I had initially not considered Hema Malini to be a valid part of Deol Dhamaka -- somehow I felt Hema could potentially be deserving of a blogging week of her own at some point. But several of our friends have included her, and I had two Hema songs as ear worms today so I thought I would share them as a Deol Dhamaka sidebar.
Interestingly enough, both songs feature Hema skillfully wielding knives! Danger! It's not just her nasheeli nainon that you must be wary of! As soon as I realized I had Knife-brandishing Hema songs on the brain, I knew a post was brewing. I had to juxtapose! A lovely bonus to this is that both songs are from films that feature handsome hubby Dharmendra as Hema's hero. Score!
Now we all know Hema's no stranger to knives. After all, she had knife-throwing roles in both Sapnon Ka Saudagar and Seeta aur Geeta. Even Katrina Kaif is apparently seeking knife-throwing lessons from Hemaji (read the article here).
First, from one of the earliest Hindi films I remember seeing - "Qayamat Qayamat" from Ali Baba aur Chalis Chor (1980) - one of the films I had REALLY hoped to blog about during Deol Dhamaka (I am definitely still going to blog about it at some point - it features prominently in my Bollystalgia). This film was an Indo-Soviet co-production ... something I seriously did NOT know as a child. The cast includes Dharmendra as the title role of Ali Baba, Hema Malini as Marjeena, Zeenat Aman as Fatima, and a host of both Indian and Soviet actors as the 40 thieves (Aww Mac Mohan!). A classic fairy tale obviously based on one of the most popular tales from the Arabian Nights, but spiced up with some fabulous R.D. Burman numbers! And Dharam as Ali Baba? Come on! Who wouldn't love this?
So here's Hema doing her knife wielding thing in Ali Baba ...
The 2nd song is actually from a few years earlier, and is my favorite Dharam + Hema movie - Dream Girl (1977)! I loved this movie as a child, but I must admit, I haven't seen the full movie in many, many years. We had all of the songs recorded on a VHS tape and that is what I remember most, but I do vaguely remember the storyline that featured Dharam as the rich young playboy looking for love, and Hema and Asrani as con-artists with heart (they steal to provide for their home-based orphanage - and one of their orphans is a little Padmini Kohlapuri! Also among the orphans, lovely dancer Komal from Payal Ki Jhankaar). I had hoped to also do this movie for Deol Dhamaka, but ran out of time. I remember it being fun and having a crazy climax with some killer stunts by Dharam, and also having some great comedic moments (Hema dressed as a Sanyasi, anyone?). The songs were a joy to watch, especially the title song (check out my Song of the Day post about it), "Chupa Chupi Khele Aao", and the Disneyland song. But I digress ... here is Hema in Banjaran-costume, brandishing her trusty knife in "O Raja Babu":
I sense that I am going to have some strong Deol Dhamaka Hangover, so there may be some residual posts that still make it on to the blog. But I cannot thank all the fabulous bloggers who participated in Deol Dhamaka enough! We have over 100 posts on our Deol Dhamaka links list, so I highly recommend you visit and check out some of the writings. There are some excellent write-ups that go well beyond the "OMG he's soooo hot" fare that we thought we'd have. :-)
This has been an exciting project and I am so thrilled with the participation! And stay with us ... there's still one more day in March and who knows what might happen?
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