A few days back  I was watching Chupke Chupke after a gruelling drive from Aligarh. It was a perfect antidote; the simple and charming film simply washed away all tiredness.    

Antics of Pyare Mohan, the ‘ghaas-phoos’ wale daaktar in disguise as a chaste Hindi speaking driver in his wife’s ‘Jijja-ji’s’ house, dissipitated away any signs of a bumpy journey. And, this must be the countless time I must have been watching the film. Yet, it seemed so fresh, and I awaited each trick that Pyare Mohan unfolded to irritate his bro-in-law! That is the power of great art – approach it once, or many times, each visit should feel new and fresh.

Now, it’s impossible to envisage that the man behind such a brilliant comedy is no more.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee created an enviable niche for his himself. Simplicity was the key word. Strong storylines another. His comedies are best loved and they cant be surpassed ever! That’s more so because he took everyday situations and created a laugh riot of gargatuan proportions. On the face of it there was nothing spectacular scenario, yet they were monumental. Think of Golmaal, Khoobsoorat and Chupke Chupke  – all of them bring instantaneous smiles. Dont they? One can sit thru them even knowing each dialogue by heart. That was the power of his direction. I mean, in spite of knowing each movement of each actor, there is still the urge to view it once more, only to get the pleasure of what the characters are doing on-screen. And Dharamendra, Rekha, Amitabh Bachhan, Sharmila Tagore, Amol Palekar, Bindiya Goswami all of them got an unique film to add to their resumes!

One lesser known but nevertheless outstanding comedy is ‘Kisi Se Na kahna’ – aah! as a kid how much i revelled when i first saw the antics of a ‘city-bred’ Deepti Naval trying to pose of as a ‘village bahu’ for the sake of – who else?-  Utpal Dutt. A TV channel showed excerpts of the film; I wish some channel would dig it out and telecast it. In fact, Utpal Dutt and Hrishida were a formidable pair. And add to this David, the entire experience was like watching neighborhood friendly uncles.

And yet, his emotional dramas have their own power. Anari, Anand, Mili, Satyakam, Bemisaal,  Guddi and Bawarchi have their own appeal that goes beyond what we know of Bollywoood in normal terms. His characters were so real that they seemed just living down the road, instead of imaginations on silver screen. I have added Bawarchi in his list of ‘emotional films’ because the comedy wrapper that Hrishida packed it in beguiled the deep emotional undercurrent of the film, and its message. Only he (and perhaps, Gulzar) could have pulled across the then reigning superstar Rajesh Khanna to pass off as a convincing cook, and play ‘brother’ to another leading lady of her time. Just the way he metamorphosised Dharmendra’s career. In Chupke Chupke, Dharam overshadowed the proceedings (and I can confidently make the sacrililegious statement that he was even better than Amitabh!). But his real mettle can be seen in the understated role in Satyakam. I still remember how disturbed I was (as a youngster) when I first saw it.  The rape scene is not shown, yet the impact is splashed all over like the smudged vermillion on Sharmila’s forehead. And Latadi’s ‘Do din ki hai zindagi’ punches the solar plexus!

Truly a pioneer in the ‘middle-of-road’ cinema that combined the grandeur of ‘impossible situations’ with ‘believable people’, Hrishida will forever remain in the hearts of every true Hindi cinema afficiondo.  His characters were so believable that often one can feel an impish Mili running up and down the stairs in any middle class apartment building! In Mili he gave what is perhaps unique to Hindi films – a completely open ending. One can think of any denouement as per one’s mood and outlook!  Yet, the story is so complete that even one more shot would have been extraneous!

I am not sure what the exact box office fate was of his releases. But today a lion’s share of them are retro-hits. Yet, even within that there are some that haven’t found the requisite attention.

In fact, his lesser known films are equally stunning in their execution. One such is Bemisaal ; it is one of my all time favorites – both cinematically and musically. The friendship between Vinod Mehra and Amitabh Bachchan is so filmi-cliche- free that it’s like a soothing halcyon playing. The end always gives a rock-solid lump in my throat. And what beautiful songs – ‘Kisi baat pe main kisi se khaffaa hoon’ ranks very high in my list! In the same song he extracted one of the finest performances from another favorite, Amitabh Bachchan: the look of veiled disdain towards the vamp Sheetal as he sways ever so slightly singing the taunting song, while Raakhee is perplexed and thinks it to be thrown towards her, this is a scene of absolutely bemisaal direction!  With the same leading trio (Raakhee, Amitabh and Vinod Mehra) he made an impactful statement of guilt and sorrow in Jurmana.

Musically, he was very strong. If he could get even the otherwise awfully dull Anand Milind to compose a shimmering ‘Chaand kahuun’ (Udit) for his last film Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate, it was but obvious that the ‘creamy layer’ of music studios – SJ, SDB,RDB, Salil-da and MM – would reserve nothing but the best for him. And what an array of songs – from the perky ‘Samajhne waale samajh gaye hain’ to the philosophical ‘Kahiin door jab din dhal jaaaye’ to the sombre ‘Sab kuchh seekha humne’ to the classical ‘More naina bahaye neer‘ to the chirpy ‘Ab ke sajan saawan mein’ to the romantic ‘Loote koi mann ka nagar’ to the tough ‘Laagi nahi chhute’ (Where Dilip Kumar fought a losing vocal war with the ever-impeccable Latadi) to the musing ‘Badi sooni sooni hai’ to the pious ‘Bole re papihara’ to the heart-warming ‘Tera mera pyaar amar phir kyun mujhko laga hai darr’ to the amusing ‘Yeh kashmir hai’ to the dreamy ‘Ek baat kahuun gar maano tum’ to the pain lashed ‘Kuchh dil ne kaha kuchh bhi nahi’ to the musically splendid ‘Lo aayi milan ki raat suhaani aaj‘ – it’s a matchless hit-parade that leaves you jaw-dropped!

Hrishida worked with two of my most fav composers – Madan Mohan (Bawarchi) and Shankar Jaikishan (Anari, Asli Naqli, Ashiq, Gaban). But his overall film repertoire is filled with such musical giants as SD Burman, Salil Chaudhary, Pt. Ravishankar, RDBurman and Jaidev. Can anyone match this wide a variety of composers? I doubt it!

Whereever Hrishida is now, God Bless His Soul – Hrishida – for me, you will remain the most favorite director forever. Thank you for making me smile, for taking away my blues, for giving me that warm sadness, that friendly feeling… you were the best!!!!