This is my first review on MS and I feel it’s very apt that it is dedicated to the man who brought style to Indian cinema and the film which had impeccable cinematic taste blended in each and every frame. It’ll be apt because the man who popularised slightly bent postures and colourful scarves and who had a delicate yet comementary like dialouge delivery, has been honoured this year with the highest cinematic honours of the nation, the Dada Saheb Phalke awards.
The film as most of us know is a legend in its own rights. Penned by R K Narayan, the original was the life of Raju guide, the coming of age of a common man, his conflicts, egostates and finally salvation. Most of us would not know that when Narayan handed over the screenplay rights, the film was supposedly to be made both in English and in Hindi. The English one had a different cast and Rosie, the beautiful danseuse reached Raju guides bed within a day of their meeting ( probably a ploy from the Firang producer to showcase the spell of the land of Snakecharmers). Unfortunately the English version fell flat on its’ face and the Indian one became the Corner stone of our popular cienegoing culture .
So where do I start? I think I can not do justice in describing the storyline , it’s explored in detail in other reviews. I would rather concentrate on Guide , the remarkable cinematic beauty that it is. It’s such a classic amalgamation of the best talent that we had, Shailendra penned the dialogues and the lyrics, the man considered by Gulzar as one who could turn nonsense into poetry, Sachin Dev Burman gave the best music of his career, wonderfully using Lata’s voice to resonate across the caves of Chittorgarh in Aaj Phir Jeene Ki... ..Sample this for pure poetry
Dil ke mere paas ho itni ... Phir bhi ho kitni dur
Tum mujhse, main dilse paresha ..Dono hai majboor
The songs of Guide reverbated the skies with it’s melodious appeal and each gem was distinct yet in perfect harmony with the storyline. My personal favourite is the one sung by Rafi saab , the immortal ’’ Din dhal jaaye .. Raat na aaye ’’ (the above two lines lifted from the same) and Burmanda’s soulful melody ’’Waha kaun hai tera musafir’’. Interestingly Guide does not have any duet with Rafi and Lata who were at the peaks of their careers. The reason as it turned out was that Lata Mangeshkar had vowed not to work with Md Rafi due to certain egoistic reasons ( the govt had announced certain economic relaxations to her being the top notch singer of the nation, Rafi too had demanded the same stating he too was best in his field). Kishore Kumar got one of the biggest breaks of his life singing the immensely popular ’’Gata rahe mera dil’ ; till then he was on the fringes playing comic actors who could sing for themselves. The song gave him a new begining as playback singer, followed by ’’Teen Devian’’ ’’Gambler’’ , ’’Jewel Thief’’ and ’’Aradhana’’ (all by S D Burman) ; the rest in common parlance, is history.
Guide had Waheeda Rehman, who breathed life into the character of Rosie, how can one forget the snake dance , the ferocity of her facial expressions during the confrontation with Marco, then her becoming the successful dancer but the hurt lover; it required the screen presence of extraordinary calibre to hold forte with Dev Anand but she did it with aplomb.
Then there was Vijay ’’Goldie’’ Anand , the man considered to be many to be the best visualizer of screen shots. He under the banner of Navketan Films produced some jewels begining from ’’Taxy Driver’’ to ’’Jewel Thief’’ , gave some marvelously picturised and choreographed songs and before moving on to disasters like ’’Ram Balram’’, had a blooming career. Remember the scene where Rosie moves out to the bazar in her payal , or the one shot after she attempts suicide, with Raju on the sides of a Udaipur Lake or the one with Raju’s internal conflict; simple yet elegant ways of expressing human emotions , it still makes those Eastman colour frames come alive everytime I see it.
Then there’s the man Dev Anand, the way he stamps his mannerisms into the character of the tourist guide from Rajasthan, imprint some inseparable impressions for years to come. The character of Raju guide was flawed with all basic human indulgences , he was a charmer, a maverick, the sort of a person who had very hazy definitions of the wrong and the right but always stood by what his heart said. Yes the characterisation was complex and yet Dev saab played it with absolute assurance added with sprinkles of magic . Guide is the proverbial tale of the super character who failed his close ones but rose against the destiny; one who succumbed to his own ills to overthrow it later. It showed the flak he faced from the villagers for courting the city bred dancer, the subsequent downfall with inability to decide what was more important in his life. The evolution of the inner being of Raju is wonderfully captured with the backdrop of the drought hit village, the broken monologues during the fasting period, supported by the trust of village men, which is the supreme healing power during any malady.
The scene of the movie undoubtedly will be the one when during the last days of his fasting, a female reporter from the western media asks him ’’Swamiji , have you ever fallen in love?’’ with the love of his love, Rosie at his tow. It brought out the irony of his character who had desire but now was purified by the wisdom of love; who once was greedy and ambitious but now was healed of all materialism.
Guide will undoubtedly be remembered for telling a convoluted tale in picture perfect mastery. However, some deserved accolades were not acredited , like the best music award to S D Burman (went to Shankar Jaikishen for ’’Khandan’’, Filmfare’s fascination with Chopras started long time back) or to Shailendra for best lyrics (again to Rajinder Krishen for ’’Khandan’’).
All in all, once in a lifetime fare.