Andaz (1971 film) - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

Andaz (Hindi: अंदाज़, English: Style) is a 1971 Hindi romantic movie starring Shammi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Rajesh Khanna and Simi Garewal. The film was directed by Ramesh Sippy. The film was a considerable success and important in the career of Malini as an actress. The film features "Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana", one of the best known Bollywood yodels which also featured on the soundtrack of Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala. The song fetched singer Kishore Kumar a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer. When this film released, films of Shammi Kapoor were not doing well at the box office. The 10-minute cameo including made by Rajesh Khanna is credited for turning Andaz (1971) into a hit film. This film is counted among the 17 consecutive hit films Rajesh Khanna between 1969 and 1971, by adding the two hero films Marayada and Andaz to the 15 consecutive solo hits he gave from 1969 to 1971. Further this film is the first of the successful script writing that Salim-Javed started.

Plot

This film tells the story of a widow Sheetal (Hema Malini) who is left devastated after the death of her husband Raj, (Rajesh Khanna). She is left with a son to look after and teaches in a school. One of her students is the daughter of widower Ravi (Shammi Kapoor). The children become instrumental in getting the single parents to meet and fall in love with each other.

Andaz was one of the last movies for which the great music directors duo, Shankar- Jaikishan composed music together. Jaikishan died of liver cirrhosis on 12 September 1971 at the young age of 42. "Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana" (Life is a beautiful journey) turned out to be the last song that Jaikishan recorded before his death.

Andaz also proved to be the last hit for Shammi Kapoor as a lead. The success of this movie is credited to the Rajesh Khanna Mania of the 70s, as Rajesh Khanna only appeared for 15 minutes in the movie, and still created a stir. However, Shammi's performance was well received and it is considered to have been one of the most uncharacteristic roles in his acting career. So also, Ajit played a sympathetic man who repents for his mistake not to accept Hema Malini as his daughter in law after the death of his son Rajesh Khanna.