27 Down: A classic Tale

I often stumble across old movies mostly because of my maa, she is a nervous wreck when it comes to TV. She treasures her time and lacks patience, which combined with a TV remote in her hand translates into a vivid experience for anyone watching with her. We saw Rakhee - a bengali bollywood actress of yesteryear in what appeared a black and white romance and we were immediately hooked.

27 Down is a Hindi movie, which came out in 1974. It is a black and white movie directed by  talented Awtar Krishna Kaul.  The movie explores themes of ambitions stifled by a daunting father, youth alienation and romance, all of which are as much relevant today. MK Raina, a delhi theater veteran in the role of Sanjay, plays a budding painter  who is told by his father to join the Railways as a Ticket collector. The movie chronicles a listless Sanjay's journey in the Bombay local, where he meets Shalini (Rakhee) in a chance encounter. A liberal tale of a young couple's simmering romance ensues, where Sanjay is awaken from his sleep and Shalini finds a confederate in him. However this brief spell is again broken by Sanjay's father who has a different plan for his son.The movie captures the inner turmoil of sanjay, his conflicts and his desire to free himself from all that encapsulates him very well.

I found the theme of movie much relevant in today's time as well, while definitely a few things have changed, for instance Sanjay's of our time are beginning to develop a spine against the whims of their families.
I was struck by the nonchalant romance between the two leads, there is a particular scene in the movie where Shalini asks Sanjay about his beard and Sanjay answers her sheepishly that he has had it from his college days, I couldn't help but smile at such a goofy conversation between the two.

A beautiful Romance

                                                    

The very common 'odd match'

                                              

                                            

             

Sanjay's escapade with a prostitute in Benares