Taxi Taxie (1977)

In 1976, Martin Scorsese came up with Taxi Driver, a movie that went on to be viewed as one of the best films ever. Starring Robert De Niro, the movie garnered tremendous critical acclaim and emerged as a cult classic. Over the years many directors have been inspired by its style and the way it went about constructing a psychological study of a man leading a life shrouded by disturbing elements, or rather deconstructing the psychological state of disturbed man finding it difficult to come to terms with his environs.

Closer home, a man called Irshaad made a movie titled Taxi Taxie, casting Amol Palekar in the lead as a taxi driver operating in the metropolis of Mumbai. This movie that came out in 1977 seems to be clearly inspired by the English classic that released a year before. However it must be said that it is the best sort of inspiration. The director/writer has been influenced by the idea of his famous contemporary from the west, and has created a completely different movie, completely different narrative of his own, which is quite unique and interesting.

Amol Palekar, quite fondly given the moniker ‘Hero’ by his fellow Mumbai Taxiwallahs, is an honest and diligent worker who spends most of his time on the streets of Mumbai, helping various people move around the city. However, he himself finds it difficult to navigate through certain cobwebs in his mind, which keep pushing him back to his past. His choice of being a taxi driver, despite being well qualified academically, comes as an enigma to his old college friend who he runs into one day. He justifies it by voicing the joys of being constantly with various passengers, who he treats like fellow companions in the journey of life. The profession, thus, is his way of parrying off any chances of falling prey to loneliness. There is also a more romantic reason of him wanting to search for an old flame who he hopes would run into him, if luck is on his side. Thus, all the time his eyes keep searching for that familiar face while he drives through the good and bad wonders of the city.

As a part of his routine, Hero chances into a hapless (and kind) prostitute more than once, and forges a friendly relationship with her. He also meets a struggling playback singer who somehow reminds him of his flame who he wants to reconnect with quite badly. There is also a kind Christian landlady with whom he shares a lovely bond. It is through these relationships that Hero’s thoughts and conflicts are brought to the fore wonderfully well.

The movie is quite atmospheric and the city of Mumbai plays a crucial role in binding the narrative. Quite like the recent Aamir Khan starrer Talaash, a movie that also shares some other similarities with this thirty five year old forgotten flick. People who have been to Mumbai will find it quite interesting to see all their favourite places from ‘town area’ being given due prominence in the film (without ever pushing the main context to the background). Some deftly handled small touches can be appreciated after every few minutes, which makes the film appear very technically sound in spite of the apparent low budget.

The best thing about the movie is that despite its very heavy subject and philosophical tone, it never comes across as too much to take in. Some light-hearted moments are nicely done, and some appear contrived today, but by and large it is an extremely fresh screenplay which at least I have not seen replicated in (or replicated from) any other Hindi movie. Apart from Amol Palekar and a stunningly beautiful and assured Reena Roy, none of the actors show much finesse. However the below average acting acumen of two of the three leading ladies is not at all jarring, as Amol is in each and every frame to balance proceedings. 

The music is tuneful and soothing, and surprisingly not overdone. But it is one of those Hindi movies which do not need the crutches of super-hit songs to stand tall. The meat in the concept and the surprisingly well written dialogues take care of almost everything. Another point worth appreciating about the feature is that it never meanders, even when its lead meanders in his realms of thoughts. In the hands of a lesser director, the plot could have turned into a crime/mystery drama, (I have seen some Hindi movies taking that route after showing a lot of promise in the initial reels) but fortunately here the man in-charge sticks to the point.

Parting Note: Taxi Taxie is a very good Hindi film lost in oblivion. Definitely an excellent watch even today.

Gharonda (1977)

The star-cast and Imdb summary of this Bhimsain Khurana film gave an impression of it being a film in the mould of ‘Chhoti si Baat’ or ‘Rajnigandha’. After all, one can hardly expect an Amol Palekar or a Zarina Wahab to star in a movie that is not a feel-good entertainer. But ‘Gharonda’ is hardly that Basu Chatterjee or a Rajshri movie from the 1970s that would leave you smiling and cause you to drift away in a simple and endearing world where everyone is good at heart and there are hardly any vices. It surely tells a story of two working-class people living in an urban city (much like Chhoti si Baat and Rajnigandha), but here the tone and tenor is drastically different. The world out here is the big and bad one where people aren’t always sweet and don’t always have the best of intentions. They are insecure yet ambitious, apprehensive yet ruthless. They hardly think beyond their own interests and seldom give a damn about the lives of others. The film tells the story of two people in love who dream to have their own house in the concrete jungle of Mumbai, daring to take on all the challenges that the city throws on them. How their lives take a drastic turn post this, is what the film is all about.

