Amar (1954)

Trigger warning for r*pe.

I tried so hard to like this movie, because of Madhubala giving one of her finest performances here, but man, the story is so creepy and pathetic that I just couldn't find it in myself to appreciate anything else other than her. And her chemistry with Dilip Kumar, of course- legends are made of this stuff. 

Nimmi's performance was equally powerful as Madhubala's, a fact that I was pleasantly surprised by, since I have not seen any of her other movies. Women really have been carrying the film industry on their shoulders since the beginning itself. However, Nimmi's character was written so lazily and disgustingly, that by the end I had quite forgotten how much I enjoyed her performance. It also doesn't help that the movie is casteist as hell. The milkman's daughter worshipping the up-and-coming rich lawyer even after he r**es her? No prizes for guessing the caste dynamics here. And don't tell me that it's a product of its time because of course it is- the point is that caste is ultimately reinforced when the ending shows us how in a fit of guilt and benevolence, the lawyer marries the milkmaid, whose pregnancy has made her a subject of social ostracisation. He is shown to be fulfilling his "duty", and the fact that the milkmaid falls at his feet when at last he accepts her made me lose whatever little respect I had left for the movie by that point. 

Let me come to my new love Madhubala though- she is so FINE as badass Anju, it's unbelievable. I loved her unwavering sense of sisterhood, and her self-righteousness never got annoying for even a second because she was so sincere. As for her chemistry with Dilip Kumar- words just can't do that justice. There really will never be a pairing like theirs ever again. However, I must bring up the casteist BS in relation to her character too- Anju is very clearly a savarna woman, as can be gleaned from her arranged match with Amar, and also from the fact that she has had a foreign education. While there is nothing wrong with her feminism, it is the movie's privileging of her feminism and showing her to be the "benevolent benefactor" too, that is severely problematic. I might even go as far as to say that Anju understood intersectional feminism better than the movie's writers themselves. It's a paradox, yes, but it is what it is. I wish we got to know what happened to her after this movie ended, though. She deserved her own spin-off.

In conclusion, I would just like to thank tommydan55 on YouTube for restoring these old Hindi and Urdu movies that are past their copyright dates in superior audio and video quality. You really are the true MVP.