Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971 film)

Hare Rama Hare Krishna
Dev Anand and Zeenat Aman
हरे रामा हरे कृष्णा
Directed by	Dev Anand
Produced by	Dev Anand
Written by	Dev Anand
Based on	The 1968 movie Psych-Out by Richard Rush
Starring	Dev Anand Zeenat Aman Mumtaz
Music by	R. D. Burman
Cinematography	Fali Mistry
Edited by	Babu Sheikh
Release dates	9 December 1971 (1971-12-09)
Running time	149 min.
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Hare Rama Hare Krishna is a 1971 Indian film directed by Dev Anand starring himself, Mumtaz and Zeenat Aman. The film was a hit^[1] and a star-making vehicle for Zeenat Aman, who played a westernized hippie, and won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award,^[2] as well as the BFJA Award for Best Actress.^[3] The movie dealt with the decadence of the Hippie culture. It aimed to have an anti-drug message and also depicts some problems associated with Westernization such as divorce. It is loosely based on the 1968 movie Psych-Out.

The story for Hare Rama Hare Krishna actually came to Dev Anand's mind when he saw hippies and their fallen values in Kathmandu, Nepal where he was on a visit after protests against his previous film Prem Pujari in Calcutta. He was low in spirits because his film had been opposed and some had burnt Prem Pujari's posters.

Plot

In the background of the rise of the International Hare Krishna movement in the 1970s, is a Montreal-based family of the Jaiswals, consisting of mom, dad, son, Prashant, and daughter, Jasbir. Due to differences, Mr and Mrs Jaiswal separate, leaving Jasbir with dad, and Prashant with his mom. Eventually Prashant and his mom travel to India, leaving father and daughter behind in Montreal. Mr. Jaiswal remarries, and brings his new wife to live in his home. Jasbir is told by her nanny that her mother & brother are dead. Back in India Prashant is sent to a boarding school and his father makes sure that none of Prashant's letters reach Jasbir, so that it would be easy on her part to get over emotional trauma. Jasbir is upset with her inconsiderate step-mother and ignorant father who is deeply immersed in his business.

Years later, Prashant has grown up to be a pilot. He has received a letter from his dad that Jasbir, who had rebelled and left home, is now located in Kathmandu, Nepal, with a group of hippies. Prashant decides to find his sister and hopefully get her back to the family. When Prashant lands in Kathmandu he does not find Jasbir, but instead finds Janice, who is indeed his sister with a new name. Janice has no recollection of her childhood, and is always in the company of hippies spending most of her time consuming alcohol & drugs with them.

Janice lives with the hippies in the property rented out by local landlord Drona. Drona's real business is stealing ancient artifacts from Kathmandu and selling it to foreign nationals. Michael, one of the hippies, is the one who does all the dirty work for him. Janice's boyfriend Deepak misunderstands that Prashant is trying to woo Janice, hence they exchange a few blows every time they meet. Meanwhile Drona has an eye on Shanti, a local salesgirl working in one of the shops owned by him. Shanti has feelings for Prashant which creates one more enemy for him. Later Prashant and Shanti elope and get married. At the same time a precious idol is stolen from local temple by Michael, which he hides in Janice's house. Prashant secretly observes all this. Drona tries to frame Shanti for theft by secretly planting another stolen artifact in her house. Later he spreads the word that since the day Prashant has arrived idols are being stolen and he is stalking local girls.

The police commissioner is a friend of Prashant's father, and has already received a letter stating the purpose of Prashant's visit to Kathmandu. He suspects that Drona is trying to frame Prashant because he has married Shanti. He gets a search warrant for the entire property of Drona and recovers a diary which has contact details of his friends abroad who help him sell the stolen artifacts. The police also recover the stolen artifact from Shanti's home, squarely blaming Prashant for it. Shanti is deeply hurt by this and looks around for Prashant. Prashant meanwhile is with Janice, trying to convince her that he is her brother, who she had been told dead long back. Michael overhears the conversation & conspires to put the blame on the brother-sister duo. Taking advantage of the situation Drona and Michael instigate the locals against Prashant by framing him for the theft and duping Shanti under pretext of marriage. The hippies and the locals are now ready to bash Prashant the moment they come across him.

When Prashant again tries to meet Janice, the hippies give him a solid thrashing. The police commissioner intervenes and Prashant is saved. At the same time real face of Drona is uncovered and he meets his end trying to run away from police. Janice sees that both her parents have arrived to meet her and realizes that Prashant is indeed her brother. Janice is deeply hurt that her parents had to see her in this state. She runs away from them and commits suicide. In her suicide note she tells Prashant how deeply she loved him and she never intended him to find her in this state and suicide was the only way out for her.

Cast

Zeenat Aman- Jasbir Jaiswal / Janice
Dev Anand - Prashant Jaiswal
Mumtaz - Shanti
Baby Guddi - Young Jasbir
Satyajeet - Young Prashant (as Master Satyajit)
Prem Chopra - Dronacharya
Rajendra Nath - Toofan
Mehmood Jr. - Machina
Sudhir - Michael
Kishore Sahu - Mr. Jaiswal
Achala Sachdev - Mrs. Jaiswal
Mumtaz Begum - Shanti's Mother
Iftekhar - IGP
Raj Kishore - Sakhi
Gautam Sarin - Deepak
Indrani Mukherjee - Mrs. Jaiswal (2nd)
Yashodra Katju - (as Yashodhra Katju)

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by Rahul Dev Burman and the lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. The songs, "Dum Maro Dum" and “Hare Rama Hare Krishna” were instant hits with the youth even as “Kanchi re kanchi re”, “Dekho o diwano” and “Phoolon ka taron ka” showed the versatility of composer R.D. Burman.^[4] Asha Bhosle won Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for the song "Dum Maro Dum", which was a huge hit.

See also

• Hare Krishna in popular culture

References

External links

• Hare Rama Hare Krishna at the Internet Movie Database