Barsaat (1949)

This was from the early days of Bollywood, when the film industry was just beginning to be just that – and one of the first golden age classics. Barsaat was so popular that skinny Raj Kapoor established RK Studios on the back of its success, so without this film it might have been a different movie story in the 1950's.

How to sum up a 3 hour film … the famous love triangle – 2 brothers, Kapoor serious and Prem Nath out for a good time fall in love with the same woman, the beautiful 20 year old Nargis. The relationships have their ups and downs but ultimately alas! Cut into this are some iconic images of Nargis and many mesmerising songs from Shankar-Jaikashan in their debut, apparently all of them sung by Lata – although they let Mukesh in for a few minutes with Chhod Gaye Balaam (with some especially lovely moody photography here starting with Kapoor brooding at the piano). Favourite bit: Ab Mera Kaun Sahara with Nargis in a wistful and sorrowful vein and Lata displaying a marvellously steady vocal control.

If you have tears prepare to shed them at this unless you have a heart of stone or have seen too many modern movies! I've not seen either Barsaat 1995 or 2005 but I don't think they're re-makes, in any case I shouldn't have thought they'd be anywhere near as good as this was.