Ep 263- Nagina- 80s Dhamaka Series

[00:00:00] Dhamaka Dhamaka My name is Black Khan Yeah, you're standing up, you start the line from the line

[00:00:20] Hi and welcome to a new episode of Khandaan Podcast. My name is Aasim Burni and I'm joined with my lovely co-host Amrita and Sujoy. Hey Amrita, hi Sujoy. Hello everybody. Hello. We are continuing our 80s Dhamaka Series and this episode we are talking about one of Amrita's favorites, Nagina.

[00:00:45] Yes, welcome to a superhero episode of Khandaan- A Bollywood Podcast. Also, welcome to Amrita's mind palace. Yeah, basically I think Amrita's life, what are like mine was, you know, mine is Meri Jang. Amrita is, I'm your husband, my husband.

[00:01:12] And she's on her commute to work, that's what she thinks. She's talking to us, she's thinking that. Not even a joke, you guys. Like this song is on loop in my brain. Let's start then, Amrita, let's get into it. What is Nagina about?

[00:01:38] It's about, it is about the most, the most naive, the most idiotic man on the planet who like comes back from Europe, you know, like just general Europe.

[00:01:53] And he, he just goes wandering around his like, you know, his Purkhonki jaydad or whatever, walks into a khandar, sees a woman who's just sort of wafting around the khandar in white clothes with like smoke coming everywhere. And he's just like, hey, what's up? And she's like, hey, do you remember something? And he's like, no.

[00:02:20] And she's like, come, let me take you places. And he's like, okay. And then he's just like, where are you from? And she's like, do you see that mountain over there? I come from like beyond the mountain. And he's like, where's your family? And she's like, I don't have a family. And he's like, wow, I'll be your family. We can get married. And his mom is like, um, what is wrong with you?

[00:02:49] And, and he's like, there's nothing wrong with me. I've just found the most beautiful girl in the universe and I'm going to marry her. And they do get married. And that's when we find out that she's actually a snake. And maybe he should have spent five more, you know, like five more minutes thinking with something. But like, say, body parts on the top of his body rather than. He was thinking with his snake, basically, right? Exactly. Exactly.

[00:03:18] And then there, it turns out. I saw that from a mile away. Asim, I've been sitting on that. Oh, dear. And then there's like all this backstory, which is sort of creepy and grooming. And like, you know, like it couldn't, this movie could never have been made in 2025. But, um, it is a stone cold classic and it deserves to be seen by the world, I think.

[00:03:47] Sujai, I think you can maybe explain the snake genre to us. Like what is the story? What is the mythology behind it? Because I think this is for like non-desi listeners. Even, I'll be honest, even for Pakistanis, for example, this is some new shit. Basically, like, what is happening? Can you explain to us what is happening with this whole... Wait, have you not seen Nagin, the Sunil Dutt movie? No, no.

[00:04:17] I mean, I grew up with this, so I understand. Like, but I think for a lot of new listeners, this is not a genre or a storytelling trope that lives as much anymore, right? Like it was something that was very big in that era. And then pretty much, I think there was a TV serial that was on, but... Yeah, Moni Roy's Nugget. Yeah, but I think that's for a very select audience, right? I think there's a... By select, you mean like half of India? Yeah, yeah. But like, I think TV watching audiences, right?

[00:04:46] This is different from cinematic audiences, I would think. But what is this mythology between snakes? I think the mythology is very, like, Hindu mythology adjacent. You know, I'm not exactly sure how to the text it is. Especially these are drawing, like, huge creative liberties from what religious text is. But the whole snake god sort of mythology is very much related to Lord Shiva.

[00:05:13] Because a snake, you know, sits on his neck. But also like Kali Adaman, where snakes can be portrayed as deities as well as villains in mythological stories. And if you don't treat them well, if you don't respect them, if you don't worship them, they can be dangerous. And this is what sort of the mythology is. This is a universal thing, actually. Like, the Japanese have a version of this.

[00:05:42] The Chinese have a version of this. You know, like, there's a... The ability of the snake to take on a different guise and enter the world of the humans, basically. The each other is shapeshifting. Yeah. And this... The other thing you also maybe need to explain is the money. The nak money. What is it like? That's the other thing that I think we need to explain this because it's weird. So, it's always a cobra.

[00:06:11] And basically, the idea is that they... The source of their otherworldly powers comes from a jewel that they are carrying within themselves. And this jewel, like, if you're able to get it out of a snake, then that will give you the powers of that snake, basically. Yeah. And you can control, you know, people.

[00:06:40] You can do, like, all sorts of things. So, the whole Ichadari Nagin thing is very closely allied to black magic. So, there's always... It's never like a... Like, Amrish Puri's character in this movie, for example. You know, he's supposed to be a man who's devoted himself to spirituality.

[00:07:02] And he's, like, gotten all these good powers by being, like, a very strong believer of Shiva. But he is slowly seduced by black magic. And then he becomes... He wants more power. And he sort of strays from the path of good. Yeah.

