Angoor (1982) is a legendary Hindi comedy film directed by Gulzar, celebrated for its sophisticated wit and clean, situational humor. It is a masterful adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, specifically modeled after the 1963 Bengali film Bhranti Bilas.
The Plot: A Quadruple Mistake
The story centers on two sets of identical twins separated at birth. Eccentrically, both pairs are named similarly: the masters are both Ashok (played by Sanjeev Kumar) and the servants are both Bahadur (played by Deven Verma).
The chaos begins when the second pair of twins (Ashok 2 and Bahadur 2) arrives in town on a business trip. Mistaken identities spiral out of control as family members, spouses, and even a paranoid jeweler (convinced of a heist) confuse the two sets. One Ashok is a harried family man, while the other is a bachelor obsessed with detective novels, leading to a "comedy of errors" that avoids slapstick in favor of brilliant wordplay and timing.
Key Highlights
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Starring: Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma in double roles; Moushumi Chatterjee and Deepti Naval.
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Direction: Gulzar's direction is praised for being sensical and aesthetic, moving away from the bawdy humor of its era.
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Music: Composed by R.D. Burman, featuring the catchy and ironic "Pritam Aan Milo."
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Legacy: It won Deven Verma the Filmfare Award for Best Comedian and remains a benchmark for Indian literary adaptations.
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