Chhaya 1962 - Nirupa Roy in a Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie

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!

Asli Naqli - The faceoff with life

Hrishida - the creator of happy movies

To say that Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s movies are both entertaining and charming, is an understatement. He can combine the quintessence of home, feel of a city, values of family, romance of two individuals and a quiet suspense all thrown in a wonderful plot. He has the masterly talent of showing  thought, charm and joie de vivre to help us think and live through his movies. Like a companion for life, Hrishida’s movies stay with us always.

Asli Naqli 

Asli Naqli made in 1962 was a memorable movie starring Dev Anand and Sadhna. In the movie, Anand played by Dev Anand is a rich man’s grandson. Unlike a rich, pompous baron he is a man who thinks and contemplates on his existence, questioning his everyday life and of the golden cage he lives in. Lying on a velvety chaise with a shining glass of whisky from a ludicrous bar of his drawing room which has his photo on a silver frame, Anand is dazzled but is aware of his hollow life.

 This cognizant and discerning nature of Anand provokes a series of arguments with his grandpa in the following days with regard to a marriage deal for better business and managing the vast property. Anand runs away from home. 

Mansion vs Mohalla

He ends up meeting Mohan who takes him to his home which is in an impoverished locality. Mohan’s sister and friends welcome him with open arms and in their limited means they share their home. The stark difference of not just the status in living and conditions of Anand's past and his new residence is apparent but also the independent, carefree spirit of Mohan’s family and neighbors is juxtaposed with Anand’s overbearing, withdrawn Grandpa, dry with money and rank only. 

The romance

Anand soon meets Renu and the innocence of the two good humans bring them closer to each other. Renu’s mother is unaware of her husband’s death and is made to believe so because Renu believes she doesn't have the mental capacity to bear it. When Anand’s grandfather learns of this, he uses it to blackmail Renu into breaking off their relationship. Sinister scheme but still innocent because it's a Hrishida movie after all!

No muscle men or cabaret dances to fool the villains here. Hrishida uses intrinsic human values to show good over hollowness. Renu’s mother displays courage and tolerance on hearing the reality of her husband and conquers Anand’s father’s evil plan. 

Happily Anands after!

Leaving on a musical note

The song ‘tujhe jeevan ki dor se’ is an everlasting song and always memorable. Every movie of Hrishida has atleast two songs which are beautifully rendered. The music, setting, homely scenes and unpretentious acting speak of his simplistic vision of life and cinema. That's why Asli Naqli remains a treasure to watch and rewatch.

Anupama 1966

Why hasn't Anupama been in the list of women-powered movies? Even though Sharmila doesn't have much dialogue delivery I felt she conveys more than Dharmendra (very strong on his own too though). No long eyelash fluttering, no twisting of sari pallu and no coy smile. Very few Hindi movies make you understand the protagonist's feelings in the right way,instead of sympathy or anger. Anupama agrees with you in the right way.

Anupama, a story of an introvert girl mostly ignored by her father and finding herself in the world. Joined by a host of emminent actors such as Dharmendra,Shashikala, David Abraham, Deven Verma etc, the movie is a discovery of relationships and of self.

Watch it for some finespun performances by Sharmila,Dharmendra and Tarun Bose as her father.

Guddi - Movie infatuation in hemlines

Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Basu Chatterjee.

I fell in love with the above two fabulous directors and their creations since I saw Golmaal. Its my comfort movie, sunshine factor and BFF for all seasons and reasons. The duo's movies are not exactly new wave cinema, art movies or commercial.  They are just light ,breezy movies which are made for fun, in fun and watched for fun. But they stay with you forever unlike stupid, funny bone movies. The reason being the script.

Guddi is one among them. I watched Bombay Talkies recently. Supposedly an ode to 100 years of Indian cinema which I still did not understand how. I felt Guddi should have been a better tribute. The below dialogue from the movie says why :

' Guddi to phir bhi bacchi hai. Aaj kal miya biwi ek doosre mein Dilip Kumar aur Saira Banu ko dhoondte hain' ( Guddi is still a young girl. Today husband wife look for Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu in each other)

It isn't exactly a documentary about cinema. Its a story about a girl who breathes cinema and a moviestar worshipper. It's a story of a middle class family,of love and then some bittersweet stories of the movie industry. But true to Hrishida's nature,nothing is grim,gray or gore. Rather its poignant,mellow and rather funny in many parts.

Watch it for :

- all Hrishidas regulars. Utpal Dutt is there yes.

- Asrani in Shammi Kapoor style

- Jaya Bachhan in mini frock

- who calls Sharmila 'baby'

-wonderful poster art

- a glimpse of all leading heroes of that time

- Because very few movies let you live your childhood and adolescence