[00:07:27] So, the saints or the sadhus that you see in all of these Nagin things, they're always, like, black magic, you know, practitioners and things like that. Right. Right. And do people believe this? Like, are there people that do believe that there's diamonds in cobras? I actually do think it is. Because, like, I remember being a child. And, you know, like... I've spoken about this before.

[00:07:57] Like, I used to... Basically, now that I look back, I was just really bothersome. But there was this girl called Manju whose mom used to be, you know, used to come to, like, clean our house. And sometimes her mom was just too busy or, like, didn't feel like working. So, she would send Manju over to do the housework. And I would just follow Manju everywhere as she, like, swept and mopped the house. And she would just, like, talk to me about movies.

[00:08:27] And I remember Manju talking about, like, Ichadari Nagans and stuff like that. Like, it was absolutely real for her. She 100% believed in it. And I think, like, a lot of people do, actually. Because there's a lot of superstition in this land. There's, like, a lot of people who believe in all sorts of things, you know.

[00:08:46] There's the other Bollywood trope or sort of myth that they created through the snake movies is the Ichadari Nagans or the shapeshifting snakes. They are highly monogamous. They romance for years, you know. Their love exists for ages and ages. And if one of them gets killed, the other will come back in some way or form and take their revenge. Yeah.

[00:09:15] And you have that, like, in Nagin here. You have that in the Rekha movie, which was Shesh Nag. There's so many of those. And they are all a blast. You should, yeah. Like, people who have never heard of Nagina, A, what is wrong with you? You should watch Nagina. But also, you should watch Nagin. Because I think, and then there's, like, also the old Nagin, the Vajayan Timala one from, like, the 50s.

[00:09:44] But this one, like, the one from the 70s with Sunil Dutt and Reena Roy and Gilka and Danny Dinh Zongpa. And, like, just, like, a giant cast. It was so much fun. I love that movie. But, unfortunately, it's from the 70s, so we can't talk about it on this series. But, yeah. It's 70s ka jaani dushman. Yeah. And it's great. Like, it's so much fun. And let's also not forget Hiss, starring Malika Sharawat, directed by Jennifer Lynch.

[00:10:14] And with Irfan Khan in it. Yes. Yes. A classic. A classic for the ages. Yeah. So, yeah. Snake movies have kind of, like, I think even Tum Mere Ho, Dood Ka Karz. They had all, like, these snake charm and kind of elements. Dood Ka. Dood Ka. It's a classic Khandan episode, Tum Mere Ho, because we had Pitu on there, right? I'm glad that there is no Rishi Kapoor line saying, Kate Ghi Kya.

[00:10:46] Yeah. Maybe the B-roll there was. Yes. So, yeah. I mean, where does, like, Nagina stand for you guys? Like, where is it, like, what is your... I mean, Amrita, I know that this is a big, big movie for you, right? Like, you were snake dancing all over the 80s left and right. Yes. What are your memories? What are your thoughts about Nagina? I remember just being transfixed by specifically that song,

[00:11:14] I'm your best, Dushman Tum Mere. And I knew the steps to it. I could, like, dance to it. That, you know, when she... When her eyes turn blue and then, you know, she just, like, focuses. There's this thing that Sridevi does with her face where, like, her lips sort of, like, quirk a little bit. And then, like, her... She doesn't frown, but her eyes look like they're... They've suddenly turned piercing.

[00:11:44] I don't know how that woman is able to do that kind of, like, micro expressions to the point where you're just, like... It just completely transforms her face. Like, it's such a mobile face. I love it. There's no way she could have seen through those really opaque plastic contact lenses, right? Those are not lenses. Those are pieces of bathroom tile that they have stuck on her eyeballs. And she... And then she...

[00:12:13] There's that, you know, the way that she... She just, like, comes down the stairs while, like, all the, you know, the line of sadhus are, like, playing the bean. And there is a way that she just comes down those stairs. She glides down, yeah? And it's so reminiscent of how a snake would move. Even before that, right? Because she's compelled to get... Like, she's in her bedroom. Yeah. And she sees the sadhus coming.

[00:12:43] And she closes the door because she can't control the beans. And then she's still wearing her own, like, house, whatever. She's wearing the sari. And the beans start playing. And she dances like a snake would on her bed. And it's such a, like, visceral, like, image that... We have seen Reena Roy dance in Nagin. But this is something else. She has taken it on to a different level. And then the barriers open. Like, she cannot control.

[00:13:11] And she opens her wardrobe and she sees the white dress. And then, you know, you get to see the next scene when Matheri Dushman happens. And that's one of the... Like, if anybody mentions Nagin, that's my go-to image of the movie. And even watching this movie is like... This whole movie is a build-up to Matheri Dushman. Yeah. Like, everything here that happens, this is the consequence of it. And, yeah, what a build-up. And also, like, this entire... And what a payoff as well. Sorry. Yeah.

