Teesri Manzil: Movie Review(Spoilers)

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!!