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The latter half of the 1950s – Part 1

The latter half of the 1950s brought changes in my life that considerably reduced the frequency of watching films. In 1956 and 1957, I remained engrossed in preparing for the competitive examinations. Following my selection for the Indian Railway Traffic Service, I moved to Kolkata, towards the end of 1957. For the next two years, my training took me to many places, big and small. Towards the end of 1959, I got posted in Howrah Division of Eastern Railway and began to live in the railway colony in Liluah. By this time, I had a family. Watching films became selective, often dictated by what was on show, and what was accessible. Through all this, I watched several popular movies of the time in Nagpur and Jabalpur before moving to Kolkata, some wherever I happened to be during my training, and others only later, in re-runs.

This period saw Raj Kapoor winning an international award in a new avatar, and the emergence of Guru Dutt as one of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema, with his Pyasa being included in Time magazine's list of 100 Greatest Movies. Nargis emerged from the shadow of Raj Kapoor to reach the pinnacle of success in Mehboob’s Mother India, which earned the highest revenue for any Indian film at that time. Two more dancing stars made their debuts, South Indian Waheeda Rehman, in CID, and Kathak exponent Asha Parekh in Dil deke dekho. Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed his first film, Musafir. LV Prasad directed his first Hindi film Sharda. Shammi Kapoor shed his image and assumed a new personality. Kishore Kumar became a star in his own right and Vyjayantimala continued to grow unhindered.

Iconic films

Jagte Raho

Late in 1955, the Indian press became abuzz with news of Pather Panchali, a Bengali film made by a newcomer, that was making waves. It had been commended by Dr BC Roy, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India. Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali won the President’s Award for Best Feature Film in 1955. In 1956, it competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, winning the Best Human Document award. When it was screened in a morning show in Jabalpur, I asked a Bengali friend to accompany me to watch it and help me follow the dialogues. He pooh-poohed the idea. “I don’t want to watch poverty on the screen. There is enough around us”, he said, to discourage me. I was able to watch it only after I moved to Kolkata. Pather Panchali is considered a watershed in the development of Indian cinema.

Indian producers and directors were excited by the recognition earned by Pather Panchali. One of them was Raj Kapoor. He decided to make a Bengali film to look for similar laurels. Picking up a story written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, he approached Shambhu Mitra, a well-known stage personality of Kolkata, to write its screenplay with its location in Kolkata. Shambhu Mitra wrote it in 12 hours and when Raj Kapoor read it, he asked Shambhu Mitra to play the lead, under Raj Kapoor’s direction, but Shambhu Mitra succeeded in persuading him to reverse the roles.

The film Jagte Raho tells the story of a jobless peasant in the metropolis who, while searching for water to drink in an apartment complex, is mistaken for a thief. Running from flat to flat to escape from his pursuers, the peasant comes across a range of vices, exposing middle-class greed and corruption. Raj Kapoor shed his popular Chaplinesque image and mannerisms to don the tattered dress of a terrified village simpleton with a shaggy beard, unkempt hair, and a bewildered look. Raj Kapoor barely speaks in the film, conveying his emotions through pantomime, except for a fervent denunciatory speech at the climax.

The well-directed film had an array of experienced Hindi and Bengali actors who brought the story alive. Motilal appeared in a cameo with the unforgettable Mukesh song, Zindagi khwab hai. Nargis appeared at the end of the film in the song sequence Jago mohan pyare. I liked two other compositions of Salil Chowdhary for the film, the catchy bhangra number Main koi jhoot boleya and Maine jo li angdayi, sung by Sandhya Mukherjee, as a drunk Motilal imagines his wife singing for him.

We learned at the time that Raj Kapoor, in the interest of the box office, changed the ending to a hopeful one, with Nargis quenching the thirst of the peasant and sending him on his way at dawn. Even the publicity poster for the film focussed on Nargis serving water to Raj Kapoor, with their names prominently displayed. But the Indian film viewers were not prepared to applaud their hero in this avatar, nor accept a film without romance, with a cynical theme. Although Raj Kapoor’s immense popularity in the Soviet Union ensured its success there, Jagte Raho remained for him one of “two special children”, who didn’t succeed. The other child was Mera naam joker.

Nonetheless, Raj Kapoor’s objective of winning international laurels was fulfilled when the film won the Crystal Globe Grand Prix at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 1957.

