Today is Mothers Day and I find a lot of reviews on the theme ‘Motherhood’ pouring in since the last few days which also include two of my own. Most of the reviews are on expected lines with members choosing movies such as ‘Mother India’, ‘Deewar’, ‘Karan Arjun’, etc. These are the movies that had a mother at the core of the story. Hence, when we talk of ‘mother’ or ‘motherhood’ these films flash instantly to our minds. Granted, these films had the female character in supporting role (as in Deewar and Karan Arjun) or lead (as in Mother India and Shyamchi Aai) performing stellar roles, but spare a thought for the role of Sharmila Tagore in the runaway success, Aradhana.
If you could forget Rajesh Khanna for a moment or two, you will realise that the story of Aradhana is in effect the tempestuous journey of a young woman from finding love and losing it to having a son and losing him too. She goes through the entire gamut of relationships a normal woman would go through and a few more, which no normal woman can ever be expected to go through without suffering a nervous breakdown.
Vandana (Sharmila Tagore) starts off as an effervescent young girl who falls madly in love with a charming and irresistible Air Force pilot to the extent that she succumbs to his amorous advances. She hastily rectifies her sensitive position, a little, by getting married to her lover before just ‘one omnipresent witness’ who according to both counts most.
Fate plays strange tricks, and like lightning, one never knows where it will strike. Poor Vandana, before she can even think of solemnising her marriage with Amar (Rajesh Khanna), is caught in a fast swirling vortex of events. It was as though cruel fate had targeted her for her one single misdemeanour. Vandana becomes a widow quicker than the elation of holy matrimony could sink in, and from here onwards her trials and tribulations begin. Calamity never strikes alone, it hunts in numbers. And so the young lady suffers one humiliation after another – from becoming an unwed mother in the eyes of society, to losing the opportunity of experiencing motherhood because she is forced by circumstances to leave the child at an orphanage; to becoming a lowly ‘ayah’ to her own son without ever being permitted to call him her son, to accepting the charge of murder to save her son from being called a juvenile murderer; to losing her entire youth, for a cause, to creepy solitude and the unkind shadows of a prison cell; to becoming a nanny, after completing term, to the impish daughter of the prison warden; to becoming her confidante.
Then something happens and all those memories she had resolutely kept at bay flood her placing her once again in a most unenviable position
The long suffering respectable woman who for no fault of her own lost everything in one brief moment of indiscretion was made to pay dearly for the rest of her life. Will she ever see happiness and joy in her life again, will her silent tapasya (prayer) restore to her the fruit of her patience and struggle, will the silent omnipresent witness, finally, stop testing her courage and character and smile on her again?
Watch this classic movie of 1969 to learn what happened, and to understand what a woman’s love and a mother’s sacrifice is all about.
We can now get back to Rajesh Khanna who acted in this film in a double role – Vandana’s husband, and her son. Rajesh Khanna acted with great conviction in the movie. His onscreen chemistry with Sharmila Tagore was one of the highlights of the film and gave us other memorable hits like Amar Prem, Safar, Daag, and Aavishkar. Inspite of Rajesh Khanna’s inspired performance he was upstaged by a more mature performance from Sharmila Tagore. For once the Filmfare guys got it right by giving her the best actress award.
There are four people who became a legend in their own right after this film. Rajesh Khanna became the first real superstar of the hindi screen, Sharmila Tagore got rave reviews for her brilliant role and almost became a female version of the superstar. Producer/Director Shakti Samant’s name became synonymous with wholesome family films.The greatest success of the film however was Kishore Kumar who was, till then, known more for his comic roles than serious singing. The quartet never looked back after the stupendous success of this film and continued to grow in stature.
It appears as though everyone associated with this film were somehow inspired and in pursuit of excellence.
Sachin Bhowmick’s story was as gripping as any could be. Despite the underlying tragic events the story is peppered with, no one walks out in the end with the conclusion that it is a tragedy. In fact everyone comes out with a feel good smile.
SD Burman’s music really set the screen on fire with the sensuous ‘Roop tera mastana.’ The other song ‘Mere sapnon ki rani…’ sent the young generation into raptures and every college student (male) was humming it trying to get fresh with lovely pretty things. But, it was his rendering of the ‘Safal hogi teri Aradhana…’ hit a high point in film music. The duet ‘Kora kagaz tha ye mann mera…’ was lovely as well as haunting and the tune repeats in the background on many occasions to underline the pangs of solitude experienced by Vandana. The other songs ‘Chanda hai tu..’, ‘Gungunarahen hain bhawarein..’, ‘Bhagon mein bahaar hai…’ are catchy and hummable.
Anand Bakshi’ probably believed in KISS (keep it simple stupid). In all the songs with the exception of ‘Safal hogi…’ where the thoughts are profound, the lyrics are quite simple but effective and therein lies the genius of Anand Bakshi.
Aloke Dasgupta’s camerawork brings out the magic of the scenic landscape in ‘Mere sapnon ki…’, and ‘Kora kagaz tha…’
The support cast of Sujit Kumar, Abhi Bhattacharya and Farida Jalal (the impish daughter of the warden and her son’s love interest) support the strong performances of the lead pair. Farida Jalal’s role brings a comic relief to the proceedings.
The film bagged 3 filmfare awards - Shakti Samanta (Best Picture), Sharmila Tagore (Best Actress), and Kishore Kumar (Best Playback Singer).
Aradhana turned out to be the blockbuster movie of the seventies. It is remembered for its lilting tunes and the story of a young unfortunate girl whose life turns into turmoil because of her yielding to one weak moment, and her struggle to redeem herself as a ‘woman of honour’ and a ‘mother’, in every sense of the term.
mbfarookh