[00:13:40] I mean, the whole film right up until Sridevi arrives is such a snooze fest. Yeah. And in a way, it just sort of reminds me of Diwana. Where, like, you had the entire first half. And you were just like, this is so boring. And then Shah Rukh shows up and you're just like... Well, now we are talking. Yeah. And it's the same for this film, you know. Like, until Sridevi shows up, you really don't care about anything that is happening. About any of these people. Yeah. And then she shows up. And immediately, like, you know...

[00:14:08] And what an entrance too, right? Like, she's in that... She's very, like... It's almost like an homage to Mahal, you know. And Madhubala's introduction in that film. Where it's just this old ruin. And she's wearing white. And she's in the smoke. And you can't really see her properly. And the hero is sort of following her around.

[00:14:35] It's such a classic Hindi cinema heroine entry. It's gorgeous. It happens... Actually, we see Sridevi earlier in snake form. Yes. Right? And the horses go crazy. Because the one horse is talking to the other. Hey, look, Sridevi came. They just go crazy. Because it's like animals see animals. It's impressive for horses too. So, I like that.

[00:15:04] Also, like... I totally get what Amrita said in her intro. Like, Sridevi just woos Rishi Kapoor in like five minutes. And he agrees to get married. I mean... Would you not? Like... I was like... Some lady comes into the... Mahal and says some shady story. But she looks like Sridevi. I'll be like... Yeah. Fine. Not only... Let's get married. Not only Rishi Kapoor. Right? Her mom has been against this marriage. And the moment she meets Sridevi... Where are you going to see Rishi Kapoor? Yeah. She's like...

[00:15:34] I get it. I get it. I'm not going to argue this. He wants to marry Shiri. Even her... So, when he comes in from Europe or America or London. Wherever he's coming from. Prem Chopra's daughter is really into... Like... She's getting the heart cell. You know? Like... I think her name is Vijaya. And Vijaya is ready to be. You know? She has the fresh fringe. She wants to get married to Rishi Kapoor. And... The moment she sees Sridevi is like... I'm going to Ashram.

[00:16:04] I'm done. I will never marry anybody. I'm done. Shanti. I get it. I get it. Everybody gets it. But... I would have found this movie funny though. If... Everybody... Saw her as a snake. And only Rishi saw her as Sridevi. And they would still get it. Yeah. Go ahead. Marry this beautiful snake. But... Let's go back a little bit.

[00:16:33] And let's talk about the star that is Sridevi. Because... Sridevi had been around for a while. She was a child actor. She's already... An established actor I think in the south. She's been doing... She's been doing a lot of movies in... Like... In... In Bollywood now. To Hindi cinema. She's been doing a lot of remakes of her own work. But it's like one of those... Dageena really catapulted her into superstardom. And then she followed up with Mr. India the next year. Which is insane.

[00:17:03] But just before she'd also had Sadma. Which was kind of a very... Like a critically acclaimed movie too. Right? So having all of those things together. And you know... We'll be talking about Mary Jung... In the next episode. I think this is where... Sridevi really breaks the template. And becomes... You know... The superstar that she is. Because she hits it on so many levels. Right? She has the success of the south. She's proven herself in... Like...

[00:17:33] Kind of like... You know... Flowerpot heroine roles. With Jitendra and Himmatwala and all that. Yeah. Then... Critical acclaim. And then leading a movie. And then following up with... Like these massive massive hits. Right? And I think... Having all of that together really solidifies... The... You know... The star power of Sridevi in a way. You... Like for you guys... Was this the intro to Sridevi? Were you already aware of her? Do you remember even? Because...

[00:18:03] I remember like... Tathaya Tathaya Ho from Himmatwala. Yeah. I was obsessed with that song. Obsessed. Yeah. I would listen to it on repeat. I would fall asleep listening to it. Like I... I just... You literally had Naino Me Sapna? Yes. I literally had Naino Me Sapna. Or Sridevi. Like that's what happened. I... Yeah. I can't remember a time when I didn't know who Sridevi was.

[00:18:33] Um... I've always... I can't tell you like what is the first thing that I saw of hers. Or like what... Yeah. Like she's always just been there. Hmm. Yeah. I think I discovered Sadma way later in my life than these movies. Like Himmatwala and Nagina for sure. Sadma feels like a Sunday... Doordarshan. One of those you know regional language movies. That came later in my mid 90s or something. Because again like Kamal Hassan movies.

[00:19:02] Yeah. For sure Sadma came way later. But this like front and center heroine you know give me my limelight kind of Sridevi movie is what I think were my first memories of Sridevi for sure. Hmm. Yeah. I think this was such a big... Like it's all... Like I think because we were quite young when all of those years were happening.

[00:19:27] But it's true like all of those Jitendr movies, Himmatwala's, Tawfa she was in Tawfa too right? That was a big one too. It all kind of amalgated. Like this is like a major major star right? Like you had Rekha and Sridevi at the same time. And then like nothing except that was important. Like all of... Compared to that everything was like you know inconsequential. No other women mattered except these two.

