Hrishikesh Mukherjee
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Contents |
Personal details
Born: September 30, 1922 in Calcutta
Died: August 27, 2006 in Mumbai
His cinema
Hrishikesh Mukherjee: The king of comedy, The Times of India TNN | August 27, 2016
Simplicity and warmth have always defined Hrishikesh Mukherjee's cinematic offerings over the years. Known to be one of the most popular filmmakers of his time, Mukherjee managed to send out strong social messages that underlined his films. Starting his career in 1951 as an editor and assistant director to Bimal Roy, he later went on to try his hand at directing a film titled 'Musafir' in 1957. However, the film was a disaster at the box office.
Failure didn't stop the talented filmmaker from pursuing his cinematic ambitions, and it wasn't long before director Raj Kapoor took note. Kapoor, who by then was an established name in the industry, was impressed with his skills and recommended him strongly as director for 'Anari' (1959). Starring Kapoor himself and Nutan, the film was well received, both critically and commercially.
Mukherjee's next film 'Anuradha' (1960), that told the story of a doctor who neglects his wife to focus on his work, fetched him the President's Medal Award.
In 1970, Mukherjee made what is considered his masterpiece - 'Anand'. The film gave a complex but compassionate look at the balance between hope, fear, life and death. The film which had Rajesh Khanna in the lead is also regarded as one of his greatest performance of all time. In the film, he played a terminally ill man who wishes to live life to the full before he dies.
Mukherjee kept the winning streak going by putting up excellent films like 'Guddi', a semi-satiric take on the film industry, 'Abhimaan' and 'Chupke Chupke', a comedy about a newlywed professor's joke on his pompous brother-in-law. His films gave the audience a detailed look into the middle-class mentality.
The 1980s, which saw the advent of superstar Amitabh Bachchan as an angry young man out to change the world in Bollywood, coupled with larger-than-life films, saw Hrishikesh Mukherjee's brand of filmmaking fizzling out over time.
He recently attempted a comeback with 'Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate' (1998), but sadly it was a futile effort as the film was considered as a commercial and critical failure. Although his films failed to draw in the crowds and set cash registers ringing, Mukherjee's films still linger on in the hearts and cherished memories of his fans, even after three long decades.
Anand
Jai Arjun Singh, March 14, 2021: The Times of India
Everyone who loves Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand agrees that it is one of the warmest, most life-affirming of Hindi films. As it turns fifty, the dominant memory is of the terminally ill hero, played by Rajesh Khanna, spreading cheer and inspiration, determined to live a badi zindagi (big life) even if he isn’t fated for a lambi (long) one. But here’s a reminder — for those who have only a highlights-reel memory of Anand — of the deep darkness that underlies this story. Early in the film, Dr Bhaskar (Amitabh Bachchan) is trying to heal slum-dwellers but feeling increasingly hopeless about an unending cycle of poverty and misery. Shortly after he has pronounced a patient beyond help, an old woman comes up with mithai for him; her grandchild has just been born. The celebratory sweet still in his mouth, Bhaskar thinks to himself: “Ek mara nahin, aur doosra paida ho gaya marne ke liye!” (“One hasn’t died yet, and another has been born to suffer the same fate.”) The words, spoken in Bachchan’s intense, caustic tone, are almost a punch to the gut. But they become even more so when one considers this: Hrishikesh Mukherjee — avuncular high priest of the Middle Cinema, maker of so many gentle films whose very titles make viewers smile — this same “Hrishi-da” closely identified with Bhaskar’s pessimism. In an interview once, he cuttingly said, “I have always believed that the power of evil is far stronger than the power of good. A tiny drop of poison can ruin a bucket of milk.” Discussing the genesis of Anand, which he first wrote as a novella before getting it converted into a screenplay, he often spoke about how it was based on his friendship with Raj Kapoor, who was the ray of sunshine in his life (or perhaps the antidote to poison), much the same way Anand would brighten Bhaskar’s horizon.
The film’s initially downbeat, Bhaskardominated tone changes quickly when Anand shows up, bursting through a door as chirpy, star-heralding music plays. (The Raj Kapoor homage is inescapable, especially if you have watched ‘Kisi ki Muskurahaton Pe’ from Hrishida’s Anari.) What follows are a series of heartwarming vignettes, punctuated by lovely songs — and only a few sad moments that aren’t allowed to linger. Anand’s own attitude, as buoyant as the balloons he releases into the sky at the start of ‘Zindagi Kaisi hai Paheli’, is what the film constantly emphasises.
