Sachaa Jhutha

A penniless musician is unwittingly forced to trade places with a look-alike diamond merchant/thief causing a comedy of errors by everyone involved.

Released during Rajesh Khanna's super hit years, Sachaa Jhutta features two Rajesh Khannas - one a ruthless criminal, the other a flute playing village simpleton who is trying to raise to get his sister hitched. When the doppelgängers meet, a comedy of errors as well Action, humour and romance occur - the songs were hits in their day.

It's an enjoyable Hindi film; perhaps a little far fetched, however, it is executed with good acting and maintaining a good balance between drama and humour.

Sachaa Jhutha review :

The late great director Manmohan Desai's first mega hit which set the formula for most of his subsequent successes; Sachaa Jhutha was an out and out masala entertainer with a dash of lost and found phenomenon. Superstar Rajesh Khanna featured in a double role of a village simpleton Bhola and a city bred jewel thief Ranjeet who utilises the innocence and resemblance of his doppelganger to pull off an almost impossible heist.

Mumtaz played an undercover cop trying to infiltrate Ranjeet's gang even as her colleague Vinod Khanna (in a supporting role) is hot on his trail. Rajesh made an awesome pair with Mumu and they invariably conjured a fantastic onscreen chemistry in later hits as well like Dushmun (1971), Apna Desh (1972) and Aap Ki Kasam (1974). Sachaa Jhutha remains their biggest hit together..

Interestingly, Shashi Kapoor was approached to play the main lead but he didn't want to work with Mumtaz at that time. Ofcourse, after Mumu's super stardom post Sachaa Jhutha and Khilona (1970), he did work with her in future. Anyway, Shashi's loss turned out to be Kaka's gain and the superstar added one more entry to his record fifteen consecutive hits from 1969 to 1972. A still unbeaten record!!

Above all, Sachaa Jhutha gained immortality due to its 'shaadi wala' song - 'Meri pyaari beheniya banegi dulhaniya' - which is played by the band in every Indian wedding from 1970 till date!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Before he started making Bacchan blockbusters, Manmohan Desai had a try with many other good actors as well, namely Shammi Kapoor ("Bluffmaster") and Rajesh Khanna with this movie ("Saccha Juttha") amongst others.

There is a nice plot here and you can feel the Manmohan Desai touch throughout. Rajesh Khanna plays in a dual role, as a simple-tom who comes from a village into Bombay to make it big but instead falls upon his conniving double. A lot of intrigue and also good acting from Rajesh Khanna (who won a Best Actor for this film) and Mumtaz.

But to me, the voice of Kishore really steals the whole show, namely in the song "Meri Pyaari Behena". Kishore really transcends himself here and the end product is nothing but pure magic. Maestros Kalyandji Anandji are also to be commended for the composition, but the sincerity that Kishore brings to the song is nothing short of breathtaking. Not that Rafi and Lata did not have good songs (the duet "Yuhi Tum Mujse Baat" is spellbinding), but you have to understand that, at that time in his career, Kishore had reached almost perfection in his voice.

"Saccha Juttha" is a must for movie lovers with a keen ear for melody. It belongs to a golden period that isn't going to come back soon, unfortunately...

This is one of those formulaic film that Hindi cinema is famous for, including not-so-subtle moralistic teachings.

The simple, kind-hearted, charming village man vs the sophisticated, evil crook. Both played by handsome Rajesh Khanna with trademark mannerisms that somehow feel genuine.

With multitude of coincidences, the plot pushes along with the help of beautiful, sweet (though not smart) Mumtaz and melodious songs. Thrown in are the requisite damsel in distress scenes. We are at least spared the song in rain.

I give it 8 out 10 because it works, well, most of the time and the fast-forward is always handy. Also, Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz are very watchable. And I was interested enough to watch it through the end even if there is no mystery whatsoever about how a Hindi movie would end.

Sachaa Jhutha (1970) : Brief Review -

Manmohan Desai's FAKE logic for a REAL masala Super Hit! I think Rajesh Khanna's peak time has definitely helped this film. The script almost makes it for the best double-role formula we have ever witnessed in Bollywood history, and that too with negative shades. Unlike Ram Aur Shyam, which showed both characters in a positive light, Sachha Jhuthaa is based on a simple line: "Dil saccha aur chehra jhutha." The logic is simple: the face can deceive you, but the heart cannot. To prove that, we have a dog. Now it's a very good trick, I mean. Humans can fail to recognise the real person because we believe in faces, but animals/pets can actually see beyond that. The logic falters in the screenplay as it delves deeper into consequences and upcoming events. For instance, the dog was eating something on the street, and suddenly he started running and reached the courtroom. Who told him so? The writer, I guess. One similar fault is with the previous scene, when Ranjit drinks the coke when he himself was the one who planned it. Why would he drink it after all when he is the one who planned it all? Barring these two major flaws, I don't think Sachaa Jhutha goes wrong anywhere, except in the stupid beginning. The brother is ready to marry his handicapped sister to an ugly-looking elder man, and that too after paying a dowry of Rs. 10,000. You don't really want me to believe this crap. Rest, it's a fantastic script with perfect situations of messy facial deception. Desai gives it a thrilling touch in the last quarter, which is absolutely mind-blowing. Rajesh Khanna dancing, romancing, doing action, and being the star of the film was so massy and lovable. Mumtaz looked gorgeous, and I really liked Faryal's glamorous exposure to the silver screen, which was too glittering for 1970. Overall, illogical in parts, but a true masala super hit from the golden age.

RATING - 6.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.