Ziddi

Ziddi (1964) : Brief Review -

Another joyful rom-com for Joy Mukherjee and Asha Parekh in the 60s. Please challenge me when I say that Joy Mukherjee was blessed with most of the best Bollywood rom-coms in the 1960's decade. The same was true for Asha Parekh, but again, we had many other actresses doing so. Ziddi brings that typical formula of a stubborn heroine falling in love with a romantic hero. For a change, Asha Parekh brings a different touch to the character. I don't think anyone is ever going to match that "Bahut Dekhe" and that nose-snuff kind of stuff in Bollywood. Speaking of the script, there are some flaws-acceptable. The comic love story between Mehbood and Shobha Khote starts off well but crashes while landing. That scene when Ashok buys an elephant was a damn good one, but we don't see that elephant appearing later in the film. The writers could have used it in better ways. Just imagine the elephant getting involved in the climax when Asha is going to end her life. It would have been dramatic, but a really nice thing to see. The film runs for about 135 minutes, and no major conflict appears for almost 120 minutes. For two hours, we see a romantic comedy, and then suddenly we have a twist, a dramatic one, to bring that typical restriction to a love story. Seema falling in love with Ashok was a good trick and could have been used well in the conclusion, but again, we don't see her character repenting of her mistakes. The completeness of the scenes and the characters is not there. Rest, it's a joyful film filled with many cute moments. The way Ashok and Asha's love story forms is my takeaway from the film. Stubborn girl getting a challenger is always a great formula in a rom-com, and for the 60s, it must have been even better for those who hadn't been familiar with the screwball comedies from old Hollywood. Pramukh Chakraborty's direction was nice, with a special mention to the evergreen song "Raat ka Saama" by SD Burman.

RATING - 6/10*

By - #samthebestest.

In the tradition of Romantic films a la Shammi Kapoor, Ziddi entertains with a good story, great actors, great songs - The underrated Joy Mukherjee and Asha Parekh make a great pair. One is a love crazed poet and the other is a shotgun toting tomboy with a short temper. Of course, it isn't all fun and games, there's a bit of serious drama towards the end.