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Cinema
Remembering
Hrishikesh Mukherjee
by Yamini Ayyagari
 Nothing
encapsulates the movies of Hrishida as much as this song from one of
his own movies - Zindagi kaisi hai paheli haye... Kabhi to hasaye, kabhi
to rulaye. His movies were indeed just like life - kabhi khushi kabhi
gam, very realistic and down-to-earth, unlike a movie of recent times
with the same title. His are the characters one could easily identify with -
whether it is the emotionally recluse and withdrawn father in Anupama
or the star-smitten fan in Guddi or the simplicity, innocence and
idealism of Raj Kapoor in Anari or the intense love and the ego
hassles of a couple in the same profession in Abhimaan. The
situations are such you couldn't help but partake in the joys and sorrows of
the on-screen characters: you are one with the father when he finally gets
over his long-festering resentment towards his daughter and comes to the
railway station to secretly rejoice over her elopement; you also connect
with the idealistic yet human Dharmendra, who marries the rape victim
(played superbly by Sharmila Tagore) out of his own sense of morality, yet
has problems accepting either her or her illegitimate child completely.
Hrishida's foray into film direction is a perfect case of one step at
a time - from the coffee houses in Calcutta with eminent people like Salil
Choudhary, Mrinal Sen and Bimal Roy among others, he moved to Bombay along
with Bimal Roy and gradually graduated from film editing, screenplay writing
to film direction. The seeds of Musafir, his first film, were sown
during the making of Do Bigha Zameen. When you look at Musafir
today, especially in the context of the cinema we get to see now - where
everything, from the sets to the characters to the stories, is larger than
life - Hrishida's first film stands out for its realistic story
alone. It is an interesting movie with the main character of the film being
a house. The film revolves around the tenants of this place - three
families, three stories - all of whom stay in the house for a little while,
let viewers partake in their daily joys and sorrows and then leave. In many
ways, watching the film seems like watching the happenings in one's
neighborhood.
Musafir was not a commercial success, yet it laid the foundation for
the expectations from a Hrishida film - engaging family chronicles,
laced with wit and humor, and a sensitivity that came to the fore at
unexpected moments. Anybody could walk into a theater playing Hrishida's
film, assured that if not anything he is sure to be treated to an engaging
and entertaining film devoid of any vulgarity. All his movies explored human
relationships with a discernment and perceptiveness that is increasingly
becoming rare these days.
Musafir resulted in an Anari, the movie that saw an instant
rapport develop between Hrishida and Raj Kapoor. Anari had a
few memorable numbers which to me are reflective of Hrishida and his
philosophy in life - Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisaar and Sab
kuch seekha humne na seekhi hoshiyaari. It is said that Hrishida
wrote the script of Anand with Raj Kapoor in his mind for the title
role, which is why the movie is dedicated to him.
Anand is often considered to be Hrishida's chef-d'oeuvre, and
it most certainly is one of the most sensitive movies ever made. The story
of a terminally ill man battling cancer yet embracing life with a smile on
his face touched a chord in many a heart - this was one movie that
celebrated life to the fullest. Anand is said to be Rajesh Khanna's
best act ever - but to me the movie also stands out for Amitabh's intense,
brooding portrayal of Babu Moshai, the reticent doctor who is weighed
down by the medical prognosis yet enamored by Anand's approach to life and
living.
As a correlation to Anand, years later Hrishida made Mili,
which featured Jaya Bhaduri as a person with just a few months to live. Mili
is just like Anand, someone who lives for the moment and doesn't despair
about her impending end. But unlike Anand, in Mili death
doesn't have the last word - Mili reinforces dreams and life. Both
Anand and Mili in their own way ingeminate the same message - death or the
knowledge of it doesn't necessarily have to mean the end; life is all about
living.
