Satyakam (1969) – Idealism vs Pragmatism
When India gained independence in 1947, the generation of the 50’s were imbued with a spirit of optimism, hope inspired by Pandit Nehru’s call for a tryst with destiny. For the most part the 50’s was a decade of peace and optimism in India. We were not a rich nation, but the optimism was there in every Indian that we would soon take achieve our tryst. But the defeat in the 1962 War to China, shattered the Indian morale. There was a sense of disquiet whether the lofty ideals propounded by Nehru, would have any relevance in the modern world. Nehru’s death was followed by Lal Bahadur Shastri, who managed to rally the people with his clarion call of “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan”. And victory in the 1965 war, with Pakistan, somewhat restored the national spirit. But it was clear, that the dream of modern India which our founding fathers had dreamt of, was not being realized. Inflation, corruption, tax evasion, black money, began to shatter the illusions of many Indians. And the 70’s was the death of idealism, in many ways, as people became more cynical and started to lose faith in idealism.
Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1969 movie Satyakam, pits the idealistic nature of the hero against a society and an establishment, that don’t share his ideals. Satyakam is the story of Satyapriya Acharya( Dharmendra), who grows up imbuing ideals from his grandfather Satyashran Acharya( Ashok Kumar). Graduating fresh from an engineering college in 1946, just a year before India’s independence, he is imbued with the dreams of lifting the vast masses of India from poverty, with his knowledge. Along with him is also his best friend Naren( Sanjeev Kumar), who however is more of a realist. Satyapriya however discovers that life is not what he imagined it to be. He meets Ranjana( Sharmila Tagore), who happens to be the illegitimate daughter of his manager Rustomji( David), and falls in love with her. Rustomji is a sycophant, always at the bidding of Kunwar Bikram Singh( Manmohan), a debauched prince, who also happens to own the company where Satya works.
He protects Ranjana from Kunwar Singh’s lustful eyes, however one day in a moment of weakness, he allows Ranjana to go along with Rustomji, and she ends up being raped by Kunwar. In order to assuage his guilt of not being able to protect Ranjana, he marries her earning the displeasure of his grand father. He also accepts Ranjana’s illegal child, Kabul, as his own. However in spite of this, he is still never able to accept Ranjana as his wife totally. Satya however is unable to make a decent living, due to his uncompromising and highly idealistic nature. He meets his friend Naren, who tells him, that in order to survive, one must compromise at times. Naren is more of a pragmatic person, who understands the world as is.
Satyakam deals with the age old clash of Idealism, represented by Satya and Pragmatism, represented by Naren. Satya is a Howard Roark like figure, who simply refuses to compromise on his ideals. His idealism is not liked by many who see it as too impractical. As people around him remark
Yeh aadmi bahut hi badmaash aur paaji hai. Rishvat vagerah nahin khaata
He refuses to compromise on his ideals even when wracked by poverty, or threat of losing his job. For him his idealism means everything. And yet Satya is not a perfect man, for all his idealism, he can never accept Ranjana totally. His idealism is taken from his growing up years in a Gurukul, totally cut off from the real world. Satya is unable to handle the transition to the real world, as he has never been exposed to it in the first place. He expresses his frustration saying
Mera dimaag kharaab ho gaya hai, ya main cynic ho gaya hoon, ya duniya badal gayee hain.
Or the fact that he believes he is destined for a superior purpose.
main insaan hoon. Bhagwan ka sabse bada pratinidhi.
Ranjana who initially does not accept her husband’s idealism, veers around to the same idealism, when she refuses to sign a contract by Mr. Ladia( Tarun Bose) for payment of money, that would secure her future after her husband’s demise.
Naren on the other hand is the Aam Aadmi. He is a person who has compromised with life, but not to the extent of weighing on his conscience. He feels it is ok, to compromise a bit, as long as it does not become a emotional burden to you. The scenes where Naren faces off with Satya’s over the latter’s refusal to pass a bill, is one of the best scenes in movie.
What really works in Satyakam is that Hrishida, does not adopt a in your face preachy approach. He does not diminish Naren, in order to glorify Satya. That’s the reason, when the two friends face a conflict, you find yourself empathizing with both. It is the way Hrishida balances the opposing views that really lend a solidity to this movie.