[00:19:56] And it's just like an insane time. And it carried on until Madhuri came up pretty much right? Like kind of change that. Like everybody else was like haa I'm going to go to Shanti Ni Kaitan. What do you think of Rishi Kapoor's kind of story here? Like for me this is the worst. Like when I was talking about Kars right? Like that I didn't like Rishi Kapoor. These are the movies why I never liked Rishi Kapoor.

[00:20:25] And Rishi Kapoor is Meenakshi Sheshadri of Mary Jane in Lagina right? He's the flowerpot hero basically. He's just there ki haa I'll get married. I'll do it. I'll go to the vakeel. I'll get my documents. And I'll not get bitten. But it's also this idea of you know young whippersnapper Rishi Kapoor coming from London. You know like... Which is a plot point that has happened. I can't even count the number of times that has happened to Rishi.

[00:20:54] It's a very Devdas plot basically. You know the son goes away to Vilayad. We have not seen him for so many years. And we only have pictures to show how our son used to look like. And Rishi Kapoor used to look like baby good dude. Yeah. That's a girl right? That's a girl that's playing his... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah and it's just like I think it never really gelled for me.

[00:21:20] And it reminds me of you know as anything reminds me of Salman Khan. Just compare like Salman Khan's entry in I've loved coming from Vilayad to Rishi Kapoor. You wonder what is Vilayad doing to Rishi Kapoor? Like what's he come to do? Vilayad is not good for you. Like he's... Too many cream scones. Yeah.

[00:21:47] Like that British food is not good for anybody. Um... And like just these gaudy sweaters and like... He's wearing like a triple denim suit at a certain point. He's got like denim on denim on denim. And he's like oh my god what did Vilayad do to you? Um... Yeah. Well I think when we talk of the 80s aesthetic. This is... This movie represents a lot of those.

[00:22:13] In ways that a lot of these movies used stock background music. Um... A lot of the stock villains from interchangeable between movies. And like... None of the BGM of this movie belongs to this movie. It's like a library of BGM that they just pick up and play. It's that kind of a movie right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean there was no rights. There was no copyright. You just took whatever you wanted. You can add Star Wars in it.

[00:22:43] You can add Superman in it. As we have discussed in certain movies that that has happened you know. Um... I think this was actually the first uh Rishi Shri Devi movie. If I'm not mistaken. Yeah. And they ended up doing a lot together right? They had a very comfortable working relationship I think. Um... I'm trying to see... Yeah. I thought Gurudev was actually in the 80s. But it's actually from the 90s. So yeah.

[00:23:12] Nagina was the first uh Rishi and uh Shri Devi film. But I think any movie of those I never considered them to be Rishi movies. Like Rishi is always kind of the... You know it's all basically her movie and he's there. It's like that Barbie meme right? She's Barbie and he's there. And he's not even Ken. I think Amrish Puri is Ken in this situation. You know?

[00:23:41] I'm so sorry to all the Chintu fans. Yeah. No. Let's talk a bit about Amrish Puri. Um... Yeah. Because I think that's really really important. And... The more I've been watching these... 80s movies. Like we'll talk about Amitabh. We'll talk about Shri Devi. But we just don't give enough respect to Amrish Puri. Like he is really kind of the magic glue that's holding all of these movies together. Yeah.

[00:24:08] And he's such a charismatic character. Like a villain. Right? Like as a kid you were scared of Amrish Puri. Like every movie he was in. Like you know? Everyone. Every movie that he's done. You were like literally scared of Amrish Puri. And you see him in interviews. And he seems like the nicest guy ever. Right? Like and then we also got... Luckily later on we got to see him in the Babuji Rose. Yeah. You know? And then... Which really humanized him.

[00:24:37] And he could do different kind of... Yeah. My favorite Amrish Puri story. Which probably took place around the same time as this movie was getting made. Is that Spielberg wanted him for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yes. And apparently their production team asked Amrish Puri if he could come in for an audition. And Amrish Puri was like, no thanks. I don't need it. You guys should find someone else. And so they literally hired him like without an audition.

[00:25:07] Because they were just like... There's no one... Because Spielberg just saw like some... One of his like roles. It was just like there is no one else. It was Temple of Doom. Temple of Doom. Sorry. That can play that character. Mola Ram. Yeah. And... Ali Ma. And Spielberg was right. Like who else would have played Mola Ram other than Amrish Puri? You know? Like there's literally nobody. The voice. The eyes.

[00:25:35] He doesn't need even a wig. Yeah. Oh, the physicality. Just he's so tall. Like he's so tall. He just towers over everybody. And it's so easy. I don't know if he's tall though. It's just the camera loves him that way. I saw him in Kahuna Pyar. He was coming in the Mohrat and stuff like that. He was really quite tall. Like he was like almost like Hiddik Roshan like height. So it's quite tall for like... You know when you're playing against Rishi Kapoor. And you have to convincingly say that Rishi Kapoor can beat up Amrish Puri.

