Kab ? Kyoon ? Aur Kahaan ? (1970) is a suspense-thriller as suggested by the title (When ? Why ? And Where ?) which stars Dharmendra and Babita in lead roles with Pran playing the villain of the story. It is an entertaining movie and worth a watch by all standards. The producer-director of this movie - Arjun Hingorani had a strange fancy regarding the titles of the movies made by him. He always used three 'K's in the title concerned. Hence the title here also contains three 'K's, considering the mystery-filled plot, the title is apt though.
The movie opens with the killing of a rich man (Murad) in an accident staged by his adversaries. Then starts the world tour of Asha (Babita), the daughter of the victim. She happens to come across Anand (Dharmendra) during her sea-journey and they fall in love (quite naturally). When she is back home, attempts start on her life too. Apparently, it's her greedy uncle (Pran) only who is masterminding everything because he wants to usurp all the wealth of hers by eliminating her. Being unaware of her uncle's evil designs but quite aware of his licentious nature, Asha happens to kill him one night when he tries to molest her close friend Lata (Ashoo). On one hand, Anand is investigating the death of her father in his capacity of a C.I.D. officer, on the other she herself becomes a murderess who now has to get rid of the dead body of her uncle in her bid to escape the law. After many interesting incidents and twists in the story, the mystery gets unravelled.
Kab ? Kyoon ? Aur Kahaan is a movie which contains the romantic encounter of the lead pair in the initial reels but soon gets on its crime and suspense-filled track. The main twist in the story arrives at the interval point and the narrative in the post interval session is so fast that it never loosens its grip on the spectator at any point of time. The result is - the spectator keeps on watching holding his breath and making guesses about the mystery and the further development of the story. The movie has been written as well as directed very well.
There are ample doses of romance blended with comedy in the movie but finally, it's the suspense aspect that takes it over. Firstly, it appears to be a flat crime-thriller with a well-identified villain (Pran) and his well-identified villainous activities. However gradually the story advances in such a way that an aura of mystery prevails on the screen and consequentially on the minds of the viewers. The movie does not bore at any place and it has been made by using all the regular Bollywood formulae whose mix appears to be almost right. There may be viewers who are able to guess the solution of the mystery correctly. They are bound to feel entertained by this flick all the same.
Performances are admirable. Dashing hero Dharmendra, gorgeous heroine Babita (I always find her much prettier than her daughters who are high profile heroines of today) and the stylish evergreen villain Pran are all very impressive in their respective roles. Pran's unique style of smoking (leaving rings of smoke from his mouth) was something that nobody could imitate. His performance in the final part of the movie is simply awesome. Debutante Ashoo as the heroine's buddy, Helen as the villain's accomplice, Shetty as a rowdy on the ship, Hiralaal as a mysterious lunatic etc. are well in place. Asit Sen and Dhuman have done good comedy.
Kalyanji-Anandji's music is not great but not bad either. The title track (Ho Gaye Tere Ho Gaye) is the best from the album. The music directors themselves alongwith the hero (Dharmendra) are the presenters of this movie.
Technically this colour movie is up to the mark. The sequences involving the ship, the sea and the natural beauty are quite impressive. This mystery is a little bit scary too. Action and thrills are good. Length of the movie is also optimum.
All in all, Kab ? Kyoon ? Aur Kahaan ? is an interesting suspense movie which the mystery fans can enjoy like anything. Courtesy the heart-tickling romance, the audience of romantic movies is also sure to like it.
