Most of us have a list of our favorite movies - the ones which we can watch anytime, no matter what our mood. For some, some movies even act as perfect "mood-lifters".
One of my all-time favorite movies is "Chalati ka naam gaadi". I don't remember when I watched this one first and I have certainly lost count of how many times I have watched it since in full or in part. There is nothing path-breaking about the story. The real-life siblings Ashok Kumar, Anoop Kumar and Kishor Kumar play brothers in the reel-life as well in this movie. The eldest brother Ashok Kumar who has been a boxer in his early life now runs a garage with his younger brothers. A girl he had loved when he was young had turned him down and that makes him a sort of misogynist. To top that, she was from a rich family so he believes that all rich people have the tendency to treat the have-nots in a shabby manner. To spare his younger brothers the same pain, he doesn't want his brothers to get involved with any woman.
But fate has something else in store for the brothers because one stormy rainy night brings Madhubala to the garage with her broken-down car. The melodious song "Ek ladki bheegi-bhaagi si" has been picturized very beautifully and Madhubala looks simply divine. No wonder, then that the youngest brother Mannu - played by Kishor Kumar - falls for her. The song 'ham the woh thi aur samaa rangeen samaz gaye na" though humorous has such a catchy tune that you can't help hum it to yourself. As a child, I used to love the line "Jaate the Japaan pahoch gaye Chin' so much that I remember looking through the world map to check out if it really was possible. It always used to remind me of Columbus who in his quest to discover India had discovered America instead! :-) Also the line that Anoop Kumar sings periodically "Mannu, tera hua ab mera kya hoga" in this song lifts up its "humor quotient" by leaps and bounds. Both songs make clever use of common tools used in garage in the background music of the song.
So now there is an element of conflict in the brothers' relationship. But there is no melodrama. The utter chaos and puzzlement that is created when Madhubala's presence is discovered in their house once and the boxing fight between Ashok Kumar and Kishor Kumar punctuated periodically by Anoop Kumar's "Bade Bhaiyya" is absolutely hilarious. Just when things start looking rosy the villains make their appearance in the form of K. N. Singh and Sajjan. Sajjan - under the able tutelage of K. N. Singh - is about to forcefully marry Madhubala for her money by holding her father hostage. But the three brothers foil his perfect plan. And in keeping with the "and they lived happily together thereafter" Ashok Kumar is reunited with his long-lost love as well.
As far as the cast goes, it comes as no surprise that Kishor Kumar steals the show as the adorable simple Mannu. I never did like Ashok Kumar much though he looked adorable as Dadaji in the 80s' TV show "Dada-dadi ki kahaniya". He always looked far too much serious for my taste but in this movie I liked him in the role of the eldest brother who loves his siblings and nurses the bitterness from his broken heart. Anoop Kumar doesn't have much scope as the middle sibling. He rather gets overshadowed by his two brothers - as much in reel life as in real life I suppose. But he does play the part of the middle brother - caught between fear for his elder's brother's rage and love for the mischievous younger one - perfectly.
Madhubala looks lovely as ever. What more can I say? It's tragic that she died so young. But that has kept her image young forever in the minds of her fans - sort of frozen in time. On the other side of the fight, K. N. Singh makes you want to murder him with his act of arching just one eye-brow to express surprise, anger and cunning. Some of us will remember Sajjan as the Vetal who harassed King Vikram - played by Arun Govil - in the popular children's program "Vikram aur Vetal" - again of the 80s, if I mistake not.
For some inexplicable reason, when I heard of Tata's Nano, I thought of the song "Babu, samazo ishaare horn pukare, pam pam pam, Yaha chalati ko gaadi kehte hai pyaare, pam pam pam". Maybe it was the picture of three simple ordinary brothers riding a car that formed the association with the "People's car". Not a bad idea for Nano to make this song its catchline, what say Mr. Ratan Tata?
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