Teesri Manzil

Teesri Manzil
Directed by	Vijay Anand
Produced by	Nasir Hussain
Written by	Nasir Hussain
Starring	Shammi Kapoor Asha Parekh Laxmi Chhaya Premnath Prem Chopra Iftekhar Helen Salim Khan
Music by	R.D. Burman
Cinematography	N. Srinivas
Edited by	Vijay Anand
Distributed by	Nasir Hussain Films
Release date	21 October 1966 (1966-10-21)
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Teesri Manzil (translation: Third Floor) is a 1966 Indian musical thriller film directed by Vijay Anand and produced by Nasir Hussain. The film stars an ensemble cast of Shammi Kapoor, Asha Parekh, Laxmi Chhaya, Premnath, Prem Chopra, Iftekhar, Helen and Salim Khan. In the film, Rocky (Kapoor), a drummer, falls in love with Sunita (Parekh), but covers up his true identity on learning that she holds him responsible for her sister Rupa's apparent suicide from the third floor of a hotel. The film became a hit at the box office. With the music and songs setting records, this movie is considered among the best offerings and one of the first breakthroughs of R.D. Burman's career.

Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films. notably for its extremely foot tapping music and songs, which remain very popular till date. The film is also noted for its memorable lead pair, superb mystery, tight script and above all, brilliant performance by Shammi Kapoor.

The film's DVD and VCD versions run for 145 minutes, while the theatre version ran for 175 minutes. Between Helen's jealous sniping at minute 76 and the song "Dekhiye Sahiban Woh Koi Aur Thi", sung by Mohammed Rafi, approximately 30 minutes of footage is missing. The last time a full version of this film released was on VHS. Many people in China and Hawaii reviewed it five stars.Now uncut full movie is available on YouTube and if its OTT presentation is concerned, it is available in ZEE5 since early 2020.

Plot

The film begins on a dark night with a young girl Rupa (Sabina) driving her car madly around the bends of the hilly Mussoorie and stopping at The Park Hotel before she rushes inside and mysteriously falls to her death from the third floor. Her death is assumed to be suicide by everyone at the hotel. One year later, Rupa's ex-fiancée Ramesh (Prem Chopra) is trying to fix his marriage with Rupa's grieving younger sister Sunita (Asha Parekh), who is not as enamoured of the proposal even though he tries to ingratiate himself with her. Sunita reveals to her friend Meena (Laxmi Chhaya) that on the day of her death, Rupa had written a last letter to her, confessing that she was in love with Rocky (Shammi Kapoor), a drummer at The Park Hotel and implying that they had sexual relations, and that she desperately needs him to marry her. Sunita believes that Rocky seduced and then jilted her sister, which led her to commit suicide. She intends to travel to Dehradun and Mussoorie and find Rocky to avenge her sister's death.

On her way to Dehradun, Sunita runs into Anil Kumar Sona (Shammi Kapoor), a charming but mischievous man, who flirts with her from the railway station to the end of the train journey. As she checks into The Park Hotel with Meena, she is surprised to find Anil there too and his presence keeps irritating her. Unbeknownst to her, Anil himself is the drummer Rocky and this secret is known to only Ruby (Helen), a dancer at The Park Hotel and also Anil's lover. Eavesdropping on Sunita and Meena's conversations in the hotel, Anil manages to find out Sunita's real intentions and misleads her by making another co-worker (Salim Khan) impersonate Rocky, while he continues to pursue her as Anil. He even lies about his personality that he is the nephew and heir of a wealthy landlord who resides in a local mansion in Dehradun.

While Sunita initially rebukes him and rebuffs his advances, she eventually falls in love with Anil after she realises his clean and gentle nature during an unexpected overnight trip, and even confides in him about her sister's death and her hatred towards Rocky. Anil reluctantly keeps up his charade and ends up having to entertain Sunita and her friends at the mansion of his "uncle". His lie is almost caught when Kunwarsahab Mahendar Singh (Premnath), the real owner of the mansion, shows up and is surprised to see Anil having brought Sunita and her friends to his mansion. Owing to his kind-hearted nature, he playfully agrees to pretend to be Anil's uncle and the two soon become good friends.

