Sharmeelee

Infobox Film
name = Sharmeelee


image_size =
caption =
director =Samir Ganguly
producer =Subodh Mukherjee
writer =
narrator =
starring = Shashi Kapoor
Rakhee
music = S. D. Burman
cinematography = N. V. Srinivas
editing = V. K. Naik
distributor =
released = 1971
runtime =
country = India
language = Hindi
budget =
amg_id =
imdb_id =0067742

"Sharmilee" is a 1971 Hindi movie produced by Subodh Mukherjee and directed by Samir Ganguly. The film stars Shashi Kapoor, Rakhee, Ranjeet, Anwar and Asit Sen. The films very popular music is by S. D. Burman.
Rakhee played a double role in this film, and it's success helped make her one of the decades top leading lady in Hindi films.

ynopsis

In Sameer Ganguly's "Sharmilee" (1971) the actress Raakhee plays what is commonly referred to in Hindi 'Bollywood' films as a 'dual role'. Kanchan and Kamini are twin sisters whose personalities are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Kanchan is painfully shy, loves nature, and always wears a saree. Kamini on the other hand is an extrovert 'Western' fashion plate who loves to play tricks on people and is studying for her Master's. The film revolves around the two sisters and their love for the same man (played by a very young Shashi Kapoor).

This structure of the morality tale is the thin story of "Sharmilee". What is at the true heart of the film though (and all of the films like it during the period) is the dual emotions of Indian society at once fascinated and excited with all things modern 'Western' on one side and on the other side, the moral dread and fear for the impact the 'West' could have on the traditional fabric, stability, and culture of a country in the midst of transition.In many ways the hero is a reflection of the Bollywood audience's fascination and desire for the Westernized twin Kamini played by fashionable starlet Raakhee who wears revealing bathing suits, silver lamè pantsuits and upswept bouffant hairstyles. The Hero is infatuated like the audience with the glitz, novelty, and glamour the ultra hip attitudes of the West present. The hero though is shown that what he took for love is nothing but an illusion. In "Sharmilee" the Hero is literally shown that his love for Kamini is an illusion (the hero sees what he takes to be a ghost of Kamini, who is actually Kanchan in disguise). The film ends in harmony with the wishes of society met. The hero and true heroine, Kamini (the traditional sister) overcome the whims of mere love to make the 'right' choice. Fate intervenes to guide the hero down the correct 'socially correct' path. Everybody ends up happy, except for the Westernized girl, who ends up dead.

It is interesting to note that young Indian woman flocked to the theaters to watch the female stars of the time, like Raakhee, Sharmila Tagore, Sadhana, and Zeenat Aman, to see what new Western fashions, hairstyle, and make-up they were wearing. Often the new styles seen in films became the fashion rage on the street.

"Sharmilee" is also full of classic music by S.D. Burman sung by Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar. The songs, 'O Meri Sharmilee', 'Khilte Jain Gul Yahan' and the Lata-Kishore duet 'Aaj Madhosh Hua' were chart toppers. The film also was a huge hit and was instrumental in making Bengali actress Raakhee a big star in Bollywood.