Manoranjan

Sanjiv Kumar plays a constable who falls in love with Zeenat Aman, a prostitute. The result is hilarious. This is one of the few Hindi movies which acknowledge the source. In this case the source being Irma La Douce, probably the Billy Wilder movie, not the play written by Alxandre Breffort. Sanjiv Kumar is brilliant as usual. He seems eminently comfortable in comic roles. Zeenat Aman is stiff as usual, but manages to look quite attractive, and naughty. The studio set used is not naturalistic enough but it does not hamper the illusion. One brilliant scene is where Zeenat's room is searched by several policemen. Sanjiv Kumar, as the Nawab, is superb. Shammi Kapur proves to be quite a good director. Its a pity he does not give us more. The film was famous for its 'adult' content. It was famous, but no phenomenon like Sholay.

Not a bad movie, but it clearly is as good is it is by way of being almost a scene-by-scene copy of Billy Wilder's Irma la Douce (1963) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057187/).

Sanjeev Kumar plays Jack Lemmon's role, Zeenat Aman Shirley Maclaine's and Shammi Kapoor plays Lou Jacobi's. Hotel Casanova is called Hotel Mauj! Interestingly, in copying Irma la Douce, Manoranjan became probably the first Hindi movie where prostitution was presented as a 'fun' activity without (overt) moralising and the heroine sleeps with men other than the hero and that's OK. Quite a bid ahead of the curve for an Indian comedy made in 1974.

Good fun!

Manoranjan review :

Before Raj Kapoor got besotted by the charming Zeenat Aman to cast her in his Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978), younger bro Shammi worked with her in his directorial debut Manoranjan. Featuring Sanjeev Kumar opposite Zeenat, Shammi Kapoor himself played the pivotal role of Cafè owner Dhoop Chaaon who is also the film's narrator.

Based on the musical comedy 'Irma La Douce', the plot revolves around a red light street called Manoranjan where simpleton havaldar (Sanjeev Kumar) is assigned his first duty and gets fired pronto for catching his senior inspector (Madan Puri) red handed with a prostitute.

The havaldar then befriends a kind hearted prostitute (Zeenat) and in a bid to stop her immoral business, disguises as a Lucknowi Nawab to become her regular client. The 'kahaani mein twist' comes when one fine day, the havaldar gets caught for murdering the Nawab!!!

Shammi Kapoor's direction was not to the level of Raj Saahab but he deserves credit for handling such a bold subject in the 70s. A heroine sleeping with the hero without even knowing him properly was something unimaginable in those times and naturally, the film was shunned by the critics and audience alike. Presenting prostitution as an element of fun was another factor which evoked a lot of criticism.

The super gorgeous Zeenat Aman is the highlight of the film and the camera seems to be in love with her whether lingering on her bare back or caressing her beautiful legs in one scene. There are two bathing scenes devoted to her and undoubtedly, Manoranjan is a treat for every Zeenat Aman fan. Satyam Shivam Sundaram was about inner beauty but Manoranjan is all about the exterior....and its in your face!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni

This movie is remake of Hollywood movie but making remake of this kind in 70's needs guts, there must some reason for shammi kapoor to choose this movie to direct and he did a good job its not a master piece but considering his experience in department of direction this was way much better than all the movies dev anand directed. Zeenat must be very young choosing this subject could have finished her career but through out the movie she looked bubbly and beautiful. Apart from the concept even the set costumes etc are western but still it's a good time pass and sanjeev too accepting this role needs to be applauded. Song picturised on zeenat taking shower is still very popular but the set of bathroom was low budget and it looks funny a beautiful young girl with hot figure taking shower singing this beautiful song in such a run down bathroom i hope some one remake this song again its beautiful even the song koya ke chunanche is nice.

The characters, setting, costumes, or the events clearly suggest the western influence in this comedy. The film fails to deliver novelty, meanders a lot, and is overlong feeling you to skip some of the parts. Despite, the film is also interesting in parts with comedies done by Sanjeev Kumar and Shammi Kapoor. The formulaic comedy of disguise by the hero looks a very bad imitation of "Professor" and at least there are moments when you would like to bang your head for the silliness of the movie. The songs, dances, and the performances from the supporting cast (even Zeenat Aman) isn't impressive. What you would like of this movie is its comical situations and wit created towards the second half of the movie. Overall, the film begins well and if you can tolerate the muddled events in the middle, the film ends at a humorous note. Anyway, if you like Shammi kapoor's screen presence, have a try with this one in which he makes a nice role.

Rating: 1 star out of 4