I’m gonna try to make notes while we have our Zoom call, and we’ll be talking about the same questions so this whole thing should feel like one big conversation, Zoom and here.
Who is more charming, Shammi or Sanjeev or Zeenat?
Shammi! He should be annoying, and yet he was charming. So most charming! Or Zeenat, because she is playing a character that should not be charming. Or Sanjeev, because this is such an unusual role for him, fully comic and juvenile and so on? We had 3 people on this call, and 3 different answers!
Was the “argument” scene in the second half when Shammi puts Zeenat on the bed too much?
YES! None of us liked it! But Naina pointed out something that changed my whole perspective, this would have been the intermission point of the film. So you need something to grab the audience and bring them in.
Too lighthearted of a take on sex work, or okay?
Would not work today, but okay for the time. They did acknowledge the problems, explicitly in the script statements about violence and so on. And the setting tells you this is a bit of a fantasy world, not supposed to be a “real” version of these lives.
Too serious of a take on sex work (ultimately she doesn’t want her daughter doing it), or okay?
Okay, it would have been too dark if there had been kids around during her sex work, so they go up to that line and then say “no, that’s too dark, I have to change my life” was the right decision.
Is the plot AT ALL logical?
Yes! If we accept that putting on a false beard means your girlfriend will no longer recognize you.
Do we buy the romance?
Absolutely. Zeenat says it, this is the first time she’s been able to boss around a man instead of the other way round and it is intoxicating. And Sanjeev had never been with a woman before, plus this is ZEENAT AMAN, so of course he would fall in love.
Can it be recast today?
No. There are many actors who could play Comic Charming Shammi and Funny Hero Sanjeev, but there is no actress who can be the modern western but Indian sexy but likeable Zeenat!
And then, what to watch next? We landed on something classic and feminist.
So, my suggestions! Zanjeer: I love this movie, I think Jaya’s character is great and the romance is amazing, plus of course it was Amitabh’s big break. (on einthusan)
Blackmail: Raakhee’s favorite movie of her own, very silly and fun and happy, great performances from Dharmendra and Shatrughan Sinha too. (on einthusan)
Lal Pathar: Okay, this one is ultimately sad. But it is a GREAT role for Hema Malini, and really really interesting and unusual. (on Netflix)
