Gunga Jumna- 1961
I wonder why the producer spelt the spelling this way, as with all logical sensibilities- I presumed the spelling should have been ' Ganga- Jamuna.
Be that as it may-
Had the privilege of watching this movie on Zee Classic on Sunday July 19, 2015. Do not recollect , how many times I have watched it before. Must surely have been more than a dozen times . But every time I watched it, a new revelation has occurred and that's what makes me write this.
I have always marvelled at how the Story/Screenplay has been entwined seamlessly. No glaring gaps- no jerks in story. No dams in between to stop the flow.
The language of the movie is Hindi, with dialogues in Avadhi/ Purbi [ as Javed Akhtar describes them ], between the village people.But they sound so endearing- never jarring to the uninitiated ears of the rest of India. In fact the local dialect makes one identify with the people, while watching this epic movie.
V .Babasaheb's photography was fantastic [ despite this being his first colour movie]. The rural landscape was captured vividly, imaginatively. The village came to life under his lens
Two things according to me stand out in this movie= 1 ] The Music Of Naushad and Mohd. Rafi's singing;and last but not the least Dilip Kumar's epic acting.
Do hanso ka joda was No. 2 , in the annual Binaca Geetmala, while Dhundo dhundo re sajana was on No. 9 . However despite this, all the songs , without any exception were very popular and even today after 55 years.are very much hummable .
Show me one movie, released in the last 30 years, which has songs, that one remembers verbatim
What struck me about Rafi's singing here [ which of course as usual is exemplary] is the voice modulation in the 2 songs 1] O chhaliya re chhaliya re man me hamaar and 2] Nain lad gayi hai to manava ma kasak hoibe kari.
In both these song keeping in mind the rural Hindu character that Dilip kumar is playing- Rafi has modulated the pronunciations to suit the sensibilities of the rural learning abilities
In the song =O chhaliya re chhaliya- the second stanza==
o bal khae aisan tori patli kamar
jaise dagamag ho sharabi ki najar
o bal khae aisan tori patli kamar
o lalachai ankhiyo se dekh na idhar
dekh na idhar mohe dekh na idhar
o ang ang jiyaa mora kanpe thar thar
o teri zulfo me phas gaya re.mora jiya
Listen carefully- Rafi pronounces- sharabi as sarabi- just not laying emphasis on the 'h' and then again the last line O teri Zulf is pronounced- like julp- the Hindustani way and not the Urdu way- 'Zulph ' or Zulf. Am sure Naushad too had something to do with it and I am not discounting Dilip Kumar's inputs too- but with all this it is Rafi who comes out winner
In the third stanza of the song- Nain Lad gayi hai- He sings the line pyar ki mithi gajal and not the Urdu pronouncing Gazal- A very small difference for the uninitiated but for connoisseurs-
Yes this subtle difference that Rafi affects in his singing is so endearing. It takes Rafi in my mind ,to a few notches higher
Now coming to Dilip Kumar- the thespian- actor par excellence etc. etc- the different titles coronated by fans and critics on him.
Well in this movie- they seem to have zeroed in correctly. His acting here is simply marvellous- stupendous- a role of a lifetime- epic proportions.He exceeds all expectations in acting
Among his movies that I saw -I did not much like him in Andaz Jogan ,Mela, Tarana, Arzoo Deedar or Daag . Devdas , Amar Aan, Udan Khatola, Footpath, Yahudi were passable. He was very good in Paigham , Azad, Naya Daur and Madhumati and he was EXCELLENT in Gunga Jumna. This was his Mount Everest in acting.
Later on -everything was downhill for him , according to me
It's a sad story that he didn't win the Filmfare award for acting that year. It went to Raj Kapoor for Jis Desh mein Ganga behti hai.
However in 1964- the Filmfare award, should have gone to Raj Kapoor for Sangam , but instead went to Dilip Kumar for his frivolous acting in Leader
Dilip Apte
July 20 , 2015
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