Tere Ghar Ke Samne
Director: Vijay Anand
Year: 1963
Duration: 150 minutes
Music: S.D. Burman
Rating: 7.5
Trans: In Front
of Your House
After having watched a few contemporary
edgy and violent Bollywood films, seeing this old-fashioned low-key charming
Romeo and Juliet romantic comedy was like sinking into a warm sudsy bath.
Comforting. Not a sharp edge to rub against. A purring cat close to your
face. It is a terrific film from the Anand brothers - Dev as producer and
lead actor and Vijay as the writer and director. The two of them made some
wonderful films together. Mixed in are seven songs from the great S.D. Burman
that fit perfectly with the mood though unfortunately the songs were not
subbed. Dev was coming out of the 1950s as perhaps the top male actor as
others like Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar began to take a step
back. Dev felt modern and though the others were enormously popular they
felt more at home in the 50's than the 60's. Times were changing and a new
group of actors were beginning to make waves. Dev easily passed into the
new era because he always felt modern.
His female co-star in this is Nutan. I have
heard and read about her - considered one of the great actresses of the 50s
but this was my first time coming across her and all that I read is true.
She is magic in a bottle. A wonderful blend of light footed comedy and when
needed a blast of melodrama - but none of it is overdone. A look, a sigh
is all she needs. A fine face but not a beautiful one - but very expressive
and a great big smile. I will have to look for more of her films. She had
teamed up with Dev in three previous films and so their timing and chemistry
is well rehearsed and believable.
The plot is amusing and the romance almost
secondary. A comedy of errors and happenstance. A little bit of screwball
thrown in. The comedy of a lot of Bollywood films - especially in this period
- are inane with comedic sidekicks delivering the laughs that are in today's
eyes more painful than not - but this film avoids that - it is sweet, underplayed
and witty. Two men are bitter enemies with one another - Jagannath (Om Prakash
with a bushy bushy moustache) and Karamchand (Harindranath) can't stand each
other though their enmity springs from the most trivial of matters. They
both buy plots of land that are right next to one another and are determined
to build a better more lavish home (which at the time was no doubt cool looking
but now a 60's modernistic eyesore) than their neighbor.
They go to get the best architect in the
city of New Delhi where this was filmed. That happens to be Rakesh (Dev)
in both instances. But he is the son of Jagannath who has thrown him out
because his son smokes, drinks and does the cha cha cha. On the other hand,
Rakesh instantly falls in love with Karamchand's daughter Sulekha (Nutan)
and so decides to take on both jobs without letting the other know - and
definitely not letting either parent know that he is in love with the daughter
of their enemy or the son of their enemy. That includes Sulekha who he keeps
in the dark. When she finds out, her expression is priceless.
He does it in style though he tells his
friend sooner or later I will be exposed and that will be that. But before
that happens, he wants to get each parent to approve of the marriage and
his plan is quite clever. A highlight for me was their visit to the Qutub
Minar, one of the highest minarets in the world. I was there some thirty
years ago but sadly I didn't have Nutan to climb the stairs with and sing
a song to her. Another fine scene is when Rakesh decides to visit her in
Simla on a motorcycle and we get a quick tour of India. This hit the spot
- it finally gives in with a soppy ending but by then that was just fine.