Sunita invites Anil and his "uncle" to meet with her father (Raj Mehra) so that they can begin planning the wedding. Anil requests Kunwarsahab to explain the truth to Sunita and her father not only that he is Rocky, but that he is also the cause of her sister's death. Although Kunwarsahab instead keeps up the pretense and agrees on the alliance, Anil reveals to him that during her holidays, Rupa came to Dehradun and fell in love with him after meeting him at The Park Hotel. Despite Anil's disinterest and her engagement with Ramesh, Rupa aggressively pursued Anil, which made Ramesh furious and he threatened to kill Rupa in front of Anil. On the night of her death, Rupa had told Anil over a phone call that she desperately wants to meet with him. However, he had refused and did not open the door of his room when Rupa banged on it at midnight, pleading with him to let her in. The next moment, Anil was shocked to hear Rupa's deadly fall from the third floor.

With no other option, Anil writes a letter to Sunita explaining that he is none other than her enemy Rocky, but he never seduced her sister and had no idea that she would commit suicide over him. Sunita is aghast when she reads the letter and breaks up with Anil, criticising him for inflicting the death of her sister. Meanwhile, throughout the film, a mysterious man (Iftekhar) is shown to be constantly keeping a watch on Anil for unknown reasons. As he tries to unsuccessfully pursue and convince Sunita, Anil is approached by the mysterious man who introduces himself as Police Inspector Das, a detective investigating Rupa's death. Anil tells him his and Rupa's story and tries to explain his position, but the inspector, although believing his innocence, shockingly reveals to him that the cause of Rupa's death was not suicide, but murder, as she was deliberately thrown off the third floor.

Upon learning this, Anil suspects Ruby to be Rupa's murderer as she had intercepted Anil and Rupa's phone call and was always jealous of any other woman who came close to Anil. However, during a confrontation, Ruby is mysteriously shot dead by an unknown assailant who had climbed up to the third floor of The Park Hotel. Thus, the inspector takes Anil into police custody and warns him that the shooter was aiming for him, not Ruby, as the shooter believes that Anil is getting closer to discovering the real killer. Also, he shows Anil an expensive coat button discovered in Rupa's hand as evidence, which he believes she tore off the killer's coat during her murder. Anil then suspects Ramesh to be Rupa and Ruby's murderer as he had threatened to kill Rupa on the night of her fall. On interrogation, Ramesh denies the accusation, although he was present at the hotel on the night Rupa died, and is also seen secretly bribing someone dressed as Ruby's killer with a bottle of whisky, but is let off by the inspector without any evidence.

As Anil returns to the hotel room, he is visited by a mysterious woman, who instructs him to take her car to a restaurant at the bottom of the hill, where he will find the conspirators. Anil does so, but finds out while driving that the car has been sabotaged and leaps out as the car plummets down a cliff. Presumed dead by everyone, he secretly visits Sunita and is convinced that Ramesh killed both Rupa and Ruby and is now trying to kill him by sending the mysterious woman with the sabotaged car. Anil enlists Sunita's help, who now believes his innocence and takes him to meet Ramesh at The Park Hotel. While there, Anil spots the same mysterious woman who had set him up with the sabotaged car and chases her. He is shocked to see her drive into the mansion of Kunwarsahab, who then reunites with Anil at the place and insists that he is not safe anywhere and must stay with him in the night. Kunwarsahab forces Anil into an old room in his mansion and instructs him to stay there till morning. After Kunwarsahab exits the room, as he begrudgingly goes through a closet in the room, looking for clothes to change into, Anil is shocked to come across an expensive coat of Kunwarsahab with the exact same buttons that the inspector had shown him and also the coat is missing a button in the buttonhole.

