His brand of cinema imbued amiability, compassion and an oldworldly ideology in the innate benevolence of the human being. It was infact a sense of reassurance for the generations of cine-goers who preferred to get away from the mindless pot boilers encompassing savagery and sleaze within the dark confines of a theatre. Hrishikesh Mukherjee was indubitably a master storyteller and a filmmaker nonpareil. Starting off as a laboratory assistant in New Theatres Hrishida moved to the editing department under the wings of ace director Bimal Roy before donning the directorial hat with the much acclaimed ‘Musafir’, starring Dilip Kumar in the lead. Thereafter his rise was meteoric with an ensemble of evergreen classics like Anandi, Anuradha, Aashirwad, Satyakam, Guddi, Anand, Bawarchi, Abhimaan, Namak Haram, Chupke Chupke, Mili, Golmaal, Naram Garam, Khoobsurat, Bemisaal, Jurmana and Rang Birangi. His doctrine of love and altruism ran like a thread through much of his oeuvre. Whether manifested by the warm hearted Bawarchi, the adorable Rekha in Khoobsurat or the protagonist spreading happiness in Anand his characters connected with the audience right from the word go and his work touched your heart. His films were a reflection of his ethos, concerns, joy and sorrows. “ When was I disgruntled about corruption I made Satyakam. When I wanted to share my joy and laughter I made Chupke Chupke and Golmaal. The selflessness you see in my films is also a personal philosophy which I believe in strongly. We should eliminate ego completely and live for others and not for oneself. Believe me this is the shortest route to contentment, ” revealed the genius when I met him ten years ago at his Bandra residence. Time however had begun to run out for filmmakers like him by the mid 80’s. The convictions and solicitude of his cinema which had stood him in a good stead for more than two decades were gradually being treaded underfoot in the wake of crass commercialization. There was very less scope for a cultured and civilised mainstream cinema. “ People got fascinated by glamour and fast track living. Our time was over ”, was his honest confession. With his sad demise an era has come to an end. An era of innocence, morality, wholesome family entertainment and intellectual filmmaking. Hrishikesh Mukherjee will continue to live in the hearts of film buffs till time immemorial and his films will cherish and enthrall millions for ages. His style may have been Simple but it was Profound. May his soul rest in peace !