Raag-Viraag : : A contemporary novel, waiting to be adapted on Screen
Gone are the days when Hollywood made 4 hour long cinematic epic called “Gone with The Wind”. Now more than 90 minutes, bring a feeling to the audience that how he would steal this much time from his hectic routine, divided between work pressures and responsibilities and social life and responsibilities. If in such circumstances one book, consisting less than 120 pages, may reveal a story, which sheds light not only on contemporary society and social conditions in the country but continues to express the theme in subtle way then its an achievement. Here less is more.
Book suggests that more is not required to say a better tale and less is more than sufficient to bring out a story covering more than 3 decades.
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Book is a Hindi novel “Raag-Viraag (Attachment-Detachment)”, written by Retd. IAS officer and famous author Sri Lal Shukla, who is better known as author of a classic “Raag Darbari” on which he had got Sahitya Akademy Award. Raag -Darbari was successfully translated in to a TV serial with same title starring Om Puri, Late Manohar Singh, Veerendra Saxena and many others. Raag-Darbari itself is waiting to be adapted on big screen. Its a wonderful satairical book and it can be said that only three books come in that category Manohar Shyam Joshi’s “Kuru Kuru Swaha” and Bhagwati Charan Verma’s “Sabhi nachawat ram gosain. and Ram Nagarkar’s “Ramnagri“. Ram nagri has been adapted in to the film by Ram Nagarkar himself (http://passionforcinema.com/ram-nagri-1982-amol-palekar-in-socially-relevant-drama/).
other popular books of Shri Srilal Shukla are “Bisrampur ka sant” “Suni Ghati ka suraj” and “Umraogarh mein kuch din”.
Raag-Viraag : -
Author explores through this book the changing values in the human being with the so called modern progress. Man is becoming fast an island where he needs no association in the society and even if needs an association then it should come on his/her own term. Sacrifice is an obsolete word in the present day’s relationships. Though we like changes in the life but we are afraid also to bring any major change in our on going life because that change may bring several factors also which may be unknown to us and we are not ready to face unknown things in the life. We have to know everything before hand otherwise we will not go to have that thing. We are not ready to take chances.
Economics is not word associated with money only but in everything related to our life, we are reduced to this word. We have to be economical in terms of feeling also.
And then we are surrounded with age old conditionings which have roots in the caste, class, colour and various other kinds of distinctions. We love someone but we don’t wish to marry him/her because that may challenge our socially easy going status and may bring a challenge before us so we go for easy match. No matter we are happy or not but we wish to take easy route.
Synopsis: Sukanya is a Medical student and she is daughter of Col. Roy, who has been retired from Army Medical Core. She tells her father that she has a senior, named Shankar, doing M.D in her medical college and he is a genius. She tells him that Shankar got admission in medical when he had done masters in science. He could have easily done research in science as he was topper but he had desire to become doctor like a mad man but he got through the entrance examination only in his 4th attempt and by that time he had done his MSc. But in science subjects, often he knew more than his teachers and slowly his teachers started liking and respecting him. After he did his MBBS he joined MD in cardiology but after doing it he does not wish to pursue his career in cardiology where he can earn good sum of money. Rather he has again joined MD because now he wishes to do research in medicine. He says that heart disease is not a disease of a common man, those who have this disease they can afford doctors but there are countless poor men in our country who don’t get any doctor even for simple diseases.
Col. is able to see that his daughter is impressed with this Dr. Shankar. Being practical he asks that given her account, Shankar should be more than 35 years old. He says that means he is quite older than you. He asks her to bring him for tea.
Sukanya brings Shankar at her home and leaves him with her father. Shankar finds that he has met Sukanya’s father. He goes back in to his memory and finds that Col. Roy was deputed as doctor in a small hospital near his village. For confirmation he asks if Col. Roy was in state services also before he joined Army medical core and was he ever posted at certain place? Col. Roy confirms his doubt and asks how he knows this. Shankar says that he was a popular Doctor there and so he also knows him.
But while talking to Sukanya’s father he is feeling detest also inside him because he recalls that this Doctor had been so cruel and to some extent he was responsible for the death of his father who could not get medical cure because Doctor denied to visit his father at his hut in different village.
Shankar sees Sukanya’s father’s photo where he is with a lady, but she is not the lady who he had seen in that night in Village. He asks if Sukanya and her mother also used to live with him at Village hospital. Col. Denies and says that they never visited him and always lived in the city. He did not remain in state medical services for long and left it soon.
Shankar knows now certainly that the lady was not Sukanya’s mother. He stops himself forcibly to comment on Col.
He asks permission to go back under the excuse of having some work. He likes and to some extent loves Sukanya but her father’s angle has put a break on his journey.
Sukanya too likes him but she is not ready to accept him as her lover. They go, along with volunteers, to a village where an epidemic has been spread. There in the night he disclose his love towards Sukanya but before Sukanya says something other people come there and she cant give him the reply.
After that incidence both avoid each other. Though they both miss each other. Sisiter of Sukanya’s mother is resident Doctor in Medical college and she likes Shankar and she advises Sukanya to go ahead with Shankar but Sukanya is not ready. Sukanya talks about class distinction. Old lady is taken aback on her views. She tries to convince her but Sukanya does not listen. They have invited Shankar for a cup of tea. Shankar comes and tells that he has got research fellowship at a foreign based world class research laboratory.
Sukanya and Shankar both try to be normal. They both know what they are avoiding and what they are going to miss. Shankar goes abroad and Sukanya’s father marries her to Major Subir, who is son of his friend. Subir is handsome but on the very first night of their marriage Sukanya gets to know that he is suffering from severe alcoholism. He has become a psychic. Their marital conditions deteriorate and Sukanya leaves his home and come back to his father’s home. Subir reaches there and fights with Col. Col. decides to go to court for having divorce for Sukanya. Subir’s father tries hard and requests Sukanya to forgive Subir as he needs her love and companionship to get rid of alcoholism. Subir goes to court in drunken conditions and Judge grants divorce to Sukanya.
Sukanya visits her aunt and Subir also reaches there. He forcibly enters the house and during his verbal fight with Sukanya he reaches to Balcony and as he is heavily drunken, inspite of Sukanya’s efforts to save him, he falls down and dies.
Years later, Sukanya’s father is dead now. Sukanya’s aunt is retd. and Sukanya is chief resident Doctor in the same hospital. Sukanya comes across an old friend of Shankar whose daughter in law is sick and is admitted to her hospital. Sukanya had met this man before also when he had visited Shankar’s room in the hostel. Sukanya had not liked this man. He is fourth grade govt. employee. But seeing his affection towards his daughter in law and watching his efforts to save her life, she realises that she was so wrong in her judgement while she used to see people from their class.
She has got the news that Dr. Shankar, who is now internationally acclaimed scientist, is going to give an invited lecture before esteemed audience in her medical college. Sukanya’s aunt is very happy and she again requests Sukanya to meet Shankar and start her life afresh. Shankar attends Shankar’s lecture. He gives an impressive lecture on how multinational pharmaceutical companies are forcing developing countries to spend money and resources on research to search cure of those diseases which have no relevance in their countries or very few people suffer from these diseases.
Sukanya meets Shankar and gets to know that he is staying only 2 days here at Lucknow. They depart under the promise to meet on 2nd day. Sukanya’s aunt asks her if she thought to start a life with Shankar. She made her realise that her own cast, Major Subir could not give her anything. And She thought Shankar was low cast man but today he is rich , successful and does Sukanya still think class distinction matters?
Sukanya does not reply.
Last day of Shankar’s stay at Lucknow. Sukanya has already gone to Dehradun. She did not want to face her dilemma regarding Shankar.
Shankar, does not know that Sukanya has left for Dehradun and though he knows inside that Sukanya will not meet her but still he has a hope and he visits an abandoned place outside the city where he used to go with Sukanya during his medical college days.
He does not find Sukanya there. He is returning back with mixed feelings. He had not shown any obvious interest in Sukanya when he met her two days before in seminar. He could have proposed her. But they both have some hitch. Again they both accept inside that they love each other but both avoid to face the reality.
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Novel leaves readers in stunning silence. What has happened to intensity of love among us, the human being? Do we really believe in love? Or we have become like Bonsai plants under the pressure of modern life?
Novel raises many questions before us. It represents the blind race of modern age life.
Novel deals with the contemporary characters and their life. Some where its story of all. This novel needs to be screened.
Somebody should adapt this novel on the screen.
Shankar : Either of Abhishek Bachchan /Irfaan Khan /Manoj Bajpai will suit the character of Shankar. Shankar, as an adult man, is above 30 years in his age, when he appears in the novel. And after going abroad he visits India after 10-12 years. So any of the above mentioned actor easily can portray that much long segment of the age. There is flash back, where a boy has to be there in some scenes when Shankar is a boy and sees his dying father.
Sukanya : Tabu is a perfect choice if she can be shown a woman of 25+ in the beginning for the first part of the story.
Konkana Sen Sarma has ability to play any role and she has not played yet an aging lady and here she will get that chance to transform her in to the psyche of a 40+ woman.
Or may be Vida Balan
Subir: Shiney Ahuja, This actor will be able to do full justice to the handsome but alcoholic Major Subir’s role.
Shankar’s friend : Vijay Raaj.
Sukanya’s father : Perhaps time for Rajit Kapoor (Young Gandhi of Shyam Benegal’s film) to play an aged role!
Sukanya’s aunt:
She also has to show 15 years transition in her age and she has to look around 45-47 when story begins and has to show behaviour of a retd. Doctor at the end of the film.
An actress, who is able to portray liberal attitude not only through dialogues but facial expressions also. Shabana Azami and Lillet Dubey could have played but they are old now to play the first phase of this role. Ratna Pathak Shah can be a good choice.
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Hope some filmmaker picks up this wonderful book to make a film. Plot ensures the quality and variety of elements in the story and film on this book will have a universal appeal.
Raag-Viraag was published by Kitabhghar Prakashan, New Delhi in sometime in 2000-2002.
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
great effort.is there any taker in hindi film industry?
story ka rona ro rahe logon ke liye zaroori hai ise padhna.
: Yes, except Mahesh Bhatt, every third person in Hindi film Industry hides behind the excuse that they dont have good scripts.
Even Madhvan is quoted on PFC, saying, where are the good scripts, except RDBasanti and LRMunnabhai.
Mahesh Bhatt is the only person who clearly claims that he is not searching good literature for making films. He is very clear in his views. and hardly any writer writing literature will approach him.
But rest of the crowd shd either stop complaining abt lack of scripts or shd look around to read good books which are in abundance.
Second they should pay enough money and required place to writers so that they feel good about them and their work.
it’s a gr8 post….i m agree with u that “raag virag” is the most contemprary story which needs to b told in celluloid..what a question provoking end of the novel….”do me se koi to pyaar kertaa hoga”..wht hppend to that love…we r selling emotions..we r buying sentiments….still don’t feel it…”raag viraag” is a special novel which is written in such a manner that reader feels that every character,every incident ,every conversation left the readers stunned in silence..we don’t feel any sympathy towards subir..evn after his suicide…don’t feel attached towards the conversations of sukanaya n his father…the characters wer so dry that i always think that if subir would not b an alcohalic then sukanya would never think of shankar..but that was the reality which reflects on today’s society..lik manohar shyam joshi has once said ” we r living in a shameless society” …shrilal shukl is a brilliant fellow…n a giant rural economist…one cannnot beleave that “raag darbaari” was also written by him..the tone of both the novels r entirely different…the speciality of “raag darbaari” is that u can start reading from any page n still u feel the sam ambience n sattire..one of the finest work on indian literature ever written…what a mind blowing start of the novel….saher ka kinarajiske khatma hote hi bhartiya dehaat ka mahasagar shroo ho jaata hai..wahi sadak ke bechobich ek truck khada tha..use dekhte hi lagta tha ki iska janma sadakon se balatkaar karne ke liye hua…
rangnath ne poocha..kyun driver sahab yeh truck shivpalganj ko jaayegi”…..the characters of ” raag darbaari” were well written…vaidya ji..rangnath,badri pehalwaan,sanichar,principal sahab, etc all r different yet met together n create a gr8 sattire…..krishna raghav has made the serial ……
now “kuru kuru swahaa” is one of the the best sattire ever written….the language is awesome..though “kasap” is more popular but “kks ” has it’s significance….”sabhi nachaawat raam gusaai” is a milestone…. in IT we hav to read abt “software mining” ..now there is a need of ” literature mining”…
shekhar kapoor thinks that we can keep pace with world thru our own “desi cinema” otherwise nobody will consider our cinema…everybody want to c india in “indian cinema” not europe”…..
thanks rk for pointing towards this..
wanna meet u …
Dipankar: Yes Raag-Viraag, inspite of being a small novel, continuously raises questions before the readers with each passing page or even each passing paragraph. Its highly successful and great book in that way that it fulfils its purpose. Its concieved to show us mirror and it does that. It strikes us hard to halt and wake up from a sleepy but continuously on gong race so that we have a look whats happening to our sensitivity.
Whenever I have read it, it leaves me at that Scene of Sholay where A.K Hangal, comes near the crowd standing around dead body of Sachin, his son, and says,”Itna sannata kyon hai bhai (Why this is so silent here brothers)”. Raag-Virrag also creates that ind of silence before the readers. We all have Sukanya and Shankar inside us. Fearful somewhere of something.
This book has potential to be converted in to a powerful film, which will appeal anyone anywhere in the world.
I recall here people say that Sh
and R madhvan will be just right in shankar
Great post RK ^:)^^:)^^:)^^:)^^:)^^:)^
your article just reflects your knowledge in hindi literature.yes i am totally agree raag darbari is truly master piece and i think its near to impossible to convert raag darbaari in movies bucause every line of that book is satire and description in this book are so reals and vast,its very tough to convert all book into only one movie.
In this book every charactor is classy like langad,sanichar,choutu pahalwan,ramadin bhikamkheravi,ruppan babu etc.I don’t know how anybody can write such a book on which every line is memorable and i think totally i read “raag darbari” more than 100 times and i brought it round off 6 times because i always gift it my friends only skake of reading.
waise kashinath singh book “Kashi ka asshi” is nother masterpiece and i think its one of the most real and satirical book on current and political era.language of this book is so real ki this book was controversial due to all character are real and galli galoj in this novel.
Shatrughan Bhaiya:
Re: Raag Darbari (100 times! you have already made century). anything which can be said abt this wonderful book is like showing candle to Sun. You are right it will be tough to contain this book with multiple meanings in its sentences but still a film may try to cover its multilayered theme and if film is succeeded in doing 60% of the book’s performance then it will be a praiseworthy effort.
Re: “Kashi ka assi”, I have to differ, friend. I personally did not find it anywhere close to raag darbari. RD is more objective and hits on entire scenario while Kashi ka Assi is right from the begining affected by the author’s political ideology and hence is very subjective. Authors knows what and where to hit and thus keeps his concerns very narrow. Those who have studied in BHU or have lived in the area near Lanka, may enjoy the book, for nostalgia but book does not have long age. RD’s Shivpalganj is not a real place and yet its everywhere in certain parts of India. Kashi’s Lanka is a limited place and hence limited vision.
Moreover author is not clear in one thing that his old character is crying loud that TV and modern progress has taken away the rich culture of his place but same character does not mind, saying abuses covering mother and sister in front of his young daughter. Which culture he is talking abt?
For him saying vulger abuses before young women of his house is not a fault then same way so manythings which he find opbjectionable, cant be faulty in other’s eyes.
I am not of idea that abuses can make a book or film real. Before Rahi Masoom Raza, wrote Katra Be Arzu or before that Adha Gaon or Topi Shukla, other writers had written books on similar characters and their characters did not say abuses to bring reality in the books. Premchand’s village and characters dont leave less impact than modern writers who vouch that abuses they keep in books because people use them in real life. In real life many things happen but art is not to depict anything and everything. Somewhere creator has to see where boundaries are coming.
Its just to look different. Somewhere its all marketing. One has to do different than oldies so that he can create ripples in the era he is active and people can recognise his work.
Sholay’s characters leave tremendous impact without uttering vulger abuses.
Brilliant book sure it is. Both the characters have their prejudices but I think they are not balanced. Shankar cannot see Sukanya different than her father but Sukanya has far more fears than him that’s why she rejects him. In 17 years they have overcome their fears and notions but I am unable to understand why Sukanya does not want to meet him, may be because she is not confident to meet his gaze or may be because now Shankar has evolved in social status, accepting him will prove that she was a snob something that she doesn’t want to face.
In this post it has been mentioned that Shankar could have proposed him in the college but I don’t think it was right time just after the seminar when he might have many things in mind, also he should have been in dilemma without prior thinking on this matter and that’s why he promises her to meet again probably he wants to test Sukanya’s love one more time…… but she doesn’t show up.
@Jahanpanah,
There is an age when emotions overpower everything especially in love affair kind of relationships.
at that time in the village during their camping Shankar had proposed to her but she had not accepted his proposal. She could not overcome her conditioing over class and caste distinction. Shankar has gone from her life. and she marries a drunkard same caste army officer.
So many reservations are there and they could have been removed if Shankar would have taken an initiation at the occasion when they meet at seminar first time after so many years as later they both became victim of their troubled past.
That was the only time to bring a change in the mentallity. He also knew the gap which had come in between them.
Its difficult to remove that hitch. and moreover they have lived so many years away from each other in a self dependent condition.
and above all its a story which could have atleast 3 endings:).
Shukla ji gave this ending to keep it bit open ended and to create a discussion. This is also a triumph of a writer.
Its a love story but brings a chilling impact inside as if we are hearing the sound of high wind in a dark night.
Yea I agree. Arguements can be given either way. In real life it’s just a matter of time or moments to be more precise, sometimes one misses those moments and never get them back. May be Shankar missed them too.
Shuklaji touched a good subject. Arrange marriages in our society heavily relies on social status, cast etc. but he made me realise that these things cannot be overlooked in love also. Even before reading this novel I had always wondered that in Hindi cinema social status is often seen coming in between a marriage but I’ve rarely (actually I dont remember any) seen cast being a hurdle in marriage though there are plenty with religion. These things may be outdated for the people making films but I know that it’s still there, prevailing (at least in my native in Eastern UP) and it makes me cringe that these things are getting stronger even in this new millenium.
@Jahanpanah,
There have been films based on caste conflict between people belonging to same religion. Most significant being Bimal Roy’s Sujata, (Sunil Dutt and Nutan starrer).
If possible you must watch a documentary called “They call me Chamar” directed by Lokesh Lalwani.
It shows the real story of a Brahmin of Eastern UP who had married a Scheduled caste Woman and his family and village outcasted him.
Thanks for the info. Still to watch so many classics :(. Have noted the documentary.