During the period of the sixties to the nineties, two talented persons entertained the Hindi speaking Indian audience very much - one did it through his books and the other one did it through his movies. The former was Gulshan Nanda and the latter was Yash Chopra. Today I am reviewing a blockbuster movie which was their joint venture. Gulshan Nanda had written its story and its producer-director was Yash Chopra. It’s Daag(1973). With this movie only Yash Chopra had started his own banner - Yash Raj Films which went on to become one of the most successful film production houses of India.
The story of Daag(stain) is said to be inspired partly by Thomas Hardy’s novel - The Mayor of Casterbridge and partly by Gulshan Nanda’s own novel - Maili Chaandni. It’s the story of a man caught between two women due to the twists of destiny. Sunil(Rajesh Khanna) marries Sonia(Sharmila Tagore) and starts his happy wedded life with her. However while saving Sonia’s honour, he accidentally kills Dheeraj(Prem Chopra). Later on, the police van carrying him meets a mishap and he is presumed to be dead. Sonia gives birth to and starts fostering his son. One day she happens to come across Sunil again and finds that he is living as Sudhir with a different identity, has a wife - Chaandni(Raakhee) and a daughter. She comes to know the truth from his mouth only which contains, among other things, the circumstances under which he had married Chaandni. Now Sunil known as Sudhir is caught between two women. The law catches him once again. He is exonerated in the end and the threesome starts life afresh on a happy note.
The movie when watched on screen is much more interesting than its summary written above. Studded with melodious songs penned by Saahir and composed by Laxmikant Pyarelaal, Yash Chopra has presented the story on celluloid in a highly admirable manner. The tagline of its title is - A poem of love. And while watching, the spectator gets a feeling of reading a touching poem of love only. Yash Chopra was different from writer Gulshan Nanda in the way that while Gulshan Nanda allowed traits like jealousy and hate also to creep into the personalities of the characters of his novels containing love-triangles, Yash Chopra abstained from doing it and kept the characters of his movies as pure and clean-hearted ones only, understanding others’ feelings and compulsions too alongwith their own. Thus love-triangle of Maili Chaandni is quite different from the love-triangle of Daag(except the love-triangle, the stories too are different). Frankly speaking, both these creative people were quite skilled in their fields. Gulshan Nanda was proficient in narrating the most ordinary stories in the most interesting manner with realistic characters, plot twists and touching dialogues whereas Yash Chopra was proficient in making reel life love look real when presented on the silver screen. Due to his skill in creating interesting twists in his stories, Gulshan Nanda was successful in penning scripts for the Bollywood movies too. And Yash Chopra over the years started being called as the King of Romance in the cine-world.
Since I have read Maili Chaandni also, let me assert that the movie presents a much more interesting drama than the novel and its canvas is much bigger than that of the novel which narrates a wafer-thin story(though quite interestingly). The novel doesn’t have a repeat value but the movie has. Gulshan Nanda has named the principal male character of the novel as Rajesh Khanna(perhaps he was penning the script for the movie as well as the novel for his readers side-by-side). Cinematographer has captured the scenic and snowy beauty of Shimla skillfully, making this movie a visual treat. Dialogues, background score, editing and other technical aspects are well in order. Songs like Mere Dil Mein Aaj Kya Hai, Nee Main Yaar Manaana Nee, Ab Chaahe Maa Roothe Ya Baba, Jab Bhi Jee Chaahe Nayi Duniya Basa Lete Hain Log etc. are evergreen and listened to with much interest by the music lovers even today.
All the three principal actors - Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Raakhee have performed admirably. Supporting cast has supported them well. Daag was a huge commercial success when released which is no surprise considering the quality of the movie. Even when watched today, it doesn’t look like a dated movie. It’s a treat for those who like romantic stuff and stories containing love-triangles plus emotional drama.
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