Mujhe Jeene Do

In my last post I drew your attention to an interview which my father gave at the initial stages of his career, in this interview he expressed his concern at being typed as a father. Thanks to the success of  Sujata he got flooded with such roles, but thankfully there were some filmmakers who cast him in different kinds of roles, Sunil Dutt was one such filmmaker.

Usne Kaha Tha

Ever since I was old enough to understand films, I was keen to see 'Usne Kaha Tha'. One of the reasons was that my father was doing something different for a change, he was playing the heroine’s(Nanda) husband. All I had seen him do was either play the villain or the father and usually not the affectionate father that he was in real life. There were a few films where he did play the affectionate father but they were more the exception rather than the rule. The other reason being, my father was brought back from the jaws of death by the film’s hero (Sunil Dutt).

Sport & Pastime, August 5, 1961

Benazir

I mentioned in my last post that my father preferred to play the villain, I came to know about this from one of his interviews that I chanced upon long after he had passed away. Mum too confirmed this, after all one got a better opportunity to showcase one’s acting talent through such roles. I never saw Benazir in my father’s lifetime. Much later we did manage to get a video cassette, but it was  such a terrible one that I could make head nor tale of the film. Recently I managed to get the DVD and finally I had the pleasure of seeing my father in Benazir. This was just the kind of role he enjoyed playing. He didn’t have to do anything indecent like molesting the heroine for instance. I had mentioned in my guest post for Memsaabstory - The Soft Hearted Villain, he disliked doing such scenes.

Benazir was not his first outing as a villain, Shama,another Muslim social co-starring Suraiya and Nimmi, which like Benazir was also in Urdu, came much earlier, but as I am still on Bimal Roy Productions, Benazir is the topic of this post.

Apradhi Kaun

I know the intervals between my posts are rather long and  therefore, I have to thank you my dear readers for your kind support and encouraging comments. I have some compulsions due to which I am not able to post at shorter intervals. I will not bore you with the details of my compulsions but come straight to the point.

I did say that I will now talk about the films produced by Bimal Roy but not directed by him, I think it is only right that I start with Apradhi Kaun – my father’s first film.

Bimal Roy - Part 7 - Madhumati (concluding part)

 Bimal Roy is usually perceived as a director of serious films, light-hearted comedy is something that most do not associate with him. Though he never did direct a full length comedy film, at least I am not aware of any such film, he handled the comedy scenes in his films with the same finesse he did the serious scenes. I remember several comedians complaining how they never got well –written scenes, often directors would tell them “Aap kuch kar dijiye”, that means, 'please do something yourself.' Obviously doing something without any direction can be quite painful for anybody.

Bimal Roy – Part 6- Madhumati

When Madhumati was launched my father was nowhere close to being in the film industry. According to what  a  former assistant of Bimal Roy  told me, Madhumati was under production for six years. Bimal Roy had staked almost everything on this film, had the film flopped it would have more or less sounded the death knell for Bimal Productions. Thankfully the film was a huge box-office hit and the entire Bimal Roy Production team heaved a huge sigh of relief, not only that a bonus was also declared. I remember my mum often telling us, " We purchased this (now I do not remember the item) with Madhumati’s bonus". Yes dad too received the bonus, because he too received a salary from Bimal Roy Productions; he was perhaps the only actor then to be employed by a production house. Although technicians were employed, actors had begun freelancing for quite some time. My father had requested Bimal Roy to pay him a salary, as he was a little nervous about exchanging his secure government job for the uncertain world of films.

Bimal Roy - Part 5 Sujata (concluding part)

Managing two blogs is akin to sailing in two boats. I know many bloggers do it with ease but I guess I am not adept at multi-tasking. I do not want to give up either, I would like to take this blog to its logical conclusion, no matter what it takes, therefore those of you who have been supporting me with your comments and visits, I request you to bear with me for I cannot help the long intervals between my posts.

Continuing the Sujata story, I would like to show you how well Bimal Roy handled children. There are very few directors who present children in a heartwarming manner.

Baby Farida in Sujata

 Children in Hindi films are sometimes quite precocious  and made to mouth high flown dialogues, what gets on my nerves is when they are made to deliver silly dialogues like, “Woh badmash uncle” (that bad uncle). I have yet to hear any child referring to a bad person as bad uncle.