This is a joyful place and an open space where everybody is invited, the type of idealised nightclub that only seems to exist in the dream world of the movies. Instead, the door to the Princes Club opens wide, the camera glides through and the dance floor is revealed. Unlike the unnerving secret masked gathering of Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999), these masked club goers are not enigmatic, sinister figures hidden behind closed doors.
With the backing dancers and background patrons in Zorro-like eye masks, disguises perhaps prefiguring the delightful pantomime fun and comic book vibrancy of the 1966 Batman TV show, “Jaan Pehechaan Ho” has a look and feel rooted in the 1960s: heads and limbs shake and gyrate with gleeful abandon, while Surf Rock-like guitar strings twang on the soundtrack. This opening number – also featuring the band Ted Lyons & His Cubs, led by singer Herman Benjamin on screen, with vocals by Mohammad Rafi and music by Shanker Jaikishan – is such a spirited and joyful early scene that – unsurprising – it was used in the opening credits of Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001) to set the mood, getting that film off to a lively start. This is Chhaya’s only scene, but she steals the limelight before most of the principal cast are even introduced. The focus of the sequence is the luminous Laxmi Chhaya, sparkling in a gold dress, dancing with seemingly boundless energy and looking like she is having the time of her life. After the credits, the viewer is taken into a nightclub and the dynamic number “Jaan Pehechaan Ho” (“Let Us Know Each Other”) begins.
Gumnaam starts with two murders in quick succession before the opening titles, followed by a credits sequence with a propulsive score that sets an appropriately suspenseful mood. Seeing the murder mystery thriller Gumnaam ( The Unknown, Raja Nawathe, 1965) for the first time this year, the film’s opening song and dance number is a standout pop music sequence.
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