agrawalmannu

It seems Ganguli brothers were a huge fan of Marx Brothers Movies and that's what their source of inspiration was when they made "Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi". But the inspiration is limited only to the idea of all three brothers acting in a musical and a comical thriller. The movie is a showcase of talents of ever talented brothers Ashok Kumar, Anup Kumar and specifically Kishore Kumar. Watch him singing melodious "Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi si", naughty "Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka", hilarious "Paanch Rupaiya Barah Aana" or mad cap "Hum The Woh Thi". If there ever was a true all rounder in Indian Cinema, it was the Singer, Composer, Writer, Director and Actor Kishore Kumar and arguably he is the only Genius that bollywood has ever produced. Almost 20 years now that he died of a heart attack but you can still see his style reverberating amongst the new generation of performers.

When Basu Bhattacharya directed this movie he was a new comer whereas Raj Kapoor was already a successful and well established director. Waheeda Rehman, in one of her interviews, narrated how Raj Kapoor would fret and confide in Waheeda "what is this guy doing, he should do this scene in this way" etc. and Waheeda would tell him to forget it and let the director do it as per his vision. I wonder how the movie would have shaped if Basu had heard all of Raj Kapoor's suggestions. No idea, but this is my favorite Basu Bhattacharya and Raj Kapoor movie. It moves at a leisurely pace establishing the ambiance and characters very firmly. Although color was available in those days but the movie was made in black and white for the right effect. Raj Kapoor as a innocent and simple minded bullock cart driver and Waheeda as a village nautanki dancer are amazing at best and their relationship which was doomed from the beginning is the stuff that classics are made of. The movie was crowned with the president's award that year and remains one of the great classics of our times.

This movie really shook me and made me question my beliefs. No, it did not turn me from a pro-capital punishment to an anti-capital punishment or vice versa but it did present an alternate view point and very powerfully indeed. Although, I do not have any sympathy for the character played by Sean Penn but it surely did make me feel compassionate about another human being put to death no matter how terrible he was.

Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn really played there parts with utmost conviction and I was glued to TV set from the very beginning till the last credits rolled on the screen. And when I got up I knew that I was a different person, different from the person who had started watching the movie 2 hours ago.