Kati Patang

Kati Patang is a big hit from the 1970s and its success was purely on merit. Rajesh Khanna and Asha Parekh teamed for the first time in Kati Patang and the result was some powerful performances and great screen chemistry between the two. After, Aradhana, Shakti opted for Asha Parekh despite his regular Sharmila Tagore. Asha Parekh takes the place of her dead friend and starts living with her in laws -in her friend's identity. She is a widow. Rajesh Khanna falls in love with Asha Parekh and Asha hesitates to reciprocate his love thinking as to what the society will think and say. She is framed for murder by Prem Chopra and Bindu and how Asha with Rajesh Khanna's help comes out of the frame up forms the climax of the story. She eventually marries Rajesh Khanna. Its a lovely film and the film engrosses the viewers for its entire length. The music is superb with all the songs being hits. The highpoint of the film is the dialogs by Vrajendra Gaur. The dialogs are hard hitting, sensitive and heart warming. VRAJENDRA GAUR is no wonder one of the most gifted dialog writers of the Hindi film industry. His sensitivity came through in his dialogs and he penned dialogs for films like Sharmeelee, Lal Paththar, Anuraag, The Great Gambler, Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man Bhaye, Geet Gaata Chal, Teen Deviyaan, etc.etc. I became his greatest fan after watching Kati Patang. The contribution of the versatile Gaur is very big in making Kati Patang a classic hit. Very few know that Shakti Samanta was Vrajendra Gaur's assistant in the only film directed by Gaur called "Kasturi". Gaur passed on all the subsequent offers to Shakti and returned to his first love writing. He subsequently wrote most of the films made by Shakti. The dialog penned by Vrajendra Gaur in innumerable films will always be remembered as they make us value the true worth of great dialogs.

Kati Patang is one of the best unconventional romantic films to come out of Indian Cinema. It is one of those films which showcases women's subjugation in society, societal expectations and deep meaning of love and social relationships. The story follows a young woman Madhavi (Asha Parekh) whose life takes a 360 degree turn when she gets rejected by her lover Kailash (Prem Chopra) on her wedding night. How this incident changes her life is what the story is about. It is wonderfully written by Gulshan Nanda, the direction (by Shakti Samanta) is upto the mark and the screenplay is tight, it never loses its pace (especially the first half is amazing). The climax and the ending is made, keeping in mind the expectations of the audiences of its time. Asha Parekh gives a memorable performance as Madhavi. Rajesh Khanna as Kamal is absolutely rave, I don't understand how Kakaji used outperform the heroines in a women-centric film and grab the limelight. He is truly amazing. Prem Chopra and Bindu as villians :- what can be more dangerous and interesting than that. They are perfect in their roles and do justice to their characters. Supporting cast does commendable job. Now let's talk about the main part :- MUSIC- THE HEART AND SOUL OF KATI PATANG. One of the finest and greatest Hindi film soundtracks you may have probably heard of. Excellent work by Pancham Da , great lyrics by Anand Bakshi sahab and voices of Kishore Da, Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh ji are the base of this high pitched melodrama which provide life and joy to the story.

Two plus points I would like to highlight are :- the wonderful locations of Manali being excellently shot and another one is the costumes worn by the actors. It truly created a fashion movement back in those days when the film was released.

In conclusion, it's a soothing film and if you are a fan of classic, melodrama love stories, this one is surely for you but with a twist.

Kati Patang a movie from Shakti Samanta's stable was released when Super Star Rajesh Khanna was at his peak and was churning hits after hits and it appeared that there is going to be no end to his giving hits. This movie written by Gulshan Nanda had excellent music by R D Burman and had top of the charts songs sung by Kishore Kumar - ' Ye jo Mohabbat hai"," Yeh Shaam Mastani" etc. The holi song " Aaj na chodenge" has become a part of the culture of India. These songs are remembered even today. The movie revolved around Super Star Rajesh Khanna's character who is in love with a forced widow Asha Parekh, whom he was supposed to marry but she had run away due to the fact that she was misguided by the playboy and bad man Prem Chopra. The movie revolves around these character until the hero and heroine unite. It is a classic hit and is a must see for viewers as a movie as this movie is evergreen and easily available.

In some ways a typical formula bollywood movie. Good story line, nice songs and of course good acting.

Kati Patang (1971) : Brief Review -

Shakti Samanta adopts Mitchell Leisen's influential Hollywood melodrama "No Man Of Her Own" (1950) and makes it even better at places. For the unversed, Mitchell Leisen is known for making many melodramas in Hollywood that became influential over the years, and No Man Of Her Own happens to be one of his popular works. The tragic story of a woman who is betrayed in love, and then when she finds a true and loyal love, the old love is back to spoil her life again. No Man Of Her Own is a very thrilling affair, whereas Samanta's adaptation is typical but much better at places. The first half an hour goes into setting the plot, including the introduction of the hero, with the super hit song "Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai." The idea is to make it Indian, and Samanta has done a fantastic job here. In the original film, the villain is shot dead, while this one has the villain as a murderer. There are a few more changes in the screenplay that make it very colourful, especially all the songs and their situations. For instance, "Yeh Shaam Mastani" feels so romantic, and that Holi song, "Aaj Na Chodenge," is so apt for the situation and two different mindsets (the hero is happy, so the mukhada of the song is happy, and the heroine is sad, so the antara is filled with a sad tune). We don't make situational and meaningful songs like this anymore. "Na Koi Umang Hai" has become a "widow song" over the years, and "Pyaar Deewana Hota Hai" is forever melodious. With enough drama in his hands and such a great music album, Samanta easily manages to turn a woman-centric Hollywood melodrama into an audience-friendly Indian drama. Rajesh Khanna's charm hits well, and Asha Parekh proves why she was the best choice to replace someone like Barbara Stanwyck. In short, this is how you remake a Hollywood film with Indian flavour.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.