Aasha (1957) :
Brief Review -
Comedy, drama, con, romance, murder, thrill, chartbuster music, and Kishore Kumar and Vyjayanthimala running an absolute riot. A true Bollywood entertainer! The film begins with a satirical song, "Yeh Insaaf Kahan Ka Hai," and you see Kishore Kumar in a childish role. What lyrics, man! Ek padosi raat ko soye aur dusra roye. I am just thrilled. Kishore goes to Mumbai and falls in love with a beautiful artist, Nirmala (Vyjayanthimala). These two share one of the best comedy scenes of the time and rock the entire show. Kishore Kumar as Abdul Rehman as well as a fugitive is too much fun. Vyjayanthimala shines in the chartbuster Eena Meena Deeka, and then that audition scene was out of the world. She mimicked Raj Kapoor and was then asked to mimic her own self, Vyjayanthimala, from Naagin (1954). She quipped, "Mushkil hai," and then recreated "Man Dole Tan Dole." Absolute riot! I mean, even 2024's Bollywood comedies don't have that much sense of humor, and MV Raman did it in 1958. The film follows a murder mystery, a chase, a blame game, and a con game. It gives birth to many con theories that have been followed by others for years. Coming to two big flaws: Kamini told the police that the man in the photograph is not Raj; the police told her that her father blamed Kishore for the murder, and even Nirmala was present there, so half the case was solved. I don't see any logic in going ahead with it. Nirmala had seen Kishore's picture in the police station, and Kamini didn't recognize him as her lover, yet she was unsure about Kishore being innocent. She never got to know that she was saved by him in the studio fire. It didn't make much sense. Rest; you get a proper Bollywood entertainer, which you pay your ticket money for. This is what movies are made for! Entertainment and pure, genuine entertainment. Easily, MV Raman's most crowd pleasing and arguably the best film in Hindi filmography.
RATING - 7.5/10*
By - #samthebestest.
