Aasha

Today I remember this film because what we need in life is ‘ASHA’. It has a beautiful start with Aasha singing on stage.Reena Roy & Jeetendra in the lead. The story is good & so are the songs. It was a blockbuster. It also was a remake of Telugu movie starring NT Rama Rao & Shridevi. It was made in Tamil with Shivaji Ganesan.

This film also has the first appearance of Hritik Roshan as the small child. Deepak, a truck driver gives lift to a famous singer,Aasha, when her car breaks down. They become friends. He is in love with Mala( Rameshwari) whom he marries. He meets with an accident. Believing him to be dead, his mother drives away his pregnant wife. She jumps from a bridge but is saved.

Mala loses her eyesight ( she is blind in ‘Sunayna’ also) & gives birth to a daughter, Deepmala.Here, Deepak is alive & goes home to find only his mother. She tells him his wife has committed suicide. He is depressed when again he meets Aasha.She helps him. They get engaged.They get acquainted with Deepmala, a small girl selling god statues on the street. Aasha meets Mala & wants to pay for her eye operation. She also invites both to her wedding.

Mala goes to the wedding & is shocked to see Deepak. She returns without meeting him. But her friend (Girish Karnad) tells Deepak that Mala is alive & Deepmala is his daughter.Aasha cancels the wedding & goes back to the stage. Her signature song,’Sheesha ho ya dil ho akhir toot jata hai…’ got the best lyricist award for Anand Bakshi. It topped the charts then.

“Aashaon ke sawan mein…”,’Dhak dhakse dhadakna shikha de’ alsp were famous. Reena Roy had a better role & a screen presence than Rameshwari. Inspite of being his wife she could not make an impact. Following ‘Dulhan wohi jo piya mann bhaye’ it was expected that she would be the next star which unfortunately did not happen. Reena Roy being cast in “Apnapan’ as Jeetendra’s first wife is noticeable even when the sympathy is towards the second wife who takes good care of the child, Sulakshana Pandit.

A good movie. Happy watching!