Abhimaan

A 1973 drama with a evergreen theme which will hold true anywhere,anytime,truly timeless.Subir,a popular singer marries a village girl,who is also a good singer.Back in the city he finds his wife surpassing him.His male ego & how things turn out.A tear jerker end.In the deft hands of Hrishikesh Mukherjee its turnout a classic.The music of Mr S D Burman sets the right tone.

Abhimaan means Pride.Amitabh Bachchan has emoted it so well that we feel sorry for him.In a role we can’t imagine anybody else, was offered to Dharmendra,who suggested that Amitabh would do it well.Do we have people today doing this? A role of a lifetime! Naturally Amitabh never looked back.As they say rest is history.Heard that Parveen Babi was to do Jaya’s role,which is very funny.Given that Parveen was good, imagine her in cotton sarees & a village belle…is beyond our imagination.She did try her hand at being a housewife in ‘Rang birangi’ but with her side bangs & getup she looks glamorous & never an ordinary housewife!

Bindi in a different role.Amitabh’s good friend till the end.When she hears of his marriage she is devastated,feels betrayed & comed to the reception where she hears Jaya sing & admits that Jaya deserves to be the wife.The song a duet…’Teri Bindiya re’…a timeless number sung by Lata Mangeshkar & Mohd.Rafi shows the difference in their singing methods.Someone remarks,”She will leave him behind.He shouldn’t allow her to sing.” David who is nearby says,’Woh to aur bura hooga’

These words set the tone of the film.Jaya is invited for solo singing & Amitabh is left behind.He is closeted in Bindu’s house drinking.Jaya goes there & pleads him to leave with her & come home.On entering their house he is climbing the stairs & grumbling ,shouting where Jaya/Uma asks,’Is ghar par kya mera adhikar nahi hai?’ He answers,’Aap badi hai,aap jano’ She leaves immediately. The scene is handled deftly. To his entire tandram she has only one sentence.

The boldness,the graphic details have lost the gist,the delicate gestures & the ability to read between the lines.The struggle here is in his mind mostly.How he becomes more & more gloomy as he loses work.People now come in search of Uma & not Subir.A few scenes & we get it.I had seen a Marathi film,’Tila lavite Raktacha’….I started watching it on Tv & later came to know the name.Why else would I go for a film of such name? Jayshree Gadkar had a very pathetic role. nothing went right for her.The beautiful song…Ghagar ghumu de…from the film is popular even today.I had used up all my tears & thought I will not cry But the moment Jaya leaves & he is not bothered tears welled up & I ended up crying till the end.I must have seen this film in 1978-79,because Gore teacher was there & asked me if I had liked the film.She taught us Hindi.

Our journey starts with Amitabh singing ‘Meet na mila re man ka….’ on stage & later on radio,in the background all over.Then he visits his village,Durga mausi…Durga Khote…& hears ‘Nadiya kinare…’ meets Uma who is on the river bank to fetch water.(Have we lost this activity due to taps at home? No washing, water fetching?)He also meets her father A K Hangal,( an old man always,I wonder who has seen him young besides his mother?) He marries Uma & brings her home.Asrani his friend is shocked.Then there is the reception….Teri bindiya re…..They start their musical journey …Loote koi man ka nagar…She is invited for a solo,’Ab to hai tumse …..’her popularity is on the rise.She is invited on all india radio….Piya bina….She leaves & Subir comes to know of her pregnancy.He reaches her place in the village,she had a miscarriage & is now unapproachable.So David suggests a public performance,’Sangeet tumhe saat laya tha,sangeet hi saat layega’…’Tere mere milan ki ye raina’

The story ends here,or does it? The tussle for power remains.How many husbands are ok with their wife earning more than them? How many still have to fight for their rights? so how many really are aware of their rights? It falls in the domain of family & outsiders have a very limited access.Things remain within wraps.In their case,Amitabh continued to scale heights,people wondered if real abhimaan was at play.May be she dropped out due to house & children.She was always the bigger star among them.He was known as ‘Guddi’s husband’.She has been active in politics & social work.Lets say she changed her field & continues with some projects..Hazaar chaurasi ki maa or a …Kabhi kushi ,kabhi gham…All in all it was a impactful experience & remains so.

The film was inspired by the story of sitarists Ravi Shankar & Annapurna Devi also came to be seen as real life echoing the reel life.Jaya bhaduri had acted in ‘Zanjeer ” when most of the leading actors had refused to act opposite Amitabh,who had a string of flops before with the exception of ‘Anand’ with the mega star then..Rajesh Khanna.Jaya had married him just a month before the release of ‘Abhimaan’.Hrishikesh Mukherjee based this story on the life of singer Kishore Kumar & his first wife Ruma Ghosh.It has resemblance with the movie ..A Star is born & influenced the movie “Aashiqui 2” remade in Tamil in 1983.

Jaya Bhaduri-Bachchan bagged the Filmfare award for best actress for this film. She quit the silver screen after two years when Shweta was born.

More about Jaya, one of my favourite actresses, in the next blog.Happy viewing!