Handsome heir Kumar Vijay Singh inherits his family's mansion, and slowly finds romance with Rahda, who doesn't know what to make of him at first. But there's supposedly a curse on his family, as his grandfather committed an atrocity against a local girl, and every owner of the manor has died a horrible death since then. Is the supernatural involved, or just a murder-crazed madman?
If this all sounds familiar... IT IS! By my count, this is the 10th film adaptation of Doyle's "The Hound Of The Baskervilles", and, the 2nd made in INDIA! If you're the sort who finds fascination delving into what is, by American standards, a truly ALIEN culture and style, this may grab you as it did me. If not... best avoid it as if it were a silent film (you'll have to read subtitles in either case, heh).
This is a stunning, gorgeous, moody, and beautiful film. It's also one of the only times I can recall someone doing a romantic-musical-comedy-murder mystery-- with so much emphasis on the romance and the music, that at times you might forget about the murder plot. It's also hilarious to watch the girl, Rahda, as she can't decide whether to be annoyed with newcomer Kumar, or madly fall for him.
Other comedy is had in the form of detective Gopichand Jasoos, who shows up because the police are offering a huge reward for capturing the murderer. Actor Asit Sen reminds me a little of Avery Scheiber (of all people), and anyone complaining about how silly he gets at times forgets that in "Hound", the main focus is on DR. WATSON, not Holmes! (And YES, there IS a "Holmes"-- of sort-- in this version.)
We also get the sub-plot about the family servant signalling to an escaped convict, a local doctor, ANOTHER doctor who's Rahda's uncle, and a very suspicious character hobbling around on crutches who DOESN'T need them. I must admit, the first time I watched this movie, I was COMPLETELY faked out as to the identity of the murderer-- and the REAL detective-- by the way the characters were portrayed, and only at the end did I realize it should have been obvious all the time for anyone familiar with multiple film versions of the story. (The guy with the crutches, in fact, was a reference to a particular film version of "Hound"-- the one with Basil Rathbone!)
There's no "hound" in this version of the story at all, but plenty to hold your attention, which is good, as at 2 hours 38 minutes, this pretty much qualifies as an "epic". The climax appears to borrow from the long-lost 1929 German version of "HOUND", as it takes place in a series of underground tunnels, part of which are flooded with water. The way it's shot, however, reminds me more than anything of the climax of "THE THIRD MAN". I just love comparing different adaptations of the same stories.
I do wonder if this movie was shot in widescreen or not (if it was, the print I have is missing half the visual). I also wish someone would do a restoration of it, as it has inconsistent picture quality, lots of cuts & damage, one brief scene edited in twice by accident (!!), and, the print looks decades older than it is! (I just watched a 1916 film that looked newer than this one did, thanks to a 4K scan of its negative.)
Now if only I can find a copy of "JIGHANSA" (1951). The only online store that had a copy of that recently, the seller confirmed it was a Region 0 disc, and it had English subtitles... but, he DIDN'T ship to the USA. So close, and yet so far!
If this all sounds familiar... IT IS! By my count, this is the 10th film adaptation of Doyle's "The Hound Of The Baskervilles", and, the 2nd made in INDIA! If you're the sort who finds fascination delving into what is, by American standards, a truly ALIEN culture and style, this may grab you as it did me. If not... best avoid it as if it were a silent film (you'll have to read subtitles in either case, heh).
This is a stunning, gorgeous, moody, and beautiful film. It's also one of the only times I can recall someone doing a romantic-musical-comedy-murder mystery-- with so much emphasis on the romance and the music, that at times you might forget about the murder plot. It's also hilarious to watch the girl, Rahda, as she can't decide whether to be annoyed with newcomer Kumar, or madly fall for him.
Other comedy is had in the form of detective Gopichand Jasoos, who shows up because the police are offering a huge reward for capturing the murderer. Actor Asit Sen reminds me a little of Avery Scheiber (of all people), and anyone complaining about how silly he gets at times forgets that in "Hound", the main focus is on DR. WATSON, not Holmes! (And YES, there IS a "Holmes"-- of sort-- in this version.)
We also get the sub-plot about the family servant signalling to an escaped convict, a local doctor, ANOTHER doctor who's Rahda's uncle, and a very suspicious character hobbling around on crutches who DOESN'T need them. I must admit, the first time I watched this movie, I was COMPLETELY faked out as to the identity of the murderer-- and the REAL detective-- by the way the characters were portrayed, and only at the end did I realize it should have been obvious all the time for anyone familiar with multiple film versions of the story. (The guy with the crutches, in fact, was a reference to a particular film version of "Hound"-- the one with Basil Rathbone!)
There's no "hound" in this version of the story at all, but plenty to hold your attention, which is good, as at 2 hours 38 minutes, this pretty much qualifies as an "epic". The climax appears to borrow from the long-lost 1929 German version of "HOUND", as it takes place in a series of underground tunnels, part of which are flooded with water. The way it's shot, however, reminds me more than anything of the climax of "THE THIRD MAN". I just love comparing different adaptations of the same stories.
I do wonder if this movie was shot in widescreen or not (if it was, the print I have is missing half the visual). I also wish someone would do a restoration of it, as it has inconsistent picture quality, lots of cuts & damage, one brief scene edited in twice by accident (!!), and, the print looks decades older than it is! (I just watched a 1916 film that looked newer than this one did, thanks to a 4K scan of its negative.)
Now if only I can find a copy of "JIGHANSA" (1951). The only online store that had a copy of that recently, the seller confirmed it was a Region 0 disc, and it had English subtitles... but, he DIDN'T ship to the USA. So close, and yet so far!