Many believe true romance is diminishing in Hindi cinema because fidelity is no longer as cherished a virtue as it used to be. These days our films celebrate flaws in characters but more than four decades back director Vijay Anand dealt with complexity in man-woman relationship with maturity as he gave us a film that continues to be relevant and relatable, and whose romantic charm hasn’t aged. It has characters which are damaged by circumstances or greed. The heroine is called Asha who becomes a metaphor of hope for two boys in different ways. Asha (Rakhee) loves Jeevan (Shatrughan Sinha) and believes in his borrowed poetry but one day she comes across Kailash (Dharmendra), who is not rakish, who doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve but when he pours his heart on paper, it is magic. Remember “Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas” and you know what Dharmendra could do with those innocent eyes and impish smile before he was locked in the He Man trap. You also realise how vicious could Shatrughan Sinha be till somebody saw a Kaalicharan in him. Both actors are at the top of their game here and Vijay Anand provides them a perfect pitch to show their wares.
He creates an interesting conundrum for the female protagonist in a Hindi film scenario in the early 70s as none of the boys is proven to be a villain till a long time in the film. If Kailash seems genuine, Jeevan is more of a show off and it is a delicious dilemma to be in! Asha is central to the whole Black Mail premise, and Raakhee, with all her limitations, doesn’t disappoint. The whole ‘Asha-Nirasha’ song seems laboured now, but it must have been a solid idea on paper.
We all know Vijay Anand had a way with thrillers but here he generates the staples of the genre – doubt, deception and double cross – in domesticity. His editing skills ensure that the narrative remains taut till the climax, which is stretched beyond its potential. Of course, there is formula but a real one and provides the much needed pulpy layer to the drama, which is the hallmark of Vijay Anand’s cinema. The film talks of energy crisis and the value of solar power in the early 70s. Madan Puri, in a rare positive role, plays the scientist uncle of Kailash, who espouses the value of research and comes up with a formula to end India’s energy crisis through solar power. It would have been futuristic in 1973 but in 2016 it is close to reality.
And in “Satyakam” mode when Dharmendra talks of selling power to Prague and beating the US in two decades, you realise how films can sell dreams! On the other spectrum is Shatrughan Sinha who fakes love with immense conviction.
After the success of “Johnny Mera Naam”, Anand continued his association with Kalyanji-Anandji and they came up with two absolute gems made timeless by Rajendra Krishan’s simple poetry and Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar’s voice. A master of picturising songs, here again Anand is in top form. “Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas” continues to be one of the best shot songs ever but my favourite is “Mile, Mile Do Badan”. A perfect blend of physical and emotional love, it comes at a crucial time in the film and takes you completely by surprise as you don’t expect a love making sequence in the middle of forest where the protagonists are hiding from the villain’s army. Of course, you can’t deny the role of composers and singers but it is how it plays out that sets your heart racing. This time the situation seems salacious on paper but the way Anand handles it on screen, it’s erotica served with rare grace and ingeunity. Most of the times, a climax song becomes an irritant in the flow but here the song makes you forget the lurking danger and makes you believe in the moment…”Ye Zindagi Kam Hi Sahi, Koi Gham Nahin.” That is the pull of love, that’s power of cinema.
Genre: Thiller
Director: Vijay Anand
Cast: Dharmendra, Rakhee, Shatrughan Sinha, Madan Puri, Iftekhar, Jagdish Raj, Kamal Kapoor, Ramesh
Story and screenplay: Vijay Anand
Dialogue: Vinod Kumar
Lyrics: Rajendra Krishan
Music: Kalyanji-Anandji
Box office status: Hit
