फिल्म स्मरण : सारांश
सुकन्या वर्मा का यह लेख रिडीफ से लिया गया है। सुकन्या ने इतने बेहतरीन तरीके से महेश भट्ट की 'सारांश' के बारे में बताया है कि फिल्म की सारी विशेषताएं स्पष्ट हो जाती हैं। मूल लेख यहां है। चवन्नी के आग्रह पर अमित जैन,सुजीत सिन्हा,देदीप्य भानु ,इरशाद अली और स्मिता सिंह ने अपनी पसंद और राय रखी थी।
Mahesh Bhatt’s finest film Saaransh,
which celebrates its 30th anniversary on May 25, isn’t comfort cinema but it is
certainly a must-watch.
An elderly man wakes up early morning,
draws out his desk and begins writing a letter to his son residing in the United
States.
The mail isn’t a fancy exercise in eloquence but its simplicity conveys a
father’s love, concern and commitment towards his only child until he's stirred
up by a crushing realisation -- his young son is dead, he’s been dead for three
months following a mugging incident on the streets of New York.
He may be no more but those he’s left behind aren’t exactly alive either.
They merely exist mindlessly, meaninglessly in denial and disbelief.
Grief is a complex emotion, every person reacts differently to it but those
afflicted share one difficulty in common -- of letting go and moving on.
Because the truth is, there is no real closure; it can only be suppressed
through a preoccupation with purpose.
And that’s the nature of Mahesh Bhatt’s exploration in the heart-breaking Saaransh,
which is about a bereaved 60-something couple and a young girl they volunteer
to protect from a politician’s misplaced ire.
Bhatt’s finest film, which celebrates its 30th anniversary on May 25, isn’t
comfort cinema. Devoid of cheer and falsehoods, Saaransh is armed with
a leading man like Anupam Kher who single-handedly enriches its story into an
experience so personal, poignant and profound, only the callous can stay
unmoved.
Loss of a child is a horror no parent
should suffer.
But for the retired headmaster B V Pradhan (Kher) and his schoolteacher
wife, Parvati (Rohini Hattangadi) residing in a middle-class locality of
Mumbai’s Shivaji Park (Bhatt grew up in the area and pays loving tribute to its
daily sights), the enormity of this tragedy seems even greater.
To possess the gift of life fully knowing it wasn’t their son’s time to go
is an imposition they could do without. To compete for job positions against
his son’s peers is a probability Pradhan didn’t prepare for. Or to endure the
humiliation at the customs office when an official dismisses his urgency to
retrieve his son’s ashes as an attempt to reclaim a television set.
“TV lene nahi aaya hoon. Main apne marey hue bete ki asthiyan lene aaya
hoon. Ek baap ka apne bete ki raakh par koi adhikaar hai ke nahi? Ya uske liye
bhi mujhe neeche rishvat deni padegi?" he cries, exposing his broken
heart and the sad state of Indian bureaucracy at once.
Shameful, isn’t it?
Even after three decades of Saaransh, corruption proudly occupies
centre stage everywhere.
If Parvati resigns herself to religion
and a monk’s soothsaying -- her son will soon take reincarnation; Pradhan’s
atheistic ideals leave him with no scope for that comfort either. Bitter,
frightened, gloomy, he seeks the easy escape -- suicide.
During a painful moment, he angrily defends his refusal to live, “Agar
zindagi mujhe apne ghinone usoolon par jeene ko majboor kare toh main kahoonga
-- nahi, kabhi nahi.”
Under her calm surface, Parvati is far from healed. Curiously studying the
young and exuberant, she notes with a tinge of envy, “Uski aankhen dekhi?
Kaise chamak rahi thi. Aisa laga jaise zindagi choo gayi ho.”
What follows is a fascinating scene wherein Parvati resolves to join Pradhan
in his suicidal pursuits. He plays her, she indulges him, it’s a dangerous game
but they have nothing to lose. Except they are interrupted by a presence that
will change the course of their life and offer them a motive, a 'mission' to go
on living -- for the time being, at least.
Financial crunch forces them to rent out their deceased son, Ajay’s room to
an aspiring actress Sujata (Soni Razdan, her first film under future husband,
Mahesh Bhatt).
Bhatt slyly remarks on how tough it is for artists to obtain rental
accommodation in Mumbai given Bollywood’s ill reputation even in the 1980s
through Sujata’s niggling doubt and hasty admission about her profession to her
potential landlords.
Her affair with Vilas (Madan Jain), son of an influential politician Gajanan
Chitre, (Nilu Phule) results in pregnancy, a development that doesn’t go down
well her spineless beau and his tyrant daddy. When efforts to abort the baby go
in vain, Chitre begins to intimidate Sujata and her protectors -- Pradhan and
Parvati.
I found uncanny resemblance between Chitre and late Shiv Sena supremo Bal
Thackeray only to learn it’s not coincidental. In an interview to
Outlook, Bhatt admits, “I did reference him. The attributes, the body type, the
glasses were borrowed.”
