Anupama: A Classic Revisited

Satyendra Jha   | Retro | December 14, 2009 at 8:19 pm         Print

Dharmendra had his 75th birthday a few days back, and our very own Khalid-Saab paid a glowing tribute to the ‘Naram’ Garam. And that set me thinking about the various sensitive roles that Dharam paaji did, especially in the first phase of his illustrious career. Of course, Satyakaam would take the honors for being his most sensitive performance, but films like Anpadh, Bandini, Kaajal and Anupama, among many others, would also vie for an honorable mention.

I had the opportunity of revisiting Anupama last evening, and I could not help but wonder at Dharmendra, who had given such a nuanced sensitive performance right after the rustic and He-Man defining film Phool Aur Patthar earlier in the same year. It’s a pity Dharmendra’s career did not have more of such sensitive performances that his fans could rejoice for years.

Anupama is not, strictly speaking, a hero oriented film; it revolves around Sharmila Tagore’s character, Uma, and her relationship with her father, Mohan Sharma, played brilliantly by Tarun Bose. Dharmendra’s Ashok is the catalyst who shows Uma the meaning of her life, and brings her out of her self-imposed shell and silence. There are other characters as well, that of Sarla (Dulari), Anita / Annie (Shashikala), Arun (Deven Verma), Ashok’s Maa (Durga Khote), Mr. Moses (David ) and Gauri, Ashok’s sister, (don’t know her real name) who, in their own way, help Uma in rediscovering her life.

The entire black & white film has been shot in moody, dim and atmospheric low-key lighting, in consonance with the overall positive feel of the film, and all the characters epitomize the inherent goodness of human beings. The father’s character, of course, is required to be the way it is, to bring out the behavioral contrast with others around Uma. In fact, the strength of the film is in its unique way of portraying the similarities and contrasts without being over-the-top even for a moment. Uma & Annie are as different as chalk-n-cheese outwardly, ><the former being a shy and introverted soul, Annie being the verbose and carefree type, but dig deeper, and she is as simple and honest, without any air, as Uma is. Their fathers – Mr. Sharma & Mr. Bakshi respectively, are very similar in their business deals and other social activities, but the difference is brought out very subtly but convincingly when Mr. Bakshi mentions during their holidaying at Mahabaleshwar that Annie lost her mother when she was barely a year old, and since then he has given her the love & care of both a father and the mother. The aspect of aloofness and avoidance of Mr. Sharma’s character towards his own daughter Uma could not be brought out more starkly.

Then there is the case of Ashok & Arun. Both are best friends despite a stark difference in their financial and social lifestyle, Arun even treats Ashok’s family like his own, but they have a difference of opinion towards life in general and worldly-wisdom in particular. Arun, a rich Europe-educated man, is more practical, who doesn’t hesitate to talk about his marriage proposals with Annie through the sources at his disposal, and is practical enough to understand that despite the availability of capital as well as guidance at hand; he would not start his own business, would rather take up a job for the time being. Ashok, on the contrary, is a poor, sensitive, soft-spoken writer/poet/school-teacher, who would never openly profess his love towards Uma, even at the cost of losing her forever, and he would also not bring himself to accept charity from anyone, not even his best friend. It is the greatness of their friendship that they respect each other’s stand on the matters, and never try to impose their own perception beyond a certain point.

Even the characters of Sarla (Dulari) and Ashok’s mother (Durga Khote) are very different, yet very similar. Durga Khote has known Uma for a very short duration, but she immediately assumes the role of Uma’s ‘mother’, and gives her the confidence to interact with the outsiders as well. However, Sarla is a household-help and a governess, who has raised Uma virtually single-handedly, and is the only one who understands her completely, but she has probably never been concerned that Uma calls her by name, and not by any specific term of endearment. This despite the fact that she considers Uma as her ‘daughter’, claimed quite vocally by her towards the end, to Mr. Sharma. This also shows Uma’s fear for the term ‘mother’, since she considers it jinxed, and doesn’t want to be reminded of her ill-fortune by calling anyone “maa”, though she treats both the elderly ladies like one.

