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Category: Bollywood Retro Gems

Retro Bollywood movies – Critically acclaimed, commercial super hits and memorable movies that have shaped Bollywood’s history.

Duuhman - 1972
Though it was a super hit of its time (not to be confused with Kajol's Dushman), this is one of Rajesh Khanna's lesser celebrated films. Released on January 7, 1972. It can be called an experimental film of sorts due to the subject of the film which was explored earlier in V Shantaram's Do Aankhen Barah Haath but was much different in the tone and tenor. Directed by Dulal Guha, Dushman has Rajesh Khanna who was at his peak when he took up this role of an over confident reckless truck driver sentenced to work for the family of his victim, a willing risk which he took being in pole position then. He pulled off this role with aplomb. He was a romantic star at the time, and here it was sort of a de-glamorization for him. He changed quite a few things, his body language, style, facial features to look the part which he was every inch of. It was also one of the last performance of Meena Kum ....
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Satyam Shivam Sundaram - 1978
SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM- ABOUT LOVE AND THE SPIRITUAL AWAKENING Based on the Hindu spiritual philosophy of Satyam Shivam Sundaram which means Satya or truth itself is the absolute divine Shiv which is the most beautiful in itself. This film is a story of rediscovering of truth, love and passion and difference between physical and spiritual love. It was Raj Kapoor’s opus which is remembered not so much for its content and message but more for Zeenat Aman’s sensuous portrayal in a blouse-less wet sari and under the waterfall. This movie did make a furor, even housewives discussing Zeenat’s bold look. This social themed film was released on 24th March 1978. What is hard to believe is that this role was developed keeping Lata Mangeshkar in mind. A heavenly voice which does not match with physical beauty, as written in the book 'Raj Kapoor Speaks' by Ritu Nanda. It is also believed ....
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HERO - 1983
This movie out and out belonged to the hero of the film, a new face. A bit of background of HERO is warranted here. Subhash Ghai the self-proclaimed showman of the film industry (a title earlier enjoyed by Raj Kapoor), wanted a replacement for Sanjay Dutt with whom he had a difficult time during the shooting of ‘Vidhataa’ after a search he zeroed in on Jaikishen Kakubhai Shroff or Jackie Shroff as we know him today and who is also lovingly called Jaggu Dada. Before this movie which catapulted Jackie and the heroine of the film Meenakshi Sheshadri (Miss India 1981) to unprecedented fame, both had done forgettable roles in ‘Swami Dada’ and ‘Painter Babu’ respectively. This blockbuster hit and third highest grosser of the year was released on 16th December 1983. It was refreshing to see new faces in a slightly different narrative while the Big B still ruled the roost in the ....
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Ek Duuje Ke Liye 1981
This was a novel concept in Hindi movies and it was handled beautifully. Ek Duuje Ke Liye was a launch vehicle for Kamala Hassan in the Hindi film Industry. A rare phenomenon where a southern star acted in a Hindi film and the movie was a blockbuster hit. This paved way for many a real life love stories of North meets South and falls in love at the time. ‘Two States’ came much later. The film explored the North-South divide, or shall we say romance, in perspective. Released on 5th June 1981, Ek Duuje Ke Liye was green lighted by the famous South Indian Film Industry moghul L.V. Prasad who himself had acted in the first Indian Talkie ‘Alam Ara’ and also produced many a Hindi movies including ‘Milan’ to the last one being the period film ‘Jay Vijay’ most of his movies were directed by Southern directors like this one by the Dadasaheb Phalke award winner from Shri K. Bala ....
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Awara - 1951
This was the first attempt by Raj Kapoor to model himself on the Charlie Chaplin act in the film Awara, which got more prominent in his later films like ‘Shree 420’. It was a trendsetter of sorts, an iconic movie at the time. Awara is produced and directed by Raj Kapoor himself and it was written by the R.K. loyalist K.A. Abbas who went on to write and also direct many socials. It was a landmark movie which juxtaposed good with the bad. Many of the Kapoor family graced the movie apart from the Protagonists- R.K. (Raj) himself and his father Prithviraj Kapoor, his Grandfather Diwan Basheshwarnath Kapoor and his younger brother Shashi played R.K’s younger self. Awara was released on 14th December 1951, it is considered a path-breaking film for Hindi cinema as it was a huge success not only in India but also abroad in South Asian countries and an overwhelming success in the Sovi ....
