******* Spoiler Alert **********
I was never a Raj Kapoor fan, especially because of the progressively degrading portrayal of women in his movies.
Still, I decided to give this one a shot.
No surprises that the movie reflects his views about women, both as the director and the hero Sundar.
This is not a love triangle - it is way twisted for it to be such an easy geometrical figure! Sundar and Gopal love each other as friends since boyhood. For unexplained reasons, Gopal is always defending Sundar. Radha is always in love with Gopal though it is not as clear cut the other way round. It is very clear that Radha hates Sundar (at least till the marriage that she is forced into, after which she suddenly starts loving him - i suppose, the reason being that as an Indian wife, it is her duty to love her husband. However, the romp through several European locations (that feel like a travel brochure for the era that this movie was made) show her to be totally happy with him!) and Sundar is so smitten with her that he is deaf and blind to ALL signals to the contrary, even when they are right in his face!
The dumbness of Sundar and the stupid plot twists to get Sundar and Radha married are enough to make one dizzy! The audience has to become as dumb as Sundar to have any credence in the premise that Radha loves Sundar after the marriage.
On the other hand, Gopal does his very best to lie to Sundar about how much Radha loves him (Sundar). Poor Radha's opinion has zero value (after all this is Raj Kapoor movie!). A lot of overblown dialogue shows how Gopal and Radha have no clue about plain human decency (Gopal makes Radha to marry Sundar because Sundar loves her and wants her! and she is OK with it, even if as an unwilling pawn).
Worse scenes follow to torture all 3 characters with Sundar intent on being deaf and dumb to how Radha and Gopal feel (Does he even look at their faces or hear their voices?), ultimately resolving into the deadly climax!
Radha is no better with her stupid insistence in coming between Sundar and Gopal. Why did she not accept Gopal as part of the parcel?
It was not clear to me how Sundar could not read Hindi for most of the movie (yet another absurd plot device) while he can read the love letter Gopal has written to Radha. I must have missed it in the mind-numbing turns! and had no desire to look for the explanation going through the scenes again.
Raj Kapoor looks too old and tired opposite Vyjayanti Mala. Rajendra Kumar, though wooden, looks better.
I did not see the point of the "Sexy" Paris dance by her after the chauvinist comments from Raj Kapoor but I suppose she was getting paid plenty for both listening to those remarks as well as putting on a show and all the palloo-falling!
I give this movie 4 stars for 2 redeeming features that make it bearable: superb songs and beautiful picturization.
I was never a Raj Kapoor fan, especially because of the progressively degrading portrayal of women in his movies.
Still, I decided to give this one a shot.
No surprises that the movie reflects his views about women, both as the director and the hero Sundar.
This is not a love triangle - it is way twisted for it to be such an easy geometrical figure! Sundar and Gopal love each other as friends since boyhood. For unexplained reasons, Gopal is always defending Sundar. Radha is always in love with Gopal though it is not as clear cut the other way round. It is very clear that Radha hates Sundar (at least till the marriage that she is forced into, after which she suddenly starts loving him - i suppose, the reason being that as an Indian wife, it is her duty to love her husband. However, the romp through several European locations (that feel like a travel brochure for the era that this movie was made) show her to be totally happy with him!) and Sundar is so smitten with her that he is deaf and blind to ALL signals to the contrary, even when they are right in his face!
The dumbness of Sundar and the stupid plot twists to get Sundar and Radha married are enough to make one dizzy! The audience has to become as dumb as Sundar to have any credence in the premise that Radha loves Sundar after the marriage.
On the other hand, Gopal does his very best to lie to Sundar about how much Radha loves him (Sundar). Poor Radha's opinion has zero value (after all this is Raj Kapoor movie!). A lot of overblown dialogue shows how Gopal and Radha have no clue about plain human decency (Gopal makes Radha to marry Sundar because Sundar loves her and wants her! and she is OK with it, even if as an unwilling pawn).
Worse scenes follow to torture all 3 characters with Sundar intent on being deaf and dumb to how Radha and Gopal feel (Does he even look at their faces or hear their voices?), ultimately resolving into the deadly climax!
Radha is no better with her stupid insistence in coming between Sundar and Gopal. Why did she not accept Gopal as part of the parcel?
It was not clear to me how Sundar could not read Hindi for most of the movie (yet another absurd plot device) while he can read the love letter Gopal has written to Radha. I must have missed it in the mind-numbing turns! and had no desire to look for the explanation going through the scenes again.
Raj Kapoor looks too old and tired opposite Vyjayanti Mala. Rajendra Kumar, though wooden, looks better.
I did not see the point of the "Sexy" Paris dance by her after the chauvinist comments from Raj Kapoor but I suppose she was getting paid plenty for both listening to those remarks as well as putting on a show and all the palloo-falling!
I give this movie 4 stars for 2 redeeming features that make it bearable: superb songs and beautiful picturization.