Cine bites: Dil Ek Mandir

Dil Ek Mandir – Heart is a temple where love, fear, sadness, faith, our perceptions and interpretations of life events all reside together in its purest form with no malice or lust.  The entire movie is based in 1963 in a hospital owned by Rajendra Kumar (Dr. Dharmesh).  Rajkumar (Ram)  is one of the cancer patient being treated by Rajendra Kumar. Both men love Meena Kumari  (Sita) – one as a husband and other as an ex-flame who cannot seem to get over his love. Sita has moved on and now worships her husband.  During the hospital stay, the two male leads bond as good friends.

The love and friendship is put to test when another cancer patient , a sweet kid dies a few days before Rajkumar’s scheduled surgery.  Meena Kumari and Rajkumar’s mind plays its own game and they believe that their surgery will also result in the latter’s death. Meena Kumari also feels that Rajendra Kumar’s love for her will not permit him to save her husband’s life. When she voices her doubts, Rajendra Kumar gives up sleep, food etc just to find a way to save her husband.

Rajkumar overhears the conversation and comes to know of his wife’s past and ex-love, yet continues his friendship with Rajendra Kumar. He has complete faith in his wife and his new friend – the doctor that is going to give back his life. 

The story ends up on a tragic note, Rajendra Kumar saves her husband but loses his life – out of the stress caused by sleep deprivation.

While the songs are evergreen and outstanding, few things stand out to me:

- Just like the rest of the story and dialogues, the names of the characters are also thought –through as Ram-Sita and Dharmesh (one who follows his dharma as a doctor and saves the patient).
- This is probably one of the few movies where,
 ----------   The patient’s cancer is not evident by excessive coughing. Throughout the movie, Rajkumar and the other cancer patients thankfully cough just once.

-----------  The patient is not moved to an ICU nor kept on oxygen immediately after surgery. Not sure if it was possible then..
-------  There is really no bad guy…just bad thoughts.

-------  Rajkumar’s attitude after the cancer diagnosis is really inspiring. Despite facing death, he stays cheerful.

-------  Songs are as terrific as the story. Lyrics and music go hand in hand and make all the songs best each other.

Cine bites: Movie - Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (JJPB)

When I first watched the movie, I was a little kid who was fascinated by Sandhya’s peacock costume and eyebrow gestures in the song “Suno Suno Jee”. When I watched the movie again last weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed the simple yet modern, slow yet flowing performances by Gopi Krishna and Sandhya and appreciated them for their talent.

The story is about the struggles in the love life of Girdhar and his dance partner Neela as they both rehearse to win the coveted title of “Bharat Natraj” through a national dance contest.  Giridhar’s father, Mangal Maharaj is a dance teacher and a previous winner of the Bharat Natraj title.  Mangal Maharaj considers Girdhar’s love for Neela as a distraction and has the support of a local merchant with an evil eye to Neela’s beauty; together they cause grief to the love birds.

The story would have been an ordinary love story but for its music, choreography, the sets and costumes and not to miss out the chemistry between Gopi Krishna and Sandhya which makes it totally unique, not just in 1955 but also in 2014. The movie is a musical feast from the get-go with the songs composed in different classical ragas. The song “Saiyyan Jao” was composed in Raag Des with a flavor of natyasangeet, the sad song “ Mere Ae Dil Bata” was composed in Raag Bhairavi and the song “Nain so Nain” in Raag Malgunji . The song “Ruth Basant Ayi ban upvan” sung in different ragas and the title track sung by Ustad Amir Khan in Raag Adana is still a treat to my ears.  The music also marks its uniqueness by introducing Santoor in Indian cinema and by using some western steps in some smaller sequences in 1955.

The movie begins with its credits splashing over rangoli colors and designs, kathak footwork, and Ustad Amir Khan’s stunning voice! Each song that follows depicts a phase in the love life.  The song “Murali Manohar” adopts a narrative style in between traditional music, successfully depicting the mythological story of Radha-Krishna and the blossoming love between Girdhar- Neela. One of the few movies in technocolor from that era, the blue Girdhar, the man made lake, the entire backdrop in this song gives it a very theatrical look.  My fairy tale song however, is “Nain so nain”, a slow moving evergreen song in the divine voice of Hemant Kumar and Lata ji. And as Girdhar and Neela dance to the roles of Kama and Rati around colorful fountains in the Brindavan, I catch myself walking into a musical fairy tale.  The movie concludes with an energetic “tandav”; one that will always be the best one ever performed in Bollywood.  The movie won a lot of awards that year, including best film award but the music that gave the movie its success never won an award. To me this movie is a terrific tribute to the world of dance and music.

Naushad was the master of classical music in that era. When approached for the opportunity to compose for JJPB, he not only gave up the opportunity but also assured V Shantaram that Vasant Desai could compose classical based music. This support within the music fraternity was perhaps another aspect that was unique only to the golden era.