Lal Patthar

The movie has a very complex story line and you need to watch start to finish in single sitting to understand it completely. It takes a few minutes to take off but thereafter it is so engrossing that you keep on watching till climax which is highly thoughtful and imaginative and deserves hats off. The movie scores in every department - the milieu, costumes, art direction, locations, just everything! This may not be a great movie but it's a good movie by all means. I say, this is one of the most underrated Bollywood movies.

Raj Kumar is first rate; no one else could have done justice to this role in my opinion. You may like his theatricals or you may not; it's up to you. Rakhi & Vinod Mehra has delivered praiseworthy performances. But it is Hema Malini who stands a class apart. This is one of her best performances; in a grey shade though. Shankar Jaikishan's compositions; 1) Unke Khayaal Aaye To Aate Chale Gaye, 2) Geet Gaata Hoon Main, 3) Sooni Sooni Saans Ke Sitar Par, 4) Re Mann Sur Mein Ga, are excellent and memorable.

'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' - Shakespeare asserted centuries back. A quote to quoted forever by men and women alike. And I believe it is true. Lal Patthar (red stone) is the story underscoring the immortality of this quote only.

Lal Patthar (1971) belongs to the king of a former princely state in Bengal whose family is said to be hit by the curse of a woman raped by his licentious father. The king Kumar Bahadur (Raj Kumar) does not marry because of this curse but maintains a concubine Madhuri (Hema Malini) who is the lady of the house for all practical purposes but not his legal wife. She could not gain literacy or learn music or otherwise mould herself according to his wish. Yet, their life is going on smoothly until Kumar Bahadur spots a much younger damsel meeting the criteria to become his wife. She is a poor girl Sumita (Rakhee) who has to marry him because of his alcoholic and irresponsible father instead of marrying her childhood love, Shekhar (Vinod Mehra) who was studying abroad at that time.

The real twist in the story arrives with the womanly jealousy of Madhuri showing its ugly form. Kumar Bahadur does not discard Madhuri and tries to do justice to both his legal wife as well as the woman practically in his life for years. But Madhuri creates suspicion in his heart regarding the relationship of Shekhar and Sumita. The spark generated by Madhuri's jealousy breaks out in the form of a wildfire and burns everything. Everything ! The tragic climax takes place in Fatehpuri Sikri (Agra).

Sushil Majumdar has picturized the story of Prashant Chaudhary and the screenplay of Nabendu Ghosh in the most impressive manner and made a memorable classic for sure. The story takes a few minutes in taking off but thereafter it is so engrossing that you keep on watching, holding your breath till the very climax which shakes you like anything. The second half of the movie is much speedier than the first one and the climax is highly thoughtful and imaginative and deserves tons of accolades.

The movie scores in every department - the milieu, the costumes, the art direction, the locations, the colour-combinations in various scenes, the editing, the production value, just everything ! Raj Kumar has given a very mature performance in this mature role, sans all the theatricals he is better known for. Rakhee and Vinod Mehra have also delivered praiseworthy performances. But the show-stealer is Hema Malini, the screen-goddess who ruled bollywood for over a decade. In the role having gray shades, she has given the performance of her lifetime. Simply brilliant ! Shankar-Jaikishan has given excellent and memorable music, composing the beautiful lyrics of Dev Kohli, Hasrat Jaipuri and Neeraj having high literary value. Unke Khayaal Aaye To Aate Chale Gaye (Rafi) and Geet Gaata Hoon Main Gungunaata Hoon Main (Kishore) are timeless classics. Sooni Sooni Saans Ke Sitar Par (Asha) and Re Mann Sur Mein Ga (Manna Dey and Asha) are not far behind. In the climax, a Ghazal - Ruke Ruke Se Kadam Ruk Ke Baar Baar Chale comes to ears through the background. It's the same Ghazal which got included in Gulzar's movie - Mausam (1975) later on with a different composition prepared by Madan Mohan for Lata's voice.

Any movie buff who wants to see a classic movie with a dark storyline should not miss it. It is definitely one of the most underrated classic movies of bollywood. A highly laudable cine-product indeed.

Lal Patthar (1971) is a Bollywood Drama starring Raj Kumar as Kumar Bahadur Gyan Shankar Rai and Hema Malini as Saudamani/Madhuri. The plot is a bit confusing and the premise long, but essentially this movie is about adultery. Raja Kumar Bahadur falls in love with a woman named Saudamani. He brings her home and renames her Madhuri but he does not marry her. Afterwards, he ends up marrying a woman named Sumita in order to pay off her debts and free her in a bargain.

The film starts off pretty funny and has some good scenes, but overall it's not great and does not have anything that makes it stand out from other films. I've watched other Bollywood films that I found easier to follow and enjoyed more than this film and was surprised at the ratings this movie received. The one thing that I really did enjoy about this film was the acting of the star, Hema Malini.

You might enjoy this film if you like classic Bollywood dramas, but if you are not a fan of this genre, you may not enjoy this film. Since it's in Hindi, if you are not fluent in the language, you will have to watch it with subtitles and therefore the film requires more of your attention span. It's also quite long, spanning over 2 hours which is long by Hollywoods standards, but short by Bollywood's standards. I'm not sure why all Bollywood films are musicals, but if you have watched Bollywood movies before, it won't be a surprise to you that this film is also a musical. The songs are okay, but nothing special. Overall, I found it kind of boring with few redeeming qualities.

I watched 'Lal Patthar' because earlier on I had watched a show on which Hema Malini stated that of all her performances, her own favourite performance of hers was the one in Lal Patthar. That struck me as a bit odd since it was the first time I heard this title and after checking out it turned out to be one of her very first film roles. It was also said that Malini's role in the film was negative. This further motivated me to watch it at any cost, which I ultimately did. And what can I say? This film is visually stunning but its story, though fairly good, does not really stand out. It is of course watchable and that's due to the presence of the actors, particularly that of Hema, but that is as far as it goes.

Raaj Kumar stars as Kumar Bahadur, a prince who has vowed not to marry or drink because of a curse that runs in his family. One day while hunting for a tiger, he meets a kidnapped girl, Saudamini (Hema). He eventually takes her to live with him without marrying her. He renames her as Madhuri, but several attempts to transform her into an educated and well-mannered lady fail as she is lazy and unrefined and lacks willingness to change. Several years later, he meets another young and beautiful woman named Sumita (Raakhee), who he ultimately decides to marry, much to the displeasure of Madhuri who is unhappy to see another woman entering the household she has been in charge of for so long.

Don't know who said Malini's character in the film was negative, but all those who say this are simply wrong. Her character is not negative at all, only that it has some grey and negative shades which all of us actually have. Throughout the film it's easy to identify with her acts and understand her anger. She does get to be manipulative and mean, but never despicably vicious. At times we can even see some of the features her subsequent famous roles would have, like Geeta from 'Seeta Aur Geeta' and Basanti from 'Sholay'. One particular scene which reminds us of her extraordinary comic talent is the English lesson scene, which is hilarious.

Malini is quite clearly the main reason to watch this film, and her role is definitely a very well-written one. She is amazingly beautiful throughout the film (to the extent of looking like a doll), her eyes are expressive, and her line delivery is good. But calling it her best performance would be simply unfair, as she's been so much better in so many films since then. I'm still surprised she herself considers this her best work. The other lady, Raakhee, is also extremely beautiful, but she has hardly a role to speak of. Raaj Kumar is effective as the confused prince. Lal Patthar is nowhere a bad film, but there is not much to expect from it. Watch it if you are interested to see Hema Malini's personal favourite out of her own performances, or if you are into Hindi fairy tales.