Manoranjan

It is a 1974 Indian Hindi film directed by Shammi Kapoor. It is a remake of Irma La Douce. Sanjeev Kumar Plays Jack Lemmon’s role, Zeenat Aman Shirley MacLaine’s & Shammi Kapoor plays Lou Jacob’s. Hotel Casanova is called Hotel Mauj.

It is perhaps the only Hindi movie where prostitution was presented as a ‘fun ‘activity without moralising. The lead actress sleeps with men other than the hero & is not an issue. For India of 1974 the film was a revolution. It was panned by the critics & the audience due to the sense of immorality.

Shammi Kapoor had decided to play the lead but by 1974, he felt he was too old & the role went to the talented Sanjeev Kumar. But the audience wasn’t ready & the film flopped.

It is slow & in an age of pace, nothing happens it becomes boring. We keep hoping for action & that doesn’t happen.

In 1974, Aman had ‘Roti, Kapda aur Makaan’ & ‘Ajnabee’ which did well. She has many films doing well in the 80s. This just did not work out.

Sanjeev Kumar appeared in ‘Aandhi’, ‘Mausam’ in 1975 & never looked back. He had a success with ‘Aap Ki Kasam’ in 1974 itself. He has acted in thrillers along with romantic films. He was voted the seventh greatest actor of Indian cinema of all time in a poll conducted by Rediff. com.

Today Zeenat is active with many roles in films. But we have lost Shammi Kapoor & Sanjeev Kumar. Their memories linger on with their films.