26th tokgjyky usg: Lekjd bQdks O;k[;ku Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial IFFCO Lecture
Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial IFFCO Lecture is being organized by IFFCO every year to promulgate the cooperative principles and ideology advocated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Architect of Modern India. The Cooperative Award Ceremony is a source of encouragement and inspiration to Cooperative leaders which recognizes their efforts and spirit for the overall growth of the society.
oDrk@ Speaker MkW- fxjh'k dukZM] lqizfl) ys[kd] fo[;kr fQYe o ukVddkj Dr. Girish Karnad, Eminent Author, Noted Cinema and Theater Personality 15 uoEcj] 2013 ¼'kqØokj½ vijkºu & 3-00 cts Friday, 15th November 2013, at 3.00 P.M. bafM;u QkjelZ QfVZykbtj dksvkijsfVo fyfeVsM INDIAN FARMERS FERTILISER COOPERATIVE LIMITED
ok¡ 26 th tokgj yky usg: Lekjd bQdks O;k[kku Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial IFFCO Lecture
Hkkjrh; flusek vkSj jk"Vª&fuekZ.k Indian Cinema and the Creation of Nation
oDrk@ Speaker MkW- fxjh'k dukZM lqizfl) ys[kd] fo[;kr fQYe o ukVddkj Dr. Girish Karnad Eminent Author, Noted Cinema and Theater Personality
15 uoEcj] 2013 15 November, 2013 ok¡ 26 th tokgj yky usg: Lekjd bQdks O;k[kku Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial IFFCO Lecture
Hkkjrh; flusek vkSj jk"Vª&fuekZ.k Indian Cinema and the Creation of Nation
oDrk@ Speaker MkW- fxjh'k dukZM lqizfl) ys[kd] fo[;kr fQYe o ukVddkj Dr. Girish Karnad Eminent Author, Noted Cinema and Theater Personality
15 uoEcj] 2013 15 November, 2013 INDIAN CINEMA AND THE Hkkjrh; flusek vkSj jk"Vª&fuekZ.k CREATION OF A NATION & fxjh'k dukZM - GIRISH KARNAD loZizFke eSa ;g dguk pkgw¡xk fd bafM;u QkjelZ Let me say right at the start what an honour it is QÆVykbtj dksvkijsfVo fyfeVsM ¼bQdks½ dh vksj ls to be standing here to deliver the Jawaharlal Nehru tokgjyky usg: Lekjd O;k[;ku nsus gsrq vkids chp Memorial Lecture for the Indian Farmers Fertiliser mifLFkr gksuk esjs fy, lEeku dh ckr gSA eSa vius vkidks Cooperative. I do not have the authority to talk to bruk l{ke ugha ekurk fd eSa bQdks ds orZeku] lgdkfjrk the present company about the history of the co-operative movement and the extraordinary vkanksyu ds bfrgkl vkSj ml xkFkk esa bQdks dh vlk/kkj.k standing IFFCO has in that saga: its development Hkwfedk ds ckjs esa vkils ppkZ d:¡A fQj Hkh] eSa ;g dguk and contribution to the nation’s economy are simply pkgwaxk fd lgdkfjrk vkanksyu ds fodkl vkSj ns'k dh staggering. What makes this honour even more vFkZO;oLFkk esa bQdks dk ;ksxnku pfdr dj nsus okyk gSA overwhelming for me is the list of eminent men and esjs fy, ;g lEeku blfy, Hkh egRoiw.kZ gS fd fiNys ik¡p women, personages with pride of place in the n'kd ds nkSjku bl ns'k ds ckSf)d bfrgkl esa xkSjoiw.kZ intellectual history of this country during the last LFkku j[kus okys fof'k"V fo}kuksa vkSj fonqf"k;ksa us eqÖkls igys half century, who have delivered this memorial ;g Lekjd O;k[;ku fn;k gSA eSa vius dks muds led{k lecture in the past. I don’t feel equal to being in their ugha ekurk fQj Hkh bl lEeku dks —rKrk ds lkFk Lohdkj company but gratefully accept the privilege. djrk