Babul (1950) :
Brief Review -
Perhaps the only love triangle that ends with 3 tragedies of 3 characters. After the blockbuster success of Anmol Ghadi (1946), Indian audiences were ready for a sad ending in a love triangle. Babul was on the same path, but then came out as a pathbreaker. Anmol Ghadi ends with the girl getting married and the boy going on a path all alone, but he is accompanied by the third girl. The bleak ending is what makes it a cult classic. Babul has a similar storyline, but here we have all three characters going through tragedies. It means there are three tragic endings for three characters, each getting one. One big flaw I found was that when Bela told Usha that bedridden Ashok Babu was waiting to see her, she could have gone easily. The only thing that stopped her was Bela's words, and now Bela is the one who was requesting her. Why didn't she go then? We might have gotten a happy ending then. Nonetheless, the film goes away with that fluke, only to disturb you in the climax. Babul could be seen or recognized as one of its own for destroying the love fantasies of all three characters involved in a love triangle. Over the years, we have become habituated to someone's sacrifice or rage in a love triangle, but Babul was way ahead in terms of breaking the mainstream mindset of audiences and filmmakers alike. Dilip Kumar shines as a romantic hero, and this is why we call him the most romantic and charming hero of all time. Nargis is extremely cute as Bela. So cute that you instantly fall in love with her. But Ashok does not, because he calls her "shararati." Munawar Sultana plays a very sensible and sensitive role. You just can't hate her. At the end, there is a text: "Remember Sunny Pictures." S. U. Sunny, dear, I'll forever remember you for this film that has broken many cliches of a love triangle. A very good movie and a very different experiment.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
