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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.

Purab aur Paschim 1970
Most of the hit movies of sixties and seventies also had the best of music in them and were also recognized for that by the audience. India is a country of folklore and folk dance and music, songs was the way the news and messages were conveyed in olden times. Songs contained the philosophy, contemporary messaging and the ethos of the population. Purab aur Paschim was also such a film with one of the best songs and music which also told the story of the film. It juxtaposed the Indian culture Vis the Western sensibilities. It was the time when Young India was trying make a mark for itself in the world as also a sense of nationality and pride within its people. Released in 1970. Manoj Kumar reprised his role of Bharat a metaphor for our country and its people and for patriotism. Major part of the movie was shot in London when the hippie culture was in full swing. Bharat (Manoj Kumar) is ....
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Teesri Manzil 1966
Brilliantly mounted murder mystery thriller with excellent music - Teesri Manzil that is directed by the capable Vijay Anand and released on 21st October 1966. The sixties were a very productive and important years for the growth of Indian cinema which gave up many magnum-opuses. Stars like Dev Anand, Rajendra Kumar and the Junglee Shammi Kapoor ruled the roost. Teesri Manzil was one such movie though a mystery thriller and though the secret of the murderer is now out it still draws crowds whenever it is released in theatres due to its superb numbers specially ‘O haseena zulfonwaali’ and ‘Aaaja aaja’ where the debutante music director R D Burman (yes this was RD’s breakthrough movie) experimented successfully with rock and roll style in Hindi lyrics. All male voice songs were sung by Rafi which became instant rage back then and are still considered foot tapping numbers till ....
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Guide - 1965
Guide was a path breaking film released on 6th December 1965 almost 55 years ago but whenever it is shown on TV one can still be found glued to the Television to see this movie. The film is based on the novel by R.K. Narayan the novelist brother of the famous common man cartoonist R.K. Laxman. People say that the movie was much better than the novel itself, and importantly, also much ahead of its time in terms of the storyline and the treatment given to it. The screenplay did not have a single dull moment. Direction and screenplay of Guide are credited to Vijay Anand or Goldie the younger brother of Dev Anand (the hero of the movie) for their in-house banner Nav Ketan Films. Though he had done earlier movies but this movie discovered his craft and he went on to give us many super dupe hits like Teesri Manzil, Jewel Thief, Johnny Mera Naam, Tere Mere Sapne etc. A 120 minute English ver ....
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Aandhi - 1975
Movies are generally a source of entertainment, with some carrying a social or moral message while there are movies which used to be called art movies in late 70’s and early 80’s in INDAIN CINEMA which showed the stark realities of life. Aandhi is one such movie written by Kamleshwar and directed by Gulzar. Though India has changed a lot since then. Now those very art films are termed as contemporary and are not all depressing but also do have a funny take to them. The movies do show the ethos of the Nation at those times and can be instrumental in creating public opinion or at least validating a point of view. Aandhi was a movie of its own kind it was a political commentary on the state of affairs on the back of a very unlikely love story. It is said to have been loosely based on the life of the then Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi and though it was released on 13th Fe ....
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Anand 1971
Released on 12th March 1971, Anand is an endearing story of a terminally ill patient who brings joys in the life of complete strangers. It was both funny and tragic. It showed that despite the progress we have made thru science we still have no control on certain diseases where death is a foregone conclusion. Anand was produced and directed by the well-known maker of social and moralistic drama exploring the lighter side of life Hrishikesh Mukherjee or Hrishida as he was fondly called. It was one of the 17 consecutive hits of Rajesh Khanna and his first collaboration with Amitabh Bachchan. That Amitabh was able to hold his own and define his character in the movie laid down the path for him to succeed as superhero after Khanna. It was a runaway hit at the box-office. T This movie Anand, being evergreen is still viewed with rapt attention whenever it is played on TV. It is a movie o ....
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Deewar (1975)
Another iconic movie released on 24th January 1975, a few months before Sholay was Deewar - a tale of two brothers on opposite sides of the law. It explored the relations between siblings who grew up under the shadow of their father’s unfortunate disrepute and how each of them took that slander and grew in two opposite directions, one who cannot forget and forgive, becomes a street smart, law-breaker and the other who moves on with the times and is an educated person on the right side of the law. The title - Deewar thus suggesting the wall of ideology drawn between them. This movie was iconic as it was released before Sholay and after Zanzeer and firmly established Amitabh Bachchan as the new superstar of that era and confirmed his image of the ‘Angry Young Man’. With this movie he established an enduring partnership with Shashi Kapoor with this duo giving many subsequent hits t ....
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Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1972
Released on January 14 1972, Hare Rama Hare Krishna is written, produced and directed by Dev Anand and it is one of his finest movies. Starring apart from Dev Anand and Zeenat Aman there are Mumtaz, Prem Chopra, Kishore Sahu, Rajendra Nath and others. The movie was set in Nepal against the background of the hippie culture, which was very much prevalent in those time. Hare Rama Hare Krishna is about rebels with no cause, about the youth who has given up everything, all hope and is lost in their own world of sex, drugs, merry making and indulging in petty crimes for the upkeep of their lifestyle. The title comes from the popular movement that was going on at the time in America of God consciousness under the auspices of Swami Prabhupada of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness or ISKCON for short, it was a 'bhakti movement' which many in the West had misinterpreted for the ....
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Aradhana (1969)
Late sixties and seventies was a defining period of Indian cinema which cultivated many memorable movies. Indian cinema was moving from family dramas, social and moral tales towards stories of friendship and love. Aradhana was one such movie which changed the lives of many of those associated with it.  (Image courtesy YouTube). Released on 27th September 1969 it was a defining movie which gave birth to the first Indian Superstar- a phenomenon called Rajesh Khanna, he had been around for a couple of years before this (even had some hits ) but something in this tale caught the eyes of the audience and specially the fair sex . This was the start from where he gave 17 consecutive hits, a record which still stands to this day. This was the movie which resurrected the playback singing career of Kishore Kumar. It is rumored that before doing the playback of Aradhana Kishore wanted to mee ....
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Amar Akbar Anthony review by Pawan Gupta
This blockbuster  - AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY was released on 27th May 1977. By then the stars of this movie were well known and stars in their own rights but one among them was more than the proverbial first amongst the equal. He was none other than Amitabh Bachchan, who had by then attained stardom and though this movie was a multi-starrer, it firmly entrenched him as the new superstar his ‘angry young man’ image was already accepted but with this movie he added one more facet to his acting skills i.e. comedy. Till that time most movies had a full time comedian in the form of Mehmood, Jagdeep or someone to provide comic relief but this movie changed all that with the hero also donning the role of comedian. His contemporary and also in race for superstardom, Vinod Khanna was also in this movie, but this movie took Big B (as Amithabh is fondly called) leagues ahead. 1977-78 was one o ....
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Sholay (1975)
Sholay (1975) was not just a movie, but a full scale audio and visual experience which was absolutely new to the Indian audience in the seventies and it was not just about achieving perfection in all departments. Be it casting, acting, direction, a balanced story, fantastic screen-play and out of the world dialogues, but it had something absolutely novel to offer the Indian audience for the first time, a wide screen experience. Indian cinema was hitherto been confined to a 35MM screen almost squarish and no one had experimented with the 70mm visual delight it just created magic. The year was 1975 and Sholay was released on 15th August, the Independence Day. It’s first week was dull as in those times the dacoit films was an oft repeated formula. It is also rumored that it was a sort of remake of a 1971 dacoit drama Raaj Khosla’s ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ with even the name of th ....
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