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 Laura Witkowski

Bollywood Ear Candy: Pyar Do Pyar Lo

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Janbaaz poster

by Laura Witkowski

I know what you’re thinking: is this a Frankie Goes To Hollywood video? And you’re perfectly right to jump to such conclusions, because oh my heavens! What on earth is going on in this den of S&M filth? I’ll be the first to say that I have no idea. ‘Pyar Do Pyar Lo’ was a big hit in the 80s and comes from the film Janbaaz which I have not seen. I know the song exceptionally well however, as it kicks off the 2003 compilation CD The Best of Bollywood which I bought and listened to incessantly when it was first released. I always thought ‘Pyar Do Pyar Lo’ was a weird choice to kick off the compilation … It’s kind of atypical for Bollywood and sounds so dated. But I have a soft spot for very dated-sounding 80s music (which seems to be making a comeback) so I’ve always loved it.

But this video! So many half-naked white people! So much weird 80s dancing! So much hand-clapping! It’s quite a production. At 1:52 into the video, we see that the performers are going through all this trouble for an audience that consists of two totally disinterested dudes. The one on the right is Anil Kapoor who you may recognize as the game show host in Slumdog Millionaire. Their lack of enthusiasm could be why, at 3:08, a person in a gorilla suit takes the stage to terrorize everybody? Add a little WTF pizazz to the performance! The gorilla gets his paws on the singer, but never fear – one of the male dancers swings in on a rope to the rescue! After being shaken off, the dancer gets back up and leap-frogs over, knees him in the gorilla nuts and chokes him. Then the rest of the dancers awkwardly drag the gorilla off the stage and the rope swinger gets to dance alone with the singer because my hero! Whew! Now that’s entertainment. But apparently not to Ami Kapoor – the shot of him at 3:54 tells you everything you need to know about his lack of appreciation for robust theatre. There’s just no pleasing some people. I just hope the rest of Janbaaz is even half as weird and captivating.

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