The film was one of several that lit up the screens during the summer of '75 raking in the rupees and notching up an impressive platinum jubilee along the way. The mid 70's were the golden age of Lollywood production even if the bubble was just about to burst with the arrival of the dreaded VCR lurking just around the corner. This film was an all round family entertainer with a social message as old as the hills. The plot revolves around the tried and tested formula of eastern virtues pitted against the debauchery and depraved nature of western civilization. After the usual trauma's all ends well as everyone realizes the folly of modernism and decide to adopt the righteous path of the dark ages.

The underlying theme of the movie is the same as hundreds of its ilk is that "to enjoy" is the most terrible evil which results in death if you are a man and gang rape followed by death if you are a woman. In this breezy entertainer we have Zeba as Nadira, a madcap tomboy with a penchant for thrashing the local hoods to a pulp. Her tomboyish ways are tamed by Mohammad Ali when he marries her after some highly corny but dare we say amusing comedy frolics in the first twenty minutes of the movie involving the two of them along with Khalid Salim Mota, Qavi and Lehri. When the newlyweds move to the city to be with Mohammad Ali's family the plot unfolds revealing a home torn apart by discord and unhappiness. At the head of the family there is kitty party holding, blond wig wearing, cigarette smoking, and disco dancing Aunty who encourages her daughter, the errant Farzana (Mumtaz) to follow in her footsteps. When step son Mohammad Ali objects to Mumtaz hanging out at the club on a daily basis he is put in his place, reminded that he is no more than a step son and has no rights in the household.

And so we see Mumtaz frittering her life away at the club amidst terrible people who like to "enjveye" life rather than to sit moping around at home. The film warns that a single woman is prone to ill judgment and must have a man in her life as a guiding force and if it ever happens that a woman is in the position to call the shots and make the decisions, all will soon go woefully wrong. The club dancing Mumtaz's fiancé arrives after a gap of five years having completed his studies in England (at the age of 40) and is horrified to find that the prissy, Ms. Goody Two Shoe's he had left a few years ago has transformed into a voluptuous, go-go dancing beauty - the life of the local club. Waheed Murad plays the England returned geek who is the epitome of eastern virtue despite his stint abroad. Needless to say, Mumtaz is terribly disappointed to find that the Prince Charming she had been hoping for has turned out to be the most gormless and insipid dolt that there could ever be.

Waheed decides he can't possibly get married to the party babe Mumtaz but is convinced by Mohammad Ali to give it one final try. Murad's ingenious plan is to infiltrate the club as a regular and win over Mumtaz's attention and somehow force her to see the shallowness of the western ways of the wretched club. Waheed announces his membership to the club with a sizzling song that delights Mumtaz who is thrilled that her fiancé is not the drip that came back form London but a trendy, hip-dancing, westernized dude who loves to hang out at the club swigging neat whisky. To cut a long story short……….Waheed Murad manages to get Mumtaz to reform back to the prim and proper goody two shoes of yesteryear, but in doing so he himself becomes tragically addicted to the life of the club and refuses to give it up!

The question is will Waheed now fritter away his own life in the evil trappings of that hell hole of debauchery known as the club or will someone be able to get him to realize the error of his ways. Mohammad Ali delivers a couple of typically stirring speeches and even Zeba tries her luck but to no avail - Waheed will simply not budge from the club.

Anyway, the film manages to entertain and move along at a rollicking pace despite the rather predictable storyline. Zeba has a spunky role which she does full justice to and Mohammad Ali is his superlative self. Waheed Murad does a reasonable job of moping around and looking totally witless and his hairstyle is at least as annoying as his insipidness. Mumtaz provides a little spark with her saucy dance Dil Sambhala Na Jaye and the smash hit number Nahid Akhter's Tut Turoo Turoo Tara Tara while the two Ahmed Rushdie songs filmed on Waheed Murad were also enormous hits in their time………Dil Ko Jalana Ham ne Chhod diya and Mashriqi Rang ko Chhod Ke. The film manages to hold attention though it is totally formulaic.

It's a good old fashioned farce and manages to work for the most part with solid performances by the main leads other than Waheed Murad who looks as though he is afflicted by sleeping sickness. It's difficult to decide which is more awful, Murad's patented hairstyle or his mind boggling dance steps! On the whole Mohabbat Zindagi Hai is a racy family entertainer with an outstanding music score and super performances by Zeba, Mohd Ali and Mumtaz. It's not difficult to see why it was such a whopping success when it was released way back in 1975.