Society (1973)
Cast: Nadeem, Shabnam, Husna, Aslam Parvez, Qavi, Allauddin, Sabira Sultana
Director: S.Suleiman
Synopsis: Typical ‘70s intrigue-filled melodrama with a dash of comedy thrown in the mix.
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

Society is a typical ‘70s melodrama, involving the age-old rich-girl, poor-boy scenario and all the problems this causes in a ‘society’. The movie was released in the ‘70s when alcohol was permitted in the clubs, and Nadeem and Shabnam were amidst their all-conquering sequence of hit films.

Society certainly wasn’t one of the biggest of their successes, but it succeeded primarily due to the chemistry between the lead pair.

Shabnam plays the spoilt, westernised, club-going, disco-dancing daughter of a massive industrialist who is looking to get her married off to a noble friend somewhere. After Shabnam’s enormous wealth is dastardly Aslam Parvez, her club-going companion—a total smoothie, whose nefarious plan is to get poor Shabnam danced off her feet before spiking her drink with VAT 69. Then, when she is ‘tipsy’, he will make her an “aik raat ki dulhan” so that she has no option but to marry him……and then he will be heir to the billions that her father will leave behind in inheritance.

To hasten his plan, Aslam sends some goons to rough up old Seth Baqar (the super industrialist). Still, a puny but mighty Nadeem arrives on the spot to thrash the living daylights out of the goons and thwart Aslam’s evil plot.

Seth Baqar employs Nadeem as a driver for his errant daughter Shabnam and asks him to keep an eye on her in case she may ‘accidentally’ put her ‘izzat’ at stake. This happens one night when Aslam has Shabnam cornered and is about to ravage her. Nadeem arrives just in the nick of time and yet again displays his prowess by thrashing poor Aslam to a pulp. Shabnam is stunned by her experience into realization and transforms overnight into Miss Goody Two Shoes. She also bursts into a song with a sizzling Madame Noor Jehan - Ho Main Lagi Gayi Je - number to stress that she now fancies her driver like crazy.

Problems shortly arise as, according to this movie, a lowly auto driver associated with a rich person is a criminal offence. Aslam spreads the word in ‘society’ that Shabnam is having an affair with her driver, and soon, word reaches the Seth, who has an absolute fit. He forbids his daughter to see the driver, let alone harbour any thoughts of marrying him, thus follows much heartache and wallowing in selfpity to a Mehdi Hassan number with Nadeem stumbling from pillar to post.

It gets worse. In the local club, dancing babe Husna, has a massive crush on Nadeem and feels that he is the man for her, especially as a lowly driver could hardly be in a position where he would morally object to a club dancer. Then the bombshell, as we find out that the club dancer is, in fact, the daughter of the Seth, who had an affair with a club dancer in his youth but now pretends to hide behind the façade of Islamic virtues.

All sorts of complications ensue and are resolved in a typical formula style. The film is not particularly memorable, yet it is a great period piece. The flared shalwar kameezes are pure kitsch pop art, and some of Shabnam’s hairdos are bordering on illegal. Meanwhile, Aslam wears a great pencil-thin slimeball moustache, stunning sideburns, and his typical silk suit with matching hankie.

Society The man oozes style. Nadeem is in playful, impish form, which rather suits him. Shabnam doesn’t have much of a role and loses out to Husna, who gets three songs as compared to her two. Husna is pretty but cardboard-like in her role as the club dancer who should have been the respected daughter of a Seth. The movie moves along rapidly enough, and thanks to Lehri’s drunken antics and Aslam’s shenanigans, things are pretty entertaining. It’s a lightweight entertainer but is fascinating primarily for its view of what the order and morality of a good ‘society’ should be. Interesting, to say the very least.