Watch Andaz For Free

Overrated and overhyped

Fresh and Exciting

Better Late Then Never

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I've always considered this to be the seminal Indian love triangle epic, a masterpiece in almost every department of filming: especially script, production and acting. I may smile at director Mehboob's aversion to the West however apparently not the exportation of its capitalism, or the general comment on society made that "Western tunes can't be played on Indian strings" however musically the reverse on the piano was OK, but overall it's virtually perfect.It starts perfectly too: the beautiful Nargis in jodhpurs playfully whipping a servant, en route to a horse ride and her life being saved by the dashing Dilip Kumar. Her gratefulness and treating him as purely a friend is misconstrued by all especially her chain smoking father, Kumar himself and eventually the real love of her life, the whimsical Raj Kapoor. She's accused of social naughtiness but is completely innocent, later murders in self defence and is given life imprisonment. Harsh! Throughout there are of course many emotional or dramatic twists and turns, with Nargis as the centre of attention seemingly able to strike iconic poses at random and the music and words perfectly reflecting each phase. It was her film, her two men (one overplaying, the other underplaying) in here were not worthy or her! As a counterpoint to her amazing elegance the production values were excellent too, especially her elegant house - or should that be temple - showing to good advantage. Favourite song is Koi Mere Dil Mein sung by Lata, with Nargis dawdling on the enormous ornate staircase.Sadly time has taken its toll - the only print I've ever seen gets a bit blotchy at times but it's never too distracting. This is the best starting point; what this film says has been repeated by Bollywood thousands of times since but never better.

The first time i saw this film i could not believe it was made in 1949!To someone fed on the useless,clueless and rotten remakes in the 1970s it was an eye-opener because we considered Dilip Kimar to belong to be before our times!!This is a superb film directed in masterly style with a great script,music and songs.Glossy photography lends it a poetical feeling.To this day there have been contradictions on the message of the film.It all comes down to our ancient trait of keeping silent when we should have spoken our mind!The acting of Nargis and Dilip Kumar is so deep that the viewer is misled into confusion.Rajkapoor is also great in his role.Very good.But the film belongs to Dilip.As a romantic hero his body language,silent facial expressions and style have had no equal in the Indian film history.All this is astounding for an actor who had been in films 4-5 years at that time.A remarkable actor and Mehboob Khan is a super director.Ther have many,many variations on this film but it will always standout as the original even in a hundred years.

This film has quite a reputation in Indian cinema apparently, although it's difficult to see why. Working strictly within the established confines of Bollywood genre movie-making, it tells a simple love triangle story that mirrors the tensions between traditional Indian values and Western ideology in the early years of India's independence from its colonial masters. Perhaps it is renowned because it was the first of its kind, because there is little here, when viewed nearly sixty years after it was made, to distinguish it from other films of its genre.The nineteen-year-old Nargis plays Neena, headstrong daughter of a wealthy widowed industrialist, who is saved from certain death when her horse bolts by lowly Dilip (Dilip Kumar). The pair strike up an intimate friendship, which Dilip mistakes for mutual love, but tragedy looms when Rajan (Raj Kapoor), the love of Neena's life returns from London.From its light-hearted opening, Andaz travels an increasingly dark path as Neena finds herself torn, not so much by the two men in her life, but by the conventions and expectations of a traditional Indian society that conflicts with her westernised outlook on life. She is an innocent victim, a figure of tragedy, whose life by the movie's end is irredeemably destroyed through no fault of her own. Given this, it's surprising how unmoving her plight is. Again, this is no fault of Neena – or of Nargis, who gives an outstanding performance as she slowly transforms from a carefree young girl into a tragic, broken woman – but of a script that jerks hesitantly along between a slew of musical numbers, an increasingly hysterical and implausible storyline (especially in the last couple of reels), and an overbearing performance from Raj Kapoor. In fairness to Kapoor, he is saddled with a character so irritating that it is impossible to understand what Neena sees in him. Accompanied by an even more annoying professor, Rajan is one of those types who relentlessly fires off a barrage of jokes and quips that are consistently unfunny so that, after a while, you wish someone would smack him up the side of the head for being so annoying.As the film grows increasingly darker and ominous, it also grows increasingly melodramatic as, having dragged its feet for two hours, it suddenly realises the final credits are looming and it still has a load of stuff to do. The writers could have added a decent mystery aspect to the story had they used Neena's trial as a framing device for the entire movie, but instead the trial is summarised in a couple of minutes screen time. Kumar gives an admirably restrained performance as Neena's rejected suitor, but even he can't salvage anything from the mystifying about-face his character performs after being bashed on the head with a tennis racket. At that point all semblance of credibility is lost and the film sinks beneath the weight of its own hyperbole.

Dilip Kumar saves Nargis from a riding accident and falls in love with her.Nargis is already betrothed to Raj Kapoor but fails to mention this to Dilip Kumar(no reason for mentioning).She regards him as a friend.Dilip only gets to know about Raj when the latter returns from his studies abroad.Raj marries Nargis, and Dilip moves out of their lives, but not before he is forced to admit to Nargis that he had fallen in love with her.Nargis suffers and this ruins her marriage with Raj.The film, made in 1949 by Mehboob Khan tried to show the effect of 'modern'lifestyle on family life.Nargis represented the 'fast' 'modernised' Indian woman to whom friendship with the man who had saved her, meant just that.Love and friendship are two separate feelings.Nargis wonders if she has in any way encouraged Dilip to make him feel the way he does.Dilip tells her that it was he who had made the 'mistake'. Nargis however cannot stop feeling guilty.Dilip Kumar is absolutely brilliant. Watch the song 'Darna muhabbat karle', where Nargis and Cuckoo sing while Dilip plays the piano. He has eyes only for Nargis.You realise how much he is in love with her. A better performance will not be seen.As a romantic actor Dilip has no match.