HUM DONO Innocence revisited in the age of plastic romance

Dev Anand's HUM DONO which has been released in colour after 50 years, when it was first released, saw the return of the romantics of the era gone by to visit the nostalgia once again and soak in the ambience of romance. Though there have been previous attempts of coloring the movie and releasing them again, notables among them being NAYA DAUR and MUGHAL-E-AZAM, they could not attain success at the box office primarily owing to the reason that the content was not contemporary. HUM DONO however is a different timber, as it is a love story where there is a lot of drama and lot of action, more so it is an urban cinema, with a contemporary touch; after all, army never goes out of relevance from cinema. HUM DONO also is a pointer to the manner in which cinema ought to be made and it is also underlining the fact that Nav Ketan banner till the time all its stalwarts were there was a banner to be reckon with. HUM DONO would also provide ample evidence about the innocence that Sadhna could weave on the cinematic screen, a feature that does seem to be in vogue these days in most of the cases. Dev Anand had made scores of films in his career, but HUM DONO was made into color as it was the film that presented a different form of Dev Anand, a boisterous one, who gave a new sense of respect to the uniformed soldier in the Indian public. It has been fifty years, but the songs of HUM DONO still continue to mesmerize the romantics and the eternal longing to be in the throes of the beloveds still is best encapsulated in the song : "Abhi Na Jao Chod Kar". It harks us back to the time when romance still was expressed through the eyes and verbal expressions and also points out why Dev Anand still continues to create a sense of euphoria and excitement when he appears on the silver screen, in particular through his old cinemas. But there is economics associated with the release of HUM DONO as well. It being one of the most successful films made by Navketan, Dev Anand would try to reap commercial benefit in higher volumes, factoring in the present rate of returns from box-office, so that his zeal for movie making continues to go on unebbed. May the color of HUM DONO spread romance of nostalgia in all his fan followers as also the romantics so that romance never goes out of their life.