C.I.D.

A newspaper editor is murdered in the first scene. There are car chases, secret bunkers, shoutouts in public and a femme fatale. But this is not quite a film noir. There is a in custody prisoner death but the trouble is in a Hindi film the protagonist cannot have a dark side. He's all good always.

The film is also not well edited, there are plot holes and the dialogue is clunky. The character motivation is also suspect. But it has the most amazing songs which have withstood the test of time. A thriller but not quite a noir

CID (1956) : Brief Review -

The most entertaining crime thriller ever made by its time not just in Indian Cinema but in any corner of world. Deservingly, the biggest hit of all time in thriller genre. Bollywood hadn't made many crime thrillers on good scale by mid 50s, one or two noir films in the crime world belonged to Dev Anand only in his early days. At the same time Hitchcock was ruling with his prime thrillers not just Hollywood but also the world cinema. Taking about his films made in 50s, some were excellent and some were cliched but mostly he adapted the material from somewhere like novels or plays. Now just one more question, does Hitchcock films entertain you? Do they provide anything else than suspense and mystery? The answer is no. His films were not that entertaining except for a few and rest of the films were mostly set in dark and tensed atmosphere. Just think about watching the similar thriller in light zone with additional romance, iconic songs, comedy etc. Overall, a spicy dish i mean. CID does exactly that. A newspaper editor gets murdered when he was about to expose the underworld links of a rich person. So, a CID inspector gets assigned to investigate the murder case. The film has similar cliches or should i say dragged moments what we have seen in Hitchcock films of 40s & 50s but for Bollywood it wasn't cliches, it became trendsetter because bollywood had never tried something like that before. Dev Anand as Inspector Shekhar is truly iconic, his aura, his attitude everything is iconic. Waheeda Rehman debuts with the bang. What a terrific introduction scene she has got. Shakila looks beautiful while Johny Walker provides superb funny punches. CID is a triumph for Raj Khosla, actually not just for him but for the entire bollywood or to some extent Indian Cinema. A wholesome entertaining thriller that redefined the commercial value of the genre for world cinema.

RATING - 7.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Director Khosla's debut movie CID is regarded as one of Bollywood's best crime thriller. Khosla who was assistant director under Guru Dutt learned from his mentor the film-noir (Bombay-noir in Indian context) style and thus directed this 'must see' movie. CID is a crime-suspense movie and the Hollywood influence is showing. The movie is also remembered for songs like "Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan" featuring Johny Walker. The songs is about the city of Bombay and its crooked life. Other hits include "Kahin Pe Nigahen Kahin Pe Nishana" "Aankhon Hi Aankhon Mein Ishaara Ho Gaya" "Bujh Mera Kya Naam Re Nadi Kinare Gaam Re".

The hugely successful movie will always be remembered as Dev Anand's greatest hits. I recommend it to any fan of Dev Anand or anyone interested in the history of Bollywood. Khosla went on to direct some more hits for the Navketan banner. Including Kalaa Pani and Bambai Ka Babu.

8/10 for the movie's Historical Significance in Bollywood.

CID is a must-watch for any Bollywood fan just for the music but it's the plot that made me fall in love with it. Such a perfect thriller film despite you knowing who the criminal is. Just like Bambai Ka Babu (1960), here also Raj Khosla subverts popular genres and I'm still amazed (I watched the film yesterday) at how CID blends all top genres include romance and crime. More than anything, it's looking at Bombay of the 50s that melted my heart, superbly supported by Johnny Walker who is a treat a watch. Waheeda Rahman's definitely got the charm and I can see how her negative role may have still played in her defense to her potential stardom. CID is a classic and rightly so.

(Watched during Raj Khosla's centenary celebration in Mumbai.)

Shamshaad Begum passed away on 23.04.2013 leaving a golden chapter of the book of Bollywood music to glitter forever in her mesmerizing voice and unique style of singing.

As my tribute to Shamshaad Begum, I am presenting the review of an old movie - C.I.D. (1956) which was made by Guru Dutt and directed by Raj Khosla, starring Guru Dutt and Shakila in lead roles. The highlight of this movie is the immortal music composed by O.P. Nayyar containing certain classic songs in the voice of Shamshaad Begum which we, the music lovers, are fond of listening to again and again and again.

