Bees Saal Baad

Bees Saal Baad (1962) : Brief Review -

Takes the soul from Doyle's legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles to build a whole new body of its own. 60 saal baad, still the best in the business. The first ever film in Basil Rathbone's iconic series, "Sherlock Holmes," was based on Arthur Doyle's material, and then Hemant Kumar took the soul of it and made a fresh body of his own in Bengali cinema in the 1950s. Biren Nag remade it and gave it perfect commercial packaging to serve audiences with one of the most popular horror mysteries of all time. I saw this film back in college almost a decade ago; I wasn't aware of old Hollywood movies then. Now, when I rewatched it and realised how much of its content was borrowed, I decided to review it again. Firstly, the title-Bees Saal Baad. Such an apt title to set the mood for a horror movie, and so relatable to the content. Kumar arrived in Chandanghat after 20 years, hence "Bees Saal Baad." The doctor thrills you with an amazing dialogue in the beginning: "Chandaghat ne koi bimari se nahin marta. Maar Diya jata hai." So fukking haunting! Then we have "Kahin Deep Jale," which can be called the greatest horror song of all time, with the only other competitor to argue being "Gumnaam hai Koi." Truly iconic. Hemant Kumar gave another iconic song, but this time a romantic number: "Bekarar Karke Hume." Every character is under suspicion for being the murderer, and the kind of getups they have actually make them look like killers. That frame when we see the House aide for the first time-that zoom-in and horrifying background score. A perfect horror setup. Additionally, Kahin Deeo Jale takes place in a farm at night, with a girl singing and her ghungroo making that sound. The crippled man, the doctor, the naukar, the haveli, the backdoor, the quagmire root, and every single thing in the art of design is highly useful and tactically powerful. When will we get to see something like this again? It's been 60 years already.

RATING - 7.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

The main character of the film Biswajeet got the role by chance.This role was supposed to perform by the top Bengali film actor Uttam Kumar,who was the closest friend of the producer Hemanta ,but romantic hero Uttam did not like the character as anti hero and demanded to change the script but Hemanta did not listen to him and recruited another aspiring Bengali actor (who was introduced by Uttam Kumar.....what an irony) Biswajeet...and rest is history,the film was considered as Super Hit.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had penned several stories featuring Sherlock Holmes, the most popular detective character of the world. He had penned one full-fledged novel also featuring Holmes - The Hound of The Baskervilles which was first published in The Strand Magazine (serially) during 1901-02. This novel was the third one among the total four novels authored by Sir Doyle. The theme was the murders of a family by supposedly a supernatural hound which is after the lives of the Baskerville family males at Dartmoor, a foggy small town in England. Sherlock Holmes with his sidekick - Dr. Watson resolves the mystery behind the murders. It's said that some real life characters and real life incidents were the inspiration behind this novel which is considered a classic mystery.

However, today I am reviewing not the novel but a Hindi movie whose story is an adaptation from this novel only. It's Bees Saal Baad (1962) which is the debut movie of the chocolaty Bengali hero - Biswajeet starring opposite the ever-gorgeous and one of the most talented Bollywood heroines - Waheeda Rehman. The movie was a much-talked-about one when released and got popularized as a spine-chilling movie.

Since it's the Indian version of the story, the story is set in Chandangarh, a small foggy town containing a lethal quagmire also. According to its title - Bees Saal Baad (twenty years later), it starts with the arrival of the last beacon of the victim family of landlords - Kumar Vijay Singh (Biswajeet) twenty years later than the killing of his grandfather. It's said that the spirit of the girl raped by his grandfather is seeking its revenge from the males of the family. No sooner does Kumar arrives at Chandangarh, attempts start on his life as well. On one hand, he is busy in trying to resolve this mystery, on the other, he falls in love with Radha (Waheeda Rehman), the daughter of the local physician Ramlal (Manmohan Krishna). There are some other mysterious characters in the story, viz. Dr. Pande (Madan Puri), Mohan Babu (Sajjan), victim family's servant - Laxman (Dev Kishan) etc. Besides, whenever Kumar wanders in the town in the night to give the murderer an opportunity to kill him (so that he can catch him), he happens to hear a mysterious song - Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil. A funny detective, Gopichand Jasoos (Asit Sen) has also come over there in the quest of that murderer only. In the climax, the murderer is exposed and Kumar's life is saved.

