Director: Shakti Samanta Starcast: Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Pahadi Sanyal, Farida Jalal, Sujit Kumar, Manmohan, Anita Guha, Abhi Bh...
Director: Shakti Samanta
Starcast: Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Pahadi Sanyal, Farida Jalal, Sujit Kumar, Manmohan,
Anita Guha, Abhi Bhattacharya, Subhash Ghai and Madan Puri
Guest
Appearance: Ashok Kumar
Music: S.D.Burman
From the late 50s till the early 80s director Shakti Samanta and his banner Shakti films were a force to reckon with. Most of his films were huge money spinners and were known for their exotic locations and excellent music. However, this 1969 film released on November 7 remains his most iconic film. This film saw the resurgence of Kishore Kumar as a singer and becoming the numero uno voice for playback till he breathed his last. And, most importantly, it gave rise to a new star for whom the word “Superstar” was coined for the first time. None other than Rajesh Khanna who became a phenomenon after this film.
Storyline:
Inspired by the 1946 Hollywood
drama film, the Olivia de Havilland starrer To Each His Own,
Aradhana is a poignant tale of Vandana (Sharmila Tagore) who falls in love with
an air force officer Arun Verma (Rajesh Khanna) whom she marries in a temple.
Trouble ensues when Arun dies in an air crash leaving Vandana widowed and
pregnant. Worse, she does not have any evidence of her marriage. Soon, a son is
born to her, she names him Suraj who is adopted by a wealthy couple. Vandana
decides to hide her identity and becomes his nanny. However, her vagaries don’t
end there as she is jailed for murdering Shyam (Manmohan). After completing her
sentence, she is given the responsibility of looking after the jailor’s
daughter Renu (Farida Jalal) a spunky girl who soon becomes close to her.
Vandana is shocked to see her boyfriend who is none other than her own son
Suraj, all grown up and looking exactly like his father. The rest of the film
is about how Suraj comes to know of his and Vandana’s true identity.
Direction
and other Technical Aspects:-
Shakti Samanta, was a seasoned
director and expectedly handled the romantic and dramatic portions of the film
really well. Another facet of Shakti Samanta was that he handled the shooting locations
beautifully. So much so that the locations almost became a separate character
in the film. This is very evident in Aradhana where the beautiful locales of
Darjeeling, Sukna, and Kalimpong were shown in a new light. The cinematography by
Alok Dasgupta is exemplary, different moods of the film were captured adeptly
by him. Screenplay by Samanta’s favourite Sachin Bhowmick and Ramesh Pant is
one of the invisible heroes of this film. The complex plot is well-knit with
minimal plotholes.
Performances:
It has to be said that Shakti
Samanta almost always elicited the best out of Sharmila Tagore and this film is
no different. As the central character Vandana, she looks innocent and charming
at the same time and gives an amazing performance. Her expressions, her poise
came in for a lot of praise and she deservedly won the Filmfare Award for “Best
Actress in a Leading Role” that year. Pahadi Sanyal, as Sharmila’s father gives
a lovely performance. Farida Jalal as Renu looks cute and gives a vivacious
performance, it was evident that she is a talent to watch out for. Sujit Kumar,
Anita Guha, and Abhi Bhattacharya are excellent in their respective roles. But,
the show-stealer of this film is Rajesh Khanna in his dual role. Both as Arun
and Suraj, he charms the audience especially those belonging to the fairer sex with
his romantic expressions, twinkling eyes, slight tilt of the head, and
handling romantic and emotional scenes with equal ease. No wonder, he became
such a sensation post this film.
Music:
The music of Aradhana was
nothing sort of phenomenal. It was Dada Burman’s most versatile album
along with Jewel Thief and Tere Ghar Ke Saamne. From the iconic “Mere Sapno Ki
Rani” (Kishore Kumar) to the playful Baagon Mein Bahar Hai (Lata & Rafi),
each song was top-notch in terms of composition and arrangement. SDB himself
lent so much of pathos in the title song that it still makes the listeners shed
a tear or two. Kora Kagaz Tha is definitely one of the best Lata Kishore duets
ever. To top it all, the legendary Roop Tera Mastana (Kishore Kumar) is still
considered to be one of the most sensuous songs ever picturized in the history
of Indian cinema. The Lata solo Chanda Hai Tu is still the trademark song for
mothers showering their love on their sons, and Gunguna Rahe Hain (Lata &
Rafi) is definitely a composition soaked
in honey.
Overall, Aradhana is a
complete film and even after 55 years of its release still has every ingredient
to make the audience relate to its concept, songs and performances.
- - Ayushmaan Mitra
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