Pyasa

Following Aar Paar's commercial success, Mr. & Mrs. '55, and CID in a row, Guru Dutt decided to make movies he wanted to make. Pyaasa is a classic and is considered one of the best films of Indian cinema. It was also one of the most commercially successful movies of the year.

Pyaasa narrates the story of an unsuccessful idealistic poet, with a progressive ideology, who is presumed to have been killed in an accident. His girlfriend marries a rich publisher, while a prostitute admires his poems, coming across them, accidentally, in papers sold as scrap by his unscrupulous brothers. After his alleged demise, she gets them published by the same publisher, who now tries to make a killing from the poems he had once rejected. The poet had survived the accident but no one wants to recognise him. Pyaasa, based on a story written by Guru Dutt, is a classic and is considered one of the best films of Indian cinema. The character of the prostitute, played by Waheeda Rehman, is based on a real prostitute whom the writer Abrar Alvi had encountered in Mumbai.

Guru Dutt wanted Dilip Kumar for the poet’s role but the latter declined it, because doing tragic roles was affecting his mental health, according to Wikipedia, but some YouTube videos suggest that he accepted the role but failed to show up for the mahurat shot, forcing Guru Dutt to take over the role. Be that as it may, we were pleasantly surprised to find Guru Dutt, who had only appeared in light roles so far, perform with an intensity we associated only with Ashok Kumar and Dilip Kumar.

SD Burman‘s music in Pyaasa was versatile ranging from playfully romantic Hum aapki aankhon mein, to the heart-stopping Jinhein naaz hai Hind par, from a baul kirtan like Aaj sajan mohe ang lagalo, to Geeta Dutt’s Jaane kya tuney kahi, Hemant Kumar’s heart-rending Jaane woh kaise log, and Mohammed Rafi’s irresistible Sar jo tera chakraye. Mohammed Rafi sang some of the best songs of his entire career for this film. Mohammed Rafi sang all the songs on Guru Dutt, including a recitation of a poem, but for Jaane woh kaise log, SD Burman chose Hemant Kumar, and the song captured our hearts. In one of his articles titled Kathay Kathay raat Hoye Jay, SD Burman mentioned that the second line of the song was copied from our national anthem Punjab, Sindhu, Gujarat, Maratha, Dravid, Utkal, Banga. Sixteen-year-old Rahul worked for the first time with his father in Pyaasa and composed Sar jo tera chakraye based on a tune from the British film Harry Black and The Tiger. The adaptation was so subtle that when the producer of Harry Black and the Tiger visited India, he heard the song and not only failed to recognise the tune but applauded him for it.

Sahir Ludhianvi’s lyrics for Pyaasa were very special for the language, the variety of themes, and the implication of each song. The film marked the coming together of the finest work of SD Burman, Sahir Ludhianvi, and Guru Dutt, who immortalized the songs, with his innovative picturization. Like most creative people, Guru Dutt had the habit of picking up and storing bits and pieces from here and there for future use. He had picked up a nazm titled Chakley (Brothels), an evocative commentary on the plight of women living on the margins of society, from Talkhiyaan, a collection of poems by Sahir Ludhianvi published in 1945. A visit to a kotha gave him the right setting for the poem and led to its inclusion in Pyaasa. The refrain of the poem asks mockingly, Sanakhwaan-e-taqdees-e-mashriq kahaan hain?’ (Where are they who praise the purity of the East?). For Pyaasa, Sahir simplified this line to Jinhe naaz hai Hind par woh kahaan hain?, leaving the rest of the poem unchanged.

Guru Dutt and scriptwriter Abrar Alvi worked out the details of the scene where Vijay, the protagonist, returns to the celebration of his own death anniversary. Sahir Ludhianvi, wrote the song, with the opening words, Ye mahalon, ye takhton, ye tajon ki duniya, forgetting that the film was set in the mid-1950s, when these symbols of the Raj, royalty, and the zamindari were no longer relevant. Abrar Alvi introduced a dialogue in which the publisher, played by Rehman, says that if Vijay were alive, he would seat him on a throne and place a crown on his head. Vijay, standing framed in a flood of light at the door of the hall, overhears him and responds with the song. With Jinhe naaz hai Hind par woh kahaan hain? and Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai? Sahir set a new benchmark for poetry in Hindi films.

