Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai (1960)

“I have given my heart to one who loves another.” There’s a reason that my Bollywhat profile says “Putting on too much eyeliner and pretending to be Meena Kumari”. She’s captivating, and I watched this movie solely on the basis of the haunting Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh. I felt in the mood for a very lighthearted review, but this movie is beautiful and despite my distaste for Raj Kumar as a romantic lead, I was completely entranced.

Our heroine Karuna is a nurse, orphaned and alone in the world.

When someone says "Tell me more about yourself", maybe
tell them about your hobbies or something, not the story of why your
parents committed suicide.

But she does know how to smile and have fun, at least at the beginning of the movie.

She meets Dr. Sushil Verma (Raj Kumar) and his family, and is set to domestic duties almost immediately.

Please take note, viewers, of this good potential wife and daughter-in-law.

They fall in love in quiet moments with significant glances, and bond over cheerful topics like death.

Sushil is guilted into marrying the daughter of a family benefactor (Nadira), who turns out to be a bit of a spiteful shrew. In Kusum’s defense, she probably had as little interest in the marriage as he did, and isn’t keen to set up housekeeping on a hospital’s grounds with a man who’s never there and doesn’t like her. But she is written as the spiteful shrew, so a spiteful shrew she must be.

There are some less-than-subtle comparisons between Kusum and Karuna re: bahu suitability.

Dr. Verma starts to regret things, as shown in the eerily relevant item song, a charming Helen number.

Just to ensure we have no sympathy whatsoever for Kusum, she refuses calls from the hospital until it is too late for Sushil to save his patient.

Plus, she doesn’t help with the cooking, and Sushil’s sick mother is forced to resort to take-out!

Karuna and Sushil have that destined, compelling sort of love that doesn’t actually seem to make anybody happy.

Delirious after an unexplained medical emergency, Sushil confesses his love for Karuna in front of Kusum, sending her off the deep end with jealousy, and Karuna running away.

We know he is sad because TEARS. This guy is so wooden it drives me crazy. Meena Kumari shows restrained strong emotion in the subtlest of ways, and Raj Kumar gives us a blank face with fake tears.

And here comes the crazy.

And she’s right. I mean, obviously that’s no reason to drive somebody off a cliff, but you can’t pretend she’s isn’t in a crappy position.

You can count the times Karuna smiles in this movie on one hand, and every time it’s so worth it. She does it so rarely, especially around Sushil, but realizing that Kusum means to kill them both does amuse her. She’s not afraid of death. But all that angsting is not for nothing! Sushil rescues Karuna from the sea, and, well: