In almost all movies of the great director Hrishikesh Mukherjee, there is a naatak (playact) within a story. In Khoobsurat (1980), Manju (Rekha) and the other family members are playacting and ‘making fool’ of the house matriarch Nirmala Devi (Dina Pathak). In Golmaal (1979), Ramprasad (Amol Palekar) is playfully duping Bhavani Shankar (Utpal Dutt ) into believing there are twin brothers. And who can ever forget the evergreen Chupke Chupke, the master of comical errors?
Chaaya is one of the earliest movies of Hrishikesh Mukherjee on naataking within a story. The movie, primarily a romantic tale of a poor boy and rich girl, is more importantly the portrayal of mother and daughter and of sacrifice and devotion.
Manorma (NR) , widowed, homeless and helpless with an infant daughter, goes to Lucknow in search of her relatives. Unable to find them and in a moment of desperation, she ends up leaving her baby in the footsteps of a large house. The house belongs to Seth Jagatnarayan (Nazir Hussain) and he happily adopts her, having lost his wife earlier. Manorma, missing her child and regretting her decision, goes back to the mansion and begs for a job, but hides her relationship with the child. The merciful Seth, appoints her as the aaya/ nanny of Saritha.
They all move to Bombay and at this point the story includes the ever trustworthy character actor, Lalita Pawar as Seth Jagatnarayan's sister Rukmani Chaudhary. Ofcourse, she is the nosy, chatty and gossipy aunt, albeit harmless. It's a Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie and you cannot have any more negativity than eavesdropping ladies and evil eyebrows raised! There is a reason why generations of Indians have turned to HM movies for comfort and genius storytelling.
Enter Sunil Dutt. Oh what a handsome face and personality to behold! Not just as an actor, but to give a delightful unique blend of theraav (depth) and glamour to the role, Dutt sir is perfect. In the movie playing the secret role of Rahee, a poor shaayar (poet) and as Arun, a teacher, (see the layers of naatak within naatak here! ), he is playful, cheery, romantic, pleading, sorrowful and serious as and when the characters’ needs arise. Firstly as a shy and serious teacher, Arun is aware of his status difference and does not chase after the girl. The romance also develops through constant tuition classes and the delightful lilting songs of the master composer Salil Chowdhary. Then when he knows of Saritha’s infatuation with Rahee, his playful mischievous persona comes out. Fooling her with invitations to his home and to the beach under starry nights, play acting while tempting her with his voice and poems, he hums the beautiful "Itna Na Mujhse Tu Pyaar Badha" by Talat Mehmood & Lata Mangeshkar.
The romance is also not without a deep sense of culture and traditions as is the watermark of all Hrishida’s movies. Throughout his lessons, the teacher Arun also teaches Saritha of the Indian culture, freedom fighters and of the love of literature and poetry.
Since this is not a movie of only romance and boy meets girl, the maternal love so perfectly performed by Nirupa Roy - the true Mother India - of course has to be discussed too. Manorma, by this point of time in the movie, has assumed a quiet, behind the scenes caretaker of Saritha and is happy to do so - serving and loving her from a distance. But as the marriage proposals start coming in for the young girl, she realises that Saritha loves Arun.
Then after a lot of push and pull and the usual tug of war of parents vs children in matters of marriage, Saritha and Arun marry. Manorma is recognised as her true mother after Seth Jagatnarayan discovers an old photograph from her bag.
What I love about HM’s movie making is that he has the solitary gift of blending human emotions with the plot and presenting a pleasant, light experience of movie watching. It is like in his great mind he has a vision of how a movie should be watched, how a relationship should be presented, without it being weighed down by melodrama, unnecessary dialogues, tedious songs and long roped expressions.
I enjoyed Chhaya so much that I have already bookmarked it in my favourite movies folder, which is a sign for me that I will probably watch it many times more. And in that folder are almost all of Hrishida’s movies!
