By:
Taran
Adarsh,
IndiaFM
Saturday,
August
04,
2007
Come
to
think
of
it,
who'd
be
interested
in
watching
a
film
that
first
released
50
years
ago?
There're
chances
that
people
may've
caught
it
on
TV
or
DVDs.
Or,
to
be
brutally
frank,
they
might
want
to
give
the
film
a
skip.
But
Naya
Daur,
even
after
50
years
of
its
first
release,
has
the
magnetism
to
keep
your
eyeballs
focused
to
the
silver
screen.
Sure,
rural
themes
are
rarely
attempted
these
days
and
storytellers
have
moved
on
to
greener
pastures
[read
urban
themes].
Also,
the
film
lacks
the
visual
appeal
to
entice
the
viewer
of
today,
but
despite
the
oddities,
Naya
Daur
works
for
several
reasons...
[a]
It
depicts
the
triumph
of
the
human
spirit,
which
can
never
go
out
of
fashion;
[b]
The
relationships
[Dilip
Kumar-Ajit,
Dilip
Kumar-Vyjayantimala]
are
so
human
and
believable;
[c]
O.P.
Nayyar's
lilting
score
is
unforgettable;
[d]
The
man
versus
machine
race
in
the
penultimate
reels
is
astounding.
Write
your
own
movie
review
of
Naya
Daur
It's
very
difficult
to
review
a
classic.
But
even
at
the
cost
of
sounding
repetitive,
let's
say
that
they
don't
make
films
like
Naya
Daur
anymore.
Besides,
over
the
years,
we've
seen
a
lot
of
clones
of
Dilip
Kumar,
Vyjayantimala
and
Ajit.
Watching
the
originals
is
a
different
experience
altogether!
Dilip
Kumar
lives
the
role
of
Shankar,
an
upright
villager
who
revolts
against
the
city-bred
Jeevan.
There
were
no
acting
schools
then,
no
dubbing
theatres
to
enhance
your
performance,
not
much
technical
support
to
make
you
look
smashing.
Yet,
Dilip
Kumar's
performance
strikes
a
chord
even
today.
Commendable
performances
come
in
from
Vyjayantimala
[natural],
Ajit
[fiery],
Johny
Walker
[exceptional],
Nasir
Hussein
[first-rate]
and
Jeevan
[nice].
Although
B.R.
Chopra
made
movies
before
and
after
Naya
Daur,
Naya
Daur
will
always
remain
one
of
the
finest
cinematic
works
to
come
out
of
B.R.
Films.
The
power
of
a
storyteller
looms
large
as
the
reels
of
Naya
Daur
unfold.
Technically,
the
colorization
is
proper
and
the
sound
quality
is
sharp.
To
sum
up,
Naya
Daur
is
a
classic
and
will
always
remain
one.
To
skip
the
film
would
be
sacrilege.
Go,
relive
the
experience!