Dekh Kabira Roya – Simple story, lot of laughs and wonderful music – a classic!

Dekh Kabira Roya (1957), produced and directed by Amiya Chakrabarty is an out and out comedy, with no melodrama or subplots. It starts with the following two lines being displayed on the screen, that gives you an idea of what to expect –

TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION.
COMEDY IS EXAGGERATION OF TRUTH.

It’s a story of three young men, Mohan (a singer), Ranjeet(a painter) and Pradeep (writer and editor of a weekly called “Triveni”). And it’s a story of 3 beautiful, young, spirited women, Kalpana, Geeta and Rekha who are interested in learning or getting guidance on writing, singing and painting respectively. Kalpana, Rekha and Geeta are good friends…

One day Mohan (Anoop Kumar), Ranjeet (Daljeet), and Pradeep (Jawahar Kaul), meet in Janata coffee house. All three of them are struggling artists. They introduce themselves to each other.

Pradeep tells Ranjeet that he can print his paintings in Triveni and though Ranjeet is reluctant, Pradeep insists that they go over to Ranjeet’s place to see his paintings. When they go over to Ranjeet’s place, Pradeep finds out why Ranjeet was so reluctant to bring him over – he has not paid the rent for quite a few months and so he is scared to go in the house from the front door.  Pradeep sees Rekha (Anita Guha), who is the land lord’s daughter and both like each other. Rekha thinks Pradeep is the tenant and the painter. She herself is a painter of sorts and wishes to learn from Pradeep (who she thinks is Ranjeet – the painter). She asks her father (Shivraj) that he waive off Ranjeet’s rent. By end of this first encounter, Pradeep and Rekha are in love. And this is expressed wonderfully in the song that Rekha sings – Lagan, tose laagi balama…

Next day, Mohan, who is extremely troubled because his neighbours would not let him do riyaaaz at home, tells his problem to Ranjeet. Ranjeet suggests that they go and meet Pradeep, who had managed to solve Ranjeet’s problem so easily the previous day. When the two of them go to Triveni’s office, Pradeep is not there. Ranjeet ask’s Mohan to wait in Pradeep’s office and he goes to the press to see if Pradeep is there. Kalpana (Shubha Khote), who writes (poetry as well as stories), comes to Triveni’s office to meet the editor. Finding Mohan in Pradeep’s office, she assumes that Mohan is Pradeep, the editor.  The two are sitting and having a conversation, very obviously taken in by each other, when Ranjeet returns and drags Mohan out since Pradeeep is not in the press either.

They go to Mohan’s place, where Ranjeet tells Mohan to sing, saying that he will handle the neighbours if they create a problem.Geeta and her mother are new tenants in the same building, one floor up and they like his singing, but they don’t know him. When the neighbours start protesting, Geeta stands up for the singing and after making sure that the complaining neighbours have gone away, she knocks on Mohan’s door. Ranjeet opens the door and thinking that she is one of the complaining neighbours, gives her a piece of his mind. Then she clarifies that she actually likes “his” singing and asks him to sing more. They have liked each other… Ranjeet, having solved Mohan’s problem, asks him to sing. Mohan sings (in Talat’s voice) a beautiful song – “Kaun aaya mere manake dware…”

So now, we have Kalpana, who writes, in love with Mohan the singer, thinking he is the editor of “Triveni”; Rekha, who paints and wishes to learn from a “good painter” in love with Pradeep, who is a writer & editor, thinking he is the painter, the tenant; and Geeta, who loves music and hopes to learn from the good singer who lives in the same building, in love with Ranjeet, thinking he is the singer…

Next day, Pradeep says there is a lot of disturbance in the office so he can’t write there. Ranjeet offers use of his place, and Pradeep jumps at the offer. Mohan offers his place to Ranjeet to go and paint and Ranjeet of course takes up the offer. And Pradeep offers his office to Mohan for his music practice and Mohan likes the idea – he says on one side there will be press machines running and on the other side he would be singing – no one need hear him at all.

Mohan asks Kalpana how she would feel if he was not a writer but a singer; Ranjeet tells Geeta that he is going to start painting; and Pradeep tells Rekha that writing is more valuable. But the girls, each in love with the art that they think the person they love is pursuing, react very negatively. So, to keep Kalpana happy, Mohan decides to learn to write (from Pradeep); to keep Rekha happy, Pradeep decides to learn to paint (from Ranjeet); and to keep Geeta happy, Ranjeet decides to learn to sing (from Mohan). 

Their efforts to learn each other’s skills do not bring any positive results but do generate a lot of laughs for the audiences!!

Kalpana, Geeta and Rekha accept that they are in love and go to Rekha’s father to ask for his help to arrange their weddings.  All three of them are to get married at the same time and its only when Kalpana is asked to sit next to Pradeep, Rekha is asked to site next to Ranjeet and Geeta is asked to sit next to Mohan for the Pandit to begin the ceremony that they find out the truth!!

