"Actor: Bir Sakuja"

• Kashmir Ki Kali | DVD | (05/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Rajib sole heir to a millionaire industrialist is often chided by his mother for his somewhat eratic behavior. On one such an occasion he goes out of the way to announce an award of five lakhs to his mill workers an act which is very distressing to his mother and her manager Shyamlal. Shyamlal suggests that they should try and find a suitable bride for the boisterous young man as he would surely settle down after marriage. Marriage however is not something which fits into Rajib

• C.I.D. | DVD | (20/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Noir, Indian style: that in a nutshell is Raj Khosla's classic crime thriller C.I.D. (1956). Dev Anand plays the intrepid C.I.D Inspector Shekhar who is trying to solve the murder of a newspaper editor. On the way to achieving this he comes across a variety of stock film noir characters including a do-gooder with a dark side, a vamp with a heart of gold and a bumbling sidekick. All the elements of the genre are present, from the enigmatic woman to the cigarette-puffing hero to the tough police commissioner. And of course our hero finds true love as well. Produced by cult actor/director Guru Dutt, C.I.D. is a worthy companion piece to the Dutt-directed hit Baazi (1951) which explored similar territory. Cinematographer VK Murthy, who is now revered as one of the best ever, creates a shadowy, smoky world that perfectly frames the on-screen happenings. What makes it uniquely Indian is the introduction of several popular songs that enhance rather than disrupt the narrative. The suave Dev Anand is more of a soft-boiled detective than a hard-boiled one. But what makes the film memorable is Waheeda Rehman's vamp who is as coy, sexy and mysterious as they come. On the DVD: C.I.D. on DVD comes with a note that says "reproduced from vintage source for the sake of nostalgic appeal, hence possibly compromising on quality". Happily, the quality is quite good barring a couple of dropouts near the beginning. The black and white transfer is not as crisp as it could be, but given the state of film preservation in India it is quite acceptable. The subtitles are accurate. The best feature on the DVD is Nasreen Munni Kabir's three-part Channel 4 documentary "In Search of Guru Dutt" which is a comprehensive and fascinating look into the life and work of C.I.D.'s producer. --Nanan Ramachandran

• Aar Paar | DVD | (20/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Kaalu (Guru Dutt) is a jobless common man aimlessly roaming the streets with no real ambition in life. He does small odd jobs and one day he takes up a job in a garage. There he meets and fall in love with Nikki who is the garage owner's daughter. Meanwhile he also meets a dancer (Shakila) in a bar where he goes to deliver a message to Captain from one of his jail mates. He asks Nikki's father for her hand in marriage who refuses as he thinks Kaalu as a worthless thug. Dejected he goes to see Captain and tells him of his dream to buy a taxi and become a taxi driver. Captains offers to buy him the taxi on the condition that it will be available for his use whenever he needs it. Kaalu agrees not knowing that Captain intends to use the taxi for smuggling. Kaalu then asks Nikki to elope with him. Nikki refuses. One day he finds out about Captain's nefarious activities and refuses to be a part of it. He is captured and about to be killed when Shakila tells Captain to force Kaalu to smuggle instead of killing him.