with how the lovers get united.
>manmohan krishna plays Dev's friend.
>
>It is a very simple film with no frills. Nothing stands out except the
>music and Madhubala.
>
>Anand
>
>PS: The music of "Aaram" would probably find a place among one of the best
>scores ever in Hindi films. A lot has been posted about it on RMIM. To the
>best of my knowledge the music has not been released yet by HMV although
>stray songs like "ae-jaan -e - jigar" are available in other compilations
Anand Tiwari
In article <6gdgi7$3...@pdrn.zippo.com>, neha...@hotmail.com says...
>
>Thanks for the review Anand. I agree with you absolutely. An okayish movie, but
>what a soundtrack!!?? I am glad you could see the movie afterall.
>
>In article <6gdeo8$3...@pdrn.zippo.com>, anand...@hotmail.com says...
>
>>her. The soundtrack is unbelievable. The piano prelude to "ae - jaan -e-
>>jigar" defines Anil da's genius. The Lata songs are also nice and
>>there is a Talat solo which pales in comparison to the
>>magical rendering of "Ae jaan - e - jigar" by Mukesh. There are
>
>background score. I would keep a copy of the movie only for that fact!. It is
>simple awesome!! Also beautiful is the piano prelude(in the movie) before the
>song 'man mein kisi ki preet basa le...' Lata is unbelievably sweet and totally
>suits the young innocence of Madhubala.
>
In the original post i wrote that the Lata songs "are also nice". I was wrong
and i used the wrong adjective. They are GREAT!
Anand
Hrishi Dixit
Anand Tiwari wrote:
>
> In article <6gdgi7$3...@pdrn.zippo.com>, neha...@hotmail.com says...
> >
> >Thanks for the review Anand. I agree with you absolutely. An okayish movie, but
> >what a soundtrack!!?? I am glad you could see the movie afterall.
> >
> >In article <6gdeo8$3...@pdrn.zippo.com>, anand...@hotmail.com says...
> >
> >>The song and the situation come alive because the reference is to
> >>her. The soundtrack is unbelievable. The piano prelude to "ae - jaan -e-
> >>jigar" defines Anil da's genius. The Lata songs are also nice and
> >>there is a Talat solo which pales in comparison to the
> >>magical rendering of "Ae jaan - e - jigar" by Mukesh. There are
Anand, to answer the (implicit) question you posed in your earlier post
on this subject, the 'extra' on which the Talat song 'Shukriya ae pyaar
tera' is picturized is Talat Mahmood HIMSELF. This was when he was
trying
to get a toehold in the industry as an actor- Aaram was probably his
first
screen appearance.
> >
> >Actually I feel that the entire audio of the movie is excellent. Also the
> >background score. I would keep a copy of the movie only for that fact!. It is
> >simple awesome!! Also beautiful is the piano prelude(in the movie) before the
> >song 'man mein kisi ki preet basa le...' Lata is unbelievably sweet and totally
> >suits the young innocence of Madhubala.
I couldn't agree more... another song in the movie that I can't get
over, both
the song itself and its picturization on Madhubala, is 'Rootha hua
chanda hai
roothi hui chaandni'... the vision of a young, playful Madhubala trying
to cheer up
a fretting Dev Anand is unbelievably charming.
There's one more Lata solo in the song what gets lost in the aura of the
other
beauties, but is nevertheless a great song - 'Baalamwa nadaan, samjhaaye
na samjhe
dil ki batiyaan'.
As you rightly said, there's not much to the movie except Madhubala and
the
peerless music score, but BOY... is that enough !!! I think I'm going to
go
home and see it again tonight !
On the side, does anyone know the name of the actor who plays the
villain in
this movie ? The bloke who kidnaps and imprisons her, thereby
unwittingly becoming
the cause for two other of Lata's immortal melodies - 'Ujdi meri pyaar
ki duniya'
and 'Mil mil ke bichhad gaye nain' ? Is this Bipin Gupta ? He also
starred in 2
other movies (that I know of) with Madhu - Baadal (1951) and Saqi
(1952). His
favorite role seemed to have been that of a frustrated 'aashiq'
infatuated with
Madhubala...
..Hrishi
--
______________________________________________________
Hrishi Dixit S C H L U M B E R G E R
281.285.4065 voice Sugar Land Product Center
281.285.4344 fax 110 Schlumberger Drive
hri...@slb.com email Sugar Land, TX 77478, USA
Rizwan Shah
In article <352BC4BF...@slb.com>, Hrishi Dixit <hri...@slb.com>
writes
BTW,have you ever heard of 'NEW' movies.
--
Rizwan Shah