gw¡A I should mention right at the outset how eSa ;g Hkh dguk pkgrk gw¡ fd eSa vkSj esjh iRuh MkW- grateful my wife, Dr Saraswathy Ganapathy, and I ljLorh x.kifr] bQdks }kjk ^csykdw VªLV* dks fn, x;s nl are to IFFCO for donating an honorarium of Rs. Ten Lakhs to the ‘Belaku Trust’, an organization yk[k #i, ds nku ds fy, bQdks ds vR;ar vkHkkjh gSaA esjh which was founded by her and has been working in iRuh }kjk LFkkfir ;g VªLV fiNys mUUkhl lkyksa ls csaxyq: the villages outside Bengaluru for the last nineteen ds ckgj fLFkr xkaoksa esa dke dj jgk gSA Hkkjr ds ,d lk/ku years. These villages are in the proximity of one of lEiUUk 'kgj ds lehi gksus ds ukrs tks ykHk bu xkaoksa rd India’s most prosperous cities and yet very few of igq¡pus pkfg, Fksa] os cgqr FkksM+h ek=k esa gh bu rd igq¡p lds the benefits of being so situated reach them. gSaA dUUkM+ esa ^csykdw* dk vFkZ gS& ^izdk'k* vkSj ;g laxBu ‘Belaku’ means ‘light’ in Kannada and the Hkh xzkeh.k efgykvksa vkSj cPpksa ds LokLF;] f'k{kk vkSj vk; organization strives to bring such light it can in the l`tu ds {ks= esa ,slk gh izdk'k ykus dk iz;kl djrk gSA eSa areas of health, education and income-generation to
1 1 INDIAN CINEMA AND THE Hkkjrh; flusek vkSj jk"Vª&fuekZ.k CREATION OF A NATION & fxjh'k dukZM - GIRISH KARNAD loZizFke eSa ;g dguk pkgw¡xk fd bafM;u QkjelZ Let me say right at the start what an honour it is QÆVykbtj dksvkijsfVo fyfeVsM ¼bQdks½ dh vksj ls to be standing here to deliver the Jawaharlal Nehru tokgjyky usg: Lekjd O;k[;ku nsus gsrq vkids chp Memorial Lecture for the Indian Farmers Fertiliser mifLFkr gksuk esjs fy, lEeku dh ckr gSA eSa vius vkidks Cooperative. I do not have the authority to talk to bruk l{ke ugha ekurk fd eSa bQdks ds orZeku] lgdkfjrk the present company about the history of the co-operative movement and the extraordinary vkanksyu ds bfrgkl vkSj ml xkFkk esa bQdks dh vlk/kkj.k standing IFFCO has in that saga: its development Hkwfedk ds ckjs esa vkils ppkZ d:¡A fQj Hkh] eSa ;g dguk and contribution to the nation’s economy are simply pkgwaxk fd lgdkfjrk vkanksyu ds fodkl vkSj ns'k dh staggering. What makes this honour even more vFkZO;oLFkk esa bQdks dk ;ksxnku pfdr dj nsus okyk gSA overwhelming for me is the list of eminent men and esjs fy, ;g lEeku blfy, Hkh egRoiw.kZ gS fd fiNys ik¡p women, personages with pride of place in the n'kd ds nkSjku bl ns'k ds ckSf)d bfrgkl esa xkSjoiw.kZ intellectual history of this country during the last LFkku j[kus okys fof'k"V fo}kuksa vkSj fonqf"k;ksa us eqÖkls igys half century, who have delivered this memorial ;g Lekjd O;k[;ku fn;k gSA eSa vius dks muds led{k lecture in the past. I don’t feel equal to being in their ugha ekurk fQj Hkh bl lEeku dks —rKrk ds lkFk Lohdkj company but gratefully accept the privilege. djrk gw¡A I should mention right at the outset how eSa ;g Hkh dguk pkgrk gw¡ fd eSa vkSj esjh iRuh MkW- grateful my wife, Dr Saraswathy Ganapathy, and I ljLorh x.kifr] bQdks }kjk ^csykdw VªLV* dks fn, x;s nl are to IFFCO for donating an honorarium of Rs. Ten Lakhs to the ‘Belaku Trust’, an organization yk[k #i, ds nku ds fy, bQdks ds vR;ar vkHkkjh gSaA esjh which was founded by her and has been working