Realising that both Rupa and Ruby's killer is none other than Kunwarsahab, Anil forges an escape through the window, just as Kunwarsahab and the mysterious woman, a widow with two children and his mistress by the name of Sabina, enter the room to kill Anil in his sleep. While Kunwarsahab leaves to look for him, Anil gets hold of Sabina and forces her to confess the truth to the police. Over a phone call, Sabina finally confesses to the inspector that one year ago, Kunwarsahab had an extramarital affair with her that his wife discovered and tried to shoot Sabina. However, Kunwarsahab tackled his wife by shooting her fatally in the crossfire. While they were burying her corpse in the jungle, Rupa witnessed them as she was on her way to meet Anil. She gave herself away and escaped to The Park Hotel with Kunwarsahab in pursuit. She banged on the door of the room of Anil, pleading with him to let her in, but Anil did not open the door for her, unaware of her predicament. Seizing this opportunity, Kunwarsahab picked up Rupa and threw her off the third floor to her death.

Moreover, Sabina also reveals to the inspector that Kunwarsahab came to know about Anil getting closer to discovering the real killer, so he climbed up to the third floor of The Park Hotel and tried to shoot Anil, but the bullet accidentally hit Ruby to her death. At the very moment, Kunwarsahab returns to his mansion and overhears Sabina's telephonic conversation with the inspector, shooting her fatally. He then tries to kill Anil and chases him up to the roof of his mansion, but ends up going over the ledge in the struggle. Anil holds onto him, asking him to surrender himself to the police, who have just arrived at the scene along with Sunita and her father. Kunwarsahab, however, prefers to die in guilt and remorse, and lets go of Anil's hand, falling to his death from the third floor of his mansion. The film ends with Anil and Sunita returning to Delhi from the same train where they met the first time, and run into the same laughing passenger (Ram Avtar) there whom they had encountered during their previous journey.

Cast

• Shammi Kapoor as Anil Kumar (a.k.a. Sona / Rocky); a drummer at the Park Hotel, who is the love interest of both Rupa, Sunita and Ruby, although he only has feelings for Sunita. He flirts with and pursues Sunita, while lying about his true identity of being Kunwarsahab's heir to win Sunita's favour. Though his methods are often questionable, his intentions are good.
• Asha Parekh as Sunita; Rupa's younger sister, who wants to avenge her sister's death. She comes from a wealthy family and is bold, independent and outspoken. While she initially rebuffs Anil, she eventually falls in love with him. She blames Anil for her sister's death and breaks up with him when she learns the truth.
• Laxmi Chhaya as Meena; a friend and confidant of Sunita who is seemingly shy and reserved.
• Premnath as Mahendra Singh (a.k.a. Kunwarsahab); a wealthy landlord who pretends to be Anil's uncle to help him save face, and acts as his guardian and confidante, while he actually intends to destroy him to cover up his crime of having killed Rupa.
• Prem Chopra as Ramesh; Rupa's rich fiancée who discovers Rupa's indiscretions and threatens to kill her. After Rupa's death, he wishes to marry Sunita.
• Iftekhar as Inspector Das; a police detective investigating Rupa's murder who interrogates Anil for the same and has a keen interest in him.
• Helen as Ruby; a dancer at the Park Hotel where Anil is a drummer. She is in love with Anil and is constantly trying to seduce him. She often tries to interfere in his romantic life, like listening to a private conversation between Rupa and Rocky.
• Salim Khan as Fake Rocky (Anil's friend); he is a co- worker at the Park Hotel who poses as Rocky on Anil's instructions due to Sunita's hatred towards Rocky.
• Sabina as Rupa; Sunita's older sister and Ramesh's fiancée who falls for Rocky and aggressively pursues him, despite his disinterest.
• Ram Avtar as Train Passenger (Cameo Appearance)
• Raj Mehra as Sunita and Rupa's father

