Sridevipalooza project: random video #5


"Ladki Akeli Tu Bhi Akela" from Waqt Ki Awaz (1988)

This right here is why a person goes spelunking through youtube clips labeled "Sridevi." Sridevi and Mithun - my dil goes "Wheeeee!" at the very thought of their combination - do the twist, the robot,

and that move where one partner runs away and the other one pretends to reel them back with a fishing pole. She wears a jumpsuit; he wears fingerless gloves.

If all that weren't enough, I can't decide whose boots I like better: Mithun's sky blue cowboys or Sridevi's hot pink stilettos or? his duckling yellow or her gold? *


This song made me smile. It may not be the fully-loaded cracktastic sparkling stage set I was hoping to discover, but it is entertaining and charmingly everyday. For example, it has but three sets of outfits once the song starts, and they are all in the primary color palette of red, yellow, and blue - and there's only one hat.

Visually this is an uncomplicated number: boy drives truck, girl begs a ride,

girl's prettiness causes other vehicles to swerve off the road,

boy kicks her out, and they dance. And a jolly time they have of it, too.



After seeing Sridevi laden with heroes who can't quite keep up with her and roles in which she flounces in a huff, stares confusedly, or gets tied to torture devices, this is refreshing in its pure and mutual bounciness. It's fun.


My favorite thing about it song is that Sridevi is actually doing things in it. Finally my system yielded me something worthy of the star. She's cute and sassy and expressive and energetic, and she's an equal participant in the action. I can't speak for the rest of the film, but at least here her character is lively and unrestrained in both demeanor or action. I also like that the choreography has Sridevi and Mithun dance together more often. Maybe Mithun is a better dancer (at least with her) and therefore could be given more interesting things to do, or maybe this is just the effect of a different choreographer, but to my eyes this was more engaging to watch and had more going on - more like a conversation and exchange and less like an instructional aerobics video. Well, some of the time, anyway.

Woohoo! I agree.

* Also, it leads a person to "I Want to Hit Somebody" from the same film.

(and then that song to a blog with a post called "My Favorite Mithun Dance Numbers," and while I gather that the Mithun Celebration train left the station years ago, it might be due for another run....)

Comments

Banno said…
She looks like she's having a lot of fun. :)
Temple said…
Oh dear, I laughed and laughed. I'm not a huge Mithun fan as I tend to think if you've seen Disco Dancer you've seen all you need to. But Sri Devi is always so enthused when she dances , its impossible not to enjoy watching her:)
Aparna said…
This brings back memories from my school days when these songs used to play from microphones during festivals and we used to play 'antakhshari' at school with them. However, I had never 'seen' them on screen, and never, ever thought about those lyrics for 'i want to hit somebody' (honestly, waht was that?).

Good fun...and I love Mithun and Sridevi!
Banno - Agreed! :)

Temple - :) I'm glad your stony heart could soften a bit.

Aparna - Heeheee! No idea bout the lyrics - one of the great mysteries of cinema, perhaps? :) I bet there are some Mithun fans out there we could convince to interpret its Greater Meaning for us.

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