Gulzar’s Mausam

I do not plan to do the blast from the pasts for The Hindu but Gulzar’s Mausam is a film I would love to write about. The more I see it, the more impressed I get by its story and its direction. Starred by Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore, this movie is a work of a talent. From the very first minute you are bound to get immersed in it.

The film is about Dr. Amarnath Gill (Sanjeev Kumar) who is made to revisit his past that he has forgotten, is made to repent an unintentional sin he had committed and to do the penance to undo it. On his revisit to Darjeeling, Dr. Gill uncovers what has become of Chanda (Sharmila Tagore) who he had promised to come back to marry her. His shame of serving a jail term for a surgery failure that had stopped him to return back to her had resulted in lunacy for Chanda, untimely death of her father and had brought Chanda’s daughter Kajri (Sharmila Tagore) to a brothel. All these outweigh his shame and he finds his excuse for not returning back a sin that he has to repent for. As Chanda had died it’s only Kajri who could have forgiven him. Then starts his endeavour to bring back Kajri from the life she is leading, to plant her belief in goodness of people and finally to ask her for her forgiveness.

What is commendable is how the story unfolds. Starting with Bhupinder Singh’s bass voice ‘Dil Dhoondhta Hai,’ the song sets stage for Dr. Gill’s search- oblivious of the events that took place in his absence, he starts searching for atonement without getting which he cannot get the peace of mind he craves for. Then we have in Lata Mangeshkar’s voice ‘Ruke Ruke Se Kadam,’ which explains the predicament of Kajri who is unable to find the reasons for the goodness of Dr. Gill and the kind of transformation he expects from her. With well constructed dialogues, delivered with the skills of Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore, this film remains outstanding by any standards. Sanjeev Kumar gives such human expressions which don’t let it remain a film only. With movements of his eyes only he can show anxiety, relief, guilt, anger and shock and can very efficiently switch between these. Special mention has to be given to the make-up man of Sanjeev Kumar also who successfully brings in the gap of 20-30 yrs in Sanjeev Kumar’s age.

The film is a must watch for those who want to see Hindi movies. It will make you believe that we had the kind of actors and stories and more important the art of telling them to grip the audience for duration longer than the run time of the movie.