Two of my all-time favorite movies of Hrishida are Anupama and
Anuradha. Anupama has often been viewed as a heartbreaking
tear-jerker that explores life and death through the eyes of a young woman
who has lived as a burden to her estranged father. But to me Anupama
symbolizes the coming of age of a reticent, self-effacing and subdued young
woman portrayed brilliantly by Sharmila Tagore. The movie is an intimate
look at the daughter's unarticulated anguish at her father's rejection
culminating in the final assertion of her self. The final scene - when
Anupama finally finds the courage to walk out of her father and "elope" with
Dharmendra (in an absolutely repressed portrayal of a writer-poet) and her
father rejoices silently - to me encapsulates the essence of the movie
brilliantly. Aise bhi baatein hoti hain, kuch aise bhi baatein hoti hain,
kuch dil ne kaha, kuch bhi nahin - sung flawlessly by Lata - epitomizes
the crux of any and every relationship.
Like Anupama, Anuradha to me is undoubtedly one of the
classics of Hindi cinema. The film is a touching saga of an idealistic
doctor who dedicates his life to his practice in a village, and his
extremely talented wife, who is caught in the middle of her own dreams and
her sense of duty. Once again, as his forte, Hrishida depicts the
relationship between the husband and the wife with great sensitivity and
understanding. The love, the companionship between the two, and the
frustration and desperation of the wife all these lead to a denouement,
which can move anybody to tears. Finally, when the wife does decide to leave
her husband to pursue her career as a singer and dancer, even as one feels
sorry for what could have been in the relationship, one understands
perfectly why she chooses to do so. Hai re woh din kyon na aaye and
Jaane kaise sapnon mein kho gayi akhiyan - these gems that saw Pandit
Ravi Shankar's rare foray into Bollywood are classics in their own right.
I don't really recall the first Hrishida movie that I watched; but
then I also don't recall any time in my life when one of his movies or a
song from one of his movies was not among my top favorites. Even today many
a day I wake up with a song from one of Hrishida's movies on my mind
- be it either Anupama's Aisi bhi baatein or Asli Naqli's
Tera mera pyar amar or Anand's Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye
or Guddi's Bole re papihara. Each song, as with his movies,
spoke to you in a special manner and touched a chord somewhere deep within.
In an age when everything is defined by first impressions and apishness, by
artificiality and ostentatiousness, what one is sure to miss is what Hrishida's
movies always stood for - simple, yet refreshing; poignant, yet
un-theatrical portrayal of genuine and real people - people like you and me,
people who you really know or could have known.
September 24, 2006
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Cinema
The Week of September 24, 2006
Is Osama Dead? Never Mind, Terrorism is Still
Alive! by Rajinder Puri
Mahatma Gandhi: Lost and Forgotten in India
by Dr. Subhash Kapila
Confluence of Poetry, Evolution, Economics and
Terrorism by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
India-Pakistan "Bhai-Bhai" by Col.
Rahul K. Bhonsle
Does Human Culture Matter in the Modern World?
by TA Ramesh
Moral Policing by the State by Bijoyeta Das
Wailing Womb, Weeping Heart by Satya Chaitanya
Mahalaya: Invoking the Mother Goddess by
Aparna Chatterjee
The Desecration of Temples and Other Acts by CR
Gopalakrishna
Heaven on Earth Ravaged by VK Joshi
Chemistry of Tulasi by Dr. V. Sankaran Nair
How to make Your Signature Lucky? by Pt.
Aaadietya Pandey
Dr. Varghese Kurien: Idol for Indian Youth by
Bijoyeta Das
From Drums of Phantom to SMS by VK Joshi
Gandhigiri Works! Lage Raho Munna Bhai by Ragini
Puri
Remembering Hrishikesh Mukherjee by Yamini
Ayyagari
Normal Childhood Behavior Misconstrued by
Gary Direnfeld
HIV /AIDS - Prevention and Creating Awareness -
Role of Media by Jyoti Singh
Seeking a Say in Sex by Lubana Yasmin Palia
The New Womanomics by Sreedevi Jacob
Grannies Get Together by Elayne Clift
Women's March to Freedom by Mehru Jaffer
Breaking Tradition's Clay Feet by Surekha
Kadapa-Bose
Yohhh! Boloji by Dr. Amitabh Mitra
God's Grace by Arya Bhushan
Affirming Diversity, Resisting Decisiveness
by Julia Dutta
Why I am Missing my Roots? by Anisa Chaudhary
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