Daag: A Poem of Love

Daag: A Poem of Love is a melodramatic and twisted tale. The film is about Sunil and Sonia, a young couple who get separated when Sunil is sentenced to life prison for killing Dhiraj, a wealthy young man who tried to molest Sonia. Soon after, Sunil is declared dead in a car accident on his way to the prison. A pregnant Sonia finds herself all alone and decides to leave the city and start a new life with her child. She finds a job as a school teacher where she befriends a young woman named Chandni. When Sonia's past is revealed, she loses her job and finds refuge in Chandni's house. There she finds out that Sunil is actually alive, living under a different identity as Chandni's husband Sudhir. Daag is nowhere among the best works of the great Yash Chopra, though it is fairly enjoyable. The film starts well and the romantic sequences are beautifully shot, but it becomes predictable, at times overdone and the action sequences are very poorly handled. The concept of a man who is considered dead and is actually alive is really done to death. The film does manage to entertain at places despite the formulaic script but the proceedings are melodramatic and hard to believe. Rajesh Khanna is okay in this role. He does not impress much but his role is nothing exceptional. Sharmila Tagore does the best of her rather bland character. Khanna and Tagore do have a good chemistry but nowhere as great as in Aradhana. Beautiful Raakhee steals the show with her graceful presence and restrained acting. The music is good but not very memorable. Daag is in my view an okay one-time watch, but not more than that.

This is one more gem of a movie made under "Yash Chopra" banner. An unusual, partly forced love triangle which is a result of a series of tragic events in the life of three characters in this movie. The original story was written by Gulshan Nanda who pioneered writing Hindi romantic novels in seventies and early eighties. Rakhi was the surprise package of this movie who looked far better than seasoned actress Shamila Tagore. Rajesh Khanna at his usual best. Easily 8/10

This is Yash Chopra's first production under Yash Raj Banner, and I must say he was excellent as a director, a fresh and unconventional story, sharp editing and excellent direction made this film a true joy ride for cine lovers. Yes, this film is typical romance drama of 70's but with a twist, but if you love Hindi classics then this one is a gift for your watchlist. Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Rakhee ji have played their characters wonderfully, other actors also lend a good support, Cameo by Prem Chopra is plot twisting and amazing, Kay Gee the cinematographer of the film does excellent job, he masterfully captures the beautiful locations and the darkness of the film, additionally the colour palette of the film also makes it a visual treat.

Daag (1973) : Brief Review -

Yash Chopra attempts a complex love story on a weird question: Can a man actually live with two wives? Daag happens to be a poetic complexity featuring a struggling love story that goes through inevitable conflicts but ends up with a little dragged climax. The crappiest scene in the film has to be when Sunil's mother-in-law calls the police; she puts the telephone down, and the very next second we hear a police Jeep siren. Which police officer arrives in one second? How can a writer or director go ahead with such a bullshiit scene? Anyway, Daag goes ahead and grabs you with its narrative instantly, only to lose that grip in the ending. Let's look at the positives first. The film is about Sunil and Sonia, who get married, and while trying to save his wife from molestation, Sunil accidentally kills the culprit. He is sentenced by the court but escapes during an accident. Here, Sonia takes leave of her house because she is pregnant with Sunil's child. Years later, she finds Sunil married to another woman with a new name, Sudhir. Can they get together? This idea is really interesting since all the events look reliable. However, we have a few flaws in the last half an hour. Chandni, who is in love with Sunil/Sudhir, suddenly agrees to live together with Sonia and Sunil. Which woman would do that? The courtroom drama didn't really make much sense to me. If the court can take Chandni's testimony, why didn't they take Sonia's testimony in the first place? I mean, if a woman said that she was being raped and the killing happened in self-defence, do you think any court would ask for anything more? The Mayor of Casterbridge itself has those flaws, so I can't really blame Daag. Rest, it's a gripping drama with some really good scenes, performances, and 3 super hit songs: Ab Chahe Ma Roothe Yaa Baba, Ni Main Yaar Manana Ni, and Mere Dil Mein Aaj Kya Hai.

RATING - 6/10*

By - #samthebestest.

This is definitely among one of the earliest hit pictures accredited to Mr. Yash Chopra, who is still ringing the bells in Bollywood by his recent success of block buster Veer-Zara.

Besides, the direction and intriguing/exciting story, Rajesh Khanna has rendered his charismatic romantic touch with Shamila Tagore which is beautifully filmed by Mr. Chopra. It is indeed, one of the last hit films of the Rajesh Khanna Years, who was already experiencing the onslaught of the Angry Young Celluloid Intruder namely Amitabh.

It has a good bit of songs footing as well nice direction to call it a super hit.