Like 99.9% of Indian movies, Kashmir Ki Kali (1964) too is a mind-numbing piece of trash.

Mighty depressing to think about the dismal state of Indian film industry.

Four decades back, India was churning out trash and, as we well know at SI, in 2011 the Bollywood bozos are still putting out a copious amount of garbage.

But unlike the tons of asinine movies that emerge out of the Augean stables of Bollywood with unceasing regularity, Kashmir Ki Kali, produced and directed by Shakti Samanta, has two redeeming features – the presence of the peerless, recently departed and dearly mourned, Shammi Kapoor and the superb music courtesy of O.P.Nayyar, Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle

Junk Romantic Comedy

As with most Indian films, Kashmir Ki Kali too is a romantic comedy with the love-birds forced to jump through multiple hoops before they can live happily together.

The story and screenplay by Ranjan Bose is hopelessly amateurish and downright silly, made worse through the addition of the lost-and-found theme that was a popular fixture of Indian cinema in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Shammi Kapoor plays a rich young man Rajiv, who runs off to Kashmir to avoid his mother’s persisting attempts to get him married.

No sooner is he in Kashmir, than he bumps into a poor flower seller Champa at a lodging house when she heaves a bucket of cold water over his head on a freezing Kashmir night.

Soon, the differences in social standing notwithstanding love blossoms between the flower-seller and the rich multimillionaire industrialist.

But before the relationship can flower into marriage trouble, they have to navigate a sharp thorn  in the form of local timber merchant Mohan (Pran), who has had his eyes on Champa for long.

The story then takes some bizarre turns and twists with the introduction of the ‘lost and found’ element that completely beggar belief and turns the whole thing into a hopeless farce.

Awful Sharmila

No, Shammi Kapoor’s co-star Sharmila Tagore didn’t impress us one bit.

Not with her acting and certainly not with her looks despite her tender years (just 18 when the movie debuted).

Hey, just because someone’s got a fair complexion or a slit don’t expect us to jump up in an ecstatic fit.

This Sharmila Tagore chick, or Begum Ayesha Sultana as she now calls herself after converting to Islam, has zero sex appeal and less than average acting skills.

In scene after scene, her actions appear despairingly crude.

Big Treat – Shammi Kapoor

Shammi Kapoor is the treat royale of Kashmir Ki Kali as he is in most of his movies.

With his inimitable gestures, the quick head-movements, the body tilts, the impish smile,the great dance steps, the swagger and the wild antics, Shammi Kapoor is a volcano of energy and a great joy to watch.

And rewatch, as millions of his fans will attest.

In our darkest moments, logging on to YouTube and watching Shammi Kapoor has never failed to cheer us up.

Fine Music

The music, of course, is a treat in Kashmir Ki Kali.

They’ve stood the test of time for nearly four decades and surely their appeal will last several decades more.

Whether it’s the first song Kisi Na Kisise Kabhi Na Kabhi where you see Shammi Kapoor ‘playing’ the harmonica or the subsequent numbers like, Tarif Karun Kya Uski picturized on the lake, these songs are for the ages.

Other memorable and pleasing songs in Kashmir Ki Kali include Diwana Huwa Badal, Isharon Isharon, Subhan Allah and Meri Jaan Balle.

Your favorite blog SearchIndia.com strongly recommends Kashmir Ki Kali for the dazzling, peerless Shammi Kapoor and the fine music.

  Kashmir Ki Kali, Shammi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore