Baawara man dekhne Chala ek sapna – Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi
iView Author: Subhasish Chakraborty (Bangalore, India)
Email: subhasish.schakraborty [at] gmail [dot] com
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Baawara man dekhne Chala ek sapna – Hazaaron – The most important event in Indian cinema since Satyajit Ray
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I saw Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi a good four years after the film released. I had heard its mention a few times.
But never bothered to really see it. I see very few movies. Only the ones which really interest me.
A rather unrelated cinematic experience led me towards it. I saw Anurag’s No Smoking, I didn’t know about Anurag either, at that point and didn’t know that PFC existed. I was so enamoured by No Smoking, that after coming back home, I googled for Anurag’s blog and hence I landed up in PFC. It was a movie that just didn’t leave me for quite a long time.
I became an avid PFC reader. One day I chanced upon an article by Sudhir Mishra. He talked about Felini and Rand and he talked about Bob Dyllan. He also talked about Hazaaron.
Eventually, five years after it had first released, I saw it on a dvd. With no great expectation but with the awareness of great reputation. To tell you the truth, despite loving the way it started, with Nehru’s footage, I was quite skeptic about it’s cinematic integrity, and for the first 5-10 minutes kept thinking when I’ll pull the plug on it.
But then I saw that scene where Shiney slows down his Jeep, and Chitragada walks on his side, slow motion and it’s all poetry. I had just started liking Hazaaron. My own Uncle, who was an author, was a Marxist too. I heard about Naxalite movement from him. I don’t know whether it was wrong, but he was very proud of it. He held it very dear. Naxalite movement changed the history atleast in West Bengal. Whether it was for better or for worse is for future to judge. But it had an indelible impression on the lives and times of the people there. A generation of promise was lost and the promise of a generation was betrayed. Underneath the charm and the laid back bliss, there still is a potent sentiment and an anguished nostalgia that Calcutta breathes. Time heals but all.
The Naxalite movement and life during emergency was a very difficult subject to canvas on celluloid. To prevent it from being a documentary and yet do justice to the social sparkle of that era, is an attempt on a knife’s edge. But Sudhir Mishra not only attempted it, he pulled it off with dazzling success.
Despite a very competent KK Menon, Hazaron will always be the film signatured by Chitrangada Singh. She pulled off the most unindian and yet the most mature portrayal of Indian woman onscreen with an elan that was hitherto unseen. What a pity, Bombay Cinema didn’t have more of her. I rated Madhuri Dixit as the most competent and graceful actress that I have
seen on screen, but Chitrangada was on a different scale. But for Chitrangada, Hazaaron would never be the movie it today is. She is the soul of the movie.
Shiney Ahuja had been in deep abyss for most of his part in the movie but the last half an hour was his redemption. An author backing and emotional expression suiting his range, he completed the movie.
But despite all these individual brilliances, despite the soulful music and almost Santosh Sivan like cinematography, Hazaaron stands out as a movie that has a story to tell. Yes, it’s perhaps the most important movie in its generaion for the sheer story that it tells and the way it’s told.
Unconditionally, Shaw Shank Redemption and Panther Panchali are the only other movies that came to my mind once I saw the end. Baawara man dekhne chala ek sapna. Perhaps the movie couldn’t have ended differently. Perhaps it always deserved that song and that end.
In Shaw Shank Redemption, there’s this monologue by Morgan Freeman who ends with – ” I hope..”
Baawara Man and the brilliant end is in the same league. Somehow it leaves You with the same feeling.
One year later, in an Airtel television commercial as I heard the same tune, it transported me to a different plane of feeling. I felt as happy as I was when I first heard that song. I was as happy as I felt when Red had finally met his friend. It’s a film which grows inside you. As the days go by, You like the movie all the more and still, you are scared to see the movie one more time, lest the feeling you have for the movie ever fades.
Making a film or criticizing it is not about rating individual components like cinematography, sound, music, screenplay etc. A good film is one where all these are great but none of it over-shadows the movie as a whole. It’s a hollistic culmination and an exercise in unity. Not since the great Satyajit Ray had left this earth has India seen such a movie. They don’t make such film makers any more. We are blessed to have Mr. Mishra. Yes Hazaaro is the most important
event in Indian Cinema post Satyajit because, it has taken Indian Cinema further. It’s a movie you can’t judge with an Oscar.
Because it’s a movie You can’t judge. Let’s hope We see another Hazaaron another day. Here’s hoping a thousand wishes.
Tags: Chitrangda Singh, KK Menon, Shiney Ahuja, sudhir mishra
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Hi Subhasish,
Very heartfelt article, it’s obvious the movie has touched you somewhere.
Like Sudhir Mishra, we need more directors with deep socio-political understandings, directors who have some academic leanings to complement their reading of entertainment per se. It breeds a different, important class of cinema.
I also thought the end was very powerful. The inversion of the characters that comes in the end, is stunning.
And Chitrangada, well, what do you say about her. Years ago, at the beginning of the decade, on one of her very first assignments, she modelled for an advertising campaign I had worked on, which was shot by Tarun Khiwal. As a copywriter, my presence was not necessary at the shoot (”What does a copywriter know about lighting and sets, let him be here and write that leaflet instead; the art director will handle it anyways”), but a black & white snap stayed put on my softboard for a very long time.
People say they noticed me looking at it funnily, very often.
Hi Swami ;),
Nice one, and a fair bit of coincidence as well. This movie was filmed at Aarohan2k6, with Sudhir Mishra being the special guest for the evening (for those who dont know Aarohan – Annual Techfest of NIT DGP).
I didnt have the priviledge to watch the movie then, and then I got to know the movie more through a special friend for whom the movie remains ‘one of the best’ made in Indian cinema, hence as a critic, I am biased. As a human being I have lovely memories attached and the song (Banwara man) is one of my favourites. To sum up, even after having seen the moving, i love it and for no reason I strongly agree with all the points you mentioned, i have heard all of this from many people, whom i can trust.
As I often say, there is a hippie in me.
Cheers
LA
See it maan for once. You’ll treasure.
Subhasish thanks for your heartfelt post. I have a DVD of the movie & which I watch over & over during weekends. I dont know what is it that connects me to this movie so strongly.It is undoubtedly the best Hindi film to have released in last 25 years along with Black Friday. I dont think the film ever got its deserved due. It is one of those rare movies which was able to bring out the angst,hope & despair of a promising generation during one of the most turbulent times in Indian Political History.
Performance wise there are no words to desribe chitrangada’s perormance. What a shame that she decided to stay away from Movies after her marriage.
I honestly don’t believe that Sudhir Mishra can ever better this effort.
one of the most poetic and heartfelt articles i’ve ever come through.as if it was an amalgam of those hazaaron khwahishen the movie portrayed.somehow this article touched the same emotions i had felt 2 years back and suddenly this eve after reading it, i feel nostalgic- as if those feelings are rejuvenated.an ideology, a revolution and a love story, the movie tells it all and its silence silences amidst that sunset and that song.”banwra man” the memory still remains….
Hey Subhasish,
I feel whoever liked this movie will feel more or less the same way…. but the article of yours was the best till date I read about this movie… The article is as perfect as movie.. No one till now got so closer to the movie… I saw some reviews by “KNOWN” fellows and not surprising enough they talked about this movie as if it was another Ram Gopal factory output. They treated diamond as tomato.
I would love to read more of you on PFC. I relived the movie again with this article of yours.
You and K K menon rock.
NiDHi MoDH
There are some films we fall in love with.If anyone criticises the film,we defend it strongly.We feel a connection with the film.I think Hazaroon…. is one such film.Chitangada’s role is perhaps one of the best roles ever for an actress in Hindi cinema.It is certainly in the top five FOR ME along with Smita Patil in Bhumika,Nutan in Bandini and Nargis in Mother India.
well said about Chitrangda. For better or worse, she will never erase the Hazaaron hangover for the film’s lovers. I couldn’t sum up my thoughts when I wrote on the film long back, and I still can’t. where do I start?
A film that went beyond the Pritish Nandy dominated posters, and well deserved at that. A climax that threw me back to Casino, a poetry that was facing reality in the eye, a revolution that the world never saw. Cheers!
http://passionforcinema.com/hazaaro-khwaahishen-aisi-ghalib-and-more/
Great write up! PFC has become an important part of life for me as well. I discovered it through Desitrain, the original blog of OZ, the creator of PFC. For a long time, I didn’t know that he was the same guy. I thought he was promoting PFC on his blog because one of his freind was involved with PFC. That’s back when Oz used to write regularly on DT. It’s when he suddenly stopped writing that I had to switch to PFC and got addicted soon after. Do check out the archives at DT, you’ll love the gems out there.
HKA and Sudhir Mishra are my favorite too. Mishraji’s style of just telling his story, instead of trying to create comedy or tragedy or any other type of movie, is his biggest strength. His films have almost a novel like feel to them and deeper meaning than what is being said in dialogoes in the movie.
Small correction: DT is back to life again and OZ has been writing on it regularly.
Hi Subhasish,
Great piece of writing. Straight from the heart. Made me want to listen to Baawra man dekhne chala ek sapna… and I actually did. Ended up watching the film once again. Chitrangada is briliant – and Shiney has the role of a lifetime – the only character who did not impress me was Kay Kay – not acting wise though. I did not like his character much – but I guess that’s the way most brilliant people of the time were lost, led by illusions and dreams, but somewhere confused deep down – and extremely angry because of that confusion within. Nonetheless, a great film. Definitely one of the best. Unfortunately, films like these can never be replicated – and shouldn’t – it’ll reduce the brilliance.
Nice writeup ……Chitrangada was fab ,she exhumes the persona of an intelligent and strong woman ,most of today’s leading heroes (not actors)….would look like wuss if paired opposite her……..you need an Irrfan or Kay Kay or an Amitabh opposite her….to make the role look credible.
“A generation of promise was lost and the promise of a generation was betrayed. Underneath the charm and the laid back bliss, there still is a potent sentiment and an anguished nostalgia that Calcutta breathes”
Well said, Subhasish! A fitting tribute to the potent sentiment and the anguished nostalgia that you mention. Posts like yours prove that the culture of sense and sensibility may be in minority but is still fighting the vultures around.
Though I do not exactly agree with you that “Hazaaro is the most important event in Indian Cinema post Satyajit because, it has taken Indian Cinema further.” it sure is a milestone movie.
Yes, they don’t make Satyajit Rays anymore – his genius is truly timeless, rock-solid as ever – that reflects through all his seemingly regional work of universal impact – To quote him (he talks of Bengal in particular, but so very relevant in the context of Hindi films)
“I can’t do all that Bergman and Fellini do. I don’t have their audiences and I don’t work in that kind of context. I have to contend with an audience that is used to dross. I have worked with an Indian audience for thirty years and, in that time, the general look of cinema hasn’t changed. Certainly not in Bengal. You’ll find directors there are so backward, so stupid, and so trashy that you’ll find it difficult to believe that their works exist alongside my films. I am forced by circumstances to keep my stories on an innocuous level. What I can do, however, is to pack my films with meaning and psychological inflections and shades, and make a whole which will communicate a lot of things to many people”
None else can make this statement with as much conviction as Ray. And what he did essentially through a seemingly regional cinema, on a level of compromise, has placed India on the world map.
Warm regards
Sudhir
Hi Subhasish ,
Firstly I did not watch this movie personally or did not go through a lot of reviews / post release discussions about this movie , so don’t consider myself competent enough to come to a conclusion about the quality it had contained or the contribution it had made to Indian Cinema in the post Satyajit era . The only thing that I can tell is I was simply moved and enchanted by the calligraphy of yours . It is not that first time that I am reading some blog or some great article , I had read many such before , most of them by some eminent personalities of the present time and a few of them belonging to some of my close buddies . But frankly speaking , none of them has made such a lasting impact in my mind . May be some of the other articles that I have gone through could have had richer literary content , but as you say in your article , no single part individually should supersede the holistic approach about anything and your writing is the highest embodiment of that . I am sure , this article of yours has already made be so deeply attracted towards this movie , may be , in a day or two , I will also find some time to watch one of the greatest ( at least most important ) movies of present times in Indian film history .
Truly yours ,
Debkanta
ithink chitrangada has persona of very intelligent, strong woman . she has good aacting skills. i’m compare with smita patil. she is very matured in acting. she is opposite actors like amitabh , naseeruin shah, amirkhan, shasrukh khan & abishekbachchan