Haré Rama Haré Krishna

Hare Rama Hare Krishna was the biggest hit movie of 1971. Filmed almost entirely in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, the movie depicts not only with the theme of a broken family, but also a relationship between a brother and a sister, as well as drugs and the hippie movement, which made many people think that it involved the ISKON - the movement for Krishna consciousness.

The movie begins with scenes of drugs and being informed that the woman dancing in front is the narrator's sister. Going back to the past the brother and sister are happily playing around the house only to hear their parents arguing. This soon leads to a split in the family. The brother goes with the mother and the sister with the father.

As years pass, the brother goes in search of his sister and is informed that she no longer lives with the father and that she has moved to Nepal. Here, Prashant, the brother not only finds love, but he also finds his sister, Janice. But he finds out that she is not only in the wrong company of friends but is also on drugs as she wants to block all memory of her past. With help of Shanti, his love, the brother tries to get his sister away from all this but has to overcome many obstacles, including people who stoop to all sorts of levels to stop him This is a multi cast movie and is led by the director and producer himself, Dev Anand and also stars Zeenat Aman (her first movie), Mumtaz, Rajendranath, Prem Chopra, Jnr Mehmood, A.K. Hangal and Achala Sachdev. The music is superbly provided by the late R.D. Burman, whose last score was "1942 - A Love Story." During the filming, Dev Anand asked Panchamda (R.D. Burman) to compose something special for this film. Days later Panchamda came back with the composition of "Dum Maro Dum." The song was an instant hit.

We do not come across movies on brother-sister relationship in Indian cinema, or any other language or medium. This relationship has several aspects which have not been exploited in movies or novels. Typically, a sister is depicted as a pile-on who can be used for ransom in the climax. This movie treats the subject in an entirely different light.

It is inspired by George Eliot's novel "The Mill on the Floss". The brother is very prosaic, all-good, the blue-eyed boy who is a conventionally good son and a favorite with his mother. The sister is romantic, wild and defiant of the unwritten rules of the society. In spite of this, the love of the brother-sister is the winner.

This movie is about the love of the two siblings who are separated in childhood and revival of the same feeling when they meet years later. It is also the quest of the subdued brother to reunite with his sister who has chosen to be wild to defy the world.

Although the movie and the novel are set about 3 centuries apart in two distant countries, yet the sentiments are the same and still hold true.

This is one of the movies of Dev Anand who gave great yet distinct movies to Hindi movie industries such as Jewel thief and guide. The story is short (if you ask me what is the story), plot is simple- a brother seeks for his lost sister. Sister has joined the hippies who smoke from pot and chant Hare Rama hare Krishna. Yet the movie portrays few of the significant events that the world experienced in 70's.Hippie culture, their submission to drugs, freedom ,escaping duty, family, and adopting anything new such as eastern (which was new for whites) religion. They have been handled perfectly. Zeenat gave her best and Dev as usual was remarkable. Songs are the best used (unlike they are abused for the sake of having songs) in this movie. They have not been spoiled.One perfect example is 'Dekho o deewano...Ram ka naam badnam na karo'. Each word in the song is very philosophical and meaningful. The end is tragic but that is not the essence of the movie. Overall Devji who does believe in making different movies has been successful in showing what he wanted to show here. A must see to experience hippie culture and beautiful Nepal of 70's.

Prashant and Jasbir are siblings. They were separated at childhood when their parents decided to part ways. Prashant remains with his mother and Jasbir -- with her father and his new wife. Years later, Prashant is in search of his sister. To his complete shock he finds out that she is located in Nepal and is a part of a group of young hippies, which includes unemployed drug addicts who spend most of their time at parties. She calls herself Janice and everything she does is in order to forget her past. Hare Rama Hare Krishna is one of the most famous films of Dev Anand, and its popularity comes mainly because of its rather racy presentation of the hippie movement and the modern culture in general. But the film as a film does not really work that much. The concept is very interesting but the script is quite poor and very often it turns into a big melodramatic mess. Anand's direction is quite faulty (well, like in most of his directorial ventures). I never understood the purpose of the film apart from its innovative theme and Anand's willingness to break new ground.

Where acting goes, the movie belongs to Zeenat Aman. With this film, Aman introduced a new heroine to Hindi cinema, characterised by her westernised nature and modern persona. This image was only consolidated by her proceeding films. This role is as bold as the film itself or even more, and Aman does full justice to it. She looks really beautiful and even within the rather messy proceedings manages to create a conflicted and troubled young lady who you end up feeling for. This is a very good debut and sadly she never managed to get many great chances in her career. Dev Anand is terribly miscast as he looks too old for his part. His Prashant is supposed to be 24-25 years old, but Anand himself is at his late forties, which is a total joke. Mumtaz is there to look pretty, and she definitely does. The music is excellent - well, after all it's by master R.D Burman. Asha Bhosle's fantastic rendition of "Dumm Maaro Dumm" is obviously the most memorable. Clearly, an interesting concept, "Dumm Maaro Dumm" and the presence of Zeenat Aman pretty much sum up Hare Rama Hare Krishna.

Hare Rama Hare Krishna review:

At the film's premiere, the guests went to congratulate the legendary Dev Saahab at interval point itself to which he laughed and said "Abhi toh aadhi picture hi dekhi hai. Watch the entire film guys..!!". Indeed, Hare Rama Hare Krishna (HRHK) was an instant connect for the '70s audience who were mesmerized by its three main factors:

First and foremost, the boldly depicted hippie culture of that era which thrived on drugs and sex. Dev Saahab loved Nepal and he based his plot in that beautiful country which enticed the audience for repeat viewings. Infact, Nepal came on my wishlist in the '80s itself when I watched HRHK on video. I went there much later with my family in 2019 and visited the same locations shown in the film. Surprisingly, it hasn't changed at all..

Secondly, for Zeenat Aman who played Dev Anand's sister in the movie but ended up overshadowing his heroine Mumtaz in it. The screenplay was centered on a brother travelling to Nepal to search for his estranged sister and discovering her high on dope amongst a bunch of vagabond hippies. Zaheeda was Dev's first choice but she refused the sister's role and Zeenat got lucky.

Last but not the least, for Pancham da's awesome music particularly 'Dum maro dum' which became an anthem of sorts. The song was remixed for Rohan Sippy's 2011 movie titled Dum Maaro Dum which also dealt with drugs and sex. Imagine how ahead of the times Dev Saahab was!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.