Parwana

Ever wondered why SRK did all those anti-hero roles at the beginning of his career? The answer is 'Parwana' - a 1971 thriller of Amitabh's initial days. Playing a rejected lover, he almost lived the character on screen. Veteran Om Prakash had predicted that a star was in making. He could not have been more right. The story-telling is narrative, which does not leave much scope for suspense; however, the plot is really riveting. It is said that it forced the Indian Railways to change their timing. The film has the song, 'Yun na sharma...' sung by the two greatest singers of Hindi film music - Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi.

I liked Sriram Raaghavan directed thriller movie - Johnny Gaddaar (2007) very much. In that movie, the hero (in fact, the villain), Neil Mukesh murders a member of their criminal group by seeking inspiration from a very old Amitabh Bachchan starrer - Parwaana (1971). Today's generation who has liked Johnny Gaddaar is not aware of this long forgotten movie. Here comes the review of this movie which is a combo of love-triangle, thrilling murder plan and court-room drama.

Parwaana is an Urdu word which means wax moth who hovers about the lit candle (known as Shama in Urdu). In classic Urdu poetry (Shaayari), it is deemed that Parwaana loves Shama and that's why it hovers about it only to lose its life (by getting burnt in its blaze). Due to this assumption, a sincere, sacrificing (male) lover is called Parwaana who is ever ready to give away even his life for the sake of his love for his sweetheart (who is Shama for him).

The Parwaana of this story is an introvert artist - Kumar Sen (Amitabh Bachchan) who has been loving his Shama - Asha (Yogeeta Baali) within his heart for years but without expressing his love to her. Asha is an orphan, fostered by her widower uncle, Ashok Varma (Om Prakash) who likes Kumar very much and has no objection to Asha's marriage to him. However Kumar gets a big jolt when he comes to know from Asha that she has fallen in love with Rajesh (Naveen Nishchal). When Kumar conveys his sentiments to her, she says that it's too late now and her heart has become Rajesh's. Knowing Asha's uncle's positive opinion about him, he tries to pursue him to decide in his favour but the uncle refuses to go against the the wishes and joys of his orphan niece. Now Kumar concludes that he has to follow the ages old dictum - 'Everything is fair in love and war'.

One night, when Kumar is known to have departed for Kolkata (then Calcutta) by catching a train from Mumbai Central (then Bombay Central) and Asha has gone to attend the marriage of her friend, Rajesh gets a call from Kumar who asks him to go to Asha's house to attend an emergency with her uncle. When Rajesh reaches there, he finds that somebody has strangled Asha's uncle - Ashok Varma to death. He is the prime suspect for this murder and when a letter from Ashok Varma reaches him a couple of days later rejecting any prospects of the marriage of Asha with him, the cops are sure of his guilt. He is arrested and put under trial for the murder. The truth behind Ashok Varma's murder is revealed in the end.

No prizes for guessing as to who committed the murder of Asha's uncle - Ashok Varma and framed Rajesh under its charge. This is not a whodunnit but actually a howdunnit. The viewer knows the murderer very well but the thing that he does not know is how he could do it. The writer of the story whose crux is the murder plan only, is Madhusudan whereas the screenplay and dialogs have been written by Agha Jaani Kashmeeri. This story idea is just very good but the screenplay and the direction (by Jyoti Swaroop) could not do proper justice to it.

The cover of its VCD / DVD says about it - 'A murder plan that forced Indian railways to change their train timing'. Well, it appears to be more a promotional strategy for the VCD / DVD. However there is little doubt that this murder plan is just superb considering the facts prevailing in that period when identity proofs were not demanded from the travellers and when the air-tickets used to be issued in traditional (under glossy jacket) form from the counters and e-tickets had not even been conceptualized.

All the performers have done well except Shatrughan Sinha in his cameo as the public prosecutor because he is over the top. Romantic hero (late) Naveen Nishchal has got good songs and he alongwith Yogeeta Baali make a good on-screen pair. Seasoned actor, Om Prakash has performed quite admirably. Supporting cast has also not disappointed. But finally, it's the movie of Amitabh Bachchan who is the Parwaana, ready to do anything for his Shama, i.e., Yogeeta Baali. This is a rare movie in which the role of the antagonist is much stronger than that of the protagonist. Despite his controlled performance, the glimpses of the would-be angry young man can be seen in the eyes of AB. He has delivered praiseworthy performance in the author-backed role and Om Prakash had rightly asserted for him after the shooting of the scene of his murder that a star was in the making. I term AB's performance in this movie as one of his underrated performances. This was the first role of his career, containing gray shades.

I am a great admirer of the music of late Madan Mohan but in this movie, his compositions contain only a couple of good ones. The best one is - Simti Si Sharmaai Si, Kis Duniya Se Tum Aai Ho (Kishore Kumar). The second good song is - Yun Na Sharma, Phaila De Apni Gori Gori Baahen (sung jointly by Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi). The lyrics of Kaifi Aazmi are good.

Since all the spectators of today's generation who are fond of watching mysteries / thrillers, have wholeheartedly admired Johnny Gaddaar, I think they should watch Parwaana too which had inspired the story of Johnny Gaddaar. It's one of the long forgotten and underrated movie of Amitabh Bachchan and hence the fans of AB also should not miss it.

I may have seen this film ages ago but seeing clips in Johnny Gaddaar reminded me that I needed to revisit the film. The film was an early career venture for Navin Nischol and Amitabh. Navin was cute, romanced the girl (Yogita Bali - was she a bit squint eyed?), got all the song numbers, and Big B played the sensitive introverted artist who secretly loves the girl but cannot have her. But seeing her with Navin twists the knife of jealousy deeper and deeper in until he decides that all is fair in love and war and declares a most insidious war. Yogita was OK, Om Prakash was a complete natural as ever, and Shotgun Sinha over-acted like hell in a cameo court scene. There was an obligatory item number from Helen. Oh - Kaifi Azmi wrote the lyrics and they were mostly mundane. Two songs were decent - Yun Na Sharma, Phaila De Apni Gori Gori Baahen and Simti Si Sharmai Si Kis Duniya Se tum Aayi ho.

The film had a very B-grade feel to it but the plot was extremely innovative - no wonder Sriram Raghavan got inspired! Navin Nischol was like a lost kid and it was hard to get too involved in the lovers played by him and Yogita. Amitabh was intense all the way through and had flashes of brilliance in the film. But it was the 70s and his negative role had to have redemption at the end. There might have been some problem with the way the character of Kumar developed because while the film was most interesting and engaging throughout I felt a clinical detachment from the players as I watched it. I think this was not very much like Jewel Thief and Johnny Mera Naam, instead of a whodunit suspenseful tale this was a Howdunit and very unique for its time. Worth a watch for the plot and for seeing the beginnings of Big B.