The second one to add to your shopping list is the endearingly romantic An Evening in Paris (1967) with Shammi ‘Elvis’ Kapoor and the effortlessly gorgeous Sharmila Tagore. Again directed by Shakti Samanta, this has no plot really but the chemistry between the two leads – purely acting it seems – is just extraordinary. It’s a typical everyday Bollywood story of twins separated at birth, a beautiful rich girl swapping identities with her secretary because she wants to find a man who will love her for herself and not her money, and there’s a kidnap, an idiot hero (Shammi of course) and, well, I can’t begin to tell you how all of these threads unfolds – you’ll just have to see it! Most of all the movie has a colour palette that defined Bollywood movies for about three decades – heavy on technicolour reds and yellows – it’s wonderful.
