An Evening in Paris
Encyclopedia
An Evening In Paris is a 1967 Indian Hindi film. Produced and directed by Shakti Samanta
, Story by Sachin Bhowmick
. The movie stars Shammi Kapoor
, Sharmila Tagore
in a double role, Pran as the villain, and Rajindernath
in the comic subplot.
Meanwhile, Deepa's father's secretary's son, Shekhar (Pran) needs money to clear his gambling debts. Knowing that Deepa is rich, he plans to marry her. Jack, a gangster to whom he owes the money, threatens him to repay the debts at the earliest. Shekhar tells him that he will do so soon by marrying a rich girl, Deepa. However, since Deepa does not love him, she refuses telling him that she only loves Sam.
When Jack sees Deepa, he is taken aback and mistakes her to be someone he knows. But Deepa remains clueless. Jack then takes Shekhar to his casino/ hotel, where they see a girl who is identical to Deepa. Her name is Suzy (Sharmila Tagore), a club dancer in the same casino.
Shekhar, angry at Deepa, hatches a plan. He approaches Suzy and convinces her to be a part of his plan by offering her a huge amount of money. He takes Suzy with him and shows her Deepa with Sam, so that she can learn her mannerisms. When Jack kidnaps the real Deepa, Shekhar puts Suzy in her place at her home. Due to this replacement, initially nobody gets to know about Deepa's kidnapping. Suzy pretends to be Deepa and goes out with Sam. Eventually Sam starts to notice the difference. He get suspicious when he notices Suzy (pretending to be Deepa) smoking and drinking - classic signs of an identical double switch.
Deepa's father learns Deepa's kidnapping and flies to Paris. Sam and Deepa's father discover that Suzy is Deepa's lost twin sister, who had been kidnapped when she was very young and her real name is Roopa. Deepa's father is overjoyed that he has found his daughter, but Suzy refuses to accept herself as his daughter.
Sam follows Suzy to find whereabouts of Deepa. Suzy puts a condition to tell him about Deepa, as per which Sam has to marry her. She has fallen in love with him while pretending to be Deepa. Sam refuses saying that he only loves Deepa. This angers Suzy at first but later she realizes that she should not come between her sister and her love.
Jaggu, now working for Jack, who has also been an ex-employee of Deepa's father, goes to see him asking for ransom to release his daughter. Deepa's father agrees, but Sam slams him unconscious, before which he tells them to go to a certain place with the ransom money. Shekhar overhears this conversation.
As the story climaxes, Suzy arrives with Jack at his hideout where he has kept Deepa to show her the resemblance and leaves them alone for a while to take care of some chores. Suzy then reveals to Deepa that she is her lost twin sister. Despite her refusal, she convinces Deepa to switch places and escape.
Sam and Shekhar go separately to Niagara Falls to ransom Deepa. Shekhar arrives at the secret hide out first. At the same time, one of Jack's men informs him about Sam's arrival. When Jack confronts him, Shekhar kills him and the real Deepa (pretending to be Suzy) escapes just before that. Shekhar then collects Suzy thinking she is Deepa. He learns that she is actually Suzy when she sees Sam and yells a warning that Deepa has escaped and is waiting for him at Jack's Boat. Angered, Shekhar shoots Suzy and tries to shoot Sam. Sam escapes, and just before following Shekhar, he tells Makan Singh to go and help injured Suzy. Shekhar reaches the boat where Deepa is waiting for Sam and drives off with her. Sam also reaches just after Shekhar drives off. He jumps in the boat from a helicopter and beats Shekhar up. Sam throws him overboard where he floats over the waterfall. Deepa and Sam escape to a small rock in the middle of waterfall from where they are rescued by the helicopter.
The movie closes with Sam and Deepa hanging to the ladder of helicopter with a song (Aasmaan se aya farista) playing in the background.
's appearance in a bikini in An Evening in Paris set off a cultural wave in India and the film's claim of first bikini appearance of an India
n actress remains one of its most notable aspects. She also posed in a bikini for the glossy Filmfare
magazine. The costume shocked the conservative Indian audience, but it also set a trend of bikini-clad actresses carried forward by Parveen Babi
(in Yeh Nazdeekiyan, 1982), Zeenat Aman
(in Heera Panna
1973; Qurbani
, 1980) and Dimple Kapadia
(in Bobby
, 1973) in the early 1970s. Wearing a bikini put her name in the Indian press as one of Bollywood's ten hottest actresses of all time, and was a transgression of female identity through a reversal of the state of modesty, which functions as a signifier of femininity in Bombay films. But, when Tagore was the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification
, she expressed concerns about the rise of the bikini in Indian films.
