Review of Navrang

Navrang (1959)
7/10
A beautiful musical about a poet and his muse
2 March 2024
NAVRANG is a romantic musical set during the middle of 19th century British ruled India. The film is a fairly decent romance tale of longing, separation and eventual reunion, but what sets it apart is that the couple here are married to each other rather than your usual couple during the courtship process, that's found generally in such films. Its timeless musical album and the superb dance performances by the Sandhya is certainly the reason it's remembered most, but many people fail to appreciate the brilliance of Mahipal's performance, and the masterful set designing.

If Jamuna's character was given as much care as Divakar's, the film could have soared even higher. To be frank, Jamuna feels one-note mostly due to her poor writing, and is a character that you fail to root for, despite the fact that she too suffers a lot. But the way she treats Divakar, and the manner in which her character progresses during the 3rd act, definitely makes her the primary antagonist of this film.

Also, why was the entire film a flashback? The current timeline of events in the film serve no purpose at all, and if its entirety removed from the film, it still won't make an iota of difference.

Overall, Navrang is a classic romantic tale with a dose of patriotism on the side, and apart from some hiccups here and there, it's a fairly smooth rowing.
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