SAAWN AND BIMAL ROY

SAAWAN   AND BIMAL ROY

    So ;  this year’s monsoon has been generally good . The farmers are largely happy and Government is expecting a boom in agriculture production. The stock market may register the impact and the RBI chief would have something to cheer for a year!  

 However; the people have celebrated in song and dance, in ritual and religion this season of hope, love and longing since ages. We may be unique in the’ Pan – India’ celebration of ‘Saawan’ through ages - music( various raags; malhar,megh etc) poetry ( Kalidas’s Meghdoot ) Drama( Aaashar ka ek Din ) Dance  and Cinema where it is represented in grand abundance. It is an emotional therapy, it keeps our EQ ticking ,manifesting in various celebrations  often unconsciously. Customs  passed down from  generations through DNA ! Many filmmakers ,song writers , singers and actors have contributed over the period to this pool of  ‘sentimental resource’ which we often accept as routine/given.

Though      Indian Cinema  shows the various  shades of the season in songs and scenes  today I intend to talk of Bimal Roy the great film maker who inspires us  still. Bimal Roy has made many landmark movies and given the film industry very many great talents- Hrisikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar , Salil Chowdhry.. His cinema was rooted in reality and yet was middle of the road. Simple, tender and progressive  without any melodrama with strong story line. He was perhaps one of the most awarded filmmakers ( 11 filmfare awards) both as producer and director- ‘Do beegha Zameen’ , ‘Parinita’, ‘Biraj Bahu’,’Madhumati’,’Devdas’ ‘ Sujata’, “Parakh’, ‘ Bandini’.  His body  of work is immense and relevant till date. Bimal da as he was fondly addressed gave much emphasis to music as is evident in his films but he had this attachment to ‘Saawan’ ( the monsoon ) which he portrayed through songs. The various facets of ‘Saawan’, sung in different style and setting.

Do beegha Zameen.    This 1953  film starred Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy. It tells the story of a farmer who is compelled to leave his village to work in Kolkata as a Rickshaw puller  in order to save his ‘do beegha Zameen’ ( small piece of land ) but returns in vain.  However; there is this Jubilant Saawan song which the peasants sing in joy at the approach of the monsoon , the song uplifts them for a while from the drudgery of  life of belied expectations. “ haryala saawan dhol baja ta aaya ,  dhin tak tak man mein mor nacha ta aaya, mitti  mein jaan lagata aaya, dharti pehni hai hari chunariya banke dulhaniya,…..ek aagan bujhi ek aagan lagi, man magan huwa ek lagan lagi…..”  . (Broadly the song heralds the monsoon which arrives with the sound of the drums, and enriches the soil , makes it fertile , the surrounding have become green akin to a bride wearing a green sari. The heat of the earth has been quenched and the passions have aroused. The mind is engrossed  with this togetherness .) The song is written by Shailendra and composed by Salil Chowdhry. Among the many things it talks of the recurring theme of ‘Saawan’ ; fulfilment and arousing of passions.

Sujata. The film depicts the life of an untouchable girl( Nutan ) who is brought up in a high caste family . She grows into a beautiful girl along with the daughter( shasikala) of her adopted parents. The conflict arises when the boy( Sunil Dutt ) who is to marry the daughter falls in love with Sujata and is adamant to marry her . The ‘Saawan  song‘ in this film depicts the latent desires of Sujata which are aroused by the setting of the dark  clouds. “ kali ghata chaye mora jiya  larjaye, aise mein koi kahin  mil jaye, tau kisi ka kya jaye re kya jaye, kali……,hun mein kitni akeli woh ye jaante mere berang  jeevan ko pehchante, mere haton ko thame hanse aur hansaye,mera dukh bhulaye  kisi ka kya jaye, kali ghata.. (  the dark clouds have set in and my heart is kindled , in such a time  if I find love; how does It bother anyone? Finding that how lonesome I am  and how colourless is my life, if someone holds my hand and makes me laugh and thus I forget my sorrows; how does it bother anyone? ). The style is questioning and taunting, at the end of each stanza she repeats the same line ; how does it bother anyone? The dark clouds not only have provoked her natural desire  for man but this docile untouchable has become a sort of revolutionary! The song is written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, composed by S D Burman and sung by Geeta Dutt.

