Yaadon Ki Baaraat

This is a film you see for the soundtrack. I know I did. Okay, I also like Dharmendra a lot but this is not his best role ever so don't expect any miracles.

The story is that of three brothers whose parents get killed in their childhood. The brothers then part ways due to circumstances and grow up separately without knowing anything about each other's whereabouts.

You know the story and its ending after watching the film for 20 minutes so I suppose it's useless to mention what happens later. The good things about this film is of course the amazing R. Burman soundtrack, an appearance by Aamir Khan as a child artiste and its funky 70's fashion in clothes and overall style. The romantic subplot is quite silly and unnecessary, though it gives the unforgettable song Chura Liya.

With a worse soundtrack I'd give it 6/10, now it's a 7/10. General advice: buy the soundtrack, not the DVD!

Let us start, in accordance with Indian priorities, with the music. RD Burman's soundtrack is terribly good, not only in itself but also because it seems to interact wonderfully with the script and the general ambiance intended by the director: psychedelic rock'n'roll coupled with lovely ballads set the tone to a movie which is, first of all, about society, education and their influence on the individual (a very common theme in Indian cinema). The music is also, in a very literal sense, the driving force of the movie. The first scene presents us with an idyllic family reunion in which all members sing a delightful song (Yaadon Ki Bharat) which is but a prelude to the massacre that follows. The three brothers see their parents being killed, run away and part; they grow up in very distinct social contexts and will be reunited only at the end of the movie, in a very emotional scene, when one of them sings the tune and thus discloses his origin. In the meantime, the fact that this same character sings and plays at a fancy hotel allows for the introduction of some of the best guitar-driven and experimental music Bollywood has ever heard. The movie focuses on the two other brothers. One of them is a thief and a bitter drunkard (with a good heart, of course, and a heroic nature), while the other one is some sort of a happy-go-lucky boy who just wants to get the best out of life. He falls in love with a beautiful, high-class Bombay girl, in a relationship that unsurprisingly raises some issues on class difference. Everything ends up in a happy tone, of course, leaving you with the desire to listen to those songs over and over again.

This is Ajit at his thespian peak - the handsome hero of the 50's, the wicked thief of the 60's, the massage-acquiring smuggler of the 70's, the lost memory of the 80's, the caricature of the perverse 90's - save for his stunning turn as the geriatric rapist beholden to Man-Friday Joginder - in Dev Anand's 90's shocker "Gangster" - but that is another review.

All this is hunky dory but where does this leave Shahkaal? The people want the truth - how does the Shahkaal of this film fit in with the one in Shaan? At long last, the truth can now be told...

So who really was Shahkaal - 70's gold smuggler or 80's super villain bent on world domination, shoe size issue or nervous tics, woolen suit or white tights with epaulets, Octon style antiseptic island citadel or smoky smuggler's den, train track victim or island explosion victim - will the real Shahkaal please stand up? Maybe it is time to confess that the suave and scheming, bewigged Shahkaal and the bald and sniveling Shahkaal of Shaan are one and the same - fictionalized depictions of the exploits of the real Shahkaal.

As the lost sequel to Shaan - "Shahkaal vs Gabbar" explains - Shahkaal escaped the oncoming goods train with some judicious and last minute use of a handy shoe horn in YKB and lived to pursue world domination in Shaan. He merely dropped the blond wig and went in for the trendy bald look - very 80's. Shahkaal is now in retirement in Navi Mumbai with Mona and her sisters - just another harmless pensioner... or so he would like you to believe. There's more about him in his review of Shaan. Until next time, don't be silly. This is not a "dhamki", just a "waarning"

Direction is good Music by RD Burman is nice Aap Ki Kamre by Kishore, Asha, Rafi is nice there is an interlude of Dumb Maaro Dumb too featured on Zeenat), Lekar Hum Deewana Dil sung by Kishore,Asha pictured on Tariq and Neetu Singh is good too, Meri Soni and Chura Liya are good songs while the title song both versions are Fabulous.

Ajit one of the great stylish villain in the 70's. He was a real king of villain.what an actor Ajit specialty as a villain in 70's. Really a Mega star villain in Bollywood.Missing him..

Great Blockbuster film "1973" very very Nice Movie :)

All I can say is that I recommend everyone buys the soundtrack. It's a 70's classic.

Cant say much for the film though - lets say it's an acquired taste!

Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973) : Brief Review -

A rich mix of mass masala meets super hit music. Nasir Hussain has been merging multiple genres together since the late 50s, so we can say that he must have been through all theories by the 70s. Yaadon Ki Baaraat still picks a lot of elements from his own previous works, but the emerging duo of Salim-Javed adds a modern touch to it. A similar lost and found formula of three brothers later inspired a huge hit like Amar Akbar Anthony, which was made on a larger scale and bigger cast. Yet, people remember YKB for the simplicity and originality it shows in pieces despite being a formulaic masala film. It's a rich mix of multiple genres, such as romance, drama, action, crime, thriller, and a bit of comedy. To take it a notch higher, RD Burman delivers a music album to be remembered. "Yaadon Ki Baaraat," "Chura Liya Hai," "Meri Soni," and "Lekar Hum Deewana Dil" are super hits and are still remembered even after 5 decades and will be remembered even after 5 decades from here. The way Nasir Hussain uses music to unfold secrets or as a form of reunion is one beautiful thing to watch. Here, Yaadon Ki Baaraat title song plays that role, whereas in Hum Kisise Kum Nahi, he used "Kya Hua Tera Wada" for the same reason. Two younger brothers are singing the song, and Dharmendra is crying in the corner-what a frame it was! Songs fit so well with the context then, and we rarely see that happening in regular masala films nowadays, unlike in the 1960s and 1970s, when songs actually used to play an important role in taking the narrative or the scenes forward. The film has a good ensemble cast of Dharmendra, Vijay Arora, Tariq Khan, Zeenat Aman, and Ajit, and they all have performed well. Overall, it's a nice film with a good repeat value, and the music definitely makes it even better.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.