If one goes by Hindi film industry folklore, there was a time when leading heroes were wary of working in films in which Mehmood was also cast. Such was his calibre. He had the rare capacity to set the screen on fire with his comic timing, which could eclipse even the most profound actors, giving some of them a sense of intense insecurity. His name in the credits could raise the profile of the film by several notches and add to its box office appeal.
Even in “Pocket Maar”, he is able to maintain his own against another superlative actor and star, Dharmendra, at least in the first half, when the two have almost equal screen space. It is also part of the film which makes it a total “paisa vasool”. He is just amazing as Sundar, one half of the two-member gang of pickpockets (the other being Shankar essayed by Dharmendra), which earns its livelihood by operating in ‘third class compartments of third class trains’. As the undisputed king of comedy, Mehmood adorns his act with unbridled exuberance and panache, without resorting to cheap gimmicks. He is totally in control of his performance, with not an iota of overacting, which is the propensity of many a comic actor, with heavy doses of cheap jokes interspersed. In “Pocket Maar”, his pairing with Shobha Khote as Sheela Verma (daughter of an ex-army office, with a belligerent mother) is indeed stupendous. Therefore, it is not surprising that he won Filmfare Awards five times in his career with many more nominations.
Ramesh Lakhanpal, who directed the film, had a very short career in Bollywood, directing only two films, with “Pocket Maar” being one of them. But he did a good job here, with the film moving at a brisk pace due to some smart editing by Pran Mehra. Therefore, it is not surprising that the film is only of 136 minutes duration, at a time when most films extended beyond the 150 minutes. Lakhanpal had a strong writing team on board – Vrajendra Gaur (dialogues), Kaushal Bharati (screenplay) and Mushtaq Jalilil (story). Although the story is rather predictable, the film is extremely enjoyable till intermission – it loses steam after that.
Shankar and Sundar are small time pickpockets but both are large hearted. Once, when Shankar is escaping from the police, he comes across a blind woman, Ganga (Azra), who is being molested by some goons, even as she is searching for her husband in Bombay . He bashes the baddies but finds that Ganga does not have a place to live. So, (rather predictability) he accepts her as his sister and takes her to his house, where, eventually, she delivers a boy.
To steal something valuable for Ganga’s eye operation to restore her vision, Shankar and Sundar visit a nightclub, where they are introduced to Asha Rai (Saira Banu) through Sheela. Asha is the wealthy granddaughter of Rai Bahadur (Nazir Hussain), and is madly in love with Madan Malhotra (Prem Chopra). However, Madan, who is actually feigning love for Asha to gain access to her wealth is imprisoned on charges of smuggling narcotics. Scared that his well laid out plans will come to be known to Asha, he tells her that he is going to London for an extended period.
But Rai Bahadur insists that Asha should get married at the earliest as he had suffered a heart attack, an oft-repeated plot point with characters that Nazir Hussain played! At her wits end, Asha presents Shankar as Madan. There is a protracted period of animosity between the two, which (rather predictably) blossoms into love. The twist in the tale comes when Madan is released from prison and confronts Asha, who has disowned him by now. Using force Madan tries to marry Asha, but at the last minute it is revealed that he is already married to Ganga, whom he had duped earlier. Therein follow a sequence of mandatory action sequences, till the film moves to a happy ending.
Dharmendra, who was riding a crest of success, and was maintaining his own against formidable actors like Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachan, gives another able performance. Before the advent of the angry young man and the so called action heroes, he was the only mainstream hero who could look believable while performing action sequences. Saira Banu gives a fairly decent performance – maybe due to the comfort level she would have developed with Dharmendra, as this was the third film in which they were acting opposite each other.
Prem Chopra as Madan shows why he is considered one of the most handsome villains in the industry. He looks mean, not so much for his looks, but the way he delivers his dialogues. Shobha Khote is quite strong in her portrayal as Mehmood’s love interest and partner in comedy. She looks petite, with a naughty sparkle in her eyes.
It is often said that a strong music can help even an average film to create ripples on the box-office. But in “Pocket Maar”, one is surprised at the lacklustre score, despite music being composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal to lyrics penned by Anand Bakshi. an otherwise very potent combination. None of the six songs, except “Banda Parwar Mai Kaha Ye Aapki Mahfil Kaha”, sung by Mohammad Rafi, managed to leave a lasting imprint on the audience.
Genre: Romantic drama
Director: Ramesh Lakhanpal
Cast: Dharmendra, Saira Banu, Mehmood, Shobha Khote, Prem Chopra, Nazir Hussain, , Azra, Asit Sen,
Story: Mushtaq Jalili
Dialogue: Vrajendra Gaur
Screenplay: Kaushal Bharati, Shashi Bhushan (additional screenplay)
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
Music: Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Box office status: Hit
