I wrote a review of Teesri
Manzil, you can read it here. But there were certain other things that I
wanted to elaborate on, which would not be possible without giving out a lot of
the story.
So here goes..Warning spoilers ahead.
As I said in my review, this is a movie which at its essence
is about how dangerous love can be. I felt that the major motive driving the
actions of all the characters in the movie was love or a perversion of it.
We have Rupa, the sister of Sunita(Asha Parekh) who is
engaged to marry Ramesh (Prem Chopra). But on going to Park Hotel gets
infatuated with the hotel band drummer Rocky (Shammi Kapoor). When Ramesh finds
out about this he is infuriated with her, and is involved in some capacity in
her death.
After the death of Rupa, Ramesh very quickly shifts his
affection to her sister Sunita.
There is Ruby(Helen) the hotel dancer who is in love with
Rocky. She tries to create conflict between Rocky and Sunita, and is portrayed
to be a vamp of sorts. But she also sacrifices her life to save Rocky.
Rocky our protagonist is in love with Sunita. As the story
progresses he is seen to be working towards winning her affection. There are a
few other interesting elements to Rocky’s character. While being the hero of
the movie, he is also a naïve fool at times.
He trusts the suspicious looking hotel staff Daka with
delivering his confession to Sunita. Daka gives it to Ruby, who uses this to
try and end Rocky’s relationship with Sunita.
At the point when Inspector Das reveals to Rocky that Rupa
was murdered, Rocky stumbles around in a haze of confusion and does a few not
so intelligent things.
In one scene, a lady comes to his room instructing him to
get in a car and go to a hotel where he will find the killer. Rocky trusts her
and does not suspect that the car is rigged. (Break failure. Yes I know,
extremely unique right?)
But after nearly dying in a car accident, the Rocky that
emerges is a slightly changed one. And I liked how Rocky learns to think better
on his feet towards the end of the movie.
Kunwar Saab on discovering that Rocky has survived the car
crash insists that he sleep in his bungalow. And to insure that Rocky takes
rest instead of dashing of doing something stupid, he locks him in the room. This
does not strike Rocky is odd.
Now in the locked room, Rocky discovers a coat with a button missing. And all the
other buttons are of the same kind as that of a button found on Rupa’s dead
body. Rocky realizes that Kunwar Saab is the murderer.
Next comes the smart part. Rocky is stuck in the bungalow on
a hill. He has no mode of transport to take him to the police station. He can
try walking. But there is a possibility that sometime in the night, Kunwar Saab
will be coming to his room (For murderous intents, not romantic ones). And on
not finding him there, he will chase Rocky. Bruised man walking vs murderer in
car. Not great odds.
So what does Rocky do? He makes it look like he has run away
from the bungalow and actually stays back. Rocky also manages to get Sabina,
Kunwar Saab’s mistress to admit on phone to the police, about their hand in the
murder of Rupa.
Another smart thing that Rocky does is when Kunwar Saab
barges in, as Sabina is confessing. Kunwar Saab shoots Sabina. It is a very late hour of
night and there is only the electric lamp illuminating the room. The only way
to improve the survival odds for Rocky, would be by reducing room visibility(Or
becoming bullet proof). In the few seconds of Kunwar Saab firing the shot at
Sabina, Rocky smashes the electric lamp. Smart.
Kunwar Saab is a quite complex character. In front of the
world he plays the part of a rich, kind industrialist while really he is a
cruel, manipulative and cunning man.
A domino effect of sorts leads to the murder of Rupa. Kunwar
Saab’s wife finds out about his affair with Sabina. One night she walks in on
them in a hotel and tries to shoot Sabina. While trying to stop his wife,
Kunwar Saab ends up accidentally killing her. Rupa happens to stumble onto
Kunwar Saab disposing the dead body. (Rupa was on route to meet Rocky in his
room. She had threatened to kill herself if he does not meet her.) Kunwar Saab
chases Rupa to Park Hotel and pushes her from the third floor.
Rupa had knocked on Rocky’s door that night when Kunwar Saab
was chasing her, but Rocky did not open the door because he did not like her
and wanted to distance himself from her. Rocky probably also felt that letting
strange girls into your room at a late hour of night was wrong.
Interestingly if Rocky had opened the door that night, not
knowing that Rupa was being chased by a murderer, then she would have lived.
His sense of moral principles partly contributed to her death.
Also if Rupa had not let herself get infatuated with Rocky,
she would have lived. Her engagement with Ramesh(Prem Chopra), a boring,
arrogant and rich guy could have possible allured her to Rocky. Who in
comparison was a kick ass drummer.
I feel that Rocky was more well matched to the vivacious and
rebellious Ruby. But maybe it was not acceptable to have that sort of girl as
the heroine in those days of cinema.
Kunwar Saab as a person sinks lower and lower to protect
himself as the movie progresses. And I think the process starts when he first
gets into an affair with Sabina. In the end as he is hanging from the ledge of
his bungalow, he looks down at the people standing below and realizes that the
truth is no longer hidden. And he chooses to die instead of living in shame.
Sabina herself is not exactly innocent. Her reasons for
standing by Kunwar Saab seem mixed. Partly fear and perhaps partly greed.
And oh yes, inspector Das smokes a lot throughout the movie.
You might think that you would not want to see this movie,
after reading all this. But even after knowing the climax, you can still enjoy
this movie!
At its essence Teesri
Manzil is a movie about mystery,
crime and suspense with a flavor of Shammi Kapoor’s style and certain elements
of Indian cinema. So if you get the time, then do have a look. Watch it!!
