Month: April 2023

Released in 1966
9/10
Genre- Family, Drama, Romance
Main Cast: Sharmila Tagore, Dharmendra, Tarun Bose
Music- Hemant Kumar
Story- Hrishida (Hrishikesh Mukherjee)
Screenplay: Bimal Dutta and D.N. Mukherjee
Direction- Hrishida (Hrishikesh Mukherjee)

BRIEF INTRODUCTION Set in modern background, this is a story about a businessman Mohan (played by Tarun Bose), his daughter Uma (played by Sharmila Tagore), and their strained relationship due to an unfortunate event related to Mohan’s wife (played by Surekha Pandit), her untimely death during Uma’s birth. For this incident, Mohan blames Uma and starts hating her forever, which results in Uma being very quiet and suppressed, always longing for her father’s acceptance and affection. But this changes when she meets Ashok (played by Dharmendra), a teacher who also happens to be an open-minded writer in the story. The rest of the plot is formed by how Uma breaks out of this shell and chooses to do what’s right for her.

The Movie There is so much to appreciate about “Anupama” that words fall short of it. The story, the casting, the performance, the cinematography (Black & White), the music/songs, and finally the direction by Hrishida. In every department, the film managed to deliver, and these elements tell a lot about the director’s vision of conveying his message on the subject. With no distractions and a clear narrative, “Anupama” comes as a rare film on a father-daughter relationship.

Supporting Characters The supporting characters are also crucial to the story. Be it Moses (played by David), Arun (played by Deven Verma), Annie (played by Sashikala), or Ashok’s mother (played by Durga Khote), they all contributed their bits to the film. Especially Annie’s character added a lot to the film and Sashikala gave an impressive performance as Uma and Ashok’s common friend, in fact, the last part of the film would be incomplete without her character.

Ashok to Uma in a scene in “Anupama (1966)”
“अच्छा, आप आप बातें क्यों नही करतीं,
वैसे सच पूछिए तो आप को बोलने को जरूरत भी नहीं,
आप की आँखें हैं न, सब कुछ कह देती हैं…”

And that is quite evident in the film, Sharmila Tagore had a very limited number of dialogues in the film but she spoke through her eyes and expressions. Her eyes, they did all the talking…

P.S. Anupama won the National Film Award (1966) for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

Released in 1977
8/10
Genre- Rural, Family, Drama, Romance
Main Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Hema Malini
Special Appearance: Jeetendra
Music- Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Screenplay: Gulzar
Direction- Meraj

BRIEF INTRODUCTION A rural drama with a lot of thought and insights. The story revolves around Ravi (played by Rajesh Khanna), an unemployed graduate, who accidentally lands the job of a postman “डाकिया” in a village. The rest of the story is formed by his experiences with the villagers, nature of his job as a postman followed by a non-cliched romance with Mohini (played by Hema Malini).

Reasons to Watch Amidst the multi-starrer action films in the late 70s, this movie was released and it delivered. And I think the film was very relevant at the time it was released and still is, to a large extent. Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein is special for several reasons, the primary reason being, the story was written by Gulzar Saab. Secondly, the movie had an entirely different appeal, exactly opposite to the trend, thirdly and finally, the film had Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini as the lead with a wonderful supporting cast.

The Movie The story provided a lot of insights into the profession of a postman, what it is, and what it used to be. In earlier days, with no mobile phones or emails, letters used to be a prominent way of communication and thus a lot of responsibility on the postman, delivering the letter to the right person, especially in case of a money order and not just delivering letters but also delivering happiness and hope sometimes.

Performances Worth watching performance by the lead and the supporting cast. Rajesh Khanna was very convincing as a Postman, he gave a very natural performance with dramatic expressions at points. And he was not all mannerisms in this film but instead got into the sleeves of the character quite well. Hema Malini delivered a sensitive performance as Mohini, her expressions gave a lot of depth to the character, and in some of the scenes, she stole the show.

A Mature Romance As time evolved, our stories evolved, our cinema also evolved and so did the romance in the mainstream. Having said that, the equation between Ravi and Mohini is shown to be mature in the film. When Ravi gets to know that Mohini loves someone else and not him, he chooses to react in an unusual way and instead of telling her about his feelings, he decides to leave her way forever but destiny had other plans which also concludes the story.

P.S. The irresistible melody, “Daakiya Daak Laaya” by Kishoreda belongs to this film only. Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein also served as an inspiration for a recent film on the same subject, released in 2008.