To the filmmaker’s surprise, Thackeray was all “praise for its theme.”
What’s masterful is how Bhatt plays
out the ensuing menace by building on nerves and tension in place of physical
violence.
There’s a scene I really liked, where the troika along with their family
friend, Vishwanath (a pitch perfect Suhas Bhalekar) are about to get into a
taxi to the hospital when one (Salim Ghouse) of the four anti-social elements
constantly hovering in their neighbourhood, slowly, sinisterly kicks a can
towards Pradhan.
The cautioning tone impressed in the sound of a rolling can and Ghouse’s
glowering eyes convey more aggression than if he would grab Pradhan’s collar
and mouth a few threats.
Tautly edited by David Dhawan (yes, the *same* one), Saaransh
scores repeatedly for underlining significant aspects of society’s shortcomings
without deviating from its core emotionality.
Bhatt points out at the pains of red-tapism, the stigma of being an unwed
mother in a conservative society, the audacity of politically-backed bullies,
the meekness of politically-controlled law/order officials and dismisses the
theory of reincarnation to extract suitable drama, which adds texture and
dimensions to his narrative preventing it from turning overemotional.
Even though striking on its own, Saaransh
wouldn’t bear the same soul without Anupam Kher. It’s extraordinary how an
actor can attain this degree of success in his acting debut.
There’s a fascinating anecdote behind his casting, which I learned of while
watching his famous play, Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai many years ago.
Sanjeev Kumar was slated to work on this Rajshri production.
When Bhatt short-changed Kher to accommodate the saleable star, the young
actor from Shimla protested furiously calling the director a ‘fraud’ among many
other things. As he started to walk out in a huff, Bhatt stopped him and
decided to drop the Sholay actor in favour of a rank newcomer.
Interestingly, Sanjeev Kumar was extremely moved by Kher’s work in Saaransh
and rated it among one of the best performances he’d ever seen.
At 28, he plays a father who’s lost a son perhaps his own age with the
gravitas and grace of a senior citizen. Would he be able to better the same
performance today? I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t want to.
What we see of him on screen, its pure, almost spiritual, a performance for
the ages -- free from the baggage of image or expectation, it’s not merely
Kher’s depiction of old age but a wisdom to penetrate into Pradhan’s
consciousness that distinguishes it.
That year he beat the likes of Naseeruddin Shah in Sparsh and Dilip
Kumar in Mashaal to nab the Best Actor trophy at Filmfare awards.
Bhatt walked with Best Story while Madhukar S Shinde, a regular with the
filmmaker through his fecund phase from Arth to Dil Hai Ki Manta
Nahi won for Best Art Direction.
Playing the equally noteworthy
character of Kher’s better half, a 30-something Rohini Hattangadi infuses the
part-repressed, part-hysterical temperament of her Parvati with maturity far
beyond her years.
It’s hard to describe the
sadness enveloping the scene where she finally wakes up to the rotten reality
of her circumstances.
“Tum rakshas ho,” she
accuses her husband for shattering her belief that Sujata’s unborn baby is her
reincarnated Ajay.
Soni Razdan is somewhat
overshadowed by the dramatic prowess of her co-stars but her underplaying
wronged women always stands her in good stead.
Through the course of all these
bittersweet developments, the essence of Saaransh is fruitfully realised
when the previously suicidal Pradhan accepts it’s not taking one’s life but
living it on one’s terms that requires courage.
“Parvati, tumhare chehre ki
jhuriyon mein mere jeevan ka saaransh hai,” he concludes.
Loss is irreplaceable but life
still goes on. The flowers blooming out of their son’s ashes reiterate this.
Amit Jain ·
और अपने पिता के प्रति उनका प्रेम .. उन्होंने अपनी पिता को ट्विटर के माध्यम से अपने सभी फोल्लोवेर्स को अवगत कराया... ना जानते हुए भी बहुत कुछ जाना अनुपम के माध्यम से उनके पिता के बारे में
Irshad Ali अनुपम अपने शुरूआती दिनों में महेश भट्ट के साथ सारांश से पहले ही जुड़ गए थे महेश की उन पर खास नजर थी तब तक सारांश की कहानी सामने नहीं आई थी लेकिन वो जानते थे कि इस आदमी के माध्यम से अभिनय को नये अंदाज में कहा जा सकता है। अगर आपने नाम देखी हो तो तलाश करना अनुपम खेर कहां हैं। किरण अनुपम के सामने कम नहीं उतरती लेकिन सिकन्दर दोनों के सामने कहीं नहीं ठहरते। इससे साबित हो जाता है कि आदमी खुद ही खुद को तैयार करता है। इन दिनों अनुपम या उनके जैसे सशक्त लोगों को लेकर काम नहीं हो रहा क्योंकि बाजार के आगे अनुपम खेर सरीखे अभिनेताओं का कद कहीं मैच नहीं करता फिर भी वह कर्मशियल सिनेमा का लोकप्रिय नाम है। उनकी पेस्टनजी, खोसला का घोसला सरीखी फिल्में कभी भी देखी जा सकती है।
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