Haré Rama Haré Krishna

We do not come across movies on brother-sister relationship in Indian cinema, or any other language or medium. This relationship has several aspects which have not been exploited in movies or novels. Typically, a sister is depicted as a pile-on who can be used for ransom in the climax. This movie treats the subject in an entirely different light.

It is inspired by George Eliot's novel "The Mill on the Floss". The brother is very prosaic, all-good, the blue-eyed boy who is a conventionally good son and a favorite with his mother. The sister is romantic, wild and defiant of the unwritten rules of the society. In spite of this, the love of the brother-sister is the winner.

This movie is about the love of the two siblings who are separated in childhood and revival of the same feeling when they meet years later. It is also the quest of the subdued brother to reunite with his sister who has chosen to be wild to defy the world.

Although the movie and the novel are set about 3 centuries apart in two distant countries, yet the sentiments are the same and still hold true.

Evergreen Actor Dev Anand has acted a lots of movies.But Hare Rama Hare Krishna is one of the best of Dev Anand.Zeenat Aman also doing her excellent performance as a Nepali Girl.It was one of the biggest hits of all time.Evergreen Anand's direction is quite faulty(like in most of his directorial ventures).I never understood the purpose of the film apart from its innovative theme.Anand's willingness to break new ground.Specially i like the O Re Ghungroo Ka Bole Sung By Voice Of Asia Lata Mangeskar For Mumtaz & Dev Anand in Hare Rama Hare Krishna.This super hit movie was released in 1971 and the highest grosser of the year.It was starring Kishore Sahu,Achla Sachdev,Mumtaz,Dev Anand,Zeenat Aman,Prem Chopra and Rajendranath and all were doing their best.

Dev Anand (or Prashant) and Zeenat Aman ( Jasbir/Janice) are siblings brought up in different countries. Because of poor parenting (crudely shown), Zeenat joins the hippie movement and also does drugs. Dev Anand after getting a letter from his father to locate Jasbir in Kathmandu visits that place, falls in love with Mumtaz( Shanti) and is also accused of stealing antiques.

Jasbir has blocked her painful childhood memories and Dev Anand sings the song which he used to sing when he was a kid to jog her memory.

Other than the great R.D.Burman music and Anand Bakshi lyrics and the footage shown about the ISKON movement and the beautiful stars and the Kathmandu location, the movie sucks big time. The story is extremely weak.

Hare Rama Hare Krishna review:

At the film's premiere, the guests went to congratulate the legendary Dev Saahab at interval point itself to which he laughed and said "Abhi toh aadhi picture hi dekhi hai. Watch the entire film guys..!!". Indeed, Hare Rama Hare Krishna (HRHK) was an instant connect for the '70s audience who were mesmerized by its three main factors:

First and foremost, the boldly depicted hippie culture of that era which thrived on drugs and sex. Dev Saahab loved Nepal and he based his plot in that beautiful country which enticed the audience for repeat viewings. Infact, Nepal came on my wishlist in the '80s itself when I watched HRHK on video. I went there much later with my family in 2019 and visited the same locations shown in the film. Surprisingly, it hasn't changed at all..

Secondly, for Zeenat Aman who played Dev Anand's sister in the movie but ended up overshadowing his heroine Mumtaz in it. The screenplay was centered on a brother travelling to Nepal to search for his estranged sister and discovering her high on dope amongst a bunch of vagabond hippies. Zaheeda was Dev's first choice but she refused the sister's role and Zeenat got lucky.

Last but not the least, for Pancham da's awesome music particularly 'Dum maro dum' which became an anthem of sorts. The song was remixed for Rohan Sippy's 2011 movie titled Dum Maaro Dum which also dealt with drugs and sex. Imagine how ahead of the times Dev Saahab was!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Prashant and Jasbir are siblings. They were separated at childhood when their parents decided to part ways. Prashant remains with his mother and Jasbir -- with her father and his new wife. Years later, Prashant is in search of his sister. To his complete shock he finds out that she is located in Nepal and is a part of a group of young hippies, which includes unemployed drug addicts who spend most of their time at parties. She calls herself Janice and everything she does is in order to forget her past. Hare Rama Hare Krishna is one of the most famous films of Dev Anand, and its popularity comes mainly because of its rather racy presentation of the hippie movement and the modern culture in general. But the film as a film does not really work that much. The concept is very interesting but the script is quite poor and very often it turns into a big melodramatic mess. Anand's direction is quite faulty (well, like in most of his directorial ventures). I never understood the purpose of the film apart from its innovative theme and Anand's willingness to break new ground.

Where acting goes, the movie belongs to Zeenat Aman. With this film, Aman introduced a new heroine to Hindi cinema, characterised by her westernised nature and modern persona. This image was only consolidated by her proceeding films. This role is as bold as the film itself or even more, and Aman does full justice to it. She looks really beautiful and even within the rather messy proceedings manages to create a conflicted and troubled young lady who you end up feeling for. This is a very good debut and sadly she never managed to get many great chances in her career. Dev Anand is terribly miscast as he looks too old for his part. His Prashant is supposed to be 24-25 years old, but Anand himself is at his late forties, which is a total joke. Mumtaz is there to look pretty, and she definitely does. The music is excellent - well, after all it's by master R.D Burman. Asha Bhosle's fantastic rendition of "Dumm Maaro Dumm" is obviously the most memorable. Clearly, an interesting concept, "Dumm Maaro Dumm" and the presence of Zeenat Aman pretty much sum up Hare Rama Hare Krishna.