The movie is funny from the start to the end.  Anoop Kumar is really the only known name amongst the heroes. Jawahar Kaul as Pradeep gives a good performance and also looks good. I wonder why he didn’t make more movies… Sunder as the waiter at Janata coffee house also has a big role and he is very good too.

Anita Guha, Ameeta and Shuha Khote are all wonderful in their roles. Shubha Khote looks very smart and carries herself very well. Ameeta as Geeta who keeps fainting all the time is very, very cute. And Anita Guha too is very likable.

There are many scenes in the movie which are funny even by themselves, and are done really well – like when Rekha takes Ranjeet to be the thief when she sees him in his place instead of Pradeep; like how Geeta faints at the smallest things’ Ranjeet singing with Geeta’s mother;  Like Pradeep explaining to Rekha the portrait he draws of her; like Mohan saying “Bhayankar Paristhiti”; like Geeta running into Rekha and then Rekha running into Kalpana at Janata coffee house; like Kalpana telling Rekha how the waiter fainted on seeing her face. And Rekha’s father going to Geeta’s mother and saying “I am Geeta’s father”…  Each incident by itself is very funny and fits really well into the overall story perfectly.

Lyrics by Rajendra Krishna are really wonderful and Madan Mohan’s music is divine! Lata’s voice during the 50s was absolutely something else!! No one ever sang like that later; not even Lata herself.  There are many songs in the movie and each song is a treat.

Hum Panchhi masataane – Kalpana and Rekha on the marine drive is a simple yet lively and youthful song. Mumbai in this period must have been so wonderful!! The marine drive looks deserted and beautiful!
Mohan singing “Kaun Aaya mere man ked ware”, a very soft and cheerful song in Talat’s voice with superb lyrics is one of my alltime favourite songs. So is “Humse aaya na gaya, tumse bulaaya na gaya” – again Talat’s soft voice.

And the three song medley towards the end – Geeta singing “Meri Veena tum bin roye”, Rekha singing “Ashkonse teri humne tasveer banayi hai” and Kalpana singing “Too pyaar kare ya thukaraaye” – is melodious and one can really feel the yearning – Only Asha and Lata could ever make you feel like that!!

So watch this movie – for the simple and yet very funny story that is presented really well; for the songs – lyrics as well as the music. Oh also, watch it for Shubha Khote – she is so smart ; she is definitely the one who can take things in her hand and take them to conclusion for herself as well as for Rekha and Geeta. And also watch it for Ameeta – I never liked her in any other movie as much as I liked her in this one…

Barsaat ki Raat – All about the music and THE ULTIMATE Qawali

Barsaat ki Raat is a black & white movie from 1960, starring Madhubala and Bharat Bhushan, directed by P.L. Santoshi. The screenplay was by Santoshi & Bharat Bhushan and is a love story of a poet/singer and a very beautiful girl, who inspires him… Madhubala is perfect as the Muse and of course looks absolutely gorgeous. But then I have not yet seen a single movie of hers in which she didn’t look absolutely gorgeous!! Bharat Bhushan is believable as a poet (and quite sad poet in the second half). And some of the situations are extremely romantic. But Madhubala does not have a lot of role or scope to sparkle and Bharat Bhushan’s role is anyway that of a sad poet/singer…

The real hero of the movie is the music – this is Roshan at his best!! And the lyrics by Saahir are perfect for every situation.  In fact, towards the end it seems like the movie is about Qawalis and Qawali competitions and the love story of the singer and his muse is the side plot…

The movie starts with “Garajat barasat Sawan Aayo re” – a very melodious composition in Gaud Malhar. Two sisters Shamaa (Shaamaa) and Shabaab (Ratna), daughters of Mubaarak Ali, a Qawali singer, singing this for their Riyaaz.  This song kind of sets the tone of the movie. Amaan (Bharat Bhushan) is their neighbor and Shamaa is in love with him. He treats her with a lot of respect and Shabnam, her younger sister as a spoilt child. Their father wants Amaan to write poetry for him to participate in Qawali competition which Amaan is agreeable to, but after he gets back from Hyderabad.

Amaan goes to Hyderabad and gets a spot on All India Radio Hyderabad to sing his composition, if it is new and good.  And while walking around looking for inspiration, he and Shabnam (Madhubala) have a chance meeting on a stormy, rainy evening. Amaan is completely taken in by her beauty and her “adaas”. The next day, Amaan sings his new poem/composition which is inspired by that chance meeting where he feels he met a “pari”, on All India Radio Hyderabad. The movie gets its name from that rainy evening and the song Amaan sings. This is the famous “Zindagi bhar nahi bhoolegi woh Barsaat ki Raat” song. This is probably the best known song of the movie.

Shabnam knows Amaan Hyderabadi, the poet and is fan of his poetry but has never seen him till now. So when she hears the song on the radio she realizes that the person she ran into in the rain was him.

The next song is “Meine shayad tumhe pehle bhi kabhi dekha hai…”, which Amaan sings, in a function where Shabnam’s friend, Shanti welcomes him and tells him that someone would like to hear his “Zindagi bhar nahi bhoolegi” once again, he wants to know who that is and Shanti points to Shabnam….