Parakh.  The film was made in 1963 and has story by Salil Chowdhary along with the music.  It is a unique film in that the two principal characters are Motilal and Nazir Hussain which has ‘honesty’ as its theme. Sadhna is the heroine  and daughter of the post master ( Nazir Hussain ), the role of the post man is played by Motilal in his easy going style. The ‘Saawan’ song in the film is sung by Sadhna who is in love with a young school teacher. The only similarity this song has with the ‘Sujata ‘song is that  both are sung by the heroine longing for love , however in ‘Parakh’, Sadhna is much open and bolder as the song itself conveys; “ o sajna  barkha bahar aayi ras ki phuhar layi ankhiyon mein pyar layi o sajna, tumko pukare mere man ka papihara  mithi mithi agni mein jale mora jiyera , o sajna barkha…   ( o love!   the rainy season has arrived  and has brought  joyousness  and love in our eyes, my heart yearns for you and the sweet sweet passion has aroused me. Unlike Nutan in Sujata here Sadhna is already in love and she wants to be together with her lover as “mithi mithi agni mein jale mora jiyera”(  the rains have aroused her passion ). Bimal Roy has employed the’ Saawan’ settings  to convey the otherwise subdued feelings of his protagonists and perhaps to convey that such desires are natural , though curbed and controlled by caste and social circumstances. The song is sung by Lata Mangeskar, written by Shailendra and composed by Salil Chowdhary. Some experts rate this song as one of the great Lata numbers and of course the finest Saawan Song.

 

Prem Patra.  The  film starred Shashi Kapoor and Sadhna and was released in 1962. As the name suggests the film is woven around a misunderstanding created over a love letter ( prem patra) . This song is played in background whilst the rains sway the palms and brighten their life. “ saawan  ki raton mein aisa bhi hota hai, rahi koi bhula hua toofan mein khoya hua raah pea a jata hai, aisa bhi hota hai,… teri nazar se ise dekh loon mein  dil se tum ye mehsus karlo, toofan ye mere dil mein utha hai, chaho tum ise apne daman mein bhar lo …”  (   it happens during the rainy nights that a traveller  lost in storm finds his way home  … it happens… I can see the season through your eyes if you feel it in your heart! The storm of emotion that has arisen in my heart you may embrace ; if you desire ! ). This is a duet  in background conveying the emotional state  of Shashi Kapoor and Sadhna. The theme is of reconciliation evoked by the rains  ( rahi bhula hua ). Saawan unites lost lovers! As Shashi is blind he says that he may see this season if she feels the same . Further ; there is desire for physical intimacy ( apne daman mein bhar lo ) ignited by the rains. The song is written by Gulzar ,composed by Salil Chowdhary and sung by Lata and Rafi. It is not a very popular song as the film did not do well but conveys the leanings of  Bimal Roy.

Bandini. This 1963 film was Bimal Roy’s last big hit before he was struck by throat cancer at relatively early age of 55. Bandini was a women oriented film like his many  earlier -  Parinita, Biraj Bahu, Madhumati, Sujata. Nutan played the role of Kalyani who is  a convict  . The jail Doctor ( Dharmendra) falls in love with her and she too responds. But there is conflict as she was married to a revolutionary ( Ashok Kumar ) in young age. On her release she has to decide between love and destiny! ( o re mazhi! mere sajan hein us par mein is paar ). However the Saawan song is completely different here not only among Bimal Roy’s earlier versions but among the wide ranging hindi film Saawan songs. This song is sung by another female convict whilst grinding wheat as part of labour in jail. Nutan is mainly  shown in long shots at a distance along with other female convicts. The camera stays most of the time on the singer but occasionally pans Nutan and other inmates. It presents there longing for home and normal life which is accentuated by the Saawan song . The festival of ‘Rakshabandhan’ falls during monsoon season ( August mostly ) and at this time women visit their parents to tie rakhi to their brothers and thus meet childhood friends . The song is extremely melancholic and haunting and invokes memory of the lost home: ” Ab ke baras bhej Bhaiyya ko Babul, Saawan mein lejo bulayere, lautein gi jab meri  bachpan ki Sakhiyan dejo sandesa bhijayere, ab ke baras…

, ambua talae phirse jhule parenge –rimzhim parengi phuharen, lautengi tere angan mein Babul Saawan ki thandi  baharen, chalke nayan mora kaske re jiyara  bachpan ki jab yaad aye re, ab ke baras….” (  o’ father this year do send brother to fetch me during Saawan, when my playmates return home do send word for me this year..Again the swing would be fixed to the mango tree as the rains fall during season, the cool breeze shall return to your premises o’ father  ; my eyes are moist as I long for the childhood memories ). Many motifs of Saawan are mentioned in the song- the swing, the ripening of mangoes, the meeting of plymates, the cool breeze it explores  new perspective of the season. The song is written by Shailendra, sung by Asha Bhosle and composed by S D Burman, but the unmistakeable genius of Shailendra is stamped on it. His Knowledge of eastern UP , Bihar folk dialect and songs comes into play here.  

  Thus Bimal Roy’s Saawan songs reveal the various shades of the season – arousing of passions for physical intimacy among otherwise conservative and docile youth. The return of the estranged lovers, economic prosperity among farmers. Meeting with one’s parents and childhood friends. It remains as the great season of hope and longing—economic, physical and spiritual.