I watched this movie after reading a lot about it and its spine-chilling scene which is of a murderous paw (containing very long nails) appearing on the screen behind the prospective victim. Well, it might have been spine-chilling when the people watched it on the big screen. I did not find it scary at all while watching it on TV. In fact, there is no horror in the movie despite its being called as a famous horror movie.

Now about the script and the narrative - in my considered opinion, the screenplay writer (Dhruva Chatterjee) and the director (Biren Nag) have faltered in giving the story of the legendary author the shape of an interesting Indianized suspense-thriller. They have not been able to create a freely flowing narrative which is able to keep the viewers hooked as is expected in a good suspense-thriller or murder mystery. The director has tried to cover the deficiencies of the storyline by comedy of Gopichand Jasoos and the romantic track of the young pair which contains some memorable songs. However he has succeeded in his effort only partially. Time and again the narrative starts boring the viewer when the track of the comedian detective intervenes the main track.

Still, the movie is worth a watch because of the brilliant on-screen chemistry of the lead pair of Biswajeet and Waheeda Rehman as well as the great music. Chocolaty hero, Biswajeet has done pretty well at least in the romantic scenes and songs. Waheeda Rehman not only looks innocently beautiful but she has acted well too. All others have done justice to the assigned roles. Especially the performance of Dev Kishan as the domestic servant, Laxman deserves a big hand.

Hemant Kumar has composed mesmerizing songs for the movie whose lyrics have been penned by Shakeel Badayuni. Hemant Da himself have sung the songs alongwith Lata. On one hand, we have his classic songs - Beqaraar Karke Hamen Yun Na Jaaiye and Zara Nazron Se Keh Do Ji; on the other, we have Lata's classic songs - Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil, Sapne Suhaane Ladakpan Ke and Aye Mohabbat Meri Duniya Mein Tera Kaam Na Tha. In fact, music is a very big face saving grace of this movie despite the fact that the songs block the flow of the mystery-based narrative.

Technically this black and white movie is quite good. Not by the script but by the light and sound effect, the director has succeeded in creating a suspenseful environment in the movie. The scenes picturized in semi-darkness are pretty impressive. Length of the movie could have been curtailed sufficiently because undue footage has been given to the character of Gopichand Jasoos and his activities. He generates less laughter more irritation.

Bees Saal Baad was a box office success when released perhaps due to the music, the romance and the hype related to the so-called horror in it. If remade by a skilled suspense-movie director, this script can be converted into an outstanding suspense movie. I recommend this movie to all the fans of Waheeda Rehman and Biswajeet. The audience of murder mysteries containing melodious songs will also like it for sure.

Very atmospheric horror thriller! A man movies into the ancestral mansion where his father and grandfather had been murdered years earlier. Soon he hers the cries of a ghost woman who seems intent on his death!

Bees Saal Baad is very reminiscent of Universal's 1930s horror film or perhaps Val Lewton's moody horrors of the 1940s. Filmed in black and white the whole film has an effectively eerie quality.

Biswajeet and Waheeda Rehman work very well together and the songs are all 1st rate!

Highly recommended!

Its a superb movie with probably the best performance of Biswajeet and as ever, a beautiful and strong performance by Waheeda Rehman.

Other characters are also good enough to not disturb the rhythm and flow of the movie and have done justice to their parts.

Its a captivating movie, making you sit through whole duration and is miles ahead from modern hi-tech thrillers. Its a must watch for all those who want to see a sensible thriller.

Another major reason is its captivating music which is not going to leave you for 2-3 days after watching the movie. Just 3ongs but all so refreshing and melodious.