PEOPLE WE LIKE: Hrishikesh Mukherjee

THE ETERNAL HUMANIST

“Someone once told me, you should spend half an hour every night sitting on the terrace, staring at the stars. That’s when you’ll see how small and insignificant you are. I used this line in Satyakam.”—Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Reminiscing about Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s cinema is like looking through a personal album of memories. For someone who has worshipped his films and held them close to heart at various moments of crisis, indecision, sorrow and joy, it is impossible to speak or write dispassionately about Hrishida and his work.

As a cinema-crazy child growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, films like Anand, Guddi, Abhimaan, Mili, Chupke Chupke, Golmaal and Khubsoorat charmed me with their insightful worldview, sparkling wit and astonishingly accessible characters. Hrishida has always been described as ‘everyman’s’ filmmaker—a director who focussed on urban, middle-class lives rather than epic themes and socio-political issues. He created ordinary characters trying to conduct their lives with dignity without causing too much disturbance in the cosmic order. Raj Kapoor’s self-respecting simpleton in Anari, Leela Naidu’s gracefully tragic Anuradha, Jaya Bhaduri’s giggly infatuated teenager in Guddi, Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt’s delightful comic combat in Golmaal and above all, Dharmendra’s unshakable idealism in Satyakam—each of these characters left a lasting impact on audiences and often, in a very unobtrusive way, taught a lesson or two about life.

I remember listening to the audio cassette of dialogues from Anand over and over again, consigning lines like “Zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahin” or “Zindagi aur maut uparwale ke haath mein hain, Jahapanah... Kab, kaun, kaise uthega, yeh koi nahin jaanta,” etc. to memory. A few years ago, while trying to dig out some background material on Hrishida’s films, I stumbled upon the word ‘Epicureanism’. It seems a friend introduced Hrishida to this theory and it became the guiding principle for Anand and a few of his later comedies such as Khubsoorat and Golmaal. In fact, many of Anand’s pragmatic values are inspired by the teachings of Greek philosopher Epicurus who founded his system of philosophy around 300 B.C. and believed that the highest pleasure was obtained by knowledge, friendship, and living a virtuous and temperate life. Sample this, “Death is nothing to us; when we exist, death is not yet present, and when death is present, then we do not exist," said Epicurus, a thought Anand echoes verbatim and lives out to the final letter.

Hrishida’s cinema pre-supposes the inherent goodness of human beings. The conflicts that create disturbance in people’s lives are more a result of some individual failing, or a clash of personalities. But in the end, there’s redemption, whether in the form of a happy reconciliation, or even in death—as in the case of Aashirwad, Satyakam and Anand. “Calm acceptance and simple living are the way of the Epicurean—who prudently manages those affairs over which he has some control and resigns himself to those things beyond his control”—another principle that’s borne out by his cinema.

It wasn’t by accident that a man like Hrishida—a qualified biochemist who started his career as an editor—took such a natural liking for Epicurus. Or, for that matter, for Italian Neo-Realism—another major influence, particularly in the early years, when he worked as an assistant to Bimal Roy and wrote the screenplay for Do Bigha Zamin. His emphasis on authenticity and consistency of characters and locations continued throughout his career. Even the biggest stars had to come down to earth while working with Hrishida, be it Rajesh Khanna or Amitabh Bachchan.

Surprisingly, looking back at his own work towards the end of his life, Hrishida said, “When compared to the films of people like Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal, Mrinal Sen etc, I feel very inadequate.” But ask all those who’ve basked in the warmth of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s humanist cinema and they’d have a different story to tell.

Comments

[Devamitra panda]

Hrishida 's films has timeless values and impact on the viewers.i personally just love his movies. almost everyday i remember Hrishida.Satyakam the best film acording to him is a classic.Anupama s song Kisi dil ne kaha is mesmerising.such a great director .

[Harsh]

I think mention of Hrishikesh Mukherjee is incomplete without the mention of Anupama, underrated but a stunning film and HM's best, if i may say..

[suniti]

" Hrishida’s cinema pre-supposes the inherent goodness of human beings. " in these words you have summed up the appeal of Hrishida's movies. We seemed to KNOW the family in Baawarchi, and the young girl in Guddi and Mili.
Wish there were more like him.