Video of the Day: “Khel Wohi Phir Aaj Ti Khela” from Nigahen: Nagina Part II (1989)
March 13, 2008 by sitaji
I should have seen Nagina (1986) first, which is reviewed very well here at the Bolly Blog, but what arrived in the mail was Nigahen: Nagina Part II (1989). This crazy snake themed movie stars Sridevi, Sunny Deol, Anupam Kher, and Pran. As an extra bonus, occasionally we get to hear the magical voice of Amrish Puri from his look alike statue, but I bet in Nagina he was a lot more than a statue. I especially enjoyed that Sridevi got to play her own daughter again in this film, just like she did in Lamhe. Stop over to Planet Bollybob for an excellent review of the film.
After the tragic deaths of his son, Ajit and daughter-in-law, Rajni, Raja Saheb decides to educate his grand-daughter, Neelam, in the city. Years later, Neelam has grown up and returns temporarily to their rural palatial home. Raja Saheb would like her to live there, and look after the business, but she refuses. Then she meets with Anand, and everything changes for her overnight. Both of them fall in love, and would like to get married. Anand is introduced to Raja Saheb, and Neelam is introduced to Anand’s mom, Shanti. Both approve of this couple and plans are set for the marriage to take place. When Neelam does not know is that Anand is not who he claims to be - but in reality was a snake kept in captivity by Tantrik Goraknath, who wants to possess a priceless diamond stone called “Mani”, and Neelam is the only one who knows it’s location. And Goraknath, unlike his mentor, Bhairavnath, has ensured that no one will stand in his way when he obtains the Mani. (by rAjOo at IMDB)
The snake seems to possess Sridevi’s Neelam by doing this:
Anupan’s character is a real jerk, and was the winner of the Best Male Wig Award, but he is no match for these powerful eyes:
Watch the snake woman Sridevi in “Khel Wohi Phir Aaj Ti Khela” with playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy, and music by Laxmikant Pyarelal. Is she more snake than woman, or more woman than snake?
Thanks to grotesk55 for the video.
Spoiler Alert:
Wow your brave watching Nigahen!
Nagina 1 was enough WTF for me. Hahaha it looks pretty awful from the screenshots!
Well dw007, now you understand my blind commitment to all types of Indian movies
. Yeah it was purely a WTF movie, and to top that off the English subtitles were only on for the first 1/2 hour and then resumed again for the last 45 minutes. So there was a chunk in the middle where I only understood 1/25 of what was being said, but caught the drift. When I got to the part where subtitles reappeared, Sunny explains his mysterious 15 year disappearance by being converted into a snake trapped in a basket by Anupan’s evil character, then I was able to catch back up with what was really going on, but I suppose it didn’t really matter. I will go for Nagina though, and maybe the 2nd one was made because the first one had an unsatisfying ending, like you wrote in your review.
I do find the snake movies somewhat mesmerizing, although I wouldn’t say I like them. I’ve seen Nagin (both 1954 and 1976) and Jaani Dushman (2002) and that may be enough for me (Jaani Dushman is possibly the worst movie I’ve ever seen, and not in a “so-bad-its-good” way).
The special effects can be hilarious.
Yes memsaab, even with following the rules of suspending reality while watching, these are still too weird, yet oddly enjoyable. I was uncomfortable seeing what I first thought was a squirrel attack one of the star snakes, later to understand it was a mongoose. I immediately thought back to watching Jodhaa Akbar last week and reading at the start how no animals were harmed in the making of the film and thought that must not be true in the case of Nigahen. Poor snake.
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/mongoose.html
Yes about those great special effects. Sridevi also put on this “snake look” when the inner snake took over, which also intensely affected her body. The special effects of the screen capture alone are pretty funny, with Sunny and Sridevi’s heads suspended above their cobra bodies. And now, because I too must be possessed by a snake spirit, I will have to see BOTH of the Nagins as well as this Jaani Dushman you write of.
I love how the movie sees it fit to assure us that they did live happily ever after
LOL, Shweta, I know. I was just re-watching Raja Hindustani the other day and they had the same thing on the screen at the end.
Thanks for stopping in. I love your blog:
http://apnieastindiacompany.blogspot.com/
[...] a 1954 movie called Nagin (not to be confused with so many later movies called Nagin or Nagina or Nihagen: Nagina Part II, which are completely different, though they often return to the same snake-charming [...]
ilove sridivi
Me too aazam, thanks for stopping by.