[00:26:05] You know? Amrish Puri like would chew him up and like not even spit him out. Like it's like he's such a cool dude. And Mola Ram was two years before Nagina. Nagina. So you would wonder, you know, like maybe Mola Ram could have become... Why am I saying Mola Ram? It's Mola Ram. Mola Jat. My Pakistaninus is like slipping in love jihad-ing air.

[00:26:34] I'm love jihad-ing Amrish Puri. Yeah. So you wonder is like how much of Mola Ram is in, you know... Now you can't listen to it any other way. In Nagina, you know, it's kind of like a very similar character he's playing, right? Bhaer-on-Nath. Yes. Bhaer-on-Nath. Bhaer and Biggit Bhaer-on. I do appreciate that this movie like literally had Rishi fight with him like one-on-one.

[00:27:02] And at a certain point, they were just like, this is really not believable. Yeah. In this movie about ichhadhari nagins, this is like the least believable part of it. So we're just going to move directly to like, you know, like Shridevi and her two like snake assistants and Amrish Puri. And then like have them do a little scene. Speaking of which, I do not exactly understand the two snake assistants story. Yes. Yeah.

[00:27:31] Guys, I don't understand a lot of this movie. Sorry. I'm just like, I'm going to ask you these questions because you have to explain it to me because you love this movie. I just gave it up. Like what happened in the Poonarjanam? Why is Shridevi in love with her and him and... So it's kind of gross. So when Rishi was a baby, he ran away chasing a bunny. And this is why I don't trust bunnies. I realized as I was watching this film. What? You don't trust bunnies? Yes.

[00:27:59] I found them very suspicious and this is why. We also don't trust Ranbir Kapoor, by the way. All bunnies. All bunnies. This is an Alice in Wonderland thing. What is going on? Is this a Matrix thing? So he runs off to chase a bunny when they're all in that temple. And then he gets bitten by a snake. And he's about to die.

[00:28:24] So instead of taking him to the hospital like a normal person would, they turn to Bhaironath and they're just like, can you please save our child? And he's like, yes, what I'm going to do is basically a sort of like transmogrification or like transposing of souls or something. He starts playing the tune and then the snake comes back.

[00:28:50] And he basically kills the snake and takes the life force of the snake and puts it in this little kid and saves the kid's life that way. So now that snake was Sridevi's snake husband. And Sridevi was like, I love this man. I mean, the snake. And how dare they take my snake away from me?

[00:29:14] Now, there's also a thing about like the Ichadari Nagin, like the Nagmani thing is always in like the royal couple of the snakes. It's never like a Joshmo snake. It's always like King Charles and Camilla who have their Nagmani. It's never like, you know. It's snake casteism basically. Yes, exactly. Very much that. There's an hierarchy to the snakes.

[00:29:40] So I think that's why the two assistant snakes are out there like serving her because she's the snake queen. And then basically she preserves her snake husband's body at the same temple. And she's been trying to get Rishi. Well, when he was a child, he used to get all these nightmares and things.

[00:30:10] And that was basically her trying to get Rishi as the child back to the temple so that she could kill him and then transpose the body and the life back into her husband. But then they send him away to Europe. So that falls through. And now he's come back. So that is why the very first day she takes him to the, you know, the temple.

[00:30:37] And she tries to like, you know, when she's like hanging out in the trees and like everyone goes crazy. And then she tries to bite him, but he's wearing boots. So like it doesn't really happen. Ted goes to boots. And then she hitches a ride in his little carriage and goes back to his house. And then that is where she sees a mother's life. No, she sees a mother's love for her child.

[00:31:05] And she's like, oh, I don't want to take that away from her. And then she sort of puts two and two together and comes up with 22 in that she's like, well, wait a minute. So this kid has my husband's life in him and he is now a grown man. So really it's like, yeah, he's my husband. So all I need to do is marry him.

[00:31:34] And then he and I can be like a couple again. And this nice lady doesn't have to, you know, like lose her son. And we could all be happy, you know, like everything is cool. I mean, in a snake's mind, that all makes sense, right? It makes sense. The snake doesn't know about grooming. It doesn't know about pedophiles. It doesn't know that's like, you know, sus. Yes.

[00:32:00] The snake is thinking this is a very good solution that I have discovered. And unfortunately, Sushma Seth does not agree. She's like, excuse you, you're a snake. I was okay with you as long as I thought you were a beautiful orphan. But a beautiful snake orphan, I'm not really sure about. But what does she know? She dies in the end anyway. I mean, she has to because she was a dumb bitch, you know.

[00:32:31] Like, so the, so the, and the thing is, it's good that you're kind of summarizing is because the movie also like really explained this very quickly at a much later stage in the story, right? Like he bites him and then like he runs away. The snake slithers away. Sorry. And then Amrish Puri is like, oh my God, that was an Ichadari Naag, you know. And then like, and like they've already, like, that's the funny part because it's like those other two snakes. They're like basically, you know, Robert and Bhalla.

[00:33:01] And then the original snake is Shyam Gopal Bajaj. And Sri Devi is married to him. So that's basically what's going on. Yeah. Because Shyam Bajaj has the Mahire. Exactly. It's all andazapna-pna related. Oh, man. Ratchkumar Sancharji did the remake of Nagina, basically. Basically, we've cracked the code here. The common thread is Amar Prem.

