Sangam (1964)

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's very much one of Raj Kapoor's films – not only starring in it he produced, directed and even edited this one. There's his usual awkward slapstick amidst all the tragedy on display, resulting in a very episodic film, full of good things and interesting but also as corny and dull as you can imagine too. Classic Hindi love triangle – beetle-browed Gopal (Rajendra Kumar) and bagpipe-loving Sunder (Kapoor) love Radha (Vyjayanthimala), Radha has utter antipathy to Sunder and loves Gopal and vice versa but Gopal also has an all-consuming man-love for Sunder (and vv) and wants to stand aside to let him have Radha instead. In the main it's all done well even though it's been done much better many times before and since, but the cast were saddled with some enormous plot-holes, mood-swing non sequiturs and just plain silly bits. For example when Sunder is a pilot in the cockpit of his military airplane and noisily taxi-ing off with Vjyayanthimala running after it to shout after him that she didn't love him is either hilarious or hideous depending on your mood. At one point he's presumed dead and Gopal and Radha start to make romantic hay, but Sunder returns so hem … it 's a case of Return To Sunder and to begin being a good wife naturally. What makes it all bearable is the lovely music by Shankar-Jaikishan and the singing by Lata of course, and also the wonderful scenery and photography: at times, very arty. As for Vyjayanthimala's "enticing" dance in the hotel in Paris, well, give me her rather more dignified performance nine years before in Devdas any time. But she does manage to strike an astonishing number of beautiful and iconic poses throughout the picture - she couldn't help it - none more so than during Rafi's Ye Mera Prem Patra and Lata & Mukesh's O Mere Sanam.Overall, it's very easy to watch but perhaps just as easy to criticise. On the other hand it also contains the one of the best if not the best denouement of the triangle angle I've ever seen.

******* Spoiler Alert **********I was never a Raj Kapoor fan, especially because of the progressively degrading portrayal of women in his movies.Still, I decided to give this one a shot.No surprises that the movie reflects his views about women, both as the director and the hero Sundar. This is not a love triangle - it is way twisted for it to be such an easy geometrical figure! Sundar and Gopal love each other as friends since boyhood. For unexplained reasons, Gopal is always defending Sundar. Radha is always in love with Gopal though it is not as clear cut the other way round. It is very clear that Radha hates Sundar (at least till the marriage that she is forced into, after which she suddenly starts loving him - i suppose, the reason being that as an Indian wife, it is her duty to love her husband. However, the romp through several European locations (that feel like a travel brochure for the era that this movie was made) show her to be totally happy with him!) and Sundar is so smitten with her that he is deaf and blind to ALL signals to the contrary, even when they are right in his face! The dumbness of Sundar and the stupid plot twists to get Sundar and Radha married are enough to make one dizzy! The audience has to become as dumb as Sundar to have any credence in the premise that Radha loves Sundar after the marriage. On the other hand, Gopal does his very best to lie to Sundar about how much Radha loves him (Sundar). Poor Radha's opinion has zero value (after all this is Raj Kapoor movie!). A lot of overblown dialogue shows how Gopal and Radha have no clue about plain human decency (Gopal makes Radha to marry Sundar because Sundar loves her and wants her! and she is OK with it, even if as an unwilling pawn). Worse scenes follow to torture all 3 characters with Sundar intent on being deaf and dumb to how Radha and Gopal feel (Does he even look at their faces or hear their voices?), ultimately resolving into the deadly climax! Radha is no better with her stupid insistence in coming between Sundar and Gopal. Why did she not accept Gopal as part of the parcel? It was not clear to me how Sundar could not read Hindi for most of the movie (yet another absurd plot device) while he can read the love letter Gopal has written to Radha. I must have missed it in the mind-numbing turns! and had no desire to look for the explanation going through the scenes again.Raj Kapoor looks too old and tired opposite Vyjayanti Mala. Rajendra Kumar, though wooden, looks better. I did not see the point of the "Sexy" Paris dance by her after the chauvinist comments from Raj Kapoor but I suppose she was getting paid plenty for both listening to those remarks as well as putting on a show and all the palloo-falling!I give this movie 4 stars for 2 redeeming features that make it bearable: superb songs and beautiful picturization.

Who can forget "Dost Dost Na Raha," Bol Radha Bol Sangam Hoga Ke Nahin," "O Mere Sanam, O Mere Sanam" and "Mein Kya Karron Ram Mujhe Budha Milgaya" all excellent, meaningful songs with so much emotion from the playback singers, Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh, Mohd. Rafi, Mahendra Kapoor and Hemant Kumar with "I Love You." Sunder, an illiterate and poor boy, Gopal, rich and a millionaire's son and Radha, also from a rich family, are childhood friends and play games together but Gopal and Radha, oblivious to Sunder, love each other until one day he sees them playing a game in which Gopal purchases a toy House for Radha. He's furious and decides to purchase a toy aircraft in which he promises Radha that he will show her the world. After a while Radha tries to make him realise that she doesn't love him - but he's still oblivious to this and in turn gets hurt by and decides to join the air force. In the meantime, Radha and Gopal's parents decide that its time for their spouses to get married.Raj Kapoor's "Sangam," which was first released in the mid 1960's changed Hindi cinema. Not was it only one of the first Hindi films in a long time to be produced in colour after Mehboob Khan's "Aan," but it was also filmed in places like France and Switzerland. This was also one of the first love - triangle stories. The music by Shankar - Jaikishen is still memorable today as are all the songs in the movie. The acting by the three - Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayantimala, is also superb and involves a lot of expressions and emotions. There have been a lot of love - triangle stories after this but not one of them have match it. This is definitely one film that can be viewed over and over again. The other actor who does make a brief appearance in the film is Raj Kapoor's eldest son, Randhir Kapoor, father of Karishma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor.For a matter of interest, the late Raj Kapoor and the late Rajendra Kumar were good friends, not just on screen, but of it as well. Rajendra Kumar's son, Kumar Gaurav, whose first film was "Love Story," was engaged to Raj Kapoor's daughter but the engagement broke and he married Namrata Dutt - daughter of actor Sunil Dutt and Nargis, whose son is Sanjay Dutt, famous for his roles in "Munnabhai M.B.B.S" and "Lage Raho Munnabhai." Nargis, as an actress, had also worked with the late Raj Kapoor in movies like "Barsaat", "Awara", "Aah", "Aag" and "Shree 420." The pair made such a good couple on the screen that there were rumours of them being romantically involved. Today, Raj Kapoor's grandson, Ranbir, son of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, has made his debut in Sanjay Leela Bansali's "Saawariya" and has also said to have kept his name as "Ranbir Raj Kapoor."

The story is a little contrived and the acting melodramatic, but the songs make the movie. The songs are really very well situated amidst the beautiful and breathtaking scenery. Vyjantimala's spontaneous dance in the European hotel has never really been successfully duplicated in Indian cinema. It is a classic that was shot in one take I believe. The songs are really and truly memorable and are still heard today in the collections of Mukesh. Also, Raj Kapoor's acting was so effortless and natural in the boat scene where he captures Vyjanitmala and pulls her into his boat. The song is Mehbooba and is terrific. Another excellent song is Mere Prem Patra and the location shot is absolutely stunning and very colorful.