An Evening in Paris

An Evening in Paris (1967) : Brief Review -

A fairly entertaining romantic masala thriller set in beautiful locations in Paris. This is not a typical Shakti Samantha film, to be frank. Samantha's An Evening in Paris started off by giving me the vibes of Vincente Minnelli and Gene Kelly's Oscar-winning "American in Paris" (1951) in the beginning, and I really enjoyed it for a while. An Indian girl, Deepa, sets off to find the love of her life in Paris after failing to find a perfect lover in India. She is approached by Sam, who introduces himself as a French man, and they fall in love. This entire romantic chase, flirting, and proposal thing is very cute. They look even cuter when you hear the songs. Who could have imagined a Bollywood film having a title song on Paris' beauty, and who else can you think of but Shankar-Jaikishan? An Evening in Paris is such a beautiful song, and then there are "Akele Akele Kahan Ja Rahe" and "Aasman Se Aaya Farishta," which turn out to be perfect romantic songs. Shammi Kapoor showing off his thigh, hanging on the helicopter, and saying, "Kaho Pyar Hai Tumse" (Mohammed Rafi's voice), and then Sharmila Tagore in Bikini ditching him, "Jaa Jaa." So freaking adorable. What's more adorable is that he uses the same words at the end of the song, and she accepts the proposal, saying, "Haa, haa, Kaha naa." You expect the film to go on with a typical masala ending after this, but there comes Samantha's thriller factor. We have a twin formula-a little conry, but okay. The scripting seemed half-baked here. The character of Rupa falls in love with Sam, and we have no clue. She suddenly turns into a good woman, and we are clueless again because the writer did not provide her with enough evolution. Charming and handsome Shammi Kapoor and super-sexy Sharmila Tagore take you on a lavish, romantic, and glamorous ride in Paris, and that's all the film is about. Too gorgeous for the time, maybe?

RATING - 6/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Music is excellent with Mohd Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan. The villains are portrayed by three legendary character actors Pran KN Singh, and HB Shetty. David is great and Rajendrath is hilarious and charming. Sharmila Tagore is lovely and plays her part well. Scenery is beautiful.

So why only a 6 despite all that? The plot was not well written. The first 20 minutes is good, the story seems promising and the French man is hilarious. Then the next 75 minutes is just Shammi Kapoor trying to woo Sharmila Tagore repeatedly and it really isn't amusing or charming but kind of a drag. If the director was someone as skilled as Hrishikesh Mukherjee it could have been different but that's not the case here. Shammi Kapoor had potential but too bad he didn't always take care of himself. Then the last hour is just a trite conflict, nothing remarkable. Everything was great but the story was average - and that is important. You can watch this movie completely for free and legally at rajshri and so for this I'll give it an extra point and make it a 7.

The Most Excellent Movie I have ever seen since 25 years, and I am still loving it, but I could not get it since that time. Anybody can provide me that movie and I shall pay the price?

Thanks...

An Evening In Paris review :

Want an extensive Europe trip with a complimentary Niagara falls view for price of just one cinema ticket??!! Well, An Evening in Paris is just what you need to see. "Aisa Mauka phir kahan milegaa" as its title song goes. Starring rockstar Shammi Kapoor and the gorgeous Sharmila Tagore, the film explores exotic locales of Paris, Swiss, Beirut and ends at the Niagara Falls. The Switzerland locales are truly awesome and mind you, this was a decade before Yash Chopra started filming his chiffon saree songs there..

Sharmila Tagore played a Richie rich heiress who comes to Paris to find true love and has Shammi pursuing her through its galli kucha. "Akele Akele, Kahan jaa rahe ho!!" goes the melodious sung by Mohammed Rafi and composed by Shankar Jaikishan.

An Evening in Paris goes down in history of Bollywood for being the first one to feature a mainstream heroine in a negative role - she plays a doppelganger in a plot partially inspired from Producer - Director Shakti Samanta's own China Town (1962) with gender reversal. Sharmila Tagore also sizzled in a light blue bikini paving the way for future sex symbols like Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi in the '70s. Sharmila's uninhabited exposure in this film was talk of the town then and she even appeared in an itsy bitsy bikini on cover of Filmfare magazine around the same time.

As for the performances, Shammi was earnest as the lover boy and so was Pran with fake blonde hair playing the mandatory villain. But then An Evening in Paris was all about Sharmila and her bold attitude. I can't imagine any other top heroine of that time pulling off this audacious role. Kudos!!

Overall, the film was a complete entertainer but unfortunately, turned out to be an average grosser only due to its high budget. Shooting in foreign locales in those days was a costly affair and only the legendary Raj Kapoor Saahab had taken his Radha to Europe for his Sangam (1964). Bro Shammi Kapoor was never too far behind either!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

This film has certain scenes which attracts me a lot, some of which are: 1. Sam hanging over helicopter and singing to Deepa who is riding a speedboat 2. Sam and Deepa going in a scooter with their friend lovers in other scooter 3. Sam following Deepa in majority of the places she go and rescuing her from villains.

It highlights Sam's in-depth love for Deepa as he rejects marriage with her twin sister who exactly look the same. It helps to get a reflection of European society in 1960s as it shows the natural sites and picnic spots of the time. The story takes your mind to many conclusions but the final climax will not be the one you thought.

My energy level got boosted after watching this film because of which I feel to watch it again and again for pleasure. Moreover, the film's music by Shankar-Jaikishan especially the song 'Aasman Se Aaya Farishta' is outstanding.