Wistful, Melancholic, Introspective. These usually aren’t words that are expected to appear too often when one imagines Kishore Kumar the ac...
Wistful, Melancholic, Introspective. These usually aren’t words that are expected to appear too often when one imagines Kishore Kumar the actor. From outright slapstick comedy to situational blunders to amazing physicality in laughter Kishore’s zany side of his persona was amply exploited in most of his comedy films. More so in his self-directed laugh riots Badhti Ka Naam Daadhi and Shabash Daddy. Even the more-bland-in-comparison-to-the original classic Chalti Ka Naam Zindagi had a few such moments of madness.
But Kishore the filmmaker showed us a different
side of himself in his Door Trilogy of films. Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein, Door
Ka Rahi and Door Wadiyon Mein Kahin. As portraits of human journeys
encompassing love, loss, heartbreak, and suffering along the way, these films
reveal a side of Kishore that he deliberately chose to hide from the world most
of the times. His gentle, soft, compassionate, humane side. A deeply reflective
and introspective one at that.
Although thematically the film was more or less a
straightforward adaptation of Michael Curtiz’s Alan Ladd starrer The Proud
Rebel, the story of how Kishore Kumar was greatly influenced by seeing Pather
Panchali and decided to start work on Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein has been well
documented. Traveling to the outskirts of a then less dense Bombay he would
film random shots of the greenery, raindrops falling on a frog, circles forming
in the lakes thanks to the rain, etc. These shots would be assembled seamlessly
in what eventually turned to be a wonderfully told saga of a father (Shankar,
an army man) and his young son (Ramu), rendered mute by a traumatic fire
accident he suffered at a young age.
The wonderful onscreen depiction of father and son
was all the more poignant as Kishore and son Amit played the roles. Door Gagan
Ki Chhaon Mein came at a time in Kishore’s life when his acting career was
flying and comic roles were his forte. Even his own productions (Chalti Ka Naam
Gaadi 1958, Jhumroo 1961) were out-and-out comedies. S
o the fact that here was a star at the zenith of
his popularity announcing and starting a film completely in contrast to his
established image caught many by surprise. Door Gaga Ki Chhaon Mein was not the
regular Kishore Kumar movie as people would soon find out.
The film received praise from most people who saw
it. The great Satyajit Ray, for whom Kishore had arranged a special viewing,
found it had “some very interesting touches and a lot of pathos”. Kishore
himself was very happy with the end result. It was a side of his he had never
dared to share with the world. And the end result pleased him. The film however
didn’t do very well commercially. Although it did manage to reach the silver
jubilee mark in a few centres, Kishore didn’t recover his costs with the movie.
Kishore carried on with his regular choice of films
after that, mainly to recover the lost money and also to go on with the flow.
His days as a leading man were however numbered. Younger heroes came into the
picture pushing him in the background. And then when a new star arrived on a
jeep, serenading his Alistair-Maclean-reading -sweetheart on a toy train, in
1969, Kishore had found his groove. It would be playback singing from then
onwards.
The filmmaker in Kishore however had been awakened.
The happiness and pleasure he derived from making Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein was
something he wanted to pursue further. And hence in 1971 came another film Door
Ka Rahi. Made in black and white (like the earlier Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein)
Rahi is a metaphorical depiction of the journey of a man in his life. A journey
that has pain suffering love loss along the way. It is also a film about a
man’s mission to serve and help all those he comes in contact with during his
journey.
Door Ka Rahi was more reflective and wistful than
Door Gagan which had a more definitive story. The restlessness of the
protagonist (Prashant) in his unending quest for the answers to life is
perfectly captured in Kishore’s soulful rendition of Panthi Hoon Main Uss Path
Ka, Anth Nahi Jiska (I am a traveller on an endless road). Door Ka Rahi was a
more mature approach to sensitivity than its predecessor. A complex theme that
was simply handled by Kishore Kumar, Rahi too failed at the box office.
Considering the timing of its release when superstars like Rajesh Khanna were
ruling the roost with his musical romantic hits (most of whose songs were
ironically sung by Kishore himself), its failure was never a surprise. Kishore
Kumar however took yet another blow to his soul and continued in his journey,
singing his blues away.
It would be a decade later that Kishore Kumar would
venture on his third offering in the “Door” series. Door Wadiyon Mein Kahin was
released in 1981. This time the movie was in colour. And ironically, for a
Kishore Kumar film, it had no songs. Not just the absence of songs, there was
even an absence of background music. Only real sounds were incorporated much to
everyone’s surprise. Door Wadiyon Mein Kahin was an interesting tale of the
kind-hearted, almost-poetic by nature prisoner, Aslam. The film opens with a
tight close-up of his eyes, eyes which are filled with years and years of
experience grief, and wisdom. Aslam sees a few birds flying in the open sky and
it is the bird he wishes to be. He has a kind-hearted jailer who empathizes
with him but also warns him of the consequences of attempting to escape. Aslam
however manages to escape and in the lush snowy regions of the Himalayas, he
finds shelter with Memsaab and her daughter Janice. The bond he forms with both
the ladies forms the crux of the story. And the eventuality of his existence
which is in the hands of the jailer who hunts him down at the end.
Door Wadiyon Mein Kahin was an epic film where the
lush snow settings added to the wistfulness and moody atmosphere Kishore had
managed to create. Commercially yet again the film failed to excite the
audience, as expected. But the film is well and truly a worthy completion to
the glorious series Kishore had begun nearly two decades ago with Door Gagan Ki
Chhaon Mein.
Kishore Kumar was a multi-faceted genius who
seemingly could do everything. However, his gigantic success as a playback
singer and also his success as a comic hero have often eclipsed the filmmaker
side of him. As a filmmaker, Kishore tried to be different on more occasions and
there seemed to be honesty and sincerity in his expressions of emotions. His
comedies too were way ahead of their time with their zaniness and craziness.
Badhti Ka Naam Daadhi would be impossible to
evaluate even today, given its pythonesque humour and irreverence. But it is as
a serious filmmaker who made the brilliantly engaging Door trilogy Kishore
Kumar stands truly alone. Under-appreciated and ignored. By the movie public in
general. Some of us who have delved deeper into his work have been lucky to
experience this side of the genius. The sensitive introspect wistful side of a
filmmaker who was for once revealing his true inner self over his extroverted
flamboyance, which was just a mask. Only those few who were willing to explore
beyond the mask got to see the real Kishore Kumar through these three wonderful
films.
This is the first part of our series to pay tribute to the
legend on his 95th birth anniversary.
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