The genre of the “Muslim social” carved a niche for itself in Indian cinema during the 1950s and 60s. These films often put nawabi culture front and centre— mushairas, qawwalis, shararas, and courtly romance wrapped in poetic Urdu.
The best of Netflix’s new docu-series on how the Roshans got be a multi-generational empire with a sizable contribution to Hindi cinema in the last 60 years is its first two episodes. Much like The Romantics (2023), another Netflix project on the making of Yash Raj Films (YRF), this series, too, is most fascinating when it excavates the past.
Directed by Abrar Alvi (though some say Guru Dutt himself directed the film) it starred Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rahman and Rehman and is a bitter-sweet love triangle. The conflict arises out of mistaken identity as Rehman, in love with Waheeda, mistakes her for other girl because of the purdah system and arranges for his best friend Guru Dutt get married to her instead. The performances rose above the convulted plot and the actors looked convincing in their roles. The title song, sung seductively by Mohammed Rafi is still a rage.
