Brains to be left behind (Half Ticket)

The moment you start reasoning with what's happening in Kalidas's braindead comedy, Half Ticket, you will miss out on the fun. I made this mistake initially. Stupefied at the incredible plot, the crazy situations and the absolutely OTT antics of Vijay, I started questioning whether I should actually sit through this 1962 film. But then when I thought to myself the stark absurdity of my wanting to

Soulful sonatas (Maya)

This is one film that will stay on with you because of the wonderful music. The story has been heard before, the characters seen and the denouement expected. But these songs are so powerful even today that whenever they play they bring bliss to my senses. I'm talking of Salil Chowdhury's fantastic score in Maya, the 1961 romance directed by D.D. Kashyap. The film has a likable plot and famous

What the original was not (Prem Patra)

Here is a film that beats its original hands down. I'd never thought I would point fingers at a Uttam Kumar - Suchitra Sen classic. But, Agragami's Sagarika is so killingly boring that any tepid film of that age would be a better option any day. So, when I accidentally discovered that Bimal Roy's underrated classic Prem Patra is but a Hindi remake of Sagarika, I sat down to watch it with

His or his (Rajnigandha)

Never was a girl's dilemma in love depicted so subtly. In Basu Chatterjee's Rajnigandha, Deepa is torn between her two loves time and again and has to make up her mind on who to settle down with. She keeps comparing the two men in her life, their personalities and character and ultimately uses the nth minute to decide that first love does not necessarily have to be true love.

Sometimes Deepa's

It happened one night (Jagte Raho)

It takes guts to invest your bucks in a film like Jagte Raho. But then, Raj Kapoor was no ordinary artiste. He always tread a unique path, with a vision that stood out from the hoi polloi. I'm sure when he decided to produce this Shambhu Mitra and Amit Mitra directorial venture, he knew he was hitting the right cinematic button. A film that has no lead pair, no romantic angle, no formulaic story,