Aar Paar Movie Review: Guru Dutt’s Love Triangle

Aar Paar Review: In Brief
A former convict has to choose between love and a life of crime


Aar Paar Review: Verdict
Guru Dutt's love triangle is a must for those who haven't seen the filmmaker's light romantic side


Aar Paar Review: Story Plot
A former taxi driver Kalu Birju (Guru Dutt) gets released from prison after serving a sentence for an accident case and seeks employment at a garage where love blossoms between him and the garage owner's daughter Nikki (Shyama). When the garage owner finds out that Kalu is a former convict, he throws him out of his garage, much to Nikki's anguish.

Birju convinces Nikki to elope with him but at the last minute, she is unable to do so as her father is ailing and taking this as a sign of betrayal, Birju gets dejected and moves away from her, only to get embroiled in the activities of a criminal gang, who are planning to rob a bank and need Birju to be their getaway driver. If things were not complicated enough, a female member of the gang (Shakila) has fallen in love with Birju. How Birju foils their plot and gets reunited with his ladylove forms the rest of the plot…


Aar Paar Review: Performances
For all those who have only seen Guru Dutt's angst-ridden performance in movies like Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool, Aar Paar is definitely worth a watch just to see how the talented filmmaker handles a light-hearted love triangle with a hint of drama. Dutt, who played tragic roles in the aforementioned films, is seen essaying the role of a happy go lucky lover, who knows how to woo a woman with his roguish charms. Shyama as the high-spirited Nikki and Jagdish Sethi as Lalaji, the garage owner too perform their parts well. It a young Jagdeep as 'Elaichi' and Johnny Walker as Rustom, who provide the laughs with their antics as and when required.


Aar Paar Review: Direction
Like mentioned earlier, Aar Paar should be watched by those who have only seen Guru Dutt's tragic films. This romantic-comedy-thriller was directed by Guru Dutt too and in certain scenes, it can be made out that Dutt was influenced by Hollywood noir. Overall, Aar Paar is a light-hearted watch.


Aar Paar Review: Music
When it comes to music, Aar Paar wins hearts with every song! With musical and lyrical gems like kabhi aar kabhi paar, babuji dheere chalna, sun sun sun zalima and elo main haari piya, the movie is a delight as far as songs are concerned. O.P Nayyar achieved major success with this film and the music of the film remains evergreen even today (in fact, kabhi aar kabhi paar was also remixed a few years back for a video album).


Aar Paar Review: Final Word
Fans of the golden era of Hindi music should watch this movie to get swayed by the magic of the O.P Nayyar-Majrooh Sultanpuri combination, not to forget Guru Dutt's romantic side.