User Reviews

Love and marriage are two very significant issues in the life of human-beings. As far as love is concerned, it may happen at any stage of a person's life. It is said that love just happens, not deliberately accomplished (Pyaar Kiya Nahin Jaata, Ho Jaata Hai). Hence whatever is your age or situation, you are destined to fall in love with someone of opposite sex, you can't do anything about it. You may not express your love to him or her but love for him or her is bound to exist in your heart.

But marriage ? Marriage is an altogether different business. Why ? Because marriage involves commitment, marriage calls for shouldering responsibility and marriage means a life-long association with the spouse. It is much more than love and hence marriage cannot just happen. It is to be carried out deliberately after investing a lot of thought in the decision. That's why, when a male or a female is past his / her reasonable age to enter into wedlock, the decision to marry someone is not that easy even when the concerned person is in love. You may be an eligible bachelor or an eligible maiden but if your age does not entitle you to be called a boy or a girl, then ?

Prem Vivah (1979) is a family drama that deals with this issue. As the title suggests, the story involves both love (Prem) and marriage (Vivah).

The story deals with the life of four characters only. Asha Parekh and Bindiya Goswami are two unmarried sisters. Bindiya is quite young whereas Asha is well past her marriageable age. Their parents being dead long back, Asha has been more like a mother to Bindiya than her elder sister and for the sake of fostering her only, she had neglected the issue of her own marriage. Now Bindiya herself has attained marriageable age and she is in love with an eligible bachelor Mithun Chakraborty. The twist in the tale comes with the entry of a mature-age bachelor Utpal Dutt.

Utpal Dutt who is almost double the age of Bindiya Goswami, comes across her and falls for her charms. However he is under a false impression that Bindiya also loves him whereas the fact is that Bindiya only respects him. Through Bindiya, he is introduced to her elder sister Asha Parekh. Now with his regularly meeting the sisters renders an impression to them that he is in love with Asha. Asha also starts liking him and starts dreaming to marry him when her younger sister ties the sacred knot with her beau. Misunderstandings continue and when the truth dawns upon the characters of this story, the issues has become too complicated to handle. Since Mithun Chakraborty has to move abroad after marrying Bindiya who is ambivalent due to being concerned for her elder sister; it's Utpal only who has to take a compromising decision to cope with this cruel jest that destiny has cracked on them, especially him.

Personally I believe and almost everybody will agree to it that if at all one has to marry, he / she should ensure that the marriage takes place at an appropriate age. However now the trend is that people continue to remain unmarried till they are in their thirties. Well, late marriages bring many problems with them but the other side of the picture is equally important. Since a majority of marriages in India are more or less a gamble with life (one may win, one may lose), if someone waits for Mr. Right or Miss Right, there is no harm because bachelorhood is a much better option that remaining unhappy after marriage and restlessly longing to break free from its shackles.

The second issue is the love emerging for someone who is much younger or much older in age. In this movie, mainly the complication is due to Utpal Dutt's attraction for a much younger Bindiya Goswami who cannot guess in the wildest of her dreams that Utpal visits their family for the sake of his love for her only and always remains under the impression that his feelings are for her elder sister who belongs to his age-group. Well, in my humble opinion, in such a situation, the concerned people should not allow any communication gap to creep in and give rise to misunderstandings. Communication gap is a highly undesirable thing when it comes to relationships. Straightforward talks should take place and everything should be clarified without a hitch, else things can go from bad to worse only.

The movie has been directed by Basu Chatterjee very well but being a serious movie, it's not the cup of tea of those who watch movies for fun. There remains an undercurrent of tension in the later half of the movie and this tension makes the movie burdensome. Only those who are able to relate to any of the characters and the situations shown, may find themselves as engrossed. Though the curiosity regarding the climax remains, it is more or less a forgone conclusion.

The narrative has been lifted by the admirable performances of the lead actors. All the four principal artists have delivered mature performances as per the demand of the story.

All in all, Prem Vivah deals with a significant issue but does not offer any solution. Even when a person (male or female) remains unmarried till his / her forties, the age does not affect the tender feelings for someone which may emerge at any stage of life because human-beings are bound to love because they need love for them too. However marriage may be performed as a compromise with life. In my opinion, the challenge which is much bigger that making this compromise, is to love the person whom you have married without love. It may prove to be a Herculean task but it is mandatory if the marital life is to survive.

Prem Vivah Directed By Basu Chatterjee is A Romantic /Comedy / Family Drama. Script is Well Written, Screenplay is Interesting At The Same Time Absorbing. Direction is Very Subtle . Dialogues Are Good. Editing is Very Fine.

Neela(Asha Parekh )Unmarried Woman in Her 30's, Has Past What Indian Society Considers The Marriageable Age. Her Younger Sister Deepa(Bindiya Goswami) Has A Fiancée Ajay Pratap(Mithun Chakraborty). She Feels Guilty That She is Getting Married, While Her Sister Will Be Left Alone. She Sets Out To Find A Husband For Her Before Ajay Moves To U.K With Her After Marriage. When She Sees Her Sister Admire Dr. Bhaskar(Utpal Dutt) On Television, She Brings Him Into Their Lives. Unfortunately, Dr. Bhaskar Falls For Deepa And Isn't Aware That Neela Has Fallen in Love With Him. How Deepa Untangles Herself From This Situation is Rest Of The Story.

Acting, Utpal Dutt & Bindiya Goswami Both Performed Really Well in Their Respective Characters. Asha Parekh is Fine in Few Scenes. Mithun in His Early Days Looks Phenomenal.

Music By Laxmikant Pyarelal is Very Average. "Milte Rahiye" By Kishore & Amit Kumar is Best Of Lot.

Overall Great Content, Must Watch For It's Interesting Plot.

Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee are pioneers of middle road cinema with relatable stories and characters and realistic outlook within the commercial mould. Prem Vivah sounds like a romantic film but actually it is the story of the mature characters and the tensions that arises when the younger lot try to make them fall in love. This film has the trademark simplicity of basu da with admirable performances by all actors involved from Asha Parekh, Utpal Dutt, Bindiya Goswami and Mithun Chakraborty. Mind you Utpal Dutt is the protagonist of the film, Mithun is more of a supporting actor in the film. What it lacks is the trademark middle class humor of basu da's films. The film particularly in the second half is very serious in its tone. Music of the film is quite ordinary not of the calibre of Laxmikant Pyarelal and the weakest link in the film. Good thing is that there are no subplots and only 4 characters and story doesn't meander much. Overall a decent watch if you don't expect a glossy romantic film but rather a much more mature romantic film.