Pyar Ka Rog (1994; guest appearance) – Review in English

In this film, Sanjay does just a cameo as himself.

About the story: After several quarrels, the college students Ravi Singh (Ravi Behl) and Reena Sharma (Sheeba) fall in love with each other. With the help of Ravi's fatherly friend Col. Kapoor (Shammi Kapoor) they get the blessings of Ravi's father, the slightly weird Col. Udham Singh (Anupam Kher). Udham himself is in his second youth: after an accident where he hurt his leg he fell in love with his nurse Mohini Sharma (Bindu). When Reena watches them bill and coo for the first time she is shocked as Mohini is her mother...


Never before I was tempted to start a film review with remarks about the music, but with Bappi Lahiri's musical stew for Pyar Ka Rog I simply cannot resist. The opening credits start with a mixture of Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Star Wars, during the film Lahiri adds ingrediences from the soundtracks of Star Trek, Pink Panther, Hatari and Love Story and an extra pinch of Modern Talking. Plus a few songs of his own, and you get a music mishmash you won't get every day even in the Hindi Cinema of the 90's.

As for the movie, it's a little intimate play with just five protagonists and a few guest stars. Of them, Vinod Khanna and Archana Puran Singh at least get some dialogue scenes while Sanjay Dutt and Chunkey Pandey literally just pop in when the protagonists are dancing to tunes out of their films. Being named as guest appearances in the opening credits just for such a blink-and-miss part speaks, I guess, for the popularity they enjoyed at that time.

The film's main protagonist Anupam Kher was unfortunately wasted as a comic relief like so often in those years; only in the film's last phase when the atmosphere becomes more serious he is allowed to imply his true acting capabilities. Shammi Kapoor and Bindu act solid and convincing, and Sheeba and Ravi Behl are a sweet young couple. But though they even risk a lip-lock, their flirts are harmless against Anupam's and Bindu's alliances when the retired colonel mutates to a teenager in love, acts "hip" with a black mullet wig and shades, and cuts up a mean floor with Bindu.

And at least in that phase Sanjay Dutt's fans who, tempted by the mentioning of Sanjay's guest appearance, took a peek at this film, have all the reasons to chuckle. Anupam & Co. not only warble away songs from Sanjay's movies Saajan, Sadak and Thanedaar – Bindu and Anupam even imitate Madhuri Dixit's and Sanjay Dutt's legendary dance scene "Tamma Tamma Loge" (with Bappi Lahiri's music) from Thanedaar. No wonder that in this scene an amused Sanjay appears and shows his approval – even though his appearance obviously was canned somewhere else. Maybe during a break on the sets of one of his own films.

Produced by Shanoo Mehra; Directed by Akashdeep
131 Min.; VCD: Moserbaer, no subtitles
© Diwali