Junglee

Yesterday marked the one year death anniversary of Shammi Kapoor, one of the greatest actors in Bollywood and one of the pioneers of the Kapoor family. In honour of him, I decided to do a review on one his films, Junglee.

What can I say? I absolutely loved it. I'll admit, at first I was hesitant to watch this film since it was made in 1961 and I feel hesitant to watch old films because I'm not really a big fan of old Hollywood movies, but I guess old Bollywood films are fine with me. Actually, more than fine, the older the better. I haven't seen too many new age Bollywood films that I like and I think the reason is because I've found that more of the newer Bollywood films are simply Hollywood films in Hindi with Indian actors.

But back to the story of Junglee. Shekar (Kapoor) is a young man of a wealthy, aristocratic background. He is rude, heartless and too big for his boots. Shekar lives with his mother and sister, Mala. His mother too, like himself, is of a domineering personality. Though they live in a grand palatial estate, the home is void of laughter and love, save for Mala - a young and helpless romantic not yet besmirched by the cold hearted nature of family.

Mala has fallen in love with a man of lower status than herself Jeevan. When her brother is informed that Mala is having a sordid affair with someone, her brother takes her with him to Kashmir for several months. And yes, you guessed it, it is here that he meets Kashmiri beauty Rajkumari (Saira Banu). The beauty melts the beasts heart in this tale, yet ofcours it isn't as simple at that. The lovers meet several hurdles and Mala learns something shocking.

The singing and dancing is great. The acting is very good as is the film. Saira Banu is very beautiful and her acting is just as brilliant. She even won the Filmfare award for Best Actress in this film. There was one song that I loved in particular, I'll put it in below. And I absolutely adore Saira Banu's salwar kameez in this! It's so flattering on her hourglass figure. It's so beautiful!

The film was ranked no. 2 in 1961 according to boxofficeindia

Overall I would highly recommend this film. My rating, 10/10! I loved it and I'm sure you will too!

Shammi Kapoor has suddenly become one of my favourite actors, definitely breaking into the top 10. (I'm not sure whether it's because of his acting ability or those mesmorizing green eyes.)

And before I forget, here's the link to the film. It is in parts, and every part has good English subtitles that are completely in sync.