[00:33:30] Yeah. Yeah. And again, I need to talk about the snake powers because again, I don't want to offend any sentiments because this is like, I had, I have trouble understanding because I'm just taking it from the information the movie is giving out. Yes. Right. The snake powers are not that impressive, guys. What do you mean? She's mystique. She became a full grown ass Sri Devi. Yeah.

[00:34:00] But that's the only thing she can do. She can only become Sri Devi. And then. Wouldn't you want to be? I mean, why would I want to be Sri Devi? That makes no sense. But no, she becomes a snake. But she also, no, she becomes Sri Devi, but she also has to become a snake every day. Yeah. Yeah. At night. That's how Shrishma Sete figures it out, right?

[00:34:29] Like Amrish Puri tells her one every day she has to once become in her snake form. And that's where she's like, she's all sweaty and all that. And then the snake comes and then she figures out, oh my God, she turns into a snake. But beside finding files and being really good at admin, she has no real superpowers. The one thing that I do find impressive is when she turns into a snake.

[00:34:56] And that's the part that I didn't understand is like, is she able to also transform the clothes? Or is there a moment where she's lying naked on the floor and she has to? Because when she opens the cupboard and the white dress is hanging, that's where I got confused. I was like, wait, I thought she formed the clothes. She does not or she does? That part I wasn't creative about. We did not get the Arnold Terminator 2 intro scene with Sri Devi. I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah. That's what I was wondering.

[00:35:23] Do the snake's clothes come with the transformation? Or is there a moment where she's like, is the one got the suit part of the skin or not? Yeah, exactly. Which was, I mean, I have that question when, you know, the day that she comes to meet Sushma Seth and she's wearing this salwar kameez. Yeah. And I'm like, where did she get that salwar kameez? She's like a snake that lives in the forest. Yeah. And how does she know 80s village fashion? Like what works, you know? Like how is she keeping up with that?

[00:35:52] You know, like. Where is she making money from? She's like chipping off part of the money. You know, like that's like. But yeah, what else does she have in terms of powers? I think that's it, right? Because we are talking about this as a super hero movie in a way, right? Well, she is super venomous and she can fight off other snakes. Like she saves Rishi's life. When she turns into a snake. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And she just bites Prem Chopra.

[00:36:22] Which I just thought funny. Like if you are a human, why would you turn into a snake to fight the snake? Wouldn't you just fight it as a human? I mean, that makes more sense. You have arms, you know? Opposing the thumbs. Yeah. Opposing the thumbs. You can use instruments to. It's not as sexy though. Like in your mind, it's not as sexy. The snake can fly for some reason. She flies? Why doesn't she fly? I don't know.

[00:36:54] I don't know, man. I don't. Yeah. Yeah. That was just some questions I had about the snake powers. Prem Chopra. Oh, there's also the whole Jai Dath Hadapna part going on, right? Again, this is one of those movies where I thought Prem Chopra was kind of justified in his anger. It's like he's been taking care of this tea estate. A lot of tea.

[00:37:23] That's some tea. The whole economy of India is based on tea estates. So, it's because a lot of these movies are shot in Uti base. So, he's basically been taking care of everything of this tea estate. I don't know what Sushma Seth is doing. She's just like, you know. She's just like, excuse me, I'm fabulous. Yeah. She's being Sonam Kapoor, basically. That's what she's being. You know.

[00:37:52] And he's so... The idea is that they would then marry... First of all, he's written some paper. So, the property is in his name and he's written a paper where I will give you back the property. And then he decides I'm not giving you back the property. Because I've taken care and I've grown this business. I was like, I get it. I get it. Like, what the hell has Rishi done? It does seem to be that kind of like, you know, that casteism that you were talking about.

[00:38:20] That like he is the owner because of blood, not by, you know, virtue of capitalism. So, yeah. And then the paper, piece of paper gets lost. And that's really where Shri Devi's superpower comes in. She's like, with the blue eyes. And they're like, file is there. And then, yeah, Rishi finds the file and he gets this tea estate back. And Prem Chopra is really, really pissed off.

[00:38:48] He wears a red hat and he has people attack Rishi Kapoor. And then Shri Devi bites the crap out of him, you know. He has to die with a red hat on. Imagine, you know. It's like that scene in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, you know, where he's like, I wish I wasn't wearing this f***ing sh**. Oh, God. Oh, God. The other thing that I also realized watching this movie, because the movie was massive, right? And I have not watched it.

[00:39:15] This does not hold the kind of regard that it holds for you guys. I have not watched it like a hundred million times. I knew the song, you know, the main song, which is the main reason for this movie is that one song, right? Like, all the other songs are really bad. No. No? I would not agree with that. Because this is the quintessential, like, Muhammad Aziz song for me. Aaj kal yad mujhe kuch rehta nahi is just that.