Background

Nasir Hussain produced and wrote Teesri Manzil under his home banner. He approached Dev Anand to star in the film and he immediately agreed. However, at the same time, another of Nasir Hussain's productions, Baharon Ke Sapne, was to be directed by Vijay Anand. Then, on occasion of Sadhana's engagement party, a misunderstanding erupted between Dev Anand and Nasir Hussain, when Hussain allegedly overheard Dev Anand saying. "The film which Nasir is making with me is coloured and he has given Goldie some black-and-white film to make. Goldie is making the movie with some new boy, Rajesh Khanna". It was the next day that Hussain requested Vijay Anand to direct Teezri Manzil and offered to helm Baharon Ke Sapne, but specified that Teesri Manzil would not have Dev Anand in it. It was only then that Shammi Kapoor was approached.

Vijay Anand came on board to direct and edit the film. Hussain then cast Shammi Kapoor, who had earlier starred in Hussain's two big hits Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) and Dil Deke Dekho (1959), the latter of which introduced Asha Parekh. Asha had starred in two more hits for Hussain Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai (1961) and Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon (1963). Thus, the newcomer for this film would be music composer R.D. Burman (son of music composer S.D. Burman), and he would create phenomenal music for this film. He would compose for all of Hussain's films until Zabardast (1985). Shammi Kapoor, Hussain and Vijay individually took credit for discovering the supremely talented R.D. Burman, but R.D. Burman gave credit to lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri for recommending him to Hussain, and both of them would create unforgettable songs for Teesri Manzil. All the hit songs featured Mohammed Rafi The song picturizations were outstanding, with Helen dancing to "Oh Haseena Zulfon Waali". Songs such as "Aaja aaja" had a rock n' roll base and were extremely popular.

Soundtrack

All the songs were composed by Rahul Dev Burman and lyrics were penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri. Mohammed Rafi featured in all the songs and Asha Bhosle sang all the female parts. Choreography was by Herman Benjamin.

#	Song	Singer
1	"Tumne Mujhe Dekha Hokar Meharbaan"	Mohammed Rafi
2	"Deewana Mujhsa Nahin Is Ambar Ke Neeche"	Mohammed Rafi
3	"O Haseena Zulfonwali Jaan-E-Jahan"	Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
4	"O Mere Sona Re, Sona Re, Sona Re"	Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
5	"Aaja Aaja, Main Hoon Pyar Tera"	Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
6	"Dekhiye Sahibon, Woh Koi Aur Thi"	Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle

Reception

The film became a hit and remains popular to this day. Although it is a murder mystery, it continues to draw repeat audiences, even though the identity of the murderer is no longer a secret. Teesri Manzil was the last time Shammi starred in a Nasir Hussain film. Asha would go on to do four more, three of which she starred in.

Teesri Manzil was also the last Hussain film in which Mohammed Rafi sang all the songs. By Yaadon Ki Baraat, Kishore Kumar had temporarily become the dominant singer in Hussain's movies, but Rafi always had a special place in Hussain's films and would later win major awards for the song "Kya Hua Tera Wada" in Hussain's Hum Kisise Kum Naheen (1977).

Hussain and Vijay never worked together after Teesri Manzil. Hussain would return to directing all his films again and would only relinquish the director's chair to his son after three of his films flopped in the 1980s. Salim Khan played a small role as Shammi Kapoor's musician friend who pretends to be Rocky in the musical number "Oh Haseena Zulfon Waali". In real life, Helen would later become his second wife. Shammi's wife Geeta Bali died during the filming, and Vijay helped Shammi get over the grief.

Dvd /VCD missing 21 minutes

The Dvd and Vcd versions of the film are missing 21 minutes of the film . The 1987 VCR release has the complete movie. The missing portion can be seen on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgntrX8Z_9A&ab_channel=AtulShah

External links

• Teesri Manzil on IMDb