Released in 1990
10/10
Genre- Drama, Life
Main Cast: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams
Story- Based on the 1973 book of the same name by Oliver Sacks
Screenplay: Steven Zaillian
Direction- Penny Marshall

BRIEF INTRODUCTION Based on true events, Awakenings is a story of a doctor/researcher (neurologist) and his untiring efforts to reawaken/revive the long-lost patients affected with sleeping sickness, also known as Encephalitis lethargica. The events in the film tell about the continued efforts, successes, and failures of Dr. Sayer (played by Williams) with all the patients with this condition and getting the primary success with one Mr. Leonard Lowe (played by De Niro) from the group.

The Movie An emotional ride, of feelings, of hope, of success, of failure. The straightforward narrative of the movie attracts one to become a part of the film. The presentation of the events is so natural as if I was witnessing them in front of my eyes.

Performances Two of my favorite actors together, De Niro and Williams.
Robert De Niro After watching a number of films having De Niro as a tough guy, this was a complete surprise. His performance in Awakenings is perhaps one of his best performances. His depiction of Leonard Lowe in the film is an inspiration for young actors, to how far an artist can go. In the second half of the film, he gave a performance worth a standing ovation no wonder he was nominated for the Academy Award (1991) in the Best Actor category.
Robin Williams Robin Williams was perfect for the role of Dr. Sayer, a dedicated researcher, and a doctor (based on Dr. Oliver Sacks-author of the original book). His simplistic portrayal of the doctor added a lot of warmth to the character. It was really interesting to see him in a serious role like this, impressive performance.

Some memorable lines from the film
“The human spirit is more powerful than any medicine, and that is what needs to be nourished, with work, play, friendship, family. These are the things that matter, the simplest things.”

P.S. Awakenings was nominated for three Academy Awards (1991) in the Best Actor, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay category.

Released in 1969
10/10
Genre- Drama
Main Cast: Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Sanjeev Kumar
and Ashok Kumar
Music- Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Story- Narayan Sanyal
Screenplay: Bimal Dutta
Direction- Hrishikesh Mukherjee

BRIEF INTRODUCTION This is a story of an honest, straightforward man (an engineer) about his struggles and hardships in his personal and professional life. The events revolve around his innate nature of always speaking the truth. Satyakam is about a character who chooses not to compromise his honesty, his principles, values, and ethics for anything in life and always does what is morally right.

Satyaprirya Acharya the ideal character I found the character of Satyapriya Acharya (the lead character in the movie) very strong and inspirational. Despite encountering several obstacles and problems at almost every step, Satyapriya never stops and starts believing in his principles even more. It doesn’t matter to him if someone supports him or not. While dealing with a situation in the story, he comes across someone who tells him, “बेटा जिंदगी में तुम बहुत दुख देखोगे, बहुत कुछ बर्दाश्त करना पड़ेगा, लेकिन तुम्हारा ये दुख और दर्द ही तो हमारी आखरी उम्मीद है, इसी पर तो हमारे भविष्य की नीव रखी है…”

The Romance in the film The romantic angle also plays an important role in building the story and it is presented so beautifully in the screenplay that it does not supersede the main story but only adds to it in a very interesting and natural way.

The Last Part of the Film The last part of the film is both very emotional and surprising, especially the final scene when Satyapriya’s grandfather (played by Ashok Kumar) appreciates Satyapriya’s son for fearlessly speaking the truth and names him “Satyakam”.

Performances This is the best, most honest performance of Dharmendra’s career, he put his heart and soul into the character. The speech, the expressions, the emotions, this was a performance of a lifetime, his most iconic character to date. Sanjeev Kumar shined as Narendra, Satyapriya’s best friend, a true friend, who also happens to be the narrator of the film. Very natural performance by Sharmila Tagore as a supportive wife, also plays a crucial role in the story. Dadamoni (Ashok Kumar) played an interesting character in the film, in fact, Satyakam is incomplete without this character. The bond between Satyapriya and his grandfather has shown to be very special, very strong.

My Journey with the Film Even after watching a dozen films by Hrishida, I didn’t know about Satyakam for a long time. One day, while discussing Hrishida’s work with my mother, she asked me about Satyakam, and I had no clue about it. She then told me about this spectacular film and that Satyakam is the finest by Hrishida, a film of very high standards, and Dharmendra’s best performance to date. I got to know very recently that Satyakam was also my maternal grandfather’s favorite film, and now I think I know the reason behind it. My grandfather was a lot like Mr. Satyapriya Acharya (the lead character in the movie) in speaking the truth, following principles, and never compromising his morals and I am so proud of him.