Last but certainly not the least, is the character of Mr. Moses (David), who is a contrast in himself. On one hand, he has a professional relationship with Arun, of a tenant – house owner, where he always seeks opportunities to avoid paying the rent. On the other hand, he always stands beside him in his need and offers him the professional advice of a lawyer without necessarily charging any fees. His character is also important for the fact that he is the only flirtatious character in the entire film (except for Mr. Sharma towards his wife for a very brief period in the beginning). But the same character has such endearing qualities, that in Annie’s birthday party, he is shown dancing separately with Annie, another unidentified woman at the party as well as with Arun!

<Uma’s character has been developed very assuredly and beautifully by the director, and Sharmila has done amazing justice to her role. It needed someone like her to give that shy smile and emote through eyes which would speak a thousand words, a fact that has been brought to audience’s notice very subtly through Ashok’s character, while he is talking to Uma in the garden on her birthday! The detailing of her character has been done to the extent that when she is talking over the phone with Gauri (Ashok’s sister), she nods her head at the other end, rather than saying yes, and after a few moments, Gauri even realizes that, and asks her to speak something, rather than just nodding the head, since she can’t see her over the phone! It is no surprise then, but endearing all the same, to see that virtually every character holds a compassionate opinion of Uma, even the gregarious & verbose Annie, who helps her in that all important meeting with Ashok, when he is not well.

Probably the only weakness in Ashok’s character that has been shown, albeit unintentionally, is his strong and judgmental opinion that all rich people are heartless. No convincing reason has been given by the director to justify why Ashok holds such a biased feeling towards the rich, even though his best friend is quite rich, but has absolutely no such traits that he would generally associate them with. In fact the only rich person (the film is full of them, except for Ashok’s family, and Sarla) who has been shown in a typical clichéd manner is Mr. Sharma, but he also is a victim of circumstances, and not a bad person per se, which is substantiated by the fact that he never treats his office employees or Sarla in a high-handed manner.

In my honest opinion, the entire rich-poor backdrop seemed like a preparation to arrive at and justify the show-down between Ashok and Mr. Sharma when Ashok goes to Uma’s place to meet her father since Arun had asked him to, and is misunderstood to have come over seeking a job for himself, considering he has recently lost a job and is finding it difficult to make both ends meet. While his ideologies and arguments are quite in place, it is the necessity of the entire sequence in the manner it unfolds that I found questionable, especially since the premise of that sequence is based on a frivolous back-story where Arun makes Ashok’s joblessness and poverty as an excuse to avoid talking about his inability to get married to Uma, since he has already professed his love towards Annie.

However, except for that minor aberration, the entire film is a winner in its true sense, and no wonder the film won the President’s Lotus Medal National Award for the Best Hindi feature film in 1966. It also won the Filmfare Award for best cinematography. The music by redoubtable Hemant Kumar was truly classic, and songs like Ya Dil Ki Suno Duniyawalo, Dheere Dheere Machal Ae Dil-e Beqaraar and Kyun Mujhe Itni Khushi De Di are remembered even today for their melody and pleasant tune, and lyrics by Kaifi Azmi are to die for. The film is considered to be one of the best of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and considering the kind of films he had directed over four decades, it’s not a mean achievement. The film is from that typical Bimal Roy school of filmmaking, where simple stories would be told in the most fascinating and engaging manner. No wonder then, that the film is dedicated to Bimal Da! The film is full of typically tender and heart-warming moments, especially when Ashok proposes to Uma without actually making it too obvious or uttering a single direct word of personal endearment, or even when Uma leaves the flowers in Ashok’s room before suddenly having to leave Mahabaleshwar, or when Uma stands in front of the mirror and smiles shyly remembering Ashok’s encouraging words towards her.

For those who have watched the film, I hope this post has been able to bring back some fond memories of the classic. Those who have not watched the film, I am sure, must be wondering the relevance of the name Anupama in the entire scheme of things. All I can say is: watch this masterpiece to find it out. Not only will you get the reference, you will also learn a few more good things about life, and you will probably end up being a better person than you already are! And that in itself is the achievement and contribution of Anupama!