Unfortunately, for the lovers of this long collaboration between Sahir and S.D. Burman, Pyaasa marked the end of their partnership. The split came from Sahir’s claiming credit for the success of the film’s soundtrack. SD Burman refused to work with Sahir thereafter. However, Sahir’s claims were not entirely without foundation. The film’s publicity, in the weeks following the film’s release, reflects the importance of Sahir’s lyrics to Pyaasa, when the focus shifted to the lyrics of these two songs. One ad called the film A lyrical new high in film music. In these ads, Sahir Ludhianvi’s name was promoted ahead of Burman’s, underlining Sahir’s pre-eminence over Burman’s in Pyaasa’s success.

Pyaasa is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. It frequently features on world cinema's greatest films lists. The commercial success of Pyaasa gave Guru Dutt the confidence to make Kaagaz Ke Phool on a grand scale but it was a commercial disaster. Pyaasa didn't win any Filmfare award. With an unconventional theme and no big stars, Pyaasa still managed to be the third-highest-grosser of the year. It was a huge commercial success during its 1984 French Premiere, something Guru Dutt never witnessed during his lifetime. Guru Dutt’s movies picked up a cult following the world over in the 1980s, long after Guru Dutt died, confirming his hypothesis in Pyaasa.

Mother India

Meboob Khan’s Mother India was a remake of his earlier film Aurat (1940), the story of the struggles of a farmer’s wife, deserted by her husband, to raise her sons, against the machinations of the village money lender. Produced at great expense, it was the highest-grossing film of 1957 and the highest-earner of all films up to that time. In 1955, when parts of Uttar Pradesh suffered from major flooding, Faredoon Irani shot actual flood scenes for the film. Mehboob cast Nargis in the role of Radha, played by Sardar Akhtar in Aurat, but retained Kanhaiyalal as the money lender. The new crop of young actors found a place in the film with Raj Kumar as Radha’s husband, and Rajendra Kumar and Sunil Dutt as her sons. Film circles were surprised at Sunil Dutt’s casting in the negative role of the rebellious younger son Birju, but Sunil Dutt gave a good performance. Mehboob Khan had considered Hollywood star Sabu Dastagir, and Dilip Kumar for the role of Birju. Red tape for getting permission for Sabu to work in India led him to return to the USA. Nargis rejected the idea of acting as Dilip Kumar’s mother given the several romantic films she had done opposite him. Rajendra Kumar gave a restrained performance, and Raj Kumar was adequately emotive for his role. The film helped to launch them to higher levels. Nargis, undoubtedly, gave the best performance, playing, realistically, a bride, a single mother of several children, and a mother of two grown-up sons. It was her last major film before her marriage and retirement. Kanhaiyalal was at his villainous best.

Nargis and Sunil Dutt were acting without doubles, during the shooting of a fire scene by burning bales of hay when the fire grew out of control, trapping Nargis. Sunil Dutt quickly grabbed a blanket, plunged inside, and rescued her, sustaining burns. Nargis helped nurse him and fell in love with him. They were married in March 1958, delaying the event in deference to the request of Mehboob Khan, who feared that the marriage of the on screen mother and son would affect the collections of for the film. Naushad's music was an asset and many of the songs were major hits.

Naushad’s music went with the theme. It was characterized by folksy rusticity. Its interlude orchestration is in sync with the rustic environment of the songs. Duniya mein hum aaye hain to jeena hi padegaa, sums up the essence of the theme of Mother India. Holi Aayi Re Kanhai is one of the top Holi songs of Hindi films. Dukh Bhare Din Beete Re bhayya is another memorable group song composed by Naushad while Nagari Nagari Dware Dware, Matwala Jiya Dole Piya, and Ghunghat Nahin Kholoongi Saiyan were also popular.

Nargis won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1958 and, in the same year, the Best Actress award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Mother India won the Filmfare Award for Best Film and Best Director for Mehboob Khan. It was the first Indian film nominated for the American Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film's running time was reduced from almost three hours to two hours for international exhibition. Interestingly, Mehboob Productions' logo, which shows the hammer and sickle, a symbol of communism was deleted to avoid ruffling the feathers of the capitalist Americans. The film lost the Academy Award to Federico Fellini's Nights of Cabiria by a single vote.