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Jaali Note
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Shakti Samanta
Screenplay by	Ranjan Bose
Produced by	Sant Singh and Pachhi was brother of Om Prakash
Starring	Dev Anand Madhubala
Music by	O. P. Nayyar Raja  Mehdi Ali Khan (lyrics)
Release date	25 November 1960 (1960-11-25)
Running time	155 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Jaali Note (transl. "Fake Currency") is a 1960 Hindi-language crime film directed by Shakti Samanta, based on the theme of counterfeit money. It stars Dev Anand and Madhubala, along with Helen, Madan Puri, Om Prakash.

The film was unsuccessful with critics but emerged as one of the biggest commercial successes of the year. Its popularity was further escalated by its soundtrack (composed by O. P. Nayyar), of which many songs turned out to be chartbusters.

Plot

Dinesh (Dev Anand) lives a middle-class lifestyle with his mother in Bombay. On his fifth birthday, his father left them never to return.

Now, Inspector Dinesh has grown up, is working for the Criminal Investigations Department, and has been assigned to stop the circulation of fake currency notes. His investigations take him to Sunderdas, who is killed. He then masquerades as social worker Abdul Rashid to try to get some information from a jailed convict, Banwarilal, to no avail. Finally, he dons the disguise of wealthy Kunver Vijay Bahadur, rents a suite in Hotel Paris and befriends Manohar (Madan Puri) and several other gangsters. He gets arrested and lodged in the same cell as Banwarilal. From there, the men break out and join Manohar and the rest of the gang.

It is here that Dinesh will find out the king-pin behind the racket. But before he can do anything, he finds himself confronting his past and will be trapped in an underwater fortress with his sweetheart, press reporter Renu (Madhubala).

Cast

• Dev Anand as C.I.D. Inspector Dinesh / Prince Vijay Bahadur / Abdul Rashid
• Madhubala as Renu / Beena
• Helen as Lily
• Madan Puri as Manohar
• Om Prakash as C.I.D. Constable Pandu / Nandlal
• Tun Tun as Mrs. Malik
• Bipin Gupta as Rai Bahadur / Boss (Dinesh's Father)
• Mridula Rani as Shobha (Dinesh's Mother)

Soundtrack

All lyrics are written by Raja  Mehdi Ali Khan; all music is composed by O. P. Nayyar

Reception

Critical reception

Jaali Note was sharply criticised by the critic Karan Bali. Bali referred to the film as "yet another urban crime thriller that Hindi cinema churned out regularly through the 1950s and early '60s." He stated that the film is poorly written and the script lacks realism and logic. The only aspect of the film praised by him was its score by O. P. Nayyar, but here also he found the song's picturisations to be only satisfying.

Box office

Despite negative reviews, Jaali Note was a big box office success. In Samanta's words, the film "did fairly well" and was financially profitable. The film's music was also well-received by audience. Overall, the year 1960 was an important year in Madhubala's career, as she starred in three back-to-back hits—Mughal-e-Azam, Jaali Note and Barsaat Ki Raat.

Trivia

• Like in many other films, in this also you can see Dev Anand playing cards in bar.
• The car in which Madhubala is kidnapped and taken to Manohar's den, has old 'J&K' number plate, very rarely seen.

References

1. "Jaali Note". Apple Music. 1960. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
2. ^ Bali, Karan (18 June 2019). "Jaali Note". Upperstall.com. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
3. "Box Office Hits of Dev Anand". IMDb. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
4. "Shakti Samanta and his films". Web Archive. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
5. Yu, Sabrina Qiong (13 April 2017). Revisiting Star Studies: Cultures, Themes and Methods. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-0433-4.
6. Deep, Mohan (1996). The Mystery and Mystique of Madhubala. Magna Books. p. 94.

External links

• Jaali Note at IMDb

• 1960 films
• Films scored by O. P. Nayyar
• 1960s Hindi-language films
• 1960s Indian films
• Films directed by Shakti Samanta
• Indian black-and-white films