Gharonda is more like a Shyam Benegal or a Govind Nihalani film in its treatment. Emphasizing on the dark human desires and talking about people going through their most troubled times, the movie is a dark and pessimistic take on human emotions and their worth (or worthlessness) in a big modern city like Bombay. Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab play office colleagues who fall in love and decide to marry. But before taking the marital plunge, they decide to own a flat of their own for which Amol is forced to take a loan. But in a rather cruel twist of fate, the builder with whom they book a flat turns out to be a swindler. Not able to accept this big monetary loss, Amol’s room-mate, who had also booked a flat with the same builder, commits suicide. Amol completely breaks down but not before making an indecent proposal to Zarina that literally breaks her heart. Accepting defeat at the hands of the heartless society, Amol asks Zarina to marry their elderly boss (Shreeram Lagoo) who had shown interest in her on more than once occasion. He tells her that their boss couldn’t be expected to live for more than a few months at best, and after his death they could get together again and live comfortably off the old man’s wealth. Outraged at this suggestion, Zarina breaks all ties with him. But owing to her unstable financial condition and her wish to fulfill her younger brother’s ambitions of studying abroad, she decides to honor her boss’s proposal to her and marries him. However, she accepts her husband wholeheartedly and makes all the efforts to have him hale and hearty again. Meanwhile, devastated by this betrayal, Amol loses all interest in life and becomes a recluse…

There are a lot of elements in this film that are unconventional. Amol is shown to be living in a shady men’s hostel where one of room-mates has regular tete-e-tete with prostitutes. Even Amol brings Zarina to his room for the first time with not so noble intentions. The old man’s pursuit of a young Zarina (almost his daughter’s age) is again not something which is regular. Amol’s dissonance with the world and his complete disregard for his own self post Zarina’s marriage, again is something which is not worthy of a Hindi movie hero. He becomes an urban version of Devdas, and there is also a mention of his involvement with prostitutes. Zarina’s comfort level with her much senior husband is again dramatic, and quite uncomfortable. She becomes his trophy wife without any complaints and accepts him with all his deficiencies. More than a wife, she becomes his nurse, his householder, and his closest friend. Thus all the characters in the story have shades of grey, which is truly unique for a movie of its time and age.

The songs of the film are quite unlike the rest of the narrative. They are given an easy treatment and are sans any dramatic or visceral connotations. In fact if seen in isolation, they would give a completely different impression about the movie. ‘Do Deewane Sheher Mein’ is the memorable song from the album, one for which Gulzar won many accolades. As far as the performances go, Amol Palekar attempts a completely different role and although he does well, it is difficult to accept him this pessimistic and discontent avatar. Zarina Wahab too is not very convincing in the complex role and it easy to see why she didn’t become a very popular actress of that time. A Shabana Azmi instead of her could have added a completely different texture to the performance with her penchant for such complicated characters. Similarly a Shreeram Lagoo hasn’t got that imposing aura that his character needed. One feels that a Sanjeev Kumar or an Amjad Khan could have taken the film to an altogether different level.

Parting Note: Gharonda is a semi-Shyam Benegal film with a Rajshri cast- It has a powerful narrative that could have been well served by likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Sanjeev Kumar, and Shabana Azmi. The film tells a novel story and is given a realistic treatment. However because of its weak casting it fails to create a great impact and ends up being good film, but hardly a must watch one.

Chhoti Si Baat (1975)

X: I just love that girl; I don’t know how to tell her- it is driving me crazy…

Y: Big deal man; just look into her eyes confidently and tell her how you feel for her…

Sometime later, some other place, some other confidante- the same man but on the other side-

Y: I love that girl man; I have no idea how to say it; I just go weak in the knees when she comes in front of me…

Telling a girl how you feel for her can be the toughest task for most, but it usually appears to be no big deal from a third person perspective. It is after all a pretty small thing- just three small words-‘Chhoti si baat’. When you have to do it for yourself, however, there cannot be a more complex thing in the world. But ideally this should not be the case, and this is the premise that forms the backbone of this Basu Chatterjee offering starring Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha, Asrani, and Ashok Kumar (in a cracker of a role). There is also a larger context in the movie, which is essentially how two different personalities approach their lives in general and how in this cut-throat world it is very important to be sure of oneself and street-smart to survive and win.

Amol Palekar plays Arun, a shy young man far away from any kind of cunning or manipulative behavior.  He loves Prabha (played by the demure Vidya Sinha) but is unable to express his feelings to her. Arun works in a firm at a middle level post, and Prabha works in some another company that has its office near to that of Arun’s firm. Every morning Arun waits for Prabha at the bus-stop, follows her all the way to her office and then makes his way towards his own. In the evenings too he waits for her to come out of her office and follows her right back to her place. This does not go unnoticed at Prabha’s end, and she quite enjoys teasing the nervous and naïve Arun in some way or the other. Things go the same way, until a disruption in the form of Prabha’s friend Nagesh (Asrani is a very lively role) comes into Arun’s life. Nagesh is exactly what Arun isn’t- confident, smart, crooked, manipulative, and always ready with a witty excuse to escape from doing any work. Nagesh, Prabha’s co-worker, starts driving her to work in his scooter, snatching Arun’s joy of meeting Prabha in the bus.