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Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge - 1995
First look at the movie - Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge did not evoke the response that it actually got at the hustings. It was a simple tale of young love with the underrated actors namely Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, under-rated because untill then though Shah Rukh had done some hits but was far from the romantic image that he has carved for himself today and was developing more in the villainous mold and Kajol though around for some time had no breakthrough movie to her credit. That the film will create history with its unprecedented run at the Box-Office was unthinkable at the time, it is all in hindsight now. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge has created history and how… it has had a twenty year run at a single theatre-Maratha Mandir a whopping 1000+ weeks, a record, and we thought that Sholay could never be repeated. The audience fell to the trap of now famous open arms of Shah Rukh st ....
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Golmaal 1979
Every once in a while a delightful comedy is served by the Hindi film Industry, this 1979 movie was one such movie Golmaal ... a once in a decade comedy of that time. Directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Golmaal is the story of an average well educated Indian common man who would like to pursue good things in life, but is looking out for that elusive job which will not only give him a decent life but will also solve most of his monetary issues. Our young man of the story is Ramprasad Sharma (Amol Palekar-Superb) or Ram for short, he follows the Indian virtues but has taste for finer things of life like music, sports and as every Indian loves a taste for acting and films. He wants to live a full life, he has the responsibility of his unmarried sister Ratna (Manju Singh-very subtle character unlike many over-distraught sisters of Bollywood) who is herself pursuing post-graduation. They ....
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Bobby (1973)
Bobby was released on 28 September 1973 and was an instant hit amongst the Young India of the time. Teenage love stories were hitherto unseen on the Indian screens. That too with absolutely fresh faced youngsters actually acting their own age. This movie launched the careers of both Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia in lead roles. Though it was planned with Rajesh Khanna in mind but as Raj Kapoor who was also it's Producer and Director and whose Mere Naam Joker had bombed badly on the silver screen, he is said to have not been able to afford Rajesh thus he launched his own son Rishi instead. Rest is now history. Bobby's fresh faced stars became the USP of this movie. Indian cinema was looking for fresh faces and they got them here. The story is about two teenagers coming from two different classes and religions of the society . Raj (Rishi Kapoor) is a son of a rich Hindu businessm ....
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Mausam (1975
MAUSAM appears here in the Retro Gems section due to the sheer sensitivity and the on-screen treatment of a mature subject and also due to the stellar performances by the lead actors Sanjeev Kumar and especially Sharmila Tagore who went on to win the Silver Lotus award at the National Awards that year for her role in the movie. It is Gulzar’s ode of love, he has been credited for writing and directing some of the most sensitive movies of Hindi cinema. Mausam is a work of art. To begin with the most striking sequence is the flashback song picturization of ‘Dil dhoondto hai’ which was novel experiment at that time, literally transporting one individual within the song as a spectator. This movie was released on 29th December 1975 that was the year of some grand hits and revolution of sorts in the Indian cinema side by side with the goings on, on the political scape of INDIA. Mau ....
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Masoom - 1982
Released in 1982, Masoom is adapted from the famous novel Man, Woman and Child by Eric Segal. It was Shekhar Kapur’s (Dev Anand’s nephew) debut directorial venture. Masoom is considered to be one of the most sensitively handled project, with the illegitimate child angle. With lyrics and screenplay written by Gulzar it was a formula bound for success. This is one of the projects of Kapur which did see the light of day. Masoom is a story of a child’s innocence and the film has brilliant music by none other than R.D. Burman with “Do naina ek kahani”, “Tujhse naraz nahin zindagi” topping the charts and the eponymous “Lakdi ki Kathi” which became the childhood anthem of sorts. The film was a hit with the middle class audience. With the ensemble cast of Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Saeed Jaffery and Tanuja who were all at the peak of their craft and child brigade led by ....
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