Bombay to Goa

Even though I don't speak much Hindi, I got a big kick out of this movie. My mother-in-law, who was born in India, rented this title on DVD and watched it while she was visiting us.

I was busy doing something on my computer, while she watched the movie in the background. The unusual songs caught my ear, and I ended up watching much of the movie with her. The title song, "Bombay to Goa," is a note-for-note cover of the Beach Boys' "Help Me Rhonda." The lyrics have been changed, but the melody is clearly the same.

Another song is a medley of old rock-n-roll tunes, sung in English, by an Indian woman in a nightclub. She did a few bars from a song which I believe is called "Jezebel." I have a version from Herman's Hermits. It was very odd to hear this 60s garage song in a Bollywood musical. The same medley also included a portion of "Fever," also sung in English.

If you enjoy comedy, I mean REALLY enjoy comedy, this is the movie for you! There are so many comedians in this movie that it is very easy to lose count. And also, I believe this is superstar Amitabh Bachchan's very first movie. It is also one of Shatrughan Sinha's first movies. But the BEST stars are Mehmood and his gang of cut-ups. Even the names of the bus driver and the conductor when put together are a tongue-in-cheek reference to one of the biggest superstars of that era - Rajesh Khanna. Why don't people make real comedies like this anymore??? My personal favorite scene is when the bus stops at a roadside snack stand and a hungry kid goes berserk when he sees a complete stranger eating some pakoras (fritters) that he suddenly decides he wants as well. The facial expressions of everyone involved had me in stitches long after the scene was over. You have to see this movie if you want to die laughing!!! Two thumbs, eight fingers, and ten toes up!!!

I first saw this movie a couple of weeks ago and have loved it ever since! Past the areas of suspense and family values, the part of this film that makes it a cut above the rest is the bus journey from Bombay to Goa with the passengers being a cast of some of the funniest looking characters you will ever see together in one film. Some of the funny goings on during the journey is pure genius.

This is one film where no credit can be given to Amitabh Bachchan as his role was something even an extra could have pulled off.

Fast Forward all the suspense then sit back and enjoy the comedy. If you have a silly sense of humour, and don't mind watching old films...I guarantee this film will make you laugh!

Laugh attack keyword: 'Pakora'

At best and that too after judging it extremely liberally,this movie is an average movie with terrible performances and worse direction The USP NOW(and not 50 years ago when it was released in 1972)is watching an extremely ordinary looking actor called Amitabh Bachchan giving a very poor performance and wondering at how he made the miraculous transformation the next year in ZANJEER!

I found nothing at all in Amitabh Bachchan's performance,personality and voice to suggest that the very next year in 1973 and to date he would have continued to astound us with his amazing performances voice and personality.

ALL I WILL SAY IS THAT NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER Aruna Irani was his heroine in this film and 3 years later she was was an ordinary dancer doing a mujra in DEEWAAR. Such is the dynamics of Showbiz.

5/10,only because of Amitabh Bachchan. Otherwise 1/10.

S. Ramanathan's Bombay to Goa is one classic and light entertainment. This film stars Aruna Irani as Mala, a young woman who runs away from some gangster and manages to get into a red bus titled "PC Travels", which is bound for Goa. The reason for her escape is shown through some inconsequential flashback later on. This flashback is my least favourite sequence in the film and it was poorly done. What makes Bombay to Goa memorable is, as the title itself suggests, the bus journey from Bombay to Goa in which the majority of the story actually takes place. This adventurous and comic journey introduces us to a totally mixed bunch of passengers from all over India, from different religions and cultures. Two significant characters are those of Rajesh, the bus driver, and Khanna, the conductor - two characters played by real-life brothers, Anwar Ali and the great Mehmood, respectively. The list of travelers includes, among others, a married couple named Amma and Appa with their fat son, a sleeping passenger (Keshto Mukherjee), a chubby and heavily made-up woman (the wonderful Manorama) sitting at the back of the bus with her daughter, and an elderly noisy woman named Kashibai (Lalita Pawar).

The situations we get to see through this episode are very funny and enjoyable. The film is light, feel-good (except for some unsuccessful attempts at thriller in the flashback sequence, which are boring) and happy, and is flavoured by some nice tunes composed by RD Burman. I liked Kishore Kumar's appearance as himself and I loved Usha Utthup's number in the club where she sang "Listen To The Pouring Rain" as soulfully as ever. The show-stealer in this film is undoubtedly Mehmood. He is hilarious and brilliant and gets the best dialogues. Amitabh Bachchan does not have a very significant role, just a few action scenes and a few romantic scenes, but he does well in what he is given. Aruna Irani gets a leading role, one of the few in her career, and she does well. Manorama is simply outstanding, the funny faces she makes are awesome and she keeps reminding me a lot of her role in that same year's classic Seeta Aur Geeta. Lalita Pawar is great as always, while Anwar Ali and Shatrughan Sinha are adequate. One of the film's funniest scenes is in the ending - the entire action sequence was extremely funny. Bombay to Goa is a fun watch, nothing particularly great but still a memorable and entertaining little film.