I feel very small and trivial in comparison with this great film maker to write a review of him. I would rather call it a tribute to him.
Just look at the list of the films Hrishikesh Mukherjee has made - Anari (RK/Nutan), Abhiman, Anand, Alaap, Anupama, Ashirwad, Asli Naqli, Baawarchi, Bemisaal, Buddha Mil Gaya, Chupke Chupke, Golmal, Guddi, Joothi, Khubsurat, Mili, Namak Haram, Naram Garam, Naukari, Rang Birangi, Satyakam....and the list is long. (One aberration is Jooth Bole Kauwa Kate ? failure of which can be attributed to many factors for which Hrishida was far from being responsible).
My all time favourite has always been Golmal. When I watched that movie the first time I was not a mature cinegoer (I was 8-9 years old) that cared for makers and stuff. When I realized that Hrishida was the master behind all the above great movies, I was kind of awestruck.
His style of direction and story telling was unique in the sense that his movies always exude simplicity. He is genius at handling all genres of the movie making. He is a master storyteller of human relationships. The biggest plus points of his movies is that ordinary man can easily identify himself with characters of his film.
Be it Raj Kapoor?s innocence in Anari, Amitabh?s jealousy in Abhiman or Amol Palekar?s mischief in Golmal, he has shown remarkable excellence in portrayal of varied human nature. There is no match so far of the legendary movie Anand, in which Hrishida deals with life of a joyous man who knows he is dying of cancer. That masterpiece is enough for him to rightfully claim the place of one the best directors in the history of cinema.
Hrishida has always been the best to bring out best of all his movie stars. If Rajesh Khanna?s role in Anand is his career best, AB established himself as a talented actor with Namak Haram. Amol Palekar in Golmal and Dipti Nawal in Kissise na Kehna also excelled, the same can be stated for Rekha in Khoobsurat.
Hrishida never compromised with his principles of not using sex and violence as a tool to make commercially successful movies. All his movies are family oriented and miles away from titillating scenes and dialogues.
His biggest achievement, I think, is to shatter the myth that meaningful cinema cannot be commercially successful. All of his movies conveyed a social message one way or other. He showed the film industry that meaningful cinema could also be commercially successful if given proper treatment.
I guess, one can continue writing pages and pages about his movies. To me, he is the best movie maker in the film industry and there can be only one Hrishikesh Mukherjee in decades. I am privileged to have enjoyed his movies.