Category: Movies

Released in 1966
Genre- Drama, Family
10/10
Main Cast: Indrani Mukherjee, Rajesh Khanna
Screenplay: Chetan Anand
Music- Khayyam
Direction- Chetan Anand

BRIEF INTRODUCTION A moving story about love and innocence, revolving around a broken romance followed by the protagonist looking for his lost child.

The Film Chetan Anand was able to capture something very special in this film, the bare innocence of life in the most beautiful and natural way. The last scene of the film is very moving, it’s too natural to be cinematic. No wonder, Aakhri Khat was selected as India’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 40th Oscars in 1967. Chetan Anand’s quite underrated work.

P.S. Aakhri Khat marked the debut of Rajesh Khanna. Music and the songs of the film are unforgettable.

Released in 1996
Genre- Wrongful, Dark Humor
10/10
Main Cast: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare and Harve Presnell
Screenplay: Coen Brothers (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen)
Direction- Coen Brothers

BRIEF INTRODUCTION The story revolves around several events primarily driven by greed, causing a lot of chaos along the way. Although the lighting is not so dark, the humor and the events are, which makes it a noir film story-wise. The film was nominated for numerous awards and won a number of them, including two Oscars and a BAFTA.

Frances McDormand From Fargo to Ebbing…(2017) and Nomadland (2020), the energy and passion remain constant in her. She is also one of the rare actors to win The Triple Crown of Acting.

Steve Buscemi Be it a film directed by the Coen brothers, an interesting character in The Sopranos, or a film like Spy Kids, he never fails to impress the audience.

P.S. Fargo (1996) is the original film on which the TV series of the same name is based.

Released in 1953
Genre- Drama
10/10
Main Cast: Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Nana Palshikar
Story: Salil Chowdhury, Screenplay: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Music- Salil Chowdhury
Direction- Bimal Roy

BRIEF INTRODUCTION A story about a farmer, his family, and the struggle to save their “Do Bigha Zamin”. One of the most poignant films belonging to the Golden Age of Indian Cinema, a gem by Bimalda. Not only received appreciation and several prestigious awards in India but also the first film from our country to win an International prize, in the Cannes Film Festival (1954).

STORY & THEME The portrayal of stark reality in the film led to the beginning of a new kind of cinema in the Hindi Film Industry, cinema that dealt with more realistic themes.

MUSIC & STORY (Background) Salil Chowdhury gave life to the music of the film. Not only the music but also the story was written by him only, which he also talked about, in one of his old interviews. “Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke” from the film, became a very memorable song, I still remember listening to it on a loop.

Acting Balraj Sahni’s finest performance to date. Nirupa Roy and all the cast members also acted flawlessly. Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy’s equation was very natural in the film (can be observed in all the films, they acted together). The last scene of the film is so moving that it makes you feel the exact emotions experienced by the characters.

My journey with the film
While watching Vittorio De Sica’s magnum opus Bicycle Thieves, 1948 (belonging to the Italian neorealism movement) during the Film Appreciation course (F.T.I.I. Pune), I don’t know, for what reasons, visuals of Do Bigha Zamin (which I had seen back in 2017) started flashing across my mind. So, to end my curiosity, during the discussion of Bicycle Thieves, I asked my course director, Aruna ma’am, if by any chance, Do Bigha Zamin has anything to do with Bicycle Thieves, then ma’am told me that it was inspired by Sica’s film. And it was only after Bimalda saw Sica’s film, decided to make Do Bigha Zamin. Not just, Do Bigha Zamin, but more or less the majority of the movies made (all over the world) at that time were inspired by Bicycle Thieves.

Relation with Bicycle Thieves
The story of Do Bigha Zamin has no connection with Bicycle Thieves but the way it was shot, the use of locations (design), the pathos in the story, and sometimes, somewhere in the background elements, you can clearly observe the inspiration.

P.S. It was my maternal grandmother’s favorite film and this was the initial reason for me to watch the film.

Released in 1959
Genre- Thriller
10/10
Main Cast: Cary Grant, James Mason, Eva Marie Saint
Screenplay: Ernest Lehman
Direction- Alfred Hitchcock
Editing- George Tomasini

BRIEF INTRODUCTION A thrilling story of mistaken identity, interestingly different from the regular ones. A highly acclaimed work from Hitchcock followed by his other important film, which was released just the next year, in 1960.

P.S. North by Northwest became a landmark film in the mistaken identity genre and served as an inspiration for popular thriller films in the future.

Released in 1964
Genre- Drama, History
10/10
Main Cast: Richard Burton, Peter O’ Toole
Screenplay: Edward Anhalt
Direction- Peter Glenville
Editing- Anne V. Coates

BRIEF INTRODUCTION Based on a play by Jean Anouilh, a story about divine friendship, which eventually turns into animosity after a conflict of thoughts and interests.
TRUE BRILLIANCE One of the most amazing and visually engaging films that I have seen so far. For the first time, two immensely talented and important Shakespearean actors together, Burton and O’Toole, both from RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), London. Story-wise, performance-wise, design-wise, and direction-wise, in every aspect, the film managed to amaze me. It was nominated for 12 Academy Awards (37th Oscars, 1965), and won in the category of the Best Screenplay. It was also nominated for several categories in BAFTAs (1965) and The Golden Globe awards (1965) and won a number of them.
P.S. This film inspired a 70s Indian classic too, which also starred two of the biggest actors and stars of Indian Cinema.