Shakti Samanta
Shakti Samanta was an Indian film director and producer, who founded Shakti Films in 1957, which is most known for films like Howrah Bridge, China Town, Kashmir Ki Kali, An Evening in Paris, Kati Patang and Amar Prem.He received Filmfare Awards for Best Film for Aradhana, Anuraag and Amanush,...
, Story by Sachin Bhowmick
Sachin Bhowmick
Sachin Bhowmick was an Indian Hindi film writer and director. Writing was his main work and he wrote stories or screenplays for over 94 films. He was also a regular contributor to Ultorath, a Bengali magazine on cinema.-Writing highlights:...
. The movie stars Shammi Kapoor
Shammi Kapoor
Shammi Kapoor was an Indian film actor and director. He was a prominent lead actor in Hindi cinema from the late 1950s until the early 1970s....
, Sharmila Tagore
Sharmila Tagore
Sharmila Tagore is an Indian film actress. She has won National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards for her performances.She has led the Indian Film Censor Board from October 2004 till March 2011...
in a double role, Pran as the villain, and Rajindernath
Rajindernath
Rajendra Nath Malhotra was a comedian actor in Indian Hindi and Punjabi films.-Early life and family:His family was from Peshawar but settled in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. He studied in college at Darbar College, Rewa where Arjun Singh and R.P...
in the comic subplot.
Synopsis
After being unsuccessful in finding her true love in her own country, India, a rich girl named Deepa (Sharmila Tagore) goes to Paris, France in search of it. Her father's secretary already lives there, so in order to take care of her in the unknown country, her father informs him and also hires an assistant, Honey, and a driver, Makkan Singh (Rajindernath). On one of her outings, Deepa meets Shyam/Sam (Shammi Kapoor), who immediately falls in love with her and begins to follow her around. After some initial resistance, Deepa eventually gives in to his charms.Meanwhile, Deepa's father's secretary's son, Shekhar (Pran) needs money to clear his gambling debts. Knowing that Deepa is rich, he plans to marry her. Jack, a gangster to whom he owes the money, threatens him to repay the debts at the earliest. Shekhar tells him that he will do so soon by marrying a rich girl, Deepa. However, since Deepa does not love him, she refuses telling him that she only loves Sam.
When Jack sees Deepa, he is taken aback and mistakes her to be someone he knows. But Deepa remains clueless. Jack then takes Shekhar to his casino/ hotel, where they see a girl who is identical to Deepa. Her name is Suzy (Sharmila Tagore), a club dancer in the same casino.
Shekhar, angry at Deepa, hatches a plan. He approaches Suzy and convinces her to be a part of his plan by offering her a huge amount of money. He takes Suzy with him and shows her Deepa with Sam, so that she can learn her mannerisms. When Jack kidnaps the real Deepa, Shekhar puts Suzy in her place at her home. Due to this replacement, initially nobody gets to know about Deepa's kidnapping. Suzy pretends to be Deepa and goes out with Sam. Eventually Sam starts to notice the difference. He get suspicious when he notices Suzy (pretending to be Deepa) smoking and drinking - classic signs of an identical double switch.
Deepa's father learns Deepa's kidnapping and flies to Paris. Sam and Deepa's father discover that Suzy is Deepa's lost twin sister, who had been kidnapped when she was very young and her real name is Roopa. Deepa's father is overjoyed that he has found his daughter, but Suzy refuses to accept herself as his daughter.
Sam follows Suzy to find whereabouts of Deepa. Suzy puts a condition to tell him about Deepa, as per which Sam has to marry her. She has fallen in love with him while pretending to be Deepa. Sam refuses saying that he only loves Deepa. This angers Suzy at first but later she realizes that she should not come between her sister and her love.
Jaggu, now working for Jack, who has also been an ex-employee of Deepa's father, goes to see him asking for ransom to release his daughter. Deepa's father agrees, but Sam slams him unconscious, before which he tells them to go to a certain place with the ransom money. Shekhar overhears this conversation.
As the story climaxes, Suzy arrives with Jack at his hideout where he has kept Deepa to show her the resemblance and leaves them alone for a while to take care of some chores. Suzy then reveals to Deepa that she is her lost twin sister. Despite her refusal, she convinces Deepa to switch places and escape.
