Prem Kahani

I think this is the only film I've seen where I was rooting for the hero to die for most of the movie. The putative hero, Rajesh (Rajesh Khanna), a poet-cum-freedom-fighter, seems to be headed in that direction from pretty early on in, but is apparently determined to spread as much pain and devastation in the lives of others as he can along the way.

Exhibit A: British woman who witnesses Rajesh murder her husband right in front of her.



Exhibit B: Dead niece, killed by her own mother to keep Rajesh safe.



Exhibit C: Widowed sister-in-law, whom he apparently never thinks about again after the extremely traumatic incident with the niece.



Exhibit D: Truck driver (Vinod Khanna) tortured by the police because he knows Rajesh's whereabouts.



Exhibit E: Jilted girlfriend (Mumtaz).



Exhibit F: Best friend (Shashi Kapoor), who just so happens to have married the jilted girlfriend on the day Rajesh arrives seeking help.*



Exhibit G: The audience.
I rest my case.



Also on my list of pet peeves: men who prioritize their male friends over everything else.



That's not to say that the movie is all bad -- I enjoyed some of the songs, Shashi and Mumtaz have some nice scenes together, and I thought Vinod put in a compelling performance in his small role. But, for me, these good things did not outweigh all of the aggravation.


* I watched this movie the night after watching Kabhi Kabhie, and I noticed a common theme here -- in both, a girl who's in love with a poet ends up being married off to Shashi Kapoor instead. I don't think that's such a bad deal. In fact, does anyone know a poet?