Gharaonda

Review By Kamal K

Honestly, "Gharaonda" was anything but a dream. A scathing take on the problems of urbanisation, Bhimsain's film starts off as a sweet love story where romance blooms between an affable man and a fetching young woman working together. They plan to settle down soon. There is that little question of a nest though giving Gulzar a wonderful opportunity to pen lines like "Do deewane shaher mein aboodana dhoondte hain". The usage of the word "aboodaana" meaning water and grain, is an apt choice for a young couple looking for home and hearth.

They need a place of their own before getting married and soon realise that urban dwellings do not come easy. So, like the proverbial middle class couple they save every penny and put it all for a flat which is coming up. The problem is, and this is where modern day couples will find an echo, the flat never comes up. The builder dupes them of their money leaving them stranded. Not a place to call their own, nothing in the bank, not a penny in their pocket. So far so good. It is at this point that the film takes an unexpected turn with the still single hero suggesting to the heroine to get married to a rich old man, and wait for his innings to end shortly before the two of them get married. A little contrived but this is where Zarina's speaking eyes come into play. She holds her own as old man Lagoo's wife, nursing him back to life and health. Amol, meanwhile, is a picture of restraint as he alternates between simmering anger and plain hurt as the man waiting for his beloved to walk out of the nuptial match he himself suggested.

The story proceeds ever so slowly, just like you build a house, slowly, brick by brick. Once ready, "Gharaonda" gleams as afresh little apartment Bhimsain can own up with pride. But it was as much as Bhimsain as the lead trio -- Zarina, Lagoo and Amol, in that order, invest their roles with an easy identifiability and refrain from overstatements with ease.'

So "Gharaonda" was all about middle class dreams made personably by the director and lead artists? No, There was more. That was Bhupinder's voice. His slipped into the character of Amol in two of the best songs of his well dotted career. "Ek akeyal iss shaher mein" and "Do Deewana shaher main" are two gems. Hardly surprising, that post "Gharaonda" Bhupinder went on to have a successful innings as the voice of an urban middle class hero with hits like "Masoom", "Ahista-Ahista" and "Aitbaar", etc. Then there was the Jaidev-Gulzar duo in sparkling form. Incidentally, Gulzar's words "jeene ki wajah to koi nahin, marne ka bahana dhoondta hai....ek akela iss shaher mein" found a reflection in spirit with Shehryaar's "Seene mein jalan aankhon mein toofan sa kyun hai, is shaher mein har shakhs pareshan sa kyun hai" a little later in "Gaman".

With all these little buds, little twigs, "Gharaonda" remains a wonderful treat for lonely afternoons, silent nights. Fine, but what about the cinemas of the '70s? Well, Kamal shut shop many summers ago, Chanderlok a few years back. And Ritz? It has had a stop-start innings too. "Gharoanda" though is for all seasons.

As a fan of Amole Palekar , I thought this movie would his best with light storyline, but it turned to be a nightmare at the second half, Zarina Wahab character became so much worthy of hate , she betrayed the young man who sacrificed his everything for her, and yet she is gone. Amole's character looked miserable when he suddenly disappeared from the story in second half. I didn't enjoy this depressing tale , worst story ever. Hero is a symble of optimistism, but it seemed like hero is pathetically coward to face reality of life. His gave up in his life marked is depressing to see for people who wanted to see him fight effortlessly for his goals.

Amol Palekar has not disappointed me so far and so I thought this was going to be entertaining and fun. However, this was not as enjoyable as I was expecting it to be. The story is immensely complicated even when it did not need to be. Moreover, most of the characters were unlikable by the end of the tale. I enjoyed Amol Palekar's acting, as usual, but Zarina Wahab's character was very selfish and confused, and I really thought the writing needed to be improved. The premise itself was interesting but it was not used as effectively. Could have been quite impactful, talking about the impossible housing situation in big cities, but this left much to be desired. There was a lot of melodrama near the end, and Shriram Lagoo's character was extremely unlikable. I did not enjoy this at all.

A very heart touching love story , just amazing , one must see the movie to understand what the real love is .....i saw this movie around 40 years back , but wiring the review today , because still the story and songs of this movie are still stored in my memory . And acting is just superb, amol palekar and zerrena bahab seems that they are not acting in role but its their real story . Songs are just heart touching , news words i come to know like abboodana . By sense it means dal roti pani . The whole story is based on the struggle of a young couple to have their own house but its not so easy to own a house in big cities ...