Angoor Movie Review: This is a must watch comedy

Much before Vishal Bharadwaj discovered William Shakespeare and made his masterpieaces on the bard's Macbeth and Othello, our very own Gulzar made a delightful comedy based on his Comedy of Errors. The film, Angoor, written and directed by Gulzar, is surely one of the most accomplished comedies seen in a very long time in Hindi cinema. Angoor definitely ranks among the alltime greats with rib ticklers like Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Padosan, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, Golmaal and some of Priyadarshan's works. Besides being exceptionally well written and adapted, Gulzar's casting was bang on. One cannot think of anybody better than the late Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma, who could have essayed the double roles with such perfection. They were superbly supported by Moushumi Chatterjee, Deepti Naval and Aruna Irani.

Mistaken identities are nothing new as a subject but it is the manner in which Gulzar has deftly adapted the device to suit the purpose of his film, which is exceptional. He creates the simplest of situations and manages to inject it with hilarity. The best thing about Angoor is that nobody is trying to be funny. Each character is behaving logically, as he should, given the situation that he or she finds themselves in. It is the audience, which is in the know, and hence the hilarious situations. Gulzar, who has been a master at depicting the most sublime of emotions on celluloid, reveals his mastery over the comical genre as well. At no time in the film does one feel that things are being stretched beyond their limits. The director exercises control, restrain and gives his character and situations just as much rope as is needed.

The film's story, in short, is about this merchant Raj Tilak (Utpal Dutt), whose wife gives birth to twin sons. During a journey, Raj Tilak and his wife encounter an abandoned pair of twin boys. Taking pity on the orphaned twins, they decide to adopt them, thinking they will be good servants to their sons. Fate plays its cards and Raj Tilak and his wife are separated. They are traveling by ship when they encounter a storm. Fearing for their lives, the husband and wife duo separate, each taking one of their twin sons along with them, and one of the servant twins. Both husband and wife and the children survive the storm but are now separated and grow up in different places, unaware of the other's existence. One of the Raj Tilak's son (Sanjeev Kumar) is a married man. He lives with his wife (Moushumi Chatterjee), a doting sister in law (Deepti Naval) and his servant (Deven Verma) and his wife Aruna Irani. He and his wife are constantly having quarrels and the sister in law is constantly having to make peace between them.

Their latest quarrel results in him leaving the house, swearing not to return till he gets her the necklace he has promised her.While one of the twins is getting the necklace is made at the jewelers, the other twin (also Sanjeev Kumar) arrives in the same town on some business with his Man Friday (Deven Verma). Everybody in the town seems to recognise them, which makes them suspicious as they are carrying a lot of money with them. Bred on detective novels, this Sanjeev Kumar believes that thugs are laying a trap for him and are out to loot him. This case of mistaken identities continues unabated as the wrong pair of twins land up at the house and find themselves having to cope with Moushumi Chatterjee and Aruna Irani, who call themselves their wives. This comedy of errors continues till both pairs come face to face in the finale and the truth comes out.

Sanjeev Kumar essays both roles with an ease and ?lan that came so naturally to him. Both characters come alive under his genius. His enactment of the second twin, who thrives on detective novels is a class act. The scene where he makes his entry in the train is surely unforgettable. As also the scenes at the motel. What really works here is the superb chemistry that exists between Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma. They are a perfect foil for each other. Both actors have a perfect sense of comic timing and their scenes together are really something to watch out for. Moushumi Chatterjee's caricature of the constantly weeping wife, washing her eyes throughout the film, is another class act. Deepti Naval and Aruna Irani provide good support.

The film's music has been given by RD Burman, another Gulzar constant, like Sanjeev Kumar. The Gulzar RD Burman combo has given us some of the most memorable songs ever and they work their magic here as well with numbers like 'Roj Roj Dali Dali' and 'Hoton Pe Beete Baat'. Then there is the C H Atma classic 'Preetam Aan Milo' which, however, is used more for comic effect than anything else in the movie.

Angoor proves once again, what a brilliant actor Sanjeev Kumar was and what a loss his untimely demise is to films. His range as an actor was tremendous. If he has managed to make his viewers cry with films like Khilona, he managed to make them laugh with an Angoor. Then there were the complex roles like the ones he did in Aandhi, Mausam and Koshish. This is just about the films that he did with Gulzar, who truly utilized and understood his potential best. It goes without saying that in Sanjeev Kumar, Hindi films had one of their greatest actors ever. His usp was his utterly natural style of acting, making even the seemingly complex seems so simple and life like. He is the life of this film along with Deven Verma, one of the better but highly underrated actors that we have. Moushumi Chatterjee too excels in her little cameo as the wife. She is quite delightful to watch in this role.

Angoor retains its pride of place among the comedies churned out in dozens these days by Bollywood. It is a well made, clean film, with laughs coming for all the right reasons. Most importantly, it will always remain on the all time favourites list, long after the Welcomes, Dhamaals and Partners forgotten. This is a must watch classic.