in iRuh }kjk LFkkfir ;g VªLV fiNys mUUkhl lkyksa ls csaxyq: the villages outside Bengaluru for the last nineteen ds ckgj fLFkr xkaoksa esa dke dj jgk gSA Hkkjr ds ,d lk/ku years. These villages are in the proximity of one of lEiUUk 'kgj ds lehi gksus ds ukrs tks ykHk bu xkaoksa rd India’s most prosperous cities and yet very few of igq¡pus pkfg, Fksa] os cgqr FkksM+h ek=k esa gh bu rd igq¡p lds the benefits of being so situated reach them. gSaA dUUkM+ esa ^csykdw* dk vFkZ gS& ^izdk'k* vkSj ;g laxBu ‘Belaku’ means ‘light’ in Kannada and the Hkh xzkeh.k efgykvksa vkSj cPpksa ds LokLF;] f'k{kk vkSj vk; organization strives to bring such light it can in the l`tu ds {ks= esa ,slk gh izdk'k ykus dk iz;kl djrk gSA eSa areas of health, education and income-generation to
1 1 ;g dguk csgn t:jh leÖkrk gw¡ fd bl y{; dh vksj the rural women and children. I need scarcely c<+us esa ;g nku gekjh Hkjiwj enn djsxkA —rKrk ds lkFk describe how immensely this donation will help us gekjk /kU;okn A in moving toward that goal. Our most grateful eqÖks tokgjyky usg: dk egt dqN feuVksa ds fy, thanks. n'kZu djus dk volj rc feyk tc eSa 1956 esa dukZVd I saw Jawaharlal Nehru only for a couple of fo'ofo|ky; ds ,d Nk= ds :i esa ;qok egksRlo ds minutes when I came to Delhi as a student of the flyflys esa fnYyh vk;k FkkA ;g og nkSj Fkk tc cM+h ls Karnatak University for a youth festival in 1956. It cM+h jktuhfrd gfLr;k¡ Hkh l'kó lqj{kk xkMks± dks lkFk was an era when even eminent political personages fy, cxSj ;gk¡&ogk¡ ?kwe ldrh FkhaA iafMr th gekjs chp could move around without being accompanied by vk,] xzqi QksVks Ç[kpok;k] dqN 'kCn dgs vkSj pys x,A armed security guards. Panditji came, posed for a group photograph with us, spoke a few words and mudh 'kku vkSj lknxh lnk ds fy, esjh Le`fr esa cl xbZA disappeared, leaving an image of simplicity and vkt eSaus nks dkj.kksa ls bl O;k[;ku ds fy, ^Hkkjrh; elegance indelibly stamped in my memory. flusek vkSj jk"Vª&fuekZ.k* fo"k; pquk gSA igyk ;g fd Today I have chosen the topic ‘ Indian Cinema Hkkjrh; flusek bl lky viuk 'krkCnh o"kZ euk jgk gSA and the Creation of the Nation’ for my lecture for nknk lkgsc QkYds }kjk fuÆer o funsZf'kr igyh Hkkjrh; two reasons. Firstly because Indian cinema Qhpj fQYe jktk gfj'Pkaæ] 21 vizSy] 1913 dks eqacbZ esa celebrates its Centenary this year. The first igyh ckj lkoZtfud :i ls iznÆ'kr dh xbZ FkhA ;g fnu full-length Indian feature film, Raja Harishchandra, Hkkjrh; flusek dk tUe fnu FkkA rc ls vkt rd bl produced and directed by Dadasaheb Phalke, ek/;e us tks vlk/kkj.k ;ksxnku fn;k gS] mlds izfr eSa received its first public exhibition on 21 April 1913 J)katfy u nw¡] [kkldj rc tc eSaus vius thou dk ,d in Bombay, and as someone who has spent a large cM+k fgLlk blh m|ksx esa fcrk;k gS] rks ;g esjh vdeZ.;rk part of my life working in the industry whose birth that day signaled, I thought it would be remiss on gksxhA nwljk dkj.k dqN T;knk futh gS vkSj og ;g gS fd my part not to pay tribute to the extraordinary lgdkfjrk vkanksyu ls esjk igyk laidZ ,d Qhpj fQYe contribution of that medium since then. The second ds ek/;e ls gqvkA reason is much more personal and that is that my first ckr 1975 dh