Teesri Kasam (1966)

Life is showbiz can be a big challenge, especially for ladies for the lines between morality and professionalism and ambition can be pretty thin ones. We have had many movies that have dealt with this subject in recent times- Fashion and The Dirty Picture being the ones that immediately come to mind. In fact there was a time when women working in such vocations were not seen in a good light. The society never encouraged the women to be a part of such set-ups and the women who did end up working in the entertainment world were deemed social outcasts. Also, before cinema and fashion became as big as they are today, something else ruled the heartlands of our country- the good old village nautanki- a celebration of life and all its covert pleasures. Basu Bhattacharya’s first Hindi film, Teesri Kasam, starring Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman is set in such an era. With a rustic backdrop, this film is a heartwarming tale of love between a nautanki star and a bullock-cart driver (Gaadiwaan).

Hiraman (Raj Kapoor in a typical role of a simpleton) is a naïve village bumpkin who is a Gaadiwaan by profession. A god-fearing and righteous fellow, he gets into some unfortunate situations and which lead him to make two promises to himself- one that he would never transport black-market goods on his cart, and two that he would never transport long wooden on it either. These two small incidents at the beginning of the story set the character of Hiraman firmly in place. Soon, he gets the task of making a lady reach a distant village mela on his bullock cart for which he is promised a lucrative payment. Thus, he and the lady embark on a thirty hour long journey through the wilderness to reach their destination. The lady is an ethereal beauty and Hiraman gets struck by her surreal charm. He discovers that her name is Hirabai-making her his namesake (meeta) in a way. Hirabai too gets attracted to Hiraman’s simplicity and goodness. They spend the entire time talking to each other, with Hiraman telling her stories and singing village songs to her. They don’t even realize when the thirty hours reach an end and they reach the mela.

Hiraman soon discovers that Hirabai is a very famous nautanki star and the biggest draw at the village mela. He decides to stay in that village and watch her nautanki after getting special passes for the same from her. So every night he and his friends start visiting the nautanki where they see Hirabai driving the crowds crazy by the grace and finesse of her dancing and singing. But a lot of the things that Hiraman sees in these excursions make him very uncomfortable. By the day he and Hirabai meet and spend a lot of time together in the process drawing a lot closer to one another than they initially imagined. In Hiraman, Hirabai finds a true friend who loves and respects her for what she is in reality, and not for her fame and beauty. She finds it difficult to keep the fact hidden from him that her vocation is not entirely honorable. Similarly Hiraman gets more and more sucked into the world of his meeta, refusing to realize that it would lead him to nothing else but dejection and him making a third promise to himself.

The story is uncomplicated and the emphasis is entirely on the unconventional bond between two people whose worlds are completely diverse. Their interactions are the highlight of the story apart from some truly melodious songs composed by Shankar Jaikisan. The performances by both the leads are terrific- especially from Waheeda Rehman who lives her character with great empathy and is a complete natural. This is one of the early films of her career, and it is safe to say that she was one of the most beautiful actresses of her time. On the contrary this is one of the later films for Raj Kapoor, and he looks quite elder to his co-star (but this age gap is justified in the story). As far as his act is concerned, he is a complete natural as the shy simpleton who takes an idealistic view of the world. The supporting cast is efficient (though I could identify only a few of the actors). Iftekhar plays a Zamindar who is a frequent visitor to Hirabai’s show and yearns for her affection. Asit Sen and Jhonny Walker too have brief appearances.

The film is presented as an almost musical with the songs hogging a great portion of the runtime. And it takes nothing away from the likeability of the movie as the songs are simply superb which some great lyrics that do a great job of saying what is going on inside the hearts of Hiraman and Hirabai. Also, the entire nautanki bit (including the behind the scene action) is handled in an authentic manner with some artistic cinematography and shot-taking.

Parting Note: Teesri Kasam is an endearing tale of love between two completely different people, with a completely rustic background which in itself is pretty alluring. Its charm lies in its rootedness and honest intentions.

P.S.: Basu Chatterjee is credited as one of the assistant directors on the project. It is safe to say that the master film-maker, who went on to make some great films himself, got some solid grounding in the art under his meeta (Basu Bhattacharya).  

Namkeen (1982)

What would be the worst part of living a nomad’s life? The lack of a settled dwelling? Or the felling of constant disengagement with the society?

Human beings are not meant to live alone. People, who try to fool themselves into believing that they need no one else in their lives, are usually the ones who get the worst out of this unforgiving world.  One can never stop having attachments in the world around us, and one cannot really leave everything behind and move to another location taking everything away with him. This is because while moving from one place to the other, some small part of one’s heart always does get left behind. One cannot really escape this, however hard one tries. And that’s the reason people find it so hard to say goodbye.

Gulzar’s ‘Namkeen’ is a simple film about simple people who have to work very hard to make a decent living. It is a story of a nomadic truck driver Gerulal (Sanjeev Kumar in one of the last significant roles of his illustrious career) who picks up contractual work that requires him to travel to various towns, and that does not allow him to settle down at one place for long. For his latest assignment, he has to live in a small hilly village for a few days, and he picks up residence as a paying guest with a family of four ladies- one mother (Waheeda Rehman) and her three young daughters (Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi, and Kiran Vairale). Soon, he gets sucked into their world- their problems, their hopes, and their day to day living. But before he can truly make them a part of his life (although at one level that happens just days into his stay with them), he has to leave the village and move on.

This is one movie where the drama is understated, and a lot of time is given to the building up of the relationship between the three girls and Gerulal. How he becomes so important to them and how manages to win the trust of them all, including their mother, is shown with the help of a series of bitter-sweet exchanges between them, most of which leave a smile of the face of the viewer. There are subtle references to the hardships that a household, composed entirely of women, has to face in a rural setting. The bonding between the three sisters, their respect for their senile mother, and their warm acceptance of a complete stranger in their lives- all of this reflects the rootedness and simplicity of the people of our villages. On the other hand Gerulal, the foul mouthed-large hearted truck driver, is equally respectful and warm towards his hosts and he demonstrates this warmth through his genuine concern for the ladies and his efforts to alleviate the challenges they face.

Gulzar mounts the story (written by Samresh Basu who had collaborated with Gulzar previously for Kitaab) on a very realistic canvas. The proceedings gradually transport you to the quaint little world of a small hill-station, and therein lay the magical Gulzar touch that makes make-believe believable. The dialogues are crisp and witty- another of the man’s hallmark. The performances are quite good, which is somewhat needless to say for Gulzar could have made even logs act, and this movie boasted of few of the most celebrated performers of that time. Sanjeev Kumar is Sanjeev Kumar- restrained, believable, and completely natural. Sharmila Tagore pitches in with a much more polished act than her previous attempt in a Gulzar movie- Mausam. Shabana Azmi is saddled with one of her rare supporting roles. 
The scene stealer however is the youngest sister, played by Kiran Vairale. Hers is a fiery character with a streak of rebellion, and she manages to hold her own in front of the best actors of those times. Waheeda Rehman, the veteran, in the role of the mother is effective, but hers does seem to be a labored performance.

The music by RD Burman doesn’t boast of a truly memorable song, but all songs are melodious and go with the texture of the narrative. The best one is ‘Raah pe Rahte hain’, a song in the same philosophical mode as ‘Musafir Hoon Yaaron’ from Parichay.

Parting Note: Namkeen is another good movie from Gulzar’s stable; I guess there isn’t really any below the mark movie made by the maestro (just a few left for me to catch up on). I guess a thoughtful and articulate man as Gulzar who was primarily a writer (and a superb one at that) would have found it hard to make a movie which was not at least above average.