Sam and Shekhar go separately to Niagara Falls to ransom Deepa. Shekhar arrives at the secret hide out first. At the same time, one of Jack's men informs him about Sam's arrival. When Jack confronts him, Shekhar kills him and the real Deepa (pretending to be Suzy) escapes just before that. Shekhar then collects Suzy thinking she is Deepa. He learns that she is actually Suzy when she sees Sam and yells a warning that Deepa has escaped and is waiting for him at Jack's Boat. Angered, Shekhar shoots Suzy and tries to shoot Sam. Sam escapes, and just before following Shekhar, he tells Makan Singh to go and help injured Suzy. Shekhar reaches the boat where Deepa is waiting for Sam and drives off with her. Sam also reaches just after Shekhar drives off. He jumps in the boat from a helicopter and beats Shekhar up. Sam throws him overboard where he floats over the waterfall. Deepa and Sam escape to a small rock in the middle of waterfall from where they are rescued by the helicopter.
The movie closes with Sam and Deepa hanging to the ladder of helicopter with a song (Aasmaan se aya farista) playing in the background.
Cast
- Sharmila TagoreSharmila TagoreSharmila Tagore is an Indian film actress. She has won National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards for her performances.She has led the Indian Film Censor Board from October 2004 till March 2011...
...Deepa/Roopa/Suzy - Shammi KapoorShammi KapoorShammi Kapoor was an Indian film actor and director. He was a prominent lead actor in Hindi cinema from the late 1950s until the early 1970s....
...Shyam/Sam - RajindernathRajindernathRajendra Nath Malhotra was a comedian actor in Indian Hindi and Punjabi films.-Early life and family:His family was from Peshawar but settled in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. He studied in college at Darbar College, Rewa where Arjun Singh and R.P...
...Makhan Singh - Pran...Shekhar
- K.N. Singh...Jack
Cultural impact
Sharmila TagoreSharmila Tagore
Sharmila Tagore is an Indian film actress. She has won National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards for her performances.She has led the Indian Film Censor Board from October 2004 till March 2011...
's appearance in a bikini in An Evening in Paris set off a cultural wave in India and the film's claim of first bikini appearance of an India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n actress remains one of its most notable aspects. She also posed in a bikini for the glossy Filmfare
Filmfare
Filmfare is an English-language tabloid-sized magazine about Indian cinema. Published by The Times Group, India's largest media services conglomerate, in Mumbai , it highlights the doings of the Bollywood film scene...
magazine. The costume shocked the conservative Indian audience, but it also set a trend of bikini-clad actresses carried forward by Parveen Babi
Parveen Babi
Parveen Babi was an Indian actress, who is most remembered for her glamorous roles alongside top heroes of the 1970s and early 1980s in blockbusters like Deewar, Namak Halaal, Amar Akbar Anthony and Shaan...
(in Yeh Nazdeekiyan, 1982), Zeenat Aman
Zeenat Aman
Zeenat Aman is an Indian actress who has appeared in Hindi films, notably in the 1970s and 1980s. She was the second runner up in the Miss India Contest and went on to win the Miss Asia Pacific in 1970...
(in Heera Panna
Heera Panna
Heera Panna is a 1973 Hindi film. Written, produced and directed by Dev Anand for Navketan films, the film stars Dev Anand, Zeenat Aman, Rakhee, Rehman, Jeevan, A.K. Hangal, Paintal and Dheeraj Kumar.The film's music is composed by R. D. Burman.-Plot:...
1973; Qurbani
Qurbani (1980 film)
Qurbani is a 1980 Indian Bollywood movie. The word "qurbani" means "sacrifice" in English. Produced and directed by Feroz Khan . The film stars Feroz Khan, Vinod Khanna, Zeenat Aman, Amjad Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Aruna Irani, Amrish Puri and Kadar Khan...
, 1980) and Dimple Kapadia
Dimple Kapadia
Dimple Chunnibhai Kapadia is an Indian film actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 16, playing the title role in Raj Kapoor's teen romance Bobby . In that same year she married Indian actor Rajesh Khanna, and retired from acting. Kapadia returned to films in 1984 after her separation...
(in Bobby
Bobby (1973 film)
Bobby is a 1973 Bollywood film directed by Raj Kapoor. The film was widely popular, and widely imitated. It also represented the film début for Dimple Kapadia and the first leading role for Raj Kapoor's son, Rishi Kapoor....
, 1973) in the early 1970s. Wearing a bikini put her name in the Indian press as one of Bollywood's ten hottest actresses of all time, and was a transgression of female identity through a reversal of the state of modesty, which functions as a signifier of femininity in Bombay films. But, when Tagore was the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification
Central Board of Film Certification
The Central Board of Film Certification is a Government of India regulatory body and censorship board of India controlled by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It reviews, rates and censors motion pictures, television shows, television ads, and promotional material...
, she expressed concerns about the rise of the bikini in Indian films.