Amaan is staying with his friend Shekhar, who is a police inspector and Shabnam’s father, Khan Bahadur, is the police commissioner.  So through Shekhar, Amaan takes up the job as a teacher who would go and home school Commissioner’s younger daughter, Razia. And so Amaan and Shabnam start meeting on daily basis. He is distracted while teaching Razia because Shabnam is around and she is watching him from the Window and looking absolutely gorgeous…

But the commissioner is against the idea of Shabnam marrying Amaan and he wants to get her married to his friend’s son.  Amaan and Shabnam elope and go to Indore. He changes his name to Kamaal Lukhnawi. We hear the second version of “Zindagi bhar nahi bhoolegi eyh raat”  at this point – Lata & Rafi. Simple situation, lovely song and gorgeous Madhubala – its lovely and romantic! Then on Indore radio he recites a najm – “Kya Gam jo andheri hai ratey” – its not a song really – its just recitation of the najm. No accompanying musical instruments – only Rafi’s wonderful voice, and a lot of emotions….. I love hearing Rafi recite najms, poems, gazhals with no accompanying music…Anyway…

Though he has changed his name, the commissioner and Shekhar recognize his voice and make a call at Indore Radio station. So Amaan And Shabnam run from Indore too. They go to Jabalpur(I think) to Amaan’s friend, Sudhakar’s place.  But Shekhar catches up with them here just before Shabnam and Amaan get married and forces Shabnam  to go back home.  She leaves a message for Amaan to meet her at their meeting place in Hyderabad but she can’t go there since she is locked in the house. Amaan sings a very sad but beautiful song here – “Mayoos to hoon wadese tere”…

There are a lot of coincidences after this point – like Khan Bahadur takes Shabnam to Luckhnow and Amaan also has gone to Luckhnow. Not only that, he has gone to the same house, since the person Khan Bahadur wants Shabnam to marry is Amaan’s friend. On the train to Luckhnow, Amaan meets a person who is pretending to be Amaan Hyderabadi. And (I don’t understand why but) agrees to go with that person as his understudy, with Chand Khan qawwal and his troupe who are going for a qawali competition. In Luckhnow, Amaan meets Shabnam just for a few seconds at his friend Aftaab, house when he is leaving and she is out in the verandah. She gets scared and tells him to go away and forget her….

After this point, the movie is all about qawali competitions. The first one is between Chand Khan and Shamaa & Shabaab. This one, Chand Khan wins on the strengths of Amaan’s pen.  The qawali here is “Nigaahe naaz ke maron ka haal kya hoga…” Mubaarak Ali’s sponsor asks for a repeat contest and so there is another competition between the same 2 groups – and this time Shamaa & Shabaab win because Amaan comes to their rescue.  And the qawali is “Pehchanta hoon khoob tumhari nazar ko mai…”  Though these two qawalis are not very well known, they are lovely, andnd built the tempo for the final and the ultimate one really well.

Mubaarak Ali, Shabnam & of course Shamaa is very happy to have Amaan with them again. Shamaa also sings the very happy and melodious “Mujhe mil gaya bahaana tere deed ka, kaisi khushi leke aaya chaand eid ka” – Lata’s voice is absolutely amazing in this one!

There are some missing pieces I think, because the final qawali takes place in Jaipur (I think), where again by coincidence, Shabnam and her family are visiting Khan Bahadur’s friend. Shamaa and Shabaab then meet Shabnam who is not keeping well (thanks to her broken heart, but Shamaa and Shabaab don’t know this). And Shamaa, also brings “taveej” for her – and then finds out that Shabnam and Amaan love each other…. So when she comes for the final qawali, the ultimate one, she is very sad (and you see her crying – I always used to wonder about that…)

“Naa to karavaan ki talaash hai….” Followed by “Yeh Ishq Ishq hai” is a long qawali, sung by many singers. The lyrics are wonderful, and the music is just awesome! The tempo goes on building. And though every singer has sung their pieces really, really well, I just love Rafi’s (Amaan’s) entry with a taan – his voice has magic! Shabnam is listening to this on the radio and hearing Amaan’s voice she is so mesmerized that she runs from the house and goes to the venue of the competition. She reaches the venue to hear “Jab jab Krishnaki bansi baji” With this qawali, one can imagine someone getting mesmerized and just wanting to go to the person singing it. I get goose bumps listening to this lovely composition. This is definitely the best ever qawali in a Hindi movie. And no the qawali has even come close to it in last 50 years….

The movie ends about 5 minutes after this qawali is over. Aftaab asks Khan Bahadur to let Shabnam marry Amaan and Khan Bahadur agrees… Normally, I would feel that why couldn’t they wrap this up earlier, make us go through so many hoops before coming to this simple solution. But in case of this movie, I am glad that they didn’t!! In my opinion the main point of this movie is the music and “Ishq Ishq hai” in particular.

So watch this movie!! – Not for the story, not for the acting, not even for Madhubala (thought she IS as always, absolutely gorgeous ), but for the lyrics and the music! This movie belongs to Saahir and Roshan more than anyone you see on the screen!!