Ek Qadam Galat Uttha Tha Shauq-E-Yaar Main
Zindagi Tamam Umr Humein Dhoondhti Phiri
Its confession time on MS. I hereby confess that I have been spoiled silly, and now I wonder if anyone or anything will ever match up... Having seen movies like Khushboo, Parichay, Namkeen, Koshish, I was not sure if Kinara wont be a damp squib. After all, I had nothing to recommend it other than marvellous music, rather, music of a different genre... but more on that later, definitely.
Kinara is a story of a man, determined to bring light in the life of a girl, in whose life he had accidentally wrought tragedy. It all starts with Inder(Jeetendra) arriving at the sleepy, picturesque ruins of Mandu, once the backdrop of an exquisite romance between Roopmati and Baz Bahadur. A mysterious song fills the air; a gust of wind sweeps some papers near Inder. As he is about to pick up those sheets, two other hands join him and he finds himself looking into the sad-eyes of Arti(Hema).
Arti is a famous Kathak dancer who was in love with Chandan (Dharmendra), a professor of History who was doing a research on the romance between Roopmati and Baazbahadur, and whose dream was to publish a novel about the same. Chandan, however, died in a car accident and now Aarti, who lives in his memory, has come to Mandu to collect photographs for the book she hopes to get published.
Inder, who is instantly drawn to her, finds out that Chandan had been killed by Inder’s own car, an accident which almost killed Inder too. While he is trying to deal with the subsequent remorse and guilt, another tragedy befalls Arti, who in a scuffle with Inder, falls down the steps and loses her eye sight. She is taken away to Bombay. Inder begins his second war with himself and with the circumstances that have created a seemingly indestructible wall between him and Aarti. Masquerading as Prakash he coaches her to dance again. He gives her companionship and inspires her to live courageously and confidently. Arti doesnt know that Prakash, whom she considers her best friend is Inder, but one day she must know … what will happen that day?
I have spoken so much about Gulzar’s ability to extract wonderful performances out of supposedly wooden, commercials stars, rather make actors out of stars, that I wont harp on the same. Jeetendra is good as Inder, he has been able to successfully portray Inder’s guilt, remorse and confusion. He starts out as a man who could not tolerate Indian classical music, and then who specially learnt it, so that a blind Arti could learn to dance again, somehow this gesture, this sacrifice of self to atone for a crime committed without conscious will, touches your heart and does not let you hate him.
Hema is flawless as Arti, and Gulzar has exploited her dancing skills fabulously in the role of a girl, who seemingly had everything in her life, lost it all, and then had to learn to dance again, smile again, live again. The movie is a treat to watch if like me, you are fond of classical dance. (Blame it on my conical hands). Dharmendra has turned in a gentle, mellow performance, and those who think he cannot go beyond his "Kameene main tera khoon pi jaaoonga" bit, need to see movies like these. Dr Sriram Lagoo, who plays Inder’s uncle, often acts as the voice of his conscience as well.
But the best part about this movie is its music. Gulzar has penned priceless gems like "Naam gum jaayega", "Ek hi Khwaab", "Jaane kya soch kar" (Kishore), "Meethe Bol bole", "Koi nahi hai kahin", and "Ab ke na saawan barse". Gulzar, as always, makes you forget not just others’, but his own songs as well, and you fall in the same trap, thinking that this, then, is his best. Sample the following lyrics from "Jaane kya"
Do Ghadi Jeene Ki Mohalat To Mili Hai Sabko
*Tum Bhi Mil Jaao Ghadi Bhar To Ye Gam Hota Hai
Is Ghadi Ka Safar Nahin Guzra
Jaane Kya Sochkar Nahin Guzra
Ek Pal Raat Bhar Nahin Guzra*
Or the wonderful "Naam Gum Jaayega"
*Din dhale jahaan raat paas ho,
zindagee ki lau uunchi kar chalo
yaad aaye gar kabhi jee udaas ho,
meri aawaaz hi pehchaan hai, gar yaad rahe...** And RD... well, I am not going to repeat myself... if you have not heard these songs... you really are missing something.. But, I have to mention how wonderful Bhupender sounds in Ek hi Khwaab kai baar... the singer who generally comes across as nasal, somehow creates magic with his voice... something which again happened in Dooriyan and Mausam... but lemme leave that for another day...
Gulzar has beautifully captured the picturesque locales of Mandu, where most of the movie outdoors have been shot. Again, his ability to flirt with the past and the present of his characters, and make it seem so effortless, is spellbinding. In the beginning, when Hema is giving a performance, her expressions change for a fraction of a second, and halfway down the movie, the viewer is taken back to the same moment in time. Gulzar keeps on reinforcing the fact that you present is what it is, because of your past...
To be honest, I was not very sure if Inder managed to make the transition between guilt and love, or if Arti could differentiate between righteous indignation and gratefulness, but this maze of human emotions is where Gulzar really excels at. If you are a prisoner of your own conscience, does it matter whether you are acting out of love or guilt? Should it matter? You have been bound, and the chains might be made of love, or repentace. Again, love does make the world go round, but when love goes away from your life, do you walk into the sunset alone, or do you make do with whatever crutches life hands out to you? These are the questions which Gulzar tries to answer, and in turn asks the viewers as well... I am still thinking... what about you?