Prem Rog

Manorama (Padmini Kolhapuri) is one of the best written characters of Hindi cinema. Raj Kapoor builds her character so beautifully that the viewer's heart breaks when disaster and grief befalls her. Not only her, all the other characters are written with intent and conviction. That is probably the reason why some big names of the Hindi film industry play those roles which hardly afford any screen time - the likes of Tanuja, Bindu and Nanda. Each character is well defined and have a role to play in the story.

The last half an hour of the films goes a bit too much into delivering social messages. In fact, the film editorializes throughout but that passes through because the character of Devdhar (Rishi Kapoor) is intended to be that of a forward thinking reformer. Staying on Rishi Kapoor, he is a calm and composed actor. He knows that he is second fiddle to Padmini Kolhapuri in this film but that does not stop him from being the natural actor that he is. As for Padmini Kolhapuri, this is easily the role of her lifetime.

Devdhar's love for Manorama is almost Sufi. The title track (Main Hoon Prem Rogi) is drenched in Sufi ethos. It stays throughout the film. My favorite song, however, is 'Ye Galiyaan Ye Chaubara' rendered flawlessly by Lata Mangeshkar.

Prem Rog is basically a social film, in keeping with the traditions of R.K Films. But it is the characterization of Manorama that makes it an important film to have come out of that production house.

This movie was way ahead of the times. It requires an immense amount of intellect to appreciate the undertones. Socialism, culture, love, abuse, feminism and self respect embroiled into one stunning movie. It swept the floor at the National Awards, with a powerhouse performance from Padmini, but equally great performance from Rishi. Problem is that Rishi acts so effortlessly that he makes it look easy and always gets overlooked by Awards.

The movie is directed to utter perfection, the songs, cinematography and script is second to none. They can't make anything like this again. My favourite scene is near the finale during the village power blackout and confrontation between Rishi & Shammi, the dialogue which turns all the lights back on still gives me goosebumps.

This was one of Raj Kapoor's successful attempts at combining entertainment with social themes. The film is long but generally earns its length by dealing in some detail with the issue of widow remarriage. The film is basically a star vehicle for Padmini Kolhapure who is equal to the task. She is innocence personified in the first half and successfully shows a mature side later in the film. Rishi Kapoor is decent as usual while Shammi Kapoor is fine in a supporting role. The villains are mostly caricatures and the romantic scenes tend to drag on a bit. Some of the songs could have been cut. Still it's a good watch and one of Raj Kapoor's best films late in his career.

Overall 7/10

Okay, this is supposed to be an issue-based film. If so, its issues are hiding under a most preachy, corny story of the innocent girl who is raped and transformed. There are two extremes here. First, our leading lady is naive in the most unbelievable ways, much to the point of thinking that just being kissed by a guy could get her pregnant, and then she is unable to smile. Her second phase of course makes perfect sense considering how atrocious this whole experience was for her, but the transformation is just not convincing enough to me.

Now, I know, this is a Raj Kapoor film, you can always expect superb photography, great music, and indeed, it's all there, but the banality of the story, as well as the exhaustingly long runtime of the film for a story that would require less, makes the entire thing really quite tedious. The film is a visual treat, no doubt, it is beautifully shot, the extravagance of the sets is overwhelming, and even the music helps to create an entertaining picture. But even if all those are well put into place, it can't make up for the missing depth that one expects from The Showman.

Now Prem Rog aims to tackle several social themes, among which the most prevalent is widow remarriage, but it's hard to take it seriously when many of the situations are convoluted, melodramatic, while some of the key characters are mere caricatures. One wishes the whiny background music in the crucial scenes was not there. What's more, the legendary director, probably in order to ease it for the viewers, makes ferocious attempts to overpower this serious issue with some fluffy romance, thereby taking away from the seriousness of the situation.

Prem Rog is pretty Padmini Kolhapure's film all the way and it attempts to repeat her brilliant appearance in Kapoor's Satyam Shivam Sundaram, where she was innocence personified, and probably her raw performance in Insaaf Ka Tarazu (where she played a teenaged rape victim). Sadly, the innocence here is overplayed by the writers, but she rises above the script and is wonderful. It's pretty strange how quickly she lost her stardom following such a spectacular start with a string of both commercial and artistic successes.

Rishi Kapoor gets a very common role for his doing and plays second-fiddle to his leading lady. He does really well, his disappointment early when the girl he loves gets married to another is convincing, and he is good support throughout, as are Nanda and Shammi Kapoor. Prem Rog is among Kapoor's weakest films, frankly, and it just feels like another Hindi melodrama. I'm not saying it's bad or unwatchable, it's Kapoor after all, but despite all its technical brilliance and how stunning it is to look at, it's not fully realised.

The writing on the wall is clear - "Prem Rog" qualifies to be the weakest link under the baton of the "Showman". Raj Kapoor fans will be disappointed with this outing.

The plot attempts to work on two levels namely realise true love and societal reforms, sadly it fails on both fronts. As I followed the narrative I felt that even Raj Kapoor realised that its not working and the nonchalant factor in the proceedings is apparent. The plot is preachy and clearly outdated for the time it was made.

Rishi Kapoor attempts to give his best shot to portray a idealist/ reformist but maybe some other actor without baggage would have been better. Padmini was a bad choice, again a fresh face could have given depth to the character who exuberates innocence and pain. The rest of the star-cast was adequate.

Music and lyrics are the only strong points of "Prem Rog". Raj Kapoor got Suresh Wadkar into the fold of RK banner. Lata as usual was at her melodious best.