In focus: Haunting melodies, hair-raising memories

In focus: Haunting melodies, hair-raising memories
Back in 1966, Darshan Saberwal took the brave decision to make his romantic suspense thriller, Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, in black-and-white at a time when colour exploded on the Indian screen. The suspense drama revolves around a mysterious woman who emerges, so it seems, from the skeletal remains at an excavation site, and bears an uncanny resemblance to a centuries-old statue. “The film is in the genre of Mahal and Woh Kaun Thi and my father felt that the eerie beauty of the subject could be best captured in cinematographer Keki Mistry’s black-and-white frames like the earlier classics,” explains Saberwal’s filmmaker son Dharmesh Darshan.

The film opened two years after Kashmir Ki Kali and transformed Sharmila Tagore from a shy teenager to a courtesan from the Magadh era who supposedly returns to life to reclaim her lover. “Everyone was wowed by her sensuality in an Amrapali costume designed by Oscar-winner Bhanu Athaiya. Since her character Kiranmai was from another world, Bhanuji suggested an Amrapali costume for her which was teamed with exotic jewellery like chokers, dangling earrings and a bracelet that becomes an element in the storytelling.

Even the trend of Sharmila’s famous bouffants started with a layered, old-world hairstyle adorned with a piece of jewellery in this film,” points out Dharmesh.

Interestingly, while shooting the film’s poignant climax on the rocks of Bandstand, where the lovers meet for a final goodbye, director Brij suddenly realised that Sharmila couldn’t be wearing the Amrapali costume and decided on a white sari. “My mother (Sheila Darshan, the sister of Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt) would often complain that my father borrowed one of her beautiful white saris for that scene and it never came back to her,” Dharmesh reminisces with a laugh.

The film co-starred Biswajit who like in Bees Saal Baad is drawn towards his doom by a sonorous signature tune, Har tukda mere dil ka, and a woman who could be real or ethereal. Mumtaz caught the eye in a role with shades of grey and Prithviraj Kapoor played the archaeologist caught in a web of deceit. “But the story revolved around Sharmila and established her not just as a glamorous star but also as a performer,” asserts Dharmesh, who 30 years later reminded the actress about the film when she made a two-scene appearance in his Dhadkan as Akshay Kumar’s mother.

Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi continues to haunt with its charttopping tracks, from Har tukda mere dil kaand Yahi woh jagah hai to Main shaayad tumhaare liye ajnabee hoon, Phir miloge kabhi iss baat ka vada kar lo and Mohabbat cheez hai kya.

“There was also a beautiful duet, Huzur-e-waala jo hai ijazat, picturised on Helen and Madhumati for the first time,” says Dharmesh. “Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma called up Ashaji (Asha Bhosle) from the US after hearing the songs during a drive. They recreated the magic of Ashaji and OP Nayyar.”