Kalaakaar (1983)

I watched Kalaakaar as a kid and I quite liked it. I knew I wouldn't really enjoy it as much today but I still decided to give it a try. Today I see it as another Hindi melodrama which is generally poorly scripted and directed, but I think it does have its moments. This is the story of Ravi Kumar, a young street guy who has a noticeable singing talent. When a young rich woman named Radha hears him singing one of the songs she penned, she asks her dad to help him. This marks the beginning of a successful career for Ravi, and more importantly a relationship between him and Radha, who are already deeply in love with each other. But problems arise soon, when Ravi is already at the top of his career; Radha is surprised by Ravi's sudden change in attitude as he is continuously ignoring her in every possible way. This comes to a peak when he does not acknowledge her contribution towards his success upon getting an award. Those who have watched Hindi films of this sort could successfully predict what this is all about.

Kalaakaar starts quite well and the first half is fairly interesting. The second half, however, is very poor and it presents a certain twist that people today would compare to films like Kal Ho Naa Ho. The script is quite poor and the ending is particularly abysmal, being overly tragic and hard to believe. The leading role of Ravi is played by Kunal Goswami, who is hardly known today. He is very average in this film, although it's good that they did not cast some old guy to play a young achiever. Sridevi on the other hand is the film's saving grace where casting is concerned. She is very pretty and rises above the script with a convincing performance, doing pretty well even in the most terrible sequences. Well, and to the main reason this film is ever mentioned today, which is of course the music by Kalyanji-Anandji. "Neele Neele Ambar Par", brilliantly performed by Kishore Kumar, is the most memorable, and it is quite nostalgic for me. Unfortunately, this is as far as it goes, and the film itself is not recommended.