Two years earlier, Mukherjee had made a darker film, Satyakam, which he always cited as his personal favourite — even holding its boxoffice failure as evidence of its refusal to provide easy sops to a mass audience. Watching these two films — which have a few structural similarities — back to back can be revealing. If Anand is like a nourishing broth on a winter’s night, Satyakam — about an uncompromising man who is repeatedly disappointed by an imperfect world — can feel a bit like biting into a lemon. (Imagine what Anand would be like if Dr Bhaskar had been its protagonist and Anand never came through that door.) Satyapriya, the hero of Satyakam, and Dr Bhaskar are both Serious Men, weighed down by unflinching idealism which turns to cynicism and despair. They are also unimaginative and rigid, prone to seeing the world in black and white. And they have little patience for fantasy or make-believe — qualities vital to the Hrishikesh Mukherjee universe, which is so often about the healing power of masquerade or naatak.
Hrishi-da may have defensively viewed Satyakam as a more serious, hence better, film than his box-office hits, but “popular” doesn’t have to mean unserious. And it is significant that the best-loved and most enduring Hrishikesh Mukherjee films today — with Anand first among them — are the ones that have the widest ranging view of human nature and a sense of fun. Like Ram Prasad in Gol Maal and Professor Parimal Tripathi in Chupke Chupke, Anand Sehgal understands the importance of those qualities. He knows that for zindagi to be “badi”, one should experience it in all its dimensions: be flippant, crack goofy jokes with the nurse who is trying to get you to rest, do silly things like accost strangers and address them familiarly (until you find that one person who is willing to play along); recognise that we are all “rangmanch ke kathputli” (puppets on life’s stage), and that each man in his time must play many parts.
My appreciation for Anand has grown with time: watching it on a big screen once with a hall full of enthusiastic fans, I found myself more invested in the central character, and in Khanna’s charismatic star presence which must have had such a huge impact in 1971. But increasingly, I also feel that in Dr Bhaskar’s journey over the course of the story one sees Hrishi-da locating his own inner Anand and engaging in a form of self-healing — by making a film that manages to be breezy and meaningful, playful and profound at the same time.
Filmography
As a director
1957 Musafir
1959 Anari
1960 Anuradha
1961 Chhaya
1961 Mem-Didi
1962 Aashiq
1962 Asli-Naqli
1964 Sanjh Aur Savera
1965 Do Dil
1966 Anupama
1966 Biwi Aur Makan
1966 Gaban
1967 Majhli Didi
1968 Aashirwad
1969 Pyar Ka Sapna
1969 Satyakam
1971 Anand
1971 Buddha Mil Gaya
1971 Guddi
1972 Bawarchi
1972 Sabse Bada Sukh
1973 Abhimaan
1973 Namak Haraam
1974 Phir Kab Milogi
1975 Chaitali
1975 Chupke Chupke
1975 Mili
1976 Arjun Pandit
1977 Alaap
1977 Kotwal Saab
1978 Naukri
1979 Gol Maal
1979 Jurmana
1980 Khubsoorat
1981 Naram Garam
1982 Bemisal
1983 Achha Bura
1983 Kissi Se Na Kehna
1983 Rang Birangi
1985 Jhoothi
1986 Hum Hindustani (TV Series)
1988 Lathi
1988 Namumkin
1990 Agar Aisa Ho To (TV Series)
1990 Rishte (TV Series)
1992 Talaash (TV Series)
1998 Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate
As a producer
1957 Musafir
1960 Anuradha
1968 Aashirwad
1971 Anand
1971 Guddi
1972 Bawarchi
1972 Sabse Bada Sukh
1975 Chupke Chupke
1975 Mili
1977 Alaap
1979 Gol Maal
1980 Khubsoorat
1998 Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate
Story/ screenplay
1953 Do Bigha Zamin
1957 Musafir
1961 Mem-Didi
1966 Anupama
1968 Aashirwad /
1971 Anand
1971 Guddi
1972 Bawarchi
1973 Abhimaan
1973 Namak Haraam
1977 Alaap
1983 Achha Bura
1983 Rang Birangi
1998 Chitrashalabham
1998 Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate
As an editor
1953 Do Bigha Zamin
1953 Parineeta
1954 Biraj Bahu
1954 Naukari
1955 Garam Coat
1957 Gotoma the Buddha
1958 Lukochuri
1958 Madhumati
1958 Yahudi
1959 Anari
1961 Char Diwari
1961 Gunga Jumna
1962 Aashiq
1962 Banarasi
1966 Pinjre Ke Panchhi
1967 Chemmeen
1967 Ghar Ka Chirag
1968 Aashirwad
1968 Chhotto Jignasa
1968 Mere Hamdam Mere Dost
1969 Pyar Hi Pyar
1969 Pyasi Sham
1969 Yakeen
1970 Dastak
1971 Anand
1971 Jawan Muhabat
1974 Nellu
1975 Mili
1981 Baisakhi Megh
1981 Professor Pyarelal
1983 Coolie
As an actor
1972 Bees Saal Pehle
