Love in Simla/RNBDJ

This week's release Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is about a simple-looking man who transforms himself for the sake of love into a trendy dude. One of the early ugly duckling-to-swan films, was the romantic musical Love in Simla (1960).

It was RK Nayyar's first movie, after he had worked with the RK banner for a couple of films, and it introduced a new pair Joy Mukherjee (the producer S. Mukherjee's son) and Sadhana. She played the orphaned Sonia, who lives with her uncle (Kishore Sahu), aunt (Shobhana Samarth) and cousin Sheela (Azra). Sonia is the plain, tomboyish one with thick spectacles, Sheela is the pretty, vain sister, and she gets preferential treatment all the time. Sheela's boyfriend is Dev (Joy Mukherjee), whom she intends to marry.

One day, hurt and fed up of the cousin's cruel taunts, Sonia challenges Sheela that she will make Dev fall in love with her. It seems impossible, but in true Cinderella style, her grandmother (Durga Khote) decides to help change her into a glamorous doll. The makeover is classic—out go the glasses, the hair is trimmed (with the famous, trend-setting Sadhana fringe), she is made to drape a sari, walk gracefully and dance beautifully. She is now worthy of being in the race for snaring the eligible man.

The plot (Agha Jani Kashmiri) is sexist to the core, but garbed in humour, pleasant songs and the freshness of the actors. Then there's the dance competition (like in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi), Sheela drops Dev as a partner because he is not such a good dancer. He takes Sonia on to the floor and they win the contest. Sonia also wins a beauty contest, much to her cousin's chagrin. Sonia goes on to beat Sheetal at her game at every step, but finds that she and Dev have fallen in love with each other and revenge is now complicated… but not too much. There is no space for melodrama in a romantic comedy, so the love birds are united in the end.

Iqbal Qureshi's score had some hummable numbers like Dil tham ke chal, Love ka matlab pyar hai, Ae baby idhar aa, Gaal gulabi kiske hain… but he did not become a major name in the film music biz.

Sadhana and director Nayyar fell in love with each other during the making of this film. After a bit of struggle with disapproving parents they got married (in 1966) and were, till his death in 1995, one of the happiest couples in Bollywood.