Madhumati (1958)

So when one of the biggest superstars of our country is reliving a cult character from the much loved Amitabh Bachchan classic Don in cinemas this week, me recalling one of the most popular Dilip Kumar classic from the 1950s- instead of the usual lesser known stuff.

• A rainy night with the hero finding it tough to navigate his car through the sloppy slippery roads. CHECK
• The car breaking down and no help in sight. CHECK 
• A ‘purani’ desolate ‘haveli’ where the hero decides to take shelter for the night. CHECK 
• An old and rickety caretaker with a ‘lalten’ in his hand. CHECK 
• A huge photograph of the haveli’s one time owner. CHECK 
• The hero finding many things familiar about the haveli and the setting which evidently he is visiting for the first time. CHECK 
• The hero remembering his past life. CHECK 
• The hero falling in love with a village belle. CHECK 
• The hero singing songs with the village belle. CHECK 
• The hero not getting along well with his boss and the owner of the estate he manages. CHECK 
• The owner being a lecherous fellow starts lusting for the hero’s love interest. CHECK 
• The disapproving father of the girl. CHECK 
• The disapproving father of the girl giving his approval after the hero’s show of honesty and integrity. CHECK 
• The village celebration song with the hero’s girl joining in. CHECK 
• The hero’s lecherous boss setting a trap for the hero to go away from the scene. CHECK 
• The hero’s imbecile girl falling in the villain’s trap. CHECK 
• The villain going after the girl like a mad animal. The girl escaping his claws and jumping of the terrace. CHECK 
• The hero unable to forget his love. CHECK 
• The hero laying a trap for the villain to confess to his crime (being helped by his girl’s look alike). The look-alike girl entering and scaring the daylights out of the villain. The villain shouting for penitence. The police coming forward and grabbing him by his neck. The look-alike standing there smiling after getting ‘her’ revenge.  The hero suddenly realizing that there is something weird going on. The actual look-alike bursting late on the scene. The spirit of the hero’s dead love luring him to salvation. OM SHANTI OM

All of the above points may sound familiar. In fact take any Hindi mystery/reincarnation movie; chances are that one or more of the above points will be a part of that enterprise too. Bimal Roy’s 1958 Dilip Kumar starrer MADHUMATI is a movie that had all of these points together for the first time in a Hindi movie.

Despite the familiarity born out of watching many rehashes of this movie over the years (some good some tacky), Madhumati is an extremely fresh watch owing to it’s well crafted scenes and some sparkling performances by Dilip Kumar, Pran, and Vyjayanthimala (the last especially for her ebullience in the songs and dance sequences). Moreover each and every song by Salil Chaudhary is a classic, and it was a pleasant surprise to see so many memorable songs back to back in a movie. Though it must be said that having eight songs in a two hour movie is like an overdose, and considerably hampers the otherwise fast paced narrative. Without the songs the story could have been said in an hour flat. But then, it wouldn’t have been this charming.

Parting Note: Madhumati is a highly enjoyable affair and people who love old Bollywood musicals should certainly watch this one. For them it would be an absolute treat.

Parichay (1972)

On the maestro Gulzar’s 75^th birthday, this is my humble attempt to recall one of my favorite films of his, one that I have watched many a times over the years and still find as endearing and as fresh as the first time I saw it- ‘Parichay’.

One of his early films, Parichay starred Jeetendra, Jaya Bhaduri, Pran, and Sanjeev Kumar (in an important cameo appearance). It is a simple story of an unemployed youngster, Ravi (Jeetendra in his first of the three movies with Gulzar), who takes up the job of coaching and reforming the five grandchildren of a wealthy businessman, Rai Saheb (essayed by Pran), in his uncle’s (AK Hangal) village. The grandchildren include Rama (Jaya Bhaduri), who is the eldest and is thus the leader of the pack. The five children are disrespectful and obstinate, and don’t share good vibes with their grandfather, owing to the strained relationship he shared with his son and their late father (Sanjeev Kumar). In an effort to reform them, Rai Saheb employed a series of tutors prior to Ravi, but all of them had been forced to leave by the five children’s reluctance to study and their penchant for naughty antics.

When Ravi takes up the job, the five of them try to do with him what they had done with their previous tutors and make him a subject of their tricks and pranks. But what leaves them utterly surprised is the calm manner in which Ravi brushes aside these pranks and does not even complain about the same to Rai Saheb and their strict aunt. What furthers their astonishment is that Ravi even refuses to use the stick to reprimand them, much to the displeasure of their aunt. Soon the kids take to his honesty, simplicity and affable nature, and start responding to his methods and his words. He becomes a very important part of their lives, and even Ravi develops a growing fondness for them, especially for Rama. How their relationship pans out is what the film is about.

The one thing that is noticeable about all Gulzar movies is that they all have very simple titles, which however always have some deep meaning attached and some strong connect with the story and the mood of the film. He calls this story Parichay, and rightly so for it is essentially about how the kids get introduced to their grandfather, with whom they don’t share a warm relationship, and vice versa. It is also a story of Ravi’s self discovery and his journey towards developing a purpose in life.

The performances by the leads are fantastic, but the real highlights of the movie are the really cute acts by the two youngest kids, and the stellar performance by Pran as the misunderstood Grandfather who is really out of ideas about how to make up with his distanced grandchildren. Even Asrani pitches in with an honest act- he was really one of the most versatile and efficient character artist of his times. The music of the movie acts as a character in itself, such is its beauty and such is its relevance to the narrative. RD Burman came up with some memorable music for Gulzar’s words, and the result were three splendid songs- the evergreen ‘Musafir hoon yaaron’, the haunting melody ‘Beeti na Bitayi raina’, and the charmingly playful ‘saare ke saare’.

As in all his other films, Gulzar chooses a simple tale with a heart and adds his masterly strokes in the form of witty dialogues, splendid music and moving drama. The craft of caressing a simple plot into an evocative and engaging feature is something that Gulzar practiced with trademark precision and uncanny ease over the years. It is hard to find any other Indian director with such a rich and full body of work, and adding his contributions to the world of poetry and music, he becomes truly unmatched and unparalleled.

Hoping that the magician lives on and on… his films and songs surely will…