[00:39:43] Yeah, that song is very, very, very, very special to me. Because I used to do a lot of Muhammad Aziz impressions, guys. But we are learning things about you both that we have never learned in 262 episodes. Amrita sleeps to nano-me sapna. And I do Muhammad Aziz impressions. But it often goes into Shabir Pumad as well.

[00:40:13] But yeah, Aaj kal yad kuch is such a great, great Muhammad Aziz track for me. This and Tu Mujhe Kubul, Main Tujhe Kubul. Wow, okay. I just kind of like slipped through all of that. Also, Uli Visri, Anuradha Padwal. I swear to God, I don't even know which these songs are. And I've literally watched the movie like last week. They had no... They skipped through them. They left no impression on me.

[00:40:41] Maybe it was just like Rishi Kapoor being... And then he's there too, right? I don't know. What about you, Amrita? Is the whole soundtrack such a big thing for you? No. No. I think the big song was always a big song for me. I was just hyper fixated on that particular song. I love the other songs. I didn't hate it. So, like, trademark Shridevi aesthetic that Mehteri Dushman is that, you know, we'll talk

[00:41:08] about Chalwa's later, like in the series. But even in Naja Ne Kiddhar Se Aai Hai, she has a Nagina moment when she puts on contact lenses and she does like the snake dance bit. And that's a callback to Nagina. It's so iconic that way, right? That even she recognizes it. And to this day, really, like anytime anyone does like a Nagin thing, that's the outfit and that's the aesthetic. Like it hasn't changed.

[00:41:37] Like, you know, like the TV show that you guys were talking about, like I've seen, I've only seen like little clips of it here and there on Instagram. And they tried really hard to make it more sexy or whatever. But it'll never be anything other than like Shridevi in that Gha-Gha-Choli with the... You know, with the Ghoongat and everything. And, you know, it's just so... It's just so classic. Like when we think about what a Nagin looks like.

[00:42:07] Yeah. I mean, it's literally iconic is the, you know, the term that we can use for this movie. Yeah. I don't know. Any other thoughts? Any things that we haven't discovered about Nagina? Any notes you heard? This movie was actually like the biggest hit of that year. Either the biggest hit or the second biggest hit. But basically, you know, like everybody knew that this was Shridevi's movie and not Rishi Kapoor's movie, you know. Like everyone knew it.

[00:42:36] And she became one of the very few actresses who could open a movie on the back of this particular movie. And that sort of like set her up to become the superstar of the 80s. And yeah, it's just hugely important in her filmography as well.

[00:43:00] I had like there is a whole bit where we sort of see, don't see Shridevi, right? And a lot of that is a lot of fat shaming. Basically, Gudi Maruti appears. Oh, right. And then she cannot fit within the frame of the photograph. And then they have to do this whole bit about, you know, hey, fat people laugh at her. It's the whole Jagdeep comedy sequence that they have in there, right? Like which is so painful to watch.

[00:43:28] It's like very much like, please laugh, you know. And they are literally like standing next to her. They don't even have. He's just doing monologues, right? And yeah, a lot of it is my wife be so fat, you know. Yeah. What else? Yeah, Prem Chopra is in this movie and he's not even the main villain, which is weird for me. It's also written and directed by people that I have no idea what they've done other than this. Yeah.

[00:43:57] So the director of this movie, Harmesh Malhotra, he's done a string of these sort of what you would call a spin-off movies. You know, like they sort of pick up things of what is working currently and they will make a movie a year later or so, right? Right. So the only other big hit in his entire career, other than Nagina and then probably Sherni was a semi-hit, followed like a couple of years later.

[00:44:25] But the only other big hit in the 90s is Dulhe Raja, which we often consider as a David Dhawan movie, not directed by David Dhawan. And so it's pretty much that. He doesn't have like a unique aesthetic or a take on what masala movies should be. It just feels like he borrows a lot from other movies. Yeah. It's funny that he did Sherni because Sherni is the other very angry Shridevi movie.

[00:44:53] And lastly, like Nagina is probably the first Bollywood movie to actually have a sequel. Yeah. Yeah. I was going to bring that point to Nigaahe, right? Nigaahe, which nobody watched. I remember watching Nigaahe like really well. And she had like, they took my notes on board. Like I had more superpowers than Nagina did. I think she even had like laser powers or something like that. But is it the same?

[00:45:21] It's a follow. Yeah. It's the same universe. Like, I mean, to a certain degree. I don't remember it. We're not covering it. I think it was her daughter, like Rishi and Shridevi's daughter or something like that. Yeah. Something like that. And so, yeah, snake powers are genetic and, you know, looks are genetic too. And I also just remember it because she just had a much better pairing with Sunny Deval. Well, Sunny Deval was a hero that I would want to watch on screen where Rishi Kapoor wasn't a hero I wanted to watch on screen. So I remember Nigaahe actually really well.

