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Rishi Kapoor and Ranjeeta in Laila Majnu (1976)
“Laila Majnu” offers within its 19 reel, lavish sets, glittering desert exteriors, an elaborate fantasy sequence, and gorgeous costumes. It all makes for an eye-catching pageant, except that the pageant often looks closer to being a comedy than a tragic tale of star-crossed lovers. For a tale of intense love and hate, director H. S. Rawail’s film generally strikes incongruous notes.
The lovers’ first meeting in the market place promises a forceful depiction of the first stirring of love, but, the sequence peters out when you see Kais (Rishi Kapoor) appearing and disappearing as if by magic. Later, during his nocturnal visits into Laila’s (Ranjeeta) bedroom, he recites verses like one who was doing it without knowing the meaning of the lines.
Next, there is the fantasy sequence, which turns out to be an exercise in matching naive visuals with pedestrian lyrics (written by Sahir Ludhianvi). The lovers’ silent meeting at the Dargah captures for a moment the intensity of their love. Perhaps part of the effectiveness of the scene is due to the fact that it comes close, on the heels of a particularly loud `qawwali’ with Kais making a full throated contribution—although you have earlier seen him wandering in the desert for days without food or water.
If the film fails to capture the intensity of love, it fails equally in projecting the hostility between the respective families of the lovers — the main cause behind the tragedy. The violent confrontations which should have been telling omens of the impending doom, are reduced to clowning by Kais’s friends (Asrani, Paintal, etc.). The last duel between Kais and Tabrez (Ranjeet), Laila’s brother, borders on a caricature.
Ranjeeta makes a convincing Laila, despite being a bit heavy with her dialogue and she manages aided by effective makeup to provide a measure of pathos in her later scenes. Rishi Kapoor as Majnu-Kais is effective in serious moments but looks awkward during the song sequences. As the prince who marries Laila, Danny turns in a sympathetic performance.
The music is unimpressive with the exception of Koi Pathar sai na marey and so is the dialogue which keeps swinging between Urdu and Hindustani, occasionally threatening to lapse into Bombay Hindi – Shalini Pradhan
Cast and Production Credits
Year – 1976, Genre – Historical/Romance, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Ram B. C., Seeroo Daryani, Director – H. S. Rawail, Music Director – Madan Mohan, Cast – Sunder, Meena T., Aruna Irani, Raza Murad, Rishi Kapoor, Ranjeeta, Danny
