Dillagi

This is a Hindi Language film from 1949 starring Suraiya.

The film is from a period right after Bharat's independance in 1947. Films like Barsaat and this one that replaced the intensity of social freedom with that of love were big hits.

The film is quite watchable for its songs and performances. However, it has otherwise a very average story line, passe comedy and caricatured sketches from today's viewpoint, 72 years later! Thus not really a fair judgement point.

The reputation of the stars precedes the film's popularity at this age and time. Suraiya was very talented and remained unmarried after spurning Dev Anand in real life. While Shyam, who was built as a hunk, passed away quite young, a couple of years after this success.

Their performances here would only make a film lover nostalgic about what could have been...

I rated the film 6/10 on IMDB.

Dillagi (1949) : Brief Review -

Not a fan of Wuthering Heights, still liked this one-maybe due to Devdas touch. Wuthering Heights has been adapted on the screen many times in almost every corner of the world. One of the most important filmmakers from the early days of Hindi talkie cinema, Mr. AR Kardar, was entitled to bring that story to Hindi audiences because of its worldwide popularity. I personally am not a fan of Wuthering Heights, and for the same reason I never understood the hype. Despite my thumbs down gesture towards the original, I surprisingly found this Kardar-style adaptation good enough. Yes, good enough for a one-time watch and definitely much better for the ones who like romantic tragedies without any intellectual bonds and haven't seen much of foreign cinema. Since I am not a fan of Wuthering Heights, it's natural for me not to be a fan of a similar story, Devdas-again another widely popular tragedy. But the combined effect of these two stories actually kept me hooked for two hours. The YouTube version of Dillagi is exactly two hours long, and almost half the runtime is filled with songs. Nothing memorable in music for my today's taste maybe, but "Dil ka lagana nahi koi Dillagi" was truly special for its emotionally powerful impact. The climax was easy to guess, but still looked sensible the way things were turning out. Mala's husband was too wild to accept, though. He killed Popatlal without even thinking for a second. That was too much non-sense. Nevertheless, the pace was so fast and events came one after another so quickly that we don't get time to think about the previous fiasco that took place a minute ago. Suraiya is a timeless beauty, man. Such a beautiful actress and so full of grace and versatility. Shyam also did so well. I wonder why he didn't get recognition of 'tragedy king' or 'Devdas,' even if it was for a few days only. Top-class cinematography, superb editing, and Kardar's skillful direction make Dillagi worth watching, if not classic.

RATING - 6.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.