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Hrishikesh Mukherjee's NAUKRI (1978) & Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946).

07 May, 2009 | Inspired Movies (Alphabetical) / N

Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s not so famous movie NAUKRI (1978) featuring Rajesh Khanna and Raj Kapoor together, is based on a plot originally adapted by Frank Capra for his immensely popular classic IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE released in 1946. The story features a person getting help from an angel after his sudden death. The God sent angel/person makes the hero realize how he was so important and loved by all around him in his family and friends when he was alive, but he couldn’t recognize it.

In the Indianized version Rajesh Khanna plays the lead character who meets the angel as Raj Kapoor, after his death. Unfortunately the film stands no where in comparison to the other famous Hrishikesh Mukherjee's hit social and comedy movies. but still is based on a unique and novel theme, though an inspired one. 
 
On a different note, the cinema of Mukherjee somwhere gives you a strong indication that he must have been a fan of Frank Capra and his style of filmmaking (beside Billy Wilder). Simple and middle class families and their problems remained the base of many of the movies by both the master film-makers, that effortlesly touch your heart with a truly relatable feel. So if you are lover of Hrishikesh Mukherjee films, then you must watch Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “It Could Happen To You”, “A hole in the Heart” and many more of his lovable classics as a must, at the earliest.
 
Cheers!

For friends interested in reading in details about the Frank Capra classic, here is the link to the article on IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE sharing some lesser known facts
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Tags : Hrishikesh Mukherjee NAUKRI and Frank Capra's ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE by Bobby Sing at bobbytalkscinema.com, Inspired Cinema, Bollywood Plagiarism, Plagiarism in Hindi Cinema, Bollywood Gets Inspired, Cinema Gets Inspired, Bollywood & World Cinema, Inspiration from World Cinema.
07 May 2009 / Comment ( 2 )
V. Manohar

Naukri is a story about a unemployed and physically challenged young man who cannot makes his ends meet. This character is played by none other than Rajesh Khanna the Superstar- no body else would have the guts to take such role in the peak of his career. He dreams and in his dream commits suicide and bumps into a ghost- jolly old showman Raj Kapoor. Raj Kapoor teaches Rajesh Khanna reasons to live and why people should not give up. Rajesh Khanna wakes in the morning and decides to fight his way and not to commit suicide. A classical type of movie directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee who always gave better roles to Amitabh but here this role could only be played by the Original Superstar. The movie makes you sad but leaves you with a hope that we must live on. Rajesh Khanna is great in this simple role with Raj Kapoor putting in his charisma. The movie may have bombed but the spirit of the movie is worth a watch- it may have bombed as it released at a time when violence,vulgarity and Amitabh ruled and may be the movie got ignored. This is a CLASSIC movie- a must see for ALL.

Bobby Sing

Thanks V. Manohar for you detailed comment.
Keep Visiting.
Cheers!
HIS BLESSINGS

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