{"id":5577,"date":"2020-05-01T17:25:44","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T11:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=5577"},"modified":"2020-05-02T06:33:40","modified_gmt":"2020-05-02T01:03:40","slug":"anokhi-raat-a-unique-look-at-the-bitter-truths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/anokhi-raat-a-unique-look-at-the-bitter-truths\/","title":{"rendered":"Anokhi Raat – A Unique Look at the Bitter Truths"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Asit<\/a>

Asit Sen<\/p><\/div>\n

Upon being asked to write about a film that had stayed with me, I being a child born in the cradle wrapped by Screen<\/em> (the newspaper about films) had a million dollar question to answer: Which Film? Why this<\/em> film directed by Asit Sen and not one of any top 10 directors popularly named\/asked in a poll?<\/p>\n

My choice could have been Mamta, Khamoshi<\/em> or Safar<\/em> his three well known films.\u00a0 Well, to be frank I wanted basically a hatke<\/em> film!\u00a0 It boiled down to either Anokhi Raat<\/em> or Annadata.<\/em>\u00a0 Finally I zeroed down on Anokhi Raat<\/em> released in 1969 for many reasons written below.<\/p>\n

Since my school\/college days I was fascinated by Bengali cinema\/directors though I missed learning the language. Mamta<\/em> formed an important part in shaping that view but it was in 1969 when I saw Anokhi Raat<\/em> that firmed this opinion and then consolidated my view with Khamoshi.<\/em> All three were directed by Asit Sen and it has been about five decades now that his name is figured in my list of top 10 Directors in Hindi Cinema.\u00a0 ‘Am I the only one?’ is a point I may not be able to answer.<\/p>\n

\"Roshan

Roshan (Pic: Google Image Search)<\/p><\/div>\n

LB Films\u2019 Anokhi Raat <\/em>starts with the following words: ‘Dedicated to a Dear Friend & Colleague Roshan.’ Yes it was Roshan sahib’<\/em>s last film and he died before the film was released. Made during a time when Colour Films were an accepted trend in Hindi, this film was made in two beautiful colours: Black &\u00a0 White.<\/p>\n

It starred Sanjeev Kumar as Baldev Singh, the name he had\u00a0 in the iconic Sholay <\/em>while Zahida was cast in the mature double roles of Gopa and Rama.\u00a0 A young Aruna Irani played the bride of an older man.<\/p>\n

It will be a futile exercise if I say that the film was worth watching for Sanjeev Kumar\u2019s acting, whose character was a\u00a0 Dak Bunglow<\/em> guard turned into a dacoit\u00a0 by circumstances.\u00a0 One can say that ‘Yeh toh bahut saari filmon mein hota tha\/ hai<\/em>,\u00a0aur hota rahegaa hamesha\/\u00a0 yaani,<\/em> revenge drama\u2019.<\/p>\n

Three things stand out, apart from Sen babu’s direction. One is Kamal Bose\u2019s cinematography, which won the Filmfare Award.\u00a0 Secondly, music by Roshan and thirdly the dialogues by Pt Anant Kumar, like the super \u2018taqdeer saath deti hai toh marne waala hi bachaane lagtaa hai<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 Watch the film to hear some real gems.\u00a0 Reminds me of the words written by Majrooh\u00a0 – ‘aage hai qatil mera aur mein peeche peeche<\/em>\u2019! Needless to say, Anantji won a Filmfare Award for his work. It happens very rarely that\u00a0 all the four nominations for the film win the award.\u00a0The other two awards picked up were by Hrishikesh Mukherjee for Screenplay and Ajit Bandyopadhyay for Art Direction.<\/p>\n

\"sanjeev

Sanjeev Kumar as Baldeva<\/p><\/div>\n

I would not like to give the plot away but the gist of it is that it is the story of a\u00a0 guard\/caretaker named Baldeva who is in love with Gopa, a village belle played by Zahida. He wants to marry her. The rest of their story is in the flashback narrated later by Daku<\/em> Baldev Singh.<\/p>\n

The Anokhi Raat<\/em> begins with a shot of a huge mansion where an auction is going to happen. In the mansion lives the owner, a crippled grandfather played by Badri Prasad, with\u00a0 his granddaughter Rama, who is Zahida in a dual role and an old, faithful servant, Ramdass played by Anwar Hussain. Incidentally, Anwar Hussain is real life chacha <\/em>(paternal uncle) to the leading lady, Zahida. Slowly the story unfolds, with characters like Tarun Bose, Brahm Bhardwaj, Aruna Irani, Amar, and Mukri joining in, not to miss that this was the debut film of Ajay Sahni, later known as Parikshit Sahni, the son of Balraj Sahni.<\/p>\n

\"Ajai

Ajai (Parikshit) Sahani in his debut<\/p><\/div>\n

A storm rages outside in the town and also inside the house amongst all present. Throughout the film, the character Baldeva that Sanjeev Kumar plays , remains central to the story line. The director has used two flashbacks during the drama unfolding inside. The first one reveals how the simpleton Baldeva becomes Daku<\/em> Baldev Singh and second one looks at how the\u00a0 young Aruna Irani is forced by circumstances to marry an elderly man . In this tense situation you will see Asit Sen going for the age-old formula of bringing in a comic scene to lighten the\u00a0 mood of the audience when the film becomes too heavy. Here Mukri plays that role.<\/p>\n

Except for the two flashbacks, all the characters throughout the film have been shown wearing one dress, no change of clothes required. After all, the story is of one night!<\/p>\n

I need not write about Sanjeev Kumar’s role. This was probably his first as a central character in a social film. Full marks to Zahida for playing Gopa and Rama. This became the best role in her entire career. I doubt if any established heroine of the late \u201860s would have played that role – that too, in a Black-and-White film! They would be busy shooting colour films in the picturesque Kashmir! That is purely a personal opinion though I admit I loved them, singing songs around the trees with some of my favourite leading men. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Oh re taal mile nadi ke jal mein<\/em><\/strong> – Indeevar \/ Mukesh<\/span><\/p>\n