[00:45:51] And it was also that time where, like, I think it's probably what you were saying about it was sequel-itis going on in America. You had the Rambos, the Rockies and everything going on. And they wanted to maybe replicate that in India. And smart on them to pick Nagina to make a sequel out of, you know. So I, yeah, but I also don't remember it being a good movie. I wouldn't say, you know, go watch this movie or, you know, figure, like, find it. I do have to say the print was amazing on Prime for this one too, right?

[00:46:20] Like, again, pristine. Like, I've never seen this movie in such clear. But it's not one of those movies that looks better. Like, we've seen movies that because the print is better, it actually looks better. This movie just still looks very cheap and badly made. You know, it's not... Basically, these guys, Harmesh Malhotra made bank on this movie and then, you know, opened a Mozzarella farm or something like that. And he just basically disappeared. And like, yeah, I don't know.

[00:46:48] There's nothing of a consequence here. Something funny of the 80s aesthetic, though, is that we are constantly seeing cinema change visually in this. Like, we have the Subhash guy who is... Like, we started the series off with Curse, right? Which came out bang on the beginning year of the 80s. And then we talked about Kalia, Arth, and Nagina now, and Mary Jung, which we will be talking next.

[00:47:16] So we are constantly seeing the shift from widescreen, like, 21 by 9 ratio to, like, being the box 4 by 3, which is more of a TV format back in the day. And the shift between the two is so... Like, it changes the aesthetic of the movie.

[00:47:31] It feels like the whole widescreen that Subhash guy chose for his movies sort of made them not age as badly now when we watch them compared to how the 4 by 3 standard of the 35mm looks like in just, like, in case of Kalia as well as Nagina. It feels like definitely a movie of a certain age. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there's also just the skill level, like, the technicians and the... Like, you can see in... Even, like, the clothes she's wearing, the Haveli.

[00:48:01] Like, compare this Haveli to the other Havelis we've seen. Like, it looks terrible. Like, they don't look like rich people at all, you know? But yeah, it's... Speaking of rich people, when they introduced the Haveli, there's a giant picture of Ajit as the father who passed away. How poor Ajit, he agreed for, like, 500 rupees or something for... Was Ajit or was it Ajit's son? I feel like it was Ajit's son. No, no, it was Ajit. It wasn't Bhalla.

[00:48:31] Yeah. No, no, it was him. Apparently, they had, like, a relationship with the director or something like that. They got along really well. You die, but you're not shown being dying. Yeah. Yeah. Any other random notes, Samrita, that you wanted to discuss about Nagina, your favorite movie?

[00:48:50] I mean, I cannot overstate how important this movie is in the 80s filmography because it was such a male-centric decade. And for Sridevi to just come in and blow, like, the rest of the competition out of the water that particular year... And this happened right in the middle of the decade, too. You know?

[00:49:16] And it was, like, very, like, action-centric and everything. And then she comes in and she's just singing and she's wearing those blue contacts. And a lot of the things in this movie are a throwback to previous decades of Hindi film.

[00:49:35] Like, you know, the way that she is dressed, the fact that at the end, you know, she doesn't really condemn Amrish Puri. Like, you know, she tries to find a way for him to be forgiven. Yeah. And he also, like, reforms at the end. Like, it's not that he dies unrepentant.

[00:50:02] Like, he tries to give her humanity instead of, like, condemning her to her life as a snake. I love at the end, they just have a screen that says, and they live happily ever after. It's literally words there. And I was thinking, yeah, no. You know, mom dead. Amrish Puri dead. Andar Ka Saab dead. It's overall good results for Rajni at the end of this movie. I understand. She ends up being a property owner, guys. Yeah, exactly.

[00:50:30] Like, you know, from side Haveli to main Haveli, you know. What I really enjoyed about that was, like, and they wrote, like, you know, and they lived happily ever after. Literally over, like, a sad Rishi Kapoor, like, holding Sushma's saint's dead body. Dead mom, you know. Like, yeah. Like, you know, she climbed the ladder of success escalator style, basically. Good for her.

[00:51:00] Good for her. Amrita, any final words on Nagina and where people can find you online? My final words would be, everyone should watch this film and you can find me on Twitter and on Blue Sky to discuss this film at Amrita IQ. Sude? I'm not your Dushman, but watch Nagina. Otherwise, I will be.

[00:51:25] Yeah, you can find me on all my socials at 93K and you can find Kandan Podcast at Kandan Podcast. Yes, watch this on Prime. Like, it's a great print. It's one of those movies that really stands out from the 80s. I think it's a very important movie, although I'm not sure if it's a good movie, but it's an important movie for sure. And yeah, like, it just, it's great to see the start of a star, you know, like the moment

[00:51:55] where she's been working for a while and then something, like, she just catches lightning in a bottle and becomes such an iconic, such a big role. And it makes, you know, one of the biggest, most loved stars that we have in India. And this is the movie why it's part of our story, you know, so check it out. And, you know, continue joining us on Patreon for the series. What Nagina was for Amrita, Meri Jang is for me. That is the movie we're discussing on next week's episode.

[00:52:24] Join us on Patreon. And thank you for listening. Khandan Podcast from the Epiglottis. Papa, are you podcasting again?