Shashi Kapoor’s Jab Jab Phool Khile Was An Extremely Judgemental Film. Here’s Why

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Jab Jab Phool Khile is a pretty formulaic mainstream Hindi film but upon rewatching it, it is more than obvious that this film operates just on stereotypes.

If you have seen enough mainstream Hindi films, you will know the classic Hindi film trope where the love story’s biggest conflict is the class difference between the man and the woman. In such films, one character comes from an insufferable rich family that looks down upon everyone who is poor and the poor character has a heart of gold with some steely integrity. The formula is pretty old and tired but when in 1965, director Suraj Prakash made Jab Jab Phool Khile with it, the Shashi Kapoor-Nanda starrer turned out to be one of the most successful films of its time. Not just that, when the same film was remade 30 years later as Raja Hindustani, it was still a huge hit.

In case you have not seen Jab Jab Phool Khile, let me give you a preview. Rita, played by Nanda, is a well-educated rich woman who has just returned from the US. She wants to go on a vacation to a serene location. Her parents suggest Kashmir and send her packing with a woman, who can best be described as a lady’s maid (like from Downton Abbey). This is where she meets a houseboat owner named Raja, played by Shashi Kapoor. Shashi single-handedly makes the film a jovial experience as his charming smile makes you believe in his innocence. In one of the early scenes, Raja just barges into Rita’s room at the crack of dawn to replace some bedside flowers and when she gets offended by his unwelcome presence, he gets upset. At this point, it is obvious that these two come from opposite worlds. He doesn’t even know the concept of knocking and she comes from a society that has some serious rules in place. But as it happens in the movies, the love story begins where for the most part Rita looks like she is just tolerating him so she can rebel against her parents.

At one point, a probable suitor named Kishore comes into the mix. He has been sent to Kashmir to accompany Rita on her solo travels by her parents. This particular angle of the story seemed quite forward-thinking for its time but what we actually see on screen is quite sanitised. Rita believes herself to be an independent woman and is baffled at the concept of a man controlling a woman’s life. So when Raja confesses his love for her, and also says that he won’t let her talk to any city folk once she marries him, you assume that Rita would notice the red flag. But no, that’s where you are wrong! Instead, Rita falls deeply in love with him and is happy to be the gaon ki gori who would walk his sheep in the valley.

Jab Jab Phool Khile mainly operates on the stereotypes of rich vs poor people, the trope that could make for a mediocrely funny YouTube video today, but not an entire feature film. Even after you are told that Rita loves Raja, you keep waiting for the other shoe to drop because all this while she makes him go through various makeovers, hoping that he will become the man that ‘fits’ in her society. Raja, on the other hand, is in a culture shock when he sees women drinking, dancing with strangers and is completely stupified when Rita suggests that he could dance with someone else as well..

Watching it in 2022, you can see how they come from different worlds and are probably not a great match, given their ideologies. The storytellers here are very insistent on telling you that rich people have no moral compass, and will just do whatever they please. The film is so judgemental towards its characters, and keeps reminding you that anyone who has money is a horrible person. Before falling in love with Raja, Rita yells at her lady’s maid because she sees her in one of her dresses, saying she would rather throw the dress away than wear it again. Thereby implying that not even the heroine of the film is a good person.