C.I.D. (the acronym for the crime investigating department) starts with the killing of a newspaper editor who was on the trail of a rich businessman - Dharamdaas (Bir Sakhuja) who was supposed to be having underworld links. The case is assigned to C.I.D. inspector Shekhar (Dev Anand) who alongwith his love life with Rekha (Shakila), moves forward in the direction of unravelling the mystery of the editor's murder and reaching the real culprit. However the real culprit is smarter than him and he weaves a web of lies, deceit and conspiracy around him and traps himself only in the murder of the murderer (Mehmood). How he proves his own innocence and catches the guilty is the remaining part of the story in which the characters of Kaamini (Waheeda Rehman) and Master (Johnny Walker) also play significant roles.

This is the debut movie of its director - Raj Khosla who is credited to bring about neo-noir style in the Indian cinema. C.I.D. was one of the pioneer movies in the tradition of Hollywood style crime-thrillers in India. Raj Khosla had learnt directorial skills by assisting the producer of this movie - Guru Dutt, the legend of the Indian cinema but he did not copy his guru and instead, developed his own style of narration. This debut movie of himself is a showcase of his abundant talent which despite some plot holes, keeps the viewer hooked for two and a half hours. He has not allowed the narrative to go lax (despite melodious songs and the romance of the lead pair intervening) and presented a taut thriller. He has focused on thrill and not on mystery, else, given the script, he could have easily made a whodunit also.

The young director has been able to draw praiseworthy performances from the actors. Dev Anand was fast evolving himself into the Indian Gregory Pack and in C.I.D. also, he is able to fling lightning on the hearts of the young females with his handsome personality and enchanting mannerisms. Shakila was very beautiful and her pair with Dev Anand appears quite charming. This is the debut movie of one of the greatest actresses of the Indian screen - Waheeda Rehman who was barely 18-19 years old then. Guru Dutt gave her the break in Bollywood through a negative role in this movie and lo ! The actress playing a vamp in her debut movie went on to register her name in one of the most happening and the most popular Bollywood heroines during the sixties. Both these ladies have done well. The complete supporting cast has also done justice to the assigned roles.

Guru Dutt's movies are incomplete without Johnny Walker. The immensely popular song - Aye Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahaan, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan has been picturized on him only and none can forget his performance on this song. This legendary comedian has provided sufficient no. of relief moments in this movie belong to the genre of noir cinema. Just like Guru Dutt and Johnny Walker, Dev Anand and Johnny Walker also made a great male pair of the Indian screen, complimenting each other very well and entertaining the audience in huge quantum.

As asserted earlier, the biggest plus point of this movie is the immortal music composed by O.P. Nayyar. Most of the lyrics have been written by Majrooh Sultaanpuri. Aankhon Hi Aankhon Mein Ishaara Ho Gaya has been penned by the great Shaayar - Janaab Jaanisaar Akhtar (the father of Jaaved Akhtar) and Jaane Tamanna Kya Kar Daala has been penned by S.H. Bihari. Geeta Dutt has sung Aaye Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahaan and Aankhon Hi Aankhon Mein Ishaara Ho Gaya with Mohammed Rafi whereas Jaata Kahaan Hai Diwane is her solo. Jaane Tamanna Kya Kar Daala is the duet sung by Asha Bhosle and Mahendra Kapoor.

And Shamshaad Begum has given her voice to the great songs like Kahin Pe Nigaahen Kahin Pe Nishaana (picturized on Waheeda Rehman) and the immensely popular - Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar (picturized on Sheela Waaz and Shyam Kapoor) in the company of Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi. My favourite song of Shamshaad Begum from this album in particular as well as in general is - Boojh Mera Kya Naam Re, Nadi Kinare Gaaon Re which has been picturized on Meenu Mumtaaz. The low profile actresses like Sheela Waaz and Meenu Mumtaaz also got their share of popularity by performing on Shamshaad's enchanting voice in these songs. The lyricists have dropped gems in the form of words for the lyrics of these songs.

With my tribute to the great female singer whose voice was not fine like Lata's and somewhat hoarse, nevertheless enchanting for the music lovers; I unconditionally recommend this interesting crime-thriller from the black and white era to the movie buffs. The evergreen songs render immense repeat value to this classic black and white movie.