Waqt (1965) :
Brief Review -
Yash Chopra reinitiated the "lost and found" formula with an unknown and unintentional anthology. There is a great quote from Charlie Chaplin's masterpiece "Limelight" (1952): "Time is the best author. It always writes the perfect ending." Yash Chopra's Waqt is the cinematic explanation of that quote. By the 60s, the lost and found formula had become old in Bollywood, so the novelty factor wasn't there. Yash Ji realized that and decided to extend the same formula with glitter, glamour, and ensemble cast. Waqt is such a lavish and glamorous film for family melodrama. It begins with a large-scale scene in Lala Kedarnath's family as he celebrates the birthdays of his three sons (on the same day). Ravi and Manna Dey's evergreen number, "Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen," sets the mood for a royal family drama, and then tragedy strikes. Suddenly, that royal film turns into a poor people's drama. It again catches up with the glittering world when the boys grow up, and the narrative forms an unintentional anthology. There are 4 stories running simultaneously, and all are interlinked with each other unknowingly. That seemed like a perfect Bollywood masala classic. Waqt then shifted gears in the last hour and brought thrilling elements like murder and courtroom drama to it, and then ended a 3-hour drama with a happy ending. Yash Chopra brings an ensemble cast that guarantees a sure-shot box office hit, and they all fit in their roles. Except for that one evergreen song in the beginning, no other songs hit the chords. They are shot very beautifully, though. After directing back-to-back social films like Dhool Ka Phool (1959) and Dharmaputra (1961), Yash Chopra finally decided to try his hands at a commercial blockbuster, and he delivered a much bigger hit than those two films. He couldn't surpass the quality, though, and it's a fact. Overall, a very gorgeous drama with many masaledar scenes.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
