Shakti Samanta, ace filmmaker with classics like “Amar Prem”, “Aradhana”, “Amaanush”, “Kati Patang” and “Kashmir Ki Kali” amongst others, somehow faltered with “Jane Anjane”, although the film did reasonably well at the box office. Despite one of his favourite actors cast as the leading man – the original Rockstar of Hindi cinema, Shammi Kapoor – “Jane Anjane” failed to achieve heights of cinematic brilliance and sensitivity for which Samanta was appreciated by generations of movie buffs. Perhaps, it was the story, written by Madhusudan Kalekar, which was the weak link. Kalekar’s effort is rather predictable and clichéd, as one gets a feeling of déjà vu while encountering the characters and situations.
Although Kapoor, with whom Samanta had created magic in earlier films, gives a competent performance, he comes out as a fleeting reflection of his earlier debonair and dashing self. For the formidable Kapoor of Yahoo! Fame, with his iconic dance moves, flying curls and deadly good looks, this was one of the last films as a solo hero, as the tendency to gain weight had already afflicted him. And there was a new romantic hero, Rajesh Khanna, on the block, who swept away all competition with his dream run at the box-office.
In technical aspects, where Samanta’s films usually rate quite high, “Jane Anjane” fails to make it to the top league, especially in art direction, credited to Sant Singh, which is a tad lack lustre. Similarly, cinematography, by Aloke Dasgupta, tends to give a jaded feel at times, particularly when scenes are shot inside studios, and not on actual location. The screenplay by Ranjan Bose has several loose ends, where side characters consume unduly long screen time and divert attention from the main plot, which anyway is wafer thin. Equally clichéd and humdrum are the dialogues, written by Vrajendra Gaur, which give a feel of films made in the fifties with their tiring predictability.
As for the story, it starts when a beleaguered woman Shobha (veteran actress Sulochana in a benign, motherly role as always) abandons a baby boy (born out of wedlock) on the steps of a temple after the man she had secretly married dies in an accident. Thereafter, she jumps into a river to take her own life. In the nick of time, a man (old hand Sajjan) catching fish on the banks of the same river jumps in to save her life. The two get married and have a son, Inspector Hemant – a very young, boyish looking and raw Vinod Khanna yet to mark his presence as an actor of calibre; but his deadpan looks, literally, are enough to sweep the audience off their feet.
The abandoned boy, salvaged from precincts of the temple by a village lady, Laxmi – Lalita Pawar in a rare positive appearance – grows up to be Ramu (Shammi Kapoor). Despite the protestations of a devout Laxmi, who wants to send Ramu to school, the boy is constantly pestered by his foster father, Shankar Dada (Jayant, father of the late Amjad Khan) to take after him in the world of crime. An impressionable Ramu relents and follows Shankar’s footsteps as a rogue, who indulges in petty theft and bootlegging, although constantly reminded by the village belle, Koyli (Sandhya Roy) to mend his unruly ways.
However, neither the exhortations of his foster mother nor the endeavour of Koyli – who has a soft corner for Ramu – are able to wean him away from the cycle of crime. It is only when he falls in love with a petite girl, Mala (Leena Chandavarkar), that Ramu vows to mend his wild ways and adopt a life of honesty and hard work. Just as he embarks on this path an accidental shot fired in self defence by Inspector Hemant, kills Laxmi. An enraged Ramu vows revenge. This brings the truth about Shobha, Laxmi, Hemant and Ramu in the open and leads to a dénouement which can be described as anything but earth shattering.
Leena Chandavarkar, as the lead opposite Shammi Kapoor, looks pretty and exudes grace and poise. Even her dance skills are well honed. But it is in terms of histrionic prowess that she falters – expressions on the face remain stagnant and there is hardly any voice modulation while delivering dialogues. It was because of these shortcomings that Chandavarkar, despite getting a chance to act opposite legends like Dilip Kumar, Shammi Kapoor and Rajesh Khanna, failed to attain the popularity of her contemporaries like Mumtaz and Hema Malini.
It is also rather surprising that Samanta, most of whose films have songs of the highest rating, failed to get a better score for “Jane Anjane” despite getting the music by Shankar-Jaikishan to lyrics penned by Gulshan Bawra, Hasrat Jaipuri and SH Bihari.
Genre: Social drama
Director: Shakti Samanta
Cast: Shammi Kapoor, Leena Chandavarkar, Sandhya Roy, Vinod Khanna, Helen, Sulochana, Lalita Pawar, Jayant, K.N. Singh, Dhumal, Sajjan, Gulshan Bawra, Birbal
Story: Ranjan Bose
Dialogues: Vrajendra Gaur
Screenplay: Ranjan Bose
Lyrics: Gulshan Bawra, Hasrat Jaipuri and SH Bihari
Music: Shankar-Jaikishan
Box office status: Average
