Aar-Paar

This was a pretty good movie. It was nowhere near as good as the amazing Pyaasa, which is one of the best movies ever in my opinion. This movie is the timeless story of a man trying to find acceptance and love. There are weak parts but they are overcome by the script and the excellent actors, especially Dutt regular Johny Walker. Shyama and Shakila both provided good performances and I would love to see them in a movie that was more focused on them. The DVD I had was very poor quality. It was one of the Forever Classics in the Yash Raj collection and the subtitling was way off. There appear to be at least 3 different versions on DVD, hopefully the others are better quality. All in all you cannot go wrong with Guru Dutt. If you haven't seen one of his movies before, you should definitely try Pyaasa first and then check this one out.

Getting an early release from jail (he was in for a couple months for his involvement in an accident), Kaalu (Guru Dutt) is in need of a job and a place to stay. He lands both at a mechanic's shop, owned by Lalaji (Jagdish Sethi). However, he's fallen in love with Lalaji's daughter, Nikki (Shyama), and it doesn't go over well with her father. Based on a reference he received from a jail-mate, he ends up instead working as a cabbie again, but his new "employer" is shady, and also employs another woman who has fallen in love with Kaalu. When Kaalu's new employer tries to involve him in a heist, Kaalu is faced with a number of dilemmas.

This is one of my first forays into classic Bollywood cinema. My previous exposure to Bollywood has been primarily through newer horror and thriller films, along with the occasional modern musical. I mention this because it will be difficult at this point for me to say much in the way of comparison/contrast with other relevant Bollywood films; I'm still on the upward slope of the learning curve.

What I can say is that I enjoyed Aar Paar quite a bit. Like many Bollywood films, it spans a number of genres from musical and romance (of course) to crime, action and thriller. Dutt (who also directed and produced the film) and cinematographer V.K. Murthy seem to have been heavily influenced by Hollywood film noir here--their crisp black & white photography often features strong contrasts and heavy shadows, with pitch black darks and blindingly white highlights. But even though that style of cinematography is present throughout, the noirish crime/action/thriller plot points aren't very much the focus until the very end of the film.

Aar Paar is much more about romance, especially romance that is not reciprocated, or that causes familial problems. On this end, it is intriguing and frequently funny, with much of the relationship development occurring in beautiful, harmonically complex songs (sometimes the disco-like rhythmic repetitions of modern, Bhangra-influenced Indian pop and film music drive me crazy--it was nice to hear music in an Indian film without overly simplistic, unimaginative percussion).

Kaalu is an intriguing character. While he seems mostly a victim of circumstance, there are twinges of a shadier side that continually show through his adopted exteriors. A lot of the tensions in the film arise through two competing milieus trying to bring out one side or another of Kaalu's personality. Nikki and her family represent his sweet, innocent side, while his underworld "boss" and his lackeys represent a seedier, more hedonistic side. It's interesting that both sides have beautiful women attempting to lure Kaalu into their realm. In between the two we have Elaichi Sandow (Jagdeep), a "street urchin" who fulfills a function something like a guardian angel.

The least successful aspect of the film was the aspect that provoked me to watch it in the first place--the crime/action/thriller material. Dutt and scriptwriters Nabendu Ghosh and Abrar Alvi provide inadequate exposition and staging to convey the gist of the heist plot. Later, during an extended car chase and shoot out, there are editing (and possibly coverage) problems that make it frequently difficult to discern the action. This material isn't a complete failure, but it's not nearly as gripping or suspenseful as it should be. However, as this material is only a small segment of the film, and the other aspects of Aar Paar work extremely well, the slight problems did not bring down my rating very much.

The crime/action/thriller aspects may have been realized more effectively if they comprised a larger percentage of the film. Dutt almost gives the impression of having to tack them on, perhaps because of a studio that demanded something similar to the noirish American films had recently become popular worldwide.

In any event, Aar Paar is certainly a success overall. Dutt gets maximum mileage out of a couple relatively simple sets, interspersed with a few driving scenes (mostly process shots). The performances must carry the bulk of the film for its two-hour length; they do so easily. Aar Paar is well worth watching as an example of the work of one of Bollywood's important "classic" directors.

Aar Paar has all the style that Guru Dutt brought to every film he made. He plays with light and shadows like only he has done in Hindi cinema. But a weak storyline pulls the film down.

The plot just lingers over the characters most of the time and the story does not move forward. There is a hint of a bank robbery coming but all it does is to set the background for the climax. At the end, it is difficult to understand what the story was about.

Inspite of all this, Aar Paar is considered an important film in Guru Dutt's career. Not only because it is technically right most of the time, like any of his films, but more because in Kaalu he creates one of the most realistic tramp-with-a-golden-heart characters seen in Hindi films. That character is seen in hundreds of Hindi films but hardly any is as real as Kaalu.

The film has some great songs ever. 'Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar', 'Ye Lo Main Haari Piya' and 'Baabuji Dheere Chalna' are timeless. Easily a Hindi film classic.

No words.. Absolutely brilliant. This was the movie that set Guru Dutt's movie career up, that was sagging at that time. Kudos to the absolutely sweet melodies by OP- Rafi- Geeta combo. Shamshad has sung the title song so well. What songs ! The picturization is absolutely brilliant. The photography by Murthy deserves special mention. The star cast is perfect. Guru, Shyama, Shakila, Johnny Walker all of them play their roles perfectly.

Above all, it is the Mumbaikars - erstwhile Bombayites - who will be thrilled beyond all by this movie. The locations are all from down town old Bombay. To people who live abroad and have lost contact with their home town Bombay , this is a trip down memory lane. Hornby road, Flora Fountain, VT station, Army & Navy Building, Marine Drive, Colaba, you name it and you have it in this movie. It is all made easy by the protagonist of this movie being a taxi driver. And so pretty and peaceful, that was when Bombay was Bombay as we know it, not over crowded, less frenzied and relatively slow paced. Pure nostalgia. A Hindi Bete-Noire classic.

Guru Dutt's 'Aar Paar' is a film noire-type entertaining thriller. During his time, Dutt, along with the likes of Raj Khosla and Dev Anand have specialized in this genre and have delivered some of the classiest thrillers in Indian cinema. Yet, 'Aar Paar' isn't without its flaws. Some sequences have been dragged on too much and the pacing, at some points, is very slow. Moreover, the Johnny Walker track could have easily been reduced. Most of the songs are a delight. The only one i didn't like was the 'Suhn Suhn' song which is also repeated in a sadder version. Guru Dutt plays his part of the streetsmart driver with ease. Hotties Shyama and Shakila seem to have done an odd switch of roles that had made them famous. Shyama who played a vamp in 'Bhai Bhai' does a fine job as a bubbly down to earth girl-next-door. Shakila who played a sweet charming girl-next-door is very convincing here as an alluring vamp. Overall, 'Aar Paar' is something that can easily be enjoyed with the whole family. It may not be among Dutt's best works but is nonetheless a fun watch.