In real life however a Howard Roark or a Satyapriya, would have never survived. Even Michaelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, created a host of mediocre works, just to survive, before they achieved fame. The dilemma of whether to stick to one’s ideals or compromise, is something every one of us face at every stage in life. Satyakam is a movie, that does not answer any questions, but projects the reality and asks you to decide for yourself.
That’s why I guess the movie was not a commercial success. Audiences are uncomfortable with being asked to decide. Also the movie never gets too melodramatic, and Hrishida treats the subject with the honesty and empathy it deserves. Satyakam is a very honest movie, it sticks to it’s basic theme “Is there a place for an idealistic man in an imperfect world?” and does not stray from the topic.
Satyakam is one of Dharam’s best performances. To those who deride him for his ‘Kutte Kaminee’ roles, watch movies like Satyakam, Anupama, Bandini, where he has given performances that are restraine and subtle. He brings a strong amount of believability to Satyapriya’s role, and you don’t get the feeling you are watching a caricature. Sanjeev Kumar is equally great as Naren, the realist, the every day person. The scenes involving Dharam and Sanjeev are a treat to watch. Sharmila, is fine as Ranjana, however I felt she was not that great in some scenes. Hrishida’s movies always had great music, but the music by Laxmikant Pyarelal, is totally forgettable.
Satyakam is Hrishida’s favorite movie. Satyapriya was what he wanted to be, but in the end became like Naren. The movies closest to heart like Musafir, Anuradha and Satyakam flopped, and he had to do a more commercial Anari or Asli Naqli, in order to survive. I think Hrishida here was expressing his feelings through the character of Satyapriya.
Tags: dharmendra, hrishikesh mukherjee, Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmila Tagore
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Satish Kasetty
nice post. this is one of my fave dharam paji movies and i think he deserved an award for this. the crux of the movie lies in a fantastic line which sharmila says to sanjeev kumar; it goes something like “satyapriya is as pristine as 24 carat gold; while even gold jewellery is made from 22 carat gold and not 24 carat gold, we have to add impurities to give it strength and durability”.
tats sums up the ‘idealism’ debate for me. its not easy to survive as an idealist in this big bad world.
Rals, yeah the line in Hindi is “Sone ke zevar banane ke liye thodi toh khot milani padti hai “. I think this is a very honest movie, a person like Satyapriya cud never have survived in the world. And Hrishida, does not try to glorify him or romanticize him. Thats what i best liked about the movie. As G.B.Shaw remarked after Gandhi’s assasination “It shows how dangerous it is to be good”.
eggjactly…by the way, u r on my orkut friends list…rite???
Yes sir, i am. Not sure if ur on FB though.:)
@ Ratnakar: really nice write-up abt one of the most honest movies ever made, both in terms of substance and treatment, and i concur with u that those who think dharam paaji did only “kutte-kameene” roles shud watch this movie.
btw, even dharamendra has maintained in his various interviews tht this is his best performance till date.
@Satyendra Jha :dharam paji did all those ‘kutte kameene’ roles in late 70’s and 80’s. if we see his career graph prior to tat, he has always played romantic-tragic loverboy and a few detective/suspense based dishum-dishum movies. from razia sultan onwards his career changed to the he-man kinda movies with lotsa maar-dhaad.
@Ratnakar Sadasyula: i m on FB too
Dharam Paaji, became trapped in that “Kutte Kaminee” image during the 80’s, though i loved his performance in Ghulami. During the 70’s he was able to balance the masala stuff with more sensitive movies like Dillagi, Kinara. In the 90’s like Mithun Da, he ended up appearing in a whole host of B movies. However he was absolutely great in Apne, Metro, Johnny Gaddar. Particularly loved him in JG.
He broke down, when he was presented the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement award, saying that he had never got the Best Actor award at all in his career. He got the award from Dilip Kumar, who was Dharam Paaji’s screen idol. Dilip said ” when i go to heaven after my death, i will ask God, why he could never make me as handsome as Dharamendra?”.
I again would love to see AB-Dharam Paaji, AB-Vinod Khanna on screen once more. These were 2 of the best combos i had seen.
Ratnakar-
A very nice write up on a very heartwarming movie.
Yes I agree with you that people who ridicule Dharampaaji as someone who does only Kutte Kamine roles need to watch movies like Satyakam.In fact one of his best performances apart from Satyakam IMO is in Chupke Chupke.He proved that he could be excellent at comedy too.For most part of the 60’s & 70’s the movies he did were quite good- either romantic or the action thriller type.Unfortunately in the mid 80’s he got stuck into the forever angry set up.But I was happy to see the old Dharam paaji back in action in recent movies like Apne, Metro & Johnny Gaddar.
Ratnakar-
I saw ” Hum Kaun Hai” in 2004 only because it had the combo of Amithabh & Dharmendra after ages.Sadly the movie was a very poor copy of Nicole Kidman’s The Others.This one was actually a hindi – bengali bilingual ( Ora Kara in bengali) & the combo had nothing much to do in it.But yes it would be great to see the same as also the AB-VK combo once again in a good movie again.
Nice write up. my mom used to tell me about this movie whenever she spoke about her fav movies. I am too keen to watch it now.
don’t forget Ankhein (our own desi version of James bond movies)
also i think Shalimar was way ahead of its time concept wise and treatment wise
Yeah in fact i liked Shalimar too, though the movie was a flop when it was released. It was pretty much like a Hollywood flick.
Have not seen Aankhein, but Mera Gaon, Mera Desh is an excellent movie, with Vinod Khanna playing the villian in it.
also liked Pratigya, great comic act by Dharam.
Ratnakar- Shalimar was a Indo -U.S production if I’m not mistaken & thats a reason it looked so slick.Even I enjoyed the movie.Aankhein was really fundoo.and yes Mera Gaon Mera Desh was good too.Also liked Blackmail- “Pal pal dil ke pass” is among my all time favourite songs.
shalimar did have a slick-flick touch to it due to the association of foreign crew- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078241/fullcredits#writers
rex harrison was also there in a brief role. and the popular song ‘jinga lala hoo…hum bewafa hargiz na the’ is another of rd’s and kishore’s popular number
Hey Rex Harrison was the main baddie in Shalimar. It looked odd, seeing him speak in Shudh Hindi without any accent though, wonder who dubbed for him. The other foreign actor was John Saxon, who came in Enter the Dragon.
one of my fav film of the all time and dharam paji and hrishida rocks big time
@Ratnakar S. (15),
The KADAR KHAN, had dubbed for Rex Harrison
very good post..makes me really curious to watch this movie…
Just a question…anyone knows who got the best actor award that year?I am sure Dharam ji was nominated for this one…
Ashok Kumar won it for Aashirwad in 1969, another brilliant performance, that touches your heart.
One of the best movies of Hrishida.But apart from Dharmendra who got an author backed role,Sanjeev Kumar was brilliant in the film.
Anindya, I think after Gulzar, Sanjeev’s best performances came in Hrishida movies, Aashirwaad, Satyakam, Arjun Pandit.
@Anindya,
If Filmfare award is under consideration.
Dont have any idea if Dharam Ji was nominated or not but Ashok Kumar had got best actor award for Ashirwad and Ashirwad was also released in 1969 so if Dharam Ji was nominated and lost it against AK then it was a good competition and a genuine loss.
Hakkeqat was also great movie(that’s the movie dharmpaahi got big recognition as leading hero)
remmeber the dilauge “hindi chinni bhai bhai”
movie had also classic song “abttumhar hawalle wattan saathiyo”
i they should remake shlaimaar now
with big stars from both side bollywood and hollywood and let studios like WB handle the movie
Satyakam is one of my favourite performances of Dharmendra, but the movie is too idealistic. This type of person will not be able to survive in the real world, that’s true… but it is not possible for any real person to be sooo idealistic, that was the only thought at the back of my mind when i was watching it. apart from that, Sharmila’s character and acting both seem to be confused. I was actually looking forward to her performance but i was dsappointed. This character could be realy strong, given the storyline of the movie. It could be focused on the wife of an idealistic man and what she goes through. Also, the rape incident seemed to be brought into the movie just to inject more idealism in Dharmendra’s role. Stil, i would say, Dharam and Sanjeev were at their best in it.
Meghana, actually i think that was what Hrishida wanted to convey through the movie, that such idealistic persons can never really survive in today’s world. And regarding Dharam’s character, well even in real life, i am not sure we wud meet a Howard Roark. As i said before even Michaelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, produced a host of forgettable works, just in order to surive. Naren’s character is more like a person who gets along in real life. Sharmila’s character was very sketchy, and somehow her performance was not too great either.
After hearing a lot about this movie, I decided to watch this movie (yesterday), but I was not so impressed with this movie like I was with Lage Raho Munnabhai and Guide, there are some points which I want to make, my sincere request is please do not take it personally:
1. The Truth or any other personality which you possess, I personally think should be your strength, not your weakness, but in Satyapriya case it was only giving him trouble and trouble at every stage of his life.
2. Like in Lage raho Munnabhai, Sanjay Dutt made truth and non-violence his strength, like helping people through Radio, he made clear that even by truth and non-violence you can make people think and can solve their problems. Even Gandhiji used the power of truth in right direction; what if he had stuck with his philosophy in his daily life (wasn’t there so many corrupted people around him at that time)
3. When Sanjeev kumar comes to his office, he keeps saying ‘SIR’ to him, I think it was a bit unpractical (ya it was professional) but we don’t see this kind of person (or gesture) in our daily life, means wherever best friends meets they don’t draw lines of their personality in their talks.
4. I don’t know why Dharmendera was shown a patient of cancer in the end, was director only wanted him to die to gain sympathy of audiences. Because there was no such circumstance in movie in which a healthy person like Dharmendera can fell ill.
5. They (Sharmila and Dharmendra) could abort the child also, I don’t think it (abortion) has any concern related to truth. They could have gone for their own child, so not to face the guilty (hidden in their hearts many times).
6. In the begaining it was told when Satyapriya born, his mother died and his father went to become Sanyasi (can anybody tell me why his father became Sanyasi without any specific reason told to audiences. He should have take care of his son)
7. Some audience says in the end when his sons says ” I knew I m not his son” was the touching line, will you please tell me how much that boy was connected with the audience in the movie, so that we could connect with him entirely (there would be hardly any dialogue for him in the whole movie except these lines, and btw how he came to know about this truth?)
8. The Director didn’t show the pain and the trouble so deeply, that’s why people couldn’t connect with the philosophy of the Dharmendra, as he was moving one place to another (most of the times in background voice of Sanjeev kumar) means even if he doesn’t like one place he could opt for the another, which only means that he possess enough talent to make his living.
9. Truth should not harm anyone, but it was making Satyapriya life worst day by day, even Krishna told lie, but it was according to situation, there is a famous saying in Ramayana “Desh aur Kaal ke saath Sach ki paribhasha badal jaati hai” for example which is not relevant in India is equally acceptable in America and humans are living there also and are happy too.
10. Character like Satyapriya are shown in our movies so many times, where they were not accepting the bribe etc. but in Satyapriya case, he was so strict even not using the Govt Furniture, saying ‘SIR’ to his best friend and wasn’t concern about his wife after his death, if we people are living on this earth only for ourselves, our beliefs, then I think we should not merry and should live lonely as if you go for the family, there are 200% chances that people related to you will have different opinion and your family will suffer due to your strong beliefs (truth).
Distressed-by-poverty Sharmila Tagore remarks- ”Sone ke zevar banane ke liye thodi toh khot milani padti hai . It has a big meaning beyond the truth, I think.
11. I give you a small example of lie made by me. Once my best frnd and me was having lunch together, he is pure vegetarian, and can’t even touch nonveg, it was food from outside, suddenly he saw a piece like chicken in his meal, he said “what is this” I picked it up and ate, and told him it was GINGER (im non-vegetarian),infect it was CHICKEN, imagine had I told him the truth, I am dead sure he would have vomited. So it only means you should tell lie according to situation, I am sure if Satyapriya was there in place of me, he would have told truth .
12. I still consider that Guide, Anand and both Munnabhai’s are more realistic movies than Satyakam, thats why you will not see this movie anywhere acclaimed either by critics or by audience. It is underrated just because the subject was not handled the way it should be.
A post well written. I had my own take on Satyakam in the post here http://passionforcinema.com/the-undying-torch-of-satyakam/
Satyakam shows this clash and does make us uncomfortable.