Some memorable dialogues from the movie
“ईमानदारी कोई पॉलिसी नहीं, ईमानदारी धर्म है, ईमान है।”

“सत्त (सत्यप्रिय) रहा खरा पासे का सोना…”
पासे का खरा सोना, सोना ही रहता है, जेवर नहीं बनता,
जेवर बनाने के लिए थोड़ा खोट तो…”

“इस कहानी का न आदि है न अंत, जब तक इंसान रहेगा,
जब तक वो खुद को भगवान का प्रतिनिधि मानेगा,
तब तक ये सत्यकाम की कहानी चलती रहेगी ।
आयेंगे सत्यशरण, सत्यप्रिय, सत्यकाम…”

P.S. Satyakam won the National Award (1969) for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

Released in 1978
10/10
Genre- Realistic, Drama
Main Cast: Raj Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna
Music- Panchamda (R.D. Burman)
Story- Salil Chowdhury
Screenplay: Bimal Dutta
Direction- Hrishida (Hrishikesh Mukherjee)

BRIEF INTRODUCTION Set in the pre-independence era, this is a story about a jobless young man (played by Khanna) who is not even able to feed his own family and is frustrated enough to end his journey. He then meets a guardian angel (played by Kapoor) who explains to him that life is a precious gift not to be wasted like this. And that life is a possibility of various events, good or bad but without life, nothing is possible at all. How the guardian angel transforms him and changes his perception towards life forms the second half of the film with an amazing surprise for the audience at the end.

The Movie Starting as a drama, the film turns out to be an artistic masterpiece. The art design, the dialogues, and the imaginary element in the film, all fit perfectly in the screenplay. This, I think is the finest by Hrishida after the mid-70s and also his last collaboration with Khanna. The film was not very successful commercially at the time of release but received widespread critical acclaim. Some critics also regarded the film as ahead of its time.

The Dream Cast Two of the biggest legends of Hindi cinema together, The Showman and The Original Superstar for the first and only time. It was a real treat to see these two veterans sharing the screen, both of them peaked in their performances.

Kaka: Not just a Superstar of Blockbusters but also a Superstar of Choices
Despite Kaka’s widespread mainstream appeal and impeccable box-office record he used to choose projects which were new and had different kinds of subjects, different from the norm, be it Anand (1971), Bawarchi (1972), or Avishkaar (1974), so on…and the same goes with Naukri. During the late 70s, with a trend of multistarrer action films ruling the roost, Kaka chose to play a non-glamorous character in Naukri and did it with perfection and that’s what a true Superstar is like.

P.S. One of the most underrated mainstream Hindi films, a masterpiece.

Released in 1976
10/10
Genre- Mystery, Thriller, Romance, Horror
Main Cast: Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen, Alexis Smith,
Mort Shuman, Scott Jacoby
Story- based on the novel of the same name by Laird Koeing
Screenplay: Laird Koeing
Direction- Nicolas Gessner

BRIEF INTRODUCTION Story about a mysterious girl and her more than often unavailable father, recently shifted to their new house, frequently bothered by too inquisitive people in the neighborhood and the town. But that’s not it, there’s more to it, there is a secret about the father, which the daughter has to hide, her father is a poet, he is either writing or sleeping but never available immediately, so, where is he? Whoever tries to find out becomes unavailable too, forever…

The Movie A mystery thriller, that turned out to be a horror. There are so many genres mixed that the film can’t be classified as one particular genre film but whatever it is, it is one of the finest, most gripping films ever. And that is justified as the screenplay is written by Koeing who also authored the original book. Although the film sets up the mood for a mystery thriller it turns out to be a nice horror as well. The screenplay is so gripping that one can’t even blink for a sec.

Performances The cast delivered flawlessly, be it Foster, Sheen, Alexis Smith, Mort Shuman or Scott Jacoby, Martin Sheen with a particular style of dialogue delivery and villainous expressions suited the character of Frank just well, and Scott Jacoby as Mario was very convincing to his character.
Jodie Foster I was completely blown away by the amount of confidence in Foster’s performance and that too in some of the initial films along with Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976). The dialogue delivery and the expressions are very bold and add a lot of intensity to Rynn’s character.

Rynn’s character Rynn’s character although not much in age has shown to be very mature in the film, with quite some wisdom and strength to confront anyone. She talks about leading life alone and the way she wants to…not the way others tell her to. And that it doesn’t matter, if she’s not an adult but she too has rights. Her conversation with Mrs. Hallet for me is one of the best scenes in the film.

P.S. The film won two Saturn Awards, for Best Horror Film and Best Actress (Jodie Foster).