We miss you Smita.... Review on Ghungroo

• REMINDER*: I am not an Indian but my mate is, so I do not know all of the traditions or meaning behind some words,manner of dress, festivals,etc. in your culture. I picked up this movie not knowing who SMITA PATIL was. I chose this DVD because of SHASHI KAPOOR. I did not know the actors are rarely the singers in the films...no worries, I have now been educated on this.

THE FILM BEGINS with such a beautiful voice singing from the window...VIKRAM{Shashi} is even captivated by it... Then one of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen is playing the ''sitar{?}'' she is KESAR{Smita}. Kesar is singing a devotional song and then her mean Uncle slaps her and stops her from singing . She must get ready to dance at the palace but she is ill and she pleads for a rest from dancing. At this point SURESH OBERREI {?Viveks real life dad} enters; he has always loved & protected KESAR but this love is unrequited....

The next time we see KESAR ,she is a beautiful dancer. It is a dance when a male child is about 5 years or so?? I do not know the tradition but I see this often in films for the male child. I even taped this song and try to mimic her movements ,which is very hard since I am full-figured . Of course VIKRAM mistakes her for the princess and she is embarrased when he realizes she is just the court dancer. This does not matter to VIKRAM and he showers KESAR {Smita} with attention and his love. He promises to marry her and she wants to believe him . He wants her to believe him but our fate is written before we are born .KESAR knows this, but for a moment, she forgot court dancers rarely have marriages...We cannot change that ;and so the story unfolds....

I wish I could call this next chapter ''The dance of betrayal'' or ''Devastation'' but Smita;who I don't think is ''known'' for her dancing in Bollywood films of yesteryear like HEMA or REKHA is amazing!! The song is THOFA KUBOOL HAI HAME..Each step is like she is crushing your heart. The pained look that VIKRAM has on his face with each jingle of her dancing bells is felt by you the viewer. KESAR then begins to use the entire dance floor to express her pain. You want to open the palace doors so that she can flee from this anguish. She simply dances until she drops...along the lines of PAKEEZAH actually.....

The film remains interesting because of the infamous ''villain'' RANJEET -I have read that the ''bad guy'' roles really upset him during his film career. He is really not a bad person in real life.

When Kesar and Vikrams child grows up, this is the boring, silly part of the film. The ending gets better of course but the happy go-lucky chapters of Bollywood films I don't think I''ll ever understand....I would definately rent this DVD. If you show this film to the younger generation, they will wonder too: WHO IS THIS ACTRESS?

Let's not forget Smita Patil. After viewing this film, I had to see all of her films. How unhappy I was to learn that she passed away in childbirth that doesn't really happen anymore in the U.S. So I was shocked by that. I love her paired with Shashi & Rajesh. She is wonderful with Om and Nasreeduin. Of course ,her best films are with Mithun and her husband Raj Babbar she would often play his Mother {?} in films!

SMITA is often described as a ''smoky'' ''dusky'' actress?? I do not understand what that means. I do know, she was one of the best ever.She is my most favorite of all time. You have to be a fan of hers to rent this film because it's not consistent. Too many ups and downs. The storyline is perfect up to when the children grow up, It's as if a totally different person wrote the second half! Even the film quality gets better!?

I love that 80's look where the actresses with long hair chop the front bang area from ear to ear . The bangs that just sorta hang there. I'ts cute. Maybe you will recognize this look more from Jaya Bachchan & Zeenat Aman.