Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)

Truly Dreadful Film

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Saw this film for the 2nd time after a very long gap. The DVD print was very sharp and that always helps. CKNG is a landmark Hindi film for 2 reasons: (1) It is the only Hindi film which starred all 3 Kumar brothers (real family name Ganguly). (2) It paired the 2 most beautiful actresses of all time in the history of Hindi cinema--Veena (real name Tajour Sultana) & Madhubala (real name Mumtaz Jehan Dehlavi); note that this pairing was as adults. Madhubala did appear as a child actress in a 1946 film in which Veena starred. With all due consideration that old time actress Veena was in disheveled make-up for most all of her scenes, Veena's stunning beauty still managed to break through. Only at the last scene of this wacky comedy, do the viewers get to see Veena all neat and prim. Even so, it is apparent that the filmmakers did not go all out to showcase Veena's full beauty via the most suitable make-up and hairstyle befitting her. Film director Satyen Bose must have been well aware of the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, and the forgotten Ritz Brothers when he directed this fare. As crazy and talented as Kishore Kumar was on screen, there were generations of Indian filmgoers who for the life of them could never understand how the gorgeous Madhubala ever married him of all the people in the world. It was like gorgeous Ava Gardner marrying Mickey Rooney in the early 1940s...Truly jaw-dropping. Of the 3 brothers, only Ashok Kumar looked somewhat like a matinée idol in his youth. Let's face the facts, Anoop and Kishore looked like cartoons...And on occasion, acted like cartoons. But for this film, it was right on the money. Speaking of money, this film was the 2nd highest grossing Hindi film of 1958. Where this film fell short is in the backdrop of the romance of Ashok's Brijmohan and Veena's Kamini. That was a very promising subplot which certainly should have been given a far superior treatment than it was. The same can be said of the romantic subplot of Anoop's Jagmohan and Sahira's Sheela. Veteran screen great K. N. Singh provides a powerful, menacing presence in this movie as the main heavy. Singh was reunited in this film with his HUMAYUN co-stars Ashok Kumar & Veena, the 1945 Mehboob Khan epic. Singh was even more menacing here than he was in that historical drama. This movie most certainly had the potential of being an all time classic Hindi film comedy but ended up falling short of it. Nevertheless, it is a film that must be viewed at least once by fans of Hindi films.

The Ganguly brothers came together for this hilarious venture. This story of a misogynist older brother (Ashok Kumar), an inept and sycophantic middle brother (Anup Kumar), and a simple yet suave younger brother (Kishore Kumar) will have you in stitches. Directed by Satyan Bose, the film had a plump and cute Madhubala in the lead.I love Ashok Kumar as the older brother who is trying to keep his brothers away from all contact with women, Kishore as the younger brother who is falling for a woman who came to the car repair garage late one night, but most of all I find Anup Kumar incomparable as the middle brother who veers from side to side, unable to take a stand. He was a comic genius in this film. O Mannu Tera Hua Ab Mera Kya Hoga!!! LOL! Sachin Dev Burman spun magic in the songs that were situationally perfect and often hilarious! Ek Ladki Bheego Bhaagi Si was super melodious. The fantasy number Main Sitaron Kaa Tarana had Madhubala in a classical dance garb carrying a black purse! Hal Kaisa Hai Zanab Kaa, and Hum The Woh Thi were so cute. There was an excellent Mujra by the duo of Helen and Cuckoo, in which you can see Helen excel in a rare classical number.The story was interesting, acting great by all the actors. I consider a pick me up kind of film and watch it and laugh at it any number of times. If you have not yet seen it what are you waiting for?

I suppose that much of what I found hard to watch about this film was due to the cultural differences between what I find to be entertaining and what the expectations of a Bollywood aficionado would be. For one thing, the song and dance numbers were tremendously over-long and primitive in execution and the glue that held them together (the story) wasn't at all compelling.I'm sure that there were funny bits that were lost on me since I didn't speak the language, but musicals and comedic films from other languages including Hong Kong action films and Japanese comedies work just fine for me.And I was looking for the similarities to the Marx Brothers mentioned in previous comments about the film. I didn't see it with the exception of the conceit that the three main characters were brothers. In fact, the relationship that they had reminded me more of the Three Stooges rather than the Marx Brothers.Oh, and whomever released this on DVD made it so the viewer had to sit through about fifteen advertisements for their other DVD releases. I can understand the average of four trailers on a DVD but this was ridiculous.

This is a true classic! Simple story, wonderful music, great acting, brilliant cast and phenomenally hilarious!!!Three brothers (brothers in real life too) manage a car repairshop, the eldest (Ashok Kumar) being a misogynist because he was jilted once. Hence, he does not want his younger, and in his eyes, naive brothers to go after women. So, he stops them from any female contact whatsoever. But the inevitable happens, and they fall in love one after the other. What ensues is all sorts of hilarious situations - an enormously funny boxing match (between the eldest and the youngest brother, played brilliantly by Kishore Kumar) where the referee (Anup Kumar playing the middle brother) gets knocked out, crazy detective routines, an out of this world car race and the typical climax - a fight sequence.This movie stands tall amongst the greatest comedies ever, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Singin' in the Rain, Modern Times etc. Shows you that you do not need to get obscene or profane to get laughs! And believe me, this one gives you more laughs than you can handle!!!