Bollywood Appreciation Class: Lesson 1
Bollywood. India’s second favorite thing (after cricket, of course), and we just can’t seem to get enough of it. Like, ever. Don’t you think there are wayyy too many movies in the industry?
Like, WAY too many?
Anyway, recently my parents started the process of “culturing” me, in the sense that they are making me watch the superhits of Bollywood cinema, since the 60s. Now, you need to realize one thing. I am a Generation Z kid, with zero taste for movies older than my parents, aight? So I found every single one of these incredibly dated, so for any hurt sentiments, I apologize sincerely in advance.
The first movie my parents showed me was The Jewel Thief, released in 1967. It starred Dev Anand as the lead, Vinay, alongside Vyjayanthimala as the female lead, with Ashok Kumar and Tanuja as well. So we have a star line up, now what’s the movie?
We follow Vinay and his antics to Vishambhar Nath’s shop, where he is hired as a jewel inspector. Or something along those lines. He is trusted by Vishambhar and ends up working for him full-time. Simultaneously, the commissioner of police, who turns out to be Vinay’s father, takes an oath to catch the infamous Jewel Thief, who has been the mastermind behind a string of daring robberies across the nation. He had been reported to be in the commisioner’s district, hence the commissioner takes this oath. After a three hour ordeal of twists and turns, mistaken identities and fake identities, we see a happy ending with Vinay and Shalini (Vyjayanthimala) reunited.
I liked the movie (the conclusion at least), as it had plenty of suspense, and partly a scary element as well. My main complaint was (and you’ll be hearing this a lot from now on) that it was EXCRUCIATINGLY slow. The movie would have still been going on and all I would have had to say is:
However, the acting by the star cast was commendable. I found it quite entertaining, despite it having MURDERED me with its speed. I think the editor slept off. Honestly. I think he got bored of his own movie. It’s possible. It nearly happened to me.
Aaaaaaaaaaand cut. That’s probably it for today. I originally planned to do two movies in one article, but then I realized that the less movies I do per article, the more articles I end up posting. And the more you have to read!
So stay safe! And keep reading my blogs! Or I’ll steal your Oreos.