Soon Nagesh makes out Arun’s feelings for Prabha and starts to make things difficult for him in more ways than one. Unable to accept things as they are, Arun decides to take help from a counselor and problem solver of the name Col. Julius (Ashok Kumar in a scorcher of a role), who lived in the outskirts of the city and was famous as someone whose advice was even valued by eminent personalities of that time. Arun stays with Col. Julius for a few days and gets training in love, life, and much more. Armed with various tricks and techniques taught by the Colonel, he returns to the city as a much more self-assured person and ends up wooing Prabha and beating Nagesh at his own game.

The plot is simple, but it is the sequence of events that are delightful to watch. The narrative keeps us involved at each and every turn and manages to evoke sympathy for Arun’s character in the initial few portions, and dislike for the smart and calculative Nagesh who dupes the naïve Arun more than once. In the final few minutes, one may actually find himself rooting for Arun to succeed. The dialogues are smart and the humor is simple but crackling. No one gets slapped, no one farts or makes silly faces, no one uses double entendres, and no one uses cuss words- this movie is a study on all the things that are missing from our comedies these days.

The performances are so natural that you will hardly think that anyone is acting in the movie. All the actors are the characters they play, and there cannot be a bigger achievement for people who indulge in this craft. Amol Palekar stands out in a role of a working class simpleton madly and hopelessly in love who has no clue about how to make that love materialize. Vidya Sinha is amazing as a middle class young woman. She is supremely charming and alluring; especially in scenes when she is hoping that Arun will transcend the barriers of shyness and make a move to initiate conversation between them. Asrani plays a brat with aplomb and Ashok Kumar plays the retired Colonel with such Joie de vivre that it is a treat to watch him at play. The movie also boasts of some melodious songs by Salil Chaudhary including “Na Jaane Kyun, hota hai yeh zindagi ke saath’, and ‘Jaaneman Jaaneman tere do Nayan'.

Basu Chatterjee tried keep a similar light hearted mood in almost all his films, and got is spot on most of the times (Though there were certain misfires like the Dharmendra and Hema Malini starrer Dillagi which could not achieve the cheerfulness and likeability of his other movies like Chitchor, Khatha Meetha, Baaton Baaton Mein, Rajnigandha etc). Let’s hope that someone comes and revives the genre mastered by him and Hrishikesh Mukherjee, in the same way as the Masala genre is being revived by the powerhouses of our movie industry.

Parting Note- Chotti Si Baat is a must watch- and there is no better way to put it. It is one movie that will keep you smiling throughout.

Chitchor (1976)

A few minutes into this Basu Chatterjee- Rajshri productions collaboration, I almost shouted ‘Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon’. A quick Google search later I was indeed vindicated. Sooraj Barjataya’s ‘Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon’ was indeed an underwhelming remake of this little gem of a movie. While its newer rehashed version is a tedious 176 minutes watch, Chitchor is an unusual hindi movie from the 70s with a breezy runtime of just about 100 minutes.

Chitchor stands for everything that made our earlier cinema so endearing- life like characters, simplicity of the plot, melodious music, engaging situations, and subtle humor. The setting is beautiful and in a way adds a lot to the movie…

“Gori Tera Gaon Bada pyaara- main toh gaya maara- aake yahan re…”

The premise of mistaken identities is simple enough- but it is the execution that is the winner here. Again, like most other Rajshri productions, the movie stresses on recognizing and relishing the simple pleasures of life. A bouquet of fresh flowers that the heroine (Zarina Wahab) gives to the hero (Amol Palekar) every evening is symbolic of the same. Amol Palekar is truly amazing in his portrayal of a cultured, well mannered and musically inclined man who is sent by his company for overseeing a construction project being carried out near the village where the story takes place. Zarina Wahab is an unusual Hindi film heroine. Certainly not the best looking of her times, this dusky lady has an unconventional appeal that works very well for this movie.

With a story with such few characters, the supporting cast does a fabulous job. The parents and the other hero- I don’t know him by name (he plays what Abhishek played in MPKDH) are effective. Special mention must be given to the kid who plays Zarina’s friend here. The relationship between him and Zarina is really sweet and is a highlight of the movie. In fact it can be said that the kid is the third most important character in the story. No, maybe that recognition should be given to the music which plays a big role in taking the narrative forward. The songs are soothing and melodious- notice the lyrics that convey the feelings of the characters in a superb manner.

Parting note- Although its story is familiar- the movie is still a must watch as it has the one thing that today’s movies lack- simplicity…