Beth Loves Bollywood

[Not to be confused with the incomparably worse Elaan of 2005 starring Rahul Khanna, Mithun, and a bunch of other people I'd rather not watch, previously reviewed here.]

Shetty: "Fun as Mithun is, I'm a more menacing opponent, don't you think?"
Vinod K: "Yeah, our Elaan is sure better than Rahul's. Shame. They sure don't make 'em like used to."
Helen: "I'll drink to that."

Elaan may be the most fantastic and under-appreciated movie of 1971. It's exactly the kind of film I live in fear of running out of someday: loony, exuberant, stylish, exciting, and fun. It might not exactly count as masala because, despite a murdered father and a burgeoning (and convincing) love story, it doesn't have much heart. It also lacks any notable moral stance or philosophical lesson. It has most of the other trappings, though, particularly the sparkly, elaborate, eye-scarring, and science-defying ones. Whatever it is, it's delightful.

I…

Inspired by Memsaab's charge to discover the location of The Room and its adjoining pool (Hotel Horizon!), I redoubled my efforts to find the location of The Pool. You know the one: it's in Rootha Na Karo (1970),

Kahani Kismat Ki (1973),


(try 1:25)
Maha Badmash (1977),


Dhan Daulat (1980)

and maybe most spectacularly disguised in Mard (1985) (and even made dog-friendly!).




Thanks to history fans At the Edge and Mumbai Paused—with extra big kisses to one of MP's friends who grew up near the location—we have tracked down The Pool to the Bharat Petroleum Colony in Chembur! (Or, as it is known in 1971's Elaan, Burmah-Shell, which the Shell website says was taken over by the government of India in 1976!)

Which raises the question: which of the locations in this crazy film are at the Radio Club and Hotel Hiltop? Only time will tell!
Here is a screen cap from Wikimapia showing that if you zoom in far enough you can see the pool itself and, if my eyes do not deceive me, a shadow of …