Shaheed (1965)

On India's 64th Independence Day, recalling an old classic biopic on Bhagat Singh, in an humble effort to give tribute to one of the greatest revolutionaries to have taken birth on our soil.

23^rd March, 1931- Never before had a scheduled execution been advanced by a day- never before had an execution taken place at dusk- 23^rd March, 1931- the mightiest empire in the world had to twist the rules written by itself- Such was the power and threat of Bhagat Singh and his friends, that the empire could not afford their survival for another single day- even when they were safely behind bars.

‘Shaheed’, a 1965 Manoj Kumar film directed by S Ram Sharma, is a story of martyrdom- it is the story of the greatest set of revolutionaries to have taken birth on the Indian soil. One of the few biopic features made in our cinema, it is certainly one of the finest too- if not the finest. It narrates the life and times of Bhagat Singh, a name that resonates every now and then in each and every home of our country- and understandably so. At the start of the new millennium, our film-makers decided to relive his story on celluloid and thus we were confronted with as many as four features on the same man, and the same story. Although Raj Kumar Santoshi’s effort was indeed a fine one, it certainly had a great reference point in the form of this movie that is an extremely rich feature despite being made in an era characterized by minimalistic use of technology and lack of resources and high budgets. This movie has a soul as bright and as warm as the great soul it talks about.

Unlike its remake (I would be addressing Raj Kumar Santoshi’s ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’ as its remake for it was the movie that came closest to replicating its spirit and intentions); Shaheed focuses more on the times spent by Bhagat Singh and his mates behind bars. It also keeps its scope pretty much restricted to these characters and does not include the other noted personalities of that time in its narrative. Thus it refrains from showing the interactions and exchanges between the Viceroy and the congressmen, and also does not lay much focus on showing the external dynamics of the situation. In effect, the greatest strength of this movie is that it does not pitch the ideology of Bhagat Singh and his mates against the one MK Gandhi had and abstains from making this contrast-which could have been used to escalate the spirit of revolution and sacrifice (a tool used to a good effect in its remake).

The story has been collated from authentic sources like Bhagat Singh’s mother herself and Batukeshwar Dutt, who was an important part of Bhagat Singh’s party and in fact accompanied Bhagat Singh while they exploded a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly as a mark of protest against the introduction of the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Dispute Bill (which were touted to make the lives of the common men more miserable). He was also involved in a historic hunger strike by Bhagat Singh and his mates against the dreadful treatment given to the inmates in Indian jails. This hunger strike gets prominent focus in the movie, and is portrayed in a much more restrained and less horrific manner than in its remake. Here a character played by Pran (that of a dacoit inmate along with Bhagat Singh and his group) has been used very well to depict the scale of the sacrifice and level of courage shown by the men for the betterment of their race and their country. 

Despite tackling a vast subject matter, the movie has its focus pretty clear and sharp editing helps the cause.The sets and shooting locations are pretty authentic- the only grouse is that the lighting is poor at some places. The soul of this movie, however, lies in its performances and its music. Manoj Kumar lives the character of Bhagat Singh and comes up with a truly memorable act that I believe remains unmatched (even in the modern day remakes). Prem Chopra plays Sukhdev, and though he lacks the finesse displayed by his more important colleague, he still manages to do a good job backed by the subject matter and the other supporting cast. The character of Bhagat Singh’s mother (played by Kamini Kaushal) is a very well etched one and has been performed remarkably by the lady (one of the best on screen mother acts). Other notable performances are by the jail staff and the Jailor (Madan Puri). Pran’s cameo too is very impactful and one wonders why this character was done away with in the remake. Chandrasekhar Azad, as a character, is not given much prominence in the film.

There are no words apt enough to describe what the music of this film brings to it. The songs are heartwarming and evergreen and take the narrative forward in a splendid manner. In fact, songs come at the highpoint of all the dramatic bits of the story. The songs are based on the poems by Ram Prasad Bismil, another notable revolutionary of that time who was involved in the Kakori incident (which gets a fleeting mention in this film unlike its remake). “Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna”, “Aye Watan”, “Mera Rang De Basanti Chola”, “Pagdi Sambhal”- it is hard to recall any other movie having so many memorable gems- and all having tremendous bearing on the film’s unfolding.

Parting Note- The movie is memorable for more reasons than one. It is one of those patriotic movies that won’t let you remain just a passive viewer watching a movie. It will involve you, it will evoke sentiments, but above all it will make you reflect and think about the meaning of sacrifice, love, and freedom.

Bhagat Singh is relevant today, more so than ever before, for his efforts were not only directed at achieving freedom, but also towards betterment of the posterity and most importantly spreading the feeling of love and pride for our nation and our people- which sadly today comes up only during cricket matches or when our media channels decide to take it up during festivals such as today. It is only when we, as individuals, start feeling responsible for our country and start caring for it as much as we care for ourselves, will issues like corruption cease to infest our society. We don't need an Anna Hazare for that- we have enough examples in our history to take inspiration from- or better still setting an example ourselves by being honest, diligent and fair at whatever we do or at the methods we adopt. Jai Hind.

Do Bhiga Zamin (1953)

It was with great expectations that I sat down to watch this Bimal Roy classic from the early 1950s. It is was an award winning movie at that time and had received a lot of acclaim, not only in India, but around the world. Also, having recently watched the 1964 war movie Haqeeqat that boasted of a stellar performance from Balraj Sahni, I was completely looking forward to watching another superb performance from him.  But contrary to expectations, ‘Do Bhiga Zamin’ ended as a truly underwhelming experience for me.

The movie is about the struggles of a helpless farmer Shambhu (Balraj Sahni in an author backed role) and his family, who have to return a sum of Rs. 250 to the village Zamindar, and have just three months to arrange for it (The actual debt is around Rs.65 but the Zamindar gets the account fudged as revenge for Shambhu refusing to sell his ‘Do Bhiga Zameen’ to him.) Unable to generate funds in the village, poor Shambhu decided to move to the city in hope of getting some work there. Unknown to him his son Kanhaiya too gets on the train by which he is making the journey; and they both reach Calcutta. Once in the city they struggle to find even shelter, and just when you think things can’t go any worse for them, their belongings get stolen (including the bit of money they had).

They end up getting shelter in a basti thanks to a good hearted land lady. Their neighbor, a hand-rickshaw puller, helps Shambhu to get a rickshaw license and soon Shambhu starts toiling hard to earn 2-3 rupees a day. His son too joins him in his struggle by taking up boot polish with the help of a street smart friend Laloo ustad.  Just when it looks like things are going all right for them, disaster happens and Shambhu gets severely injured after meeting with a freak accident. And just when you think that all the misery in the world was not enough for the poor family, Shambhu’s father turns ill, his wife is forced to leave the village and visit the injured Shambhu in the city-where she is fooled into a trap by a thug. In the effort to escape from him she meets with an accident.  For helping her recover, Shambhu is forced to part with all the money he and his son had earned by the efforts of their sweat and blood- resulting in the auction of their land according to the court order and his father going insane.

The film was a disappointment for me because of a number of reasons. First- it was highly melodramatic. The director was attempting a realistic subject but overdid it by including too many clichés (which might not have been clichés at that time- but even then it is hard to believe that all the problems in the world managed to find the address of the poor farmer Shambhu). Second- the entire tone of the film was theatrical- and the acting looked too in your face and sometimes even amateurish. Balraj Sahni really gave another spectacular performance but the effect gets diluted due to the less than adept supporting cast (Nirupa Roy being an exception). Third- the director took the extreme view as far as industrialization is concerned. The subject offered him the opportunity to propagate a new wave of thinking and break the shackles of illogical traditions and facets of our society, but he failed to capitalize on it. For instance even in an abject state the hero refuses his wife to work and earn some money (while the other women in the village are shown to fine with working for their bread). Similarly he rejoiced when his young kid starts to earn a living by doing boot polish (his spirit is celebratory while it should have been otherwise). The influential people are all depicted as monsters, apathetic to the woes of the poor- and this again is a very generalist view that the director takes.

And lastly, the film did not work for me because the way it culminated. After all the hard work, all the efforts that Shambhu and his kid put in, they are not able to save their land. This goes against the very thing that makes our movies so endearing- the spirit of hope and optimism. It looks ghastly the way they have ended the movie- just to make a point that the rich will keep treading on the hopes and aspirations of the poor to make their palaces of wealth.

However irrespective of the above there are a few sequences which are worth mentioning as individual pieces of brilliant art-

• When Shambhu loses the daily earning from a middle class household for which he used to drop two girls to their school, he still drops them without taking any wages- forgoing other customers from whom he could have made some earning.
• The Shambhu accident scene- A man and lady, who have had a fight, are indulging in a race of their hand-rickshaws (one of them being pulled by Shambhu). When the man offers a big amount to Shambhu to go faster, he puts in his all and unfortunately his rickety rickshaw is not able to handle the thrust- in the process causing a freak accident and an injury to Shambhu.
• The scene when Kanhaiya resorts to stealing in an effort to get some good food for his injured father. And later when Shambhu breaks down after discovering this misdoing on the part of his ‘bachhua’.

Shambhu is shown as such a good and self-less person that it seems like sacrilege when he does not achieve his goal in the end. And as I said that’s where I lost whatever little connect I had with this movie.