Kagaz Ke Phool (1959)
Some of them are timeless yet, most are forgotten. This week’s recommendations is Kaagaz Ke Phool – a soundtarck made immortal by Geeta Dutt and Md Rafi.
Shaswati Das
07.12.2009
Music
Director: Guru Dutt
Music Dir: S.D Burman
Lyrics: Kaifi Azmi
The Movie opens to a dejected Suresh Sinha (Guru Dutt) walking for the final time across the corridors of the film studio.
Dekhi zamaane ki yaari, bichde sabhi baari baari, one of Mohammad Rafi’s most soul-stirring compositions invokes a natural feeling of being cornered, of melancholy, infused by the lack of use of any strong music to support Rafi’s voice. That is when the shot cuts to a throng advancing towards a once successful director, with the song picking up pace as the glamour of the industry and the fame that Sinha once basked in, comes into play.
As the film progresses, Sinha finds himself increasingly drawn to Shanti (Waheeda Rehman). The subtle romance is brought out through the continual rendition of Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam on different instruments – sometimes the violin, at other times, the Piano. Geeta Dutt’s voice does complete justice to the anguish that the song brings out in Shanti.
Beqaraar dil is tarah mile, jis tarah kabhi, hum judaa na the…
As they stand afar, their romance is brought to the fore, which the motion picture intends to not bring out through movement of characters and dialogues. Instead music director S.D Burman and Lyricist Kaifi Azmi let the music tracks do the talking.
Each character in the film enjoys a distinguished music track and a background score. Suresh Sinha’s brother-in-law, the spirited young Rocky (Johnny Walker) has a roomful of people dancing to Hum tum jise kehta hai shaadi, a track inspired by Jay Livingston’s “Whatever will be will be” from the film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956).
As Suresh Sinha reaches utter destitution and alcoholism, having been shunned from the film industry, the last few sequences focus on his final tryst with the industry that once idolised him. The final shot has a forgotten man slumped on a Director’s chair, motionless and ensconced for the last time, in the role that defined his being. Like most song sequences that capture Sinha’s and Shanti’s essence, this one too has a replay of Dekhi zamaane ki yaari, symbolic of the vagaries of the industry, the people that form a part of it and ultimately, life.
Kagaz ke Phool tugs at your heartstrings. Initially predicted as an imminent box office failure by some of Guru Dutt’s close associates, the film and its music enjoy the cult following that none had even fathomed would exist five decades post its release.
Shaswati Das
[ratings]
[image courtesy: http://bit.ly/8ZevDJ]
