Howrah Bridge

I am a big fan of old Hindi movies. I think they are classy, have better songs and also because some of them show the old city of Bombay.

So today I got the DVD of Howrah Bridge. This is a story of a young guy who comes to Calcutta first in search of his brother and then his murderers. In the flow of the story, he falls for a dancer in a local hotel/club. So this story has romance, suspense, mystery, crime, foot tapping songs and dance numbers. The whole nine yards.

This movie was made in 1958. That makes it 50 years old. But still, the plot is quite refreshing, the stunts and filming is quite good. And acting is surely above par today's Hindi movies.

Ashok Kumar is young Prem Kumar alias Rakesh. Madhubala, arguably the most beautiful woman in Indian film history is young and sensational Edna. Madhubala has a class and a divine smile. When the air flirts with her hair or when she speaks in broken hindi and english, you are amazed by her looks and her innocence at the same time. Her song "Aaiye Meherbaan" is sensual and elegant. It is quite interesting to see the different phases of love between her and Rakesh; indifference, attraction, affection, liking, suspicion, argument, trust and commitment.

Helen, the dance queen of Hindi cinema comes in the all time hit "Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu" or "My name is Chin Chin Chu". This song must have played a big role in making the movie a great hit.

Then there are the bad guys and among them Madan Puri does a good job as Mr. Chang. Of course, you also have the great KN a.k.a. Khal Nayak (villain) Singh as Mr. Pyarelal. I will not tell the entire story. But rest assured, that this movie will entertain you for good two hours and more.

If you want to watch some of the songs, they are available on YouTube.