Humjoli

The brand of comedy employed in this movie is fine around the decade it was made, right now they would call it hamming or overacting. Even kids of this day and age would be rolling their eyes watching some of the over the top comedy. Story was stale and predictable. Growing up Mehmood was the king of comedy, but with time you outgrow his stereotypical physical comedy style of acting. The action sequences could be described as awkward at best, as was prevalent in the 60s movies. Jumping Jack was decent in his role, while Leena Chandavarkar was the required eye candy of the movie though she seemed rough at the edges. Pran was impressive in a patriarchal role. He carried the same personality in the 1972 "Parichay" too. Some of the evergreen songs were the only saving grace of the movie. My advice, this movie is best left in the memories of those who lived through that era.

Story: The overall theme is nothing new, but could have been written into a good story. However as it turns out the story is completely idiotic and many details are painfully illogical.

Dances: Physical Training (PT) scenes are portrayed in an amusing manner. For a few minutes you can enjoy them as 'what are they doing?' In any classical sense bad.

Songs: A couple of songs were above average.

Acting: Overall below average. Jetendra was fine, but Leena Chandavarkar was not so good. I have seen some good acting from her in other movies. Here, she looks as if she just cannot act. Just as an example, in at least one scene she glances directly into camera while delivering a dialog. An actor cannot do that, unless they are addressing the audience.

Action sequence: Fight scenes were pathetic. Would have been fine for a kid's movie.

Comedy: Excruciatingly painful and misplaced intermittently throughout the film. Apparently the producer/directors must have been taught that comedy scenes are (were in 60s) compulsory in any good Hindi flick. So they forcefully added comedy scenes that had no relevance to the main story. Mehmood, for instance, was an outstanding comedian in his time. Unfortunately, he was used in extremely ludicrous ways in many Hindi films and 'Humjoli' is no exception. Just like the fight scenes, the comedy is suitable for kids under age of 8.

Overall Rating: 5. This includes 2 points purely for the nostalgic value you get from watching a 1970s movie. So, if you are a younger generation, you might consider this film as a '3' or lower. Even though I rated it so low, I did not think I made a mistake in watching it. I still wish to continue watching more 1950-1979 movies - again, for the nostalgic attribute.

Pran is good since he is playing the central character whereas others are just associating him with lack luster characterization & performances. Mehmood provides some solace in his triple role blunder. Blunder is because his scenes are not part of the story. Music by LP is good with some fine songs like; 1) Haye Re Haye, Neend Nahin Aaye, 2) Dhal Gaya Din Ho Gayi Raat and 3) Tik Tik Tik Mera Dil Dhadke.