Sawan ko Aane Do (1979)

August 14, 2014 04:53 pm | Updated 04:53 pm IST

Yesudas.

Yesudas.

This truant monsoon, let’s talk of a film of unfulfilled promises. Rajshri’s “Sawan ko Aane Do”, directed by Kanak Mishra, was a film that contained some of the most promising talents in Indian cinema at that time. The film’s credits boasted names like Arun Govil, Zarina Wahab, Yesudas, Jaspal Singh, Sulakshana Pandit and music director Raj Kamal, among others. Every one of them merited attention, and for a while had the fans drooling over them. It was good, very good, as long as it lasted. Unfortunately, it did not last long: Arun Govil arrived on the public conscience with a film like “Paheli” and cemented his stay with “Sawan ko Aane Do”. Yet a few years after this superhit film, all he had to show for his worth were films like “Shradhanjali” – Anil Sharma’s sole attempt at tugging at emotions, years before he got into “Hukumat”, “Elaan-e-Jung” and “Gadar” mould – and “Sasural”. These films has a good run in the morning shows but Arun Govil slipped away from the public memory before reaching the high noon of stardom. Of course, he got his moment under the sun with Ramanand Sagar’s tele-serial “Ramayana” as also “Vikram aur Betaal”. But films proved a hard nut to crack for this pacific-faced guy.

Much like his heroine here, Zarina Wahab, who to the horror of old-timers, has in recent times, been introduced by ignorant television anchors as Suraj Pancholi’s mother! Yet back in the ‘70s, she was hot and happening and said to have enough sensuality and simplicity to carve out her own niche in middle-of-the-road cinema. She was bewitchingly beautiful in “Gharonda”, bringing to the screen certain affability with her non-rehearsed manner. She was supposed to be the cross between the likes of Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil and Neetu Singh-Poonam Dhillon. However, a few summers after “Sawan ko Aane Do”, all she had to show in her resume in Hindi cinema were films like “Sitara” and “Roohi”. She was the sole talking point of these movies; the films fell flat the box office and Zarina Wahab had to find solace with her work in Telugu and Malayalam cinema. Of course, she came back to have nodding acquaintance with the Hinglish speaking crowd courtesy her portrayal of Shah Rukh Khan’s mother in “My Name is Khan”.

Parallel to the careers of Arun and Zarina ran the career of Jaspal Singh, a man with a rare distinct voice, clear as the waters in the mountains. He had announced his arrival a little earlier with “Geeta Gaata Chal”. Great things were expected of him, yet despite the success of the title track of “Sawan Ko Aane Do”, he had to make do with occasional crumbs like “Nadiya ke Paar” and “All-Rounder”. And a captivating voice was lost to Hindi cinema lovers.

Even sadder was Bollywood’s inability to tap into the genius of Yesudas, who made such a dramatic foray in Hindi cinema with songs like “Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyara”, “Jab Deep Jale Aana” and “Kahan se aaye Badra”. Yet in an industry that, from the early 80s confined itself to larger-than-life projection of the leading man, his voice was considered surplus. Considering the likes of Mohammed Aziz and Shabbir Kumar ruled the roost then, more is the agony, more is the feeling of betrayal of the unsung fan of Hindi cinema. Here he scores all the points with “Teri Tasveer ko”.

Then there was the film’s music director Raj Kamal, again a man rooted to the tunes and songs of the soil. He came to be closely identified with the Rajshri’s, their films were made for largely family audiences, people who wore a dhoti at home and trousers to work. Raj Kamal was able to build to tap into their unexpressed longing for ‘watan’, ‘des’, as many put it. Yet sustained success eluded him in later years and but for television series Mahabharat and Bahadur Shah Zafar, his resume would not have made for an impressive reading, films like “Amma”, “Chashme Buddoor” and “Katha” notwithstanding.

A case of too many unfulfilled promises, yet you could remember “Sawan ko Aane Do” as a film that tapped into the very best of these artistes. Here Arun plays a singer from small town India who finally gets much deserved acclaim through Akashvani programme – all upcoming singers had that sole source of recognition back in the days when talent hunts were unheard of – yet longs for his childhood sweetheart. Zarina brings up the romantic angle, a girl every inch Bhartiya, with her ghagras, cholis, bindya, choori, jhumka. She plays Chandrika, a girl who has moved from the city to one of the countless villages. Yet she could as well have hailed from there. Zarina proves an expert at understatements, letting her eloquent eyes to the talking in close-ups. The film, however, is not a single track narration; it has many layers. At one level, it is a man’s hunt for recognition, at another, it is a love story; at yet another, it is a love triangle – Rita Bhaduri, yet another artiste who deserved better, brings up the third angle. Add to that Raj Kamal’s melodies rendered memorably by Jaspal and Yesudas, and you could be excused for thinking you were watching a musical!

At the end of it all, “Sawan ko Aane Do” is a film you watch to savour the cinema we have lost; it is leisurely, is harmonious. The costumes are all Indian, going back to the times when girls wore ghagra-cholis, the men dhoti-kurtas; to the age when bullock cart was a preferred means of quick transport and roads meant a patch of black in verdant fields. It comes laced with tunes with tunes of Bharat; it speaks that language too.

When you watch this Rajshri film, you enjoy the moment yet every now and then you get a feeling of what it could have been! Forget that. Just enjoy the best of Arun Govil-Zarina Wahab-Jaspal Singh-Yesudas-Raj Kamal in a film that will always be remembered as a mere footnote in the annals of our cinema.

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