Ready for coolness? I had this open WHILE WE WERE ZOOM TALKING and I made notes!!! So it’s like you were in the Zoom, even if you weren’t. And you can just pick up our discussion from where we left off.
Why is Vyjantimala’s character so awesome? What made you sit up and notice her?
Answer: Because she’s VYJANTIMALA!!! She’s so pretty and so ALIVE
Who is worse, Raj Kapoor or the Other One, and why?
50/50! Raj Kapoor is blind to anyone’s desires but his own, which is bad. But The Other One actually KNOWS WHAT IS HAPPENING and still makes bad choices, which is also bad.
What ending would have been better?
a) the two men kill each other and Vyjantimala gets all their money
b) Vyjantimala walks out with her suitcase leaving Raj forever
c) Raj kills himself and Vyjantimala gets to marry the man she wanted this whole time.
d) Vyjantimala ends up with her friend Sukina
Boring man or Raj Kapoor, who would be a better husband?
Boring man, because he is the husband she WANTS and that is all that matters. Or. my minority opinion, Raj Kapoor because he is capable of growth and adjustment and moving out of his own tiny world.
What does it say about class in modern 1960s India?
They had to give Raj Kapoor a freakin’ Parim Vir in order to elevate him to a level where he can marry Vyjantimala. And somehow that also magically makes him cosmopolitan and educated and all these other things he wasn’t before.
What does it say about how Raj Kapoor viewed women?
Almost as a different species, like some rare magical creatures. But at the same time, as a filmmaker, he was so honest in showing the way the female characters (Vyjantimala, the moms, her friend) all understood what was happening but were not listened to and could not affect the outcome. Very confused gender message.
And finally, suggestions for next movie for discussion!
Kuch Naa Kaho: Fun fabulous early 2000s rom-com, only available on einthusan
Jhoothi: 1970s female classic
Khoobsurat: Another 1970s female classic
Manaranjan: Another 1970s female classic with sex workers
Junglee: A 1960s female classic with Shammi!
dontcallitbollywood 
now, questions!
best ending would have been b! I liked d as well, but I don’t think it would entirely work.
raj kapoor viewed women as interesting women who could be collaborators…but ultimately, at a base level within himself, as people to “step out of the way”.
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Yes, definitely, people to “step out of the way” sounds exactly right.
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Out of those movies it would 100% be Junglee. I still need to watch Sangam and give my opinion on that. But Junglee is so so wonderful!
Other movies I would recommend to have a discussion on:
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I started Kuch Bheege Alfaz once but never finished. Your recommendation makes me think I should try again.
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Yes, you should as trust me it’s not a sad south indian movie where everything is going to go bad even though it seems that way. I’m assuming this is what didn’t make you want to watch it, since I had to force my friend in the same way as she was convinced it would be one of those sad malayalam romantic movies
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It is slightly sad but not stupidly sad if that makes sense.
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You and Filmikudhi have almost convinced me on Junglee!!! I haven’t watched it, and if it is THAT good, I want to!
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I voted for Jhoothi or Manoranjan because I haven’t seen them!
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Oooo, I do love Monaranjan!
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Worse – I was gunning for Raj Kapoor to get off my screen pretty much from the time he turned adult, but by the end Rajendra almost equalled him in awfulness, so why choose? Both are the worst.
Ending – a)
Better husband – Rajendra because of what you said. Actual growth in Raj would been acknowledging and apologizing for how he had been before his Army career. But the movie does not seem to think he was ever in the wrong, so the post-Army ‘growth’ doesn’t have any meaning for me.
View on women – Yup, he took time to show all her protestations and anger yet none of it had any effect on the leading men, so what am I supposed to understand? If the thesis of the movie is that not heeding to a woman’s wish leads to death and destruction, then I fully agree with his vision.
Khubsoorat is my top choice, followed by Junglee. Haven’t seen Manoranjan so I could be convinced for that.
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I don’t know if I can allow two people to be “worst”, but your reasoning is tempting!
Phrasing it as not heeding a woman’s wish leads to death and destruction sort of reframes it for me. I was thinking of the plot from just a practical standpoint, if no one talks to each other and only the women fully see what is happening, then obviously you should listen to the women. But that’s giving women more credit than Raj likes to give them, so maybe it is more of a “magical mystical female” sort of thing rather than “the only sane smart person in the room” sort of thing.
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Ending: Vyjantimala should have ended up with the only person in the movie who loved her enough to ask what she wanted and care about the answer: Sukina. Then Raj and Other Guy move in together and spend the rest of their lives drinking whisky and reminiscing about her and how they both loved her and what great friends they are and what great guys they are to give her up for the other one. And V. uses the skills she honed while dancing around in tights and a lampshade to make a ton of money for her and Sukina and they live happily ever after.
I will go with the majority on the next movie, but a feminist classic sounds like a good change of pace. However! I saw Kuch naa Kaho long long ago in my Hindi film journey, when Aishwarya was the woman from the Pink Panther and I didn’t know who Abhishek was at all. It would be fun to see it again. (In fact, I had forgotten the name and was meaning to ask you so I could watch it again, so win win anyway).
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What I like most about this answer is the ackowledgement that Raj and The Other Guy clearly wanted to be together drinking way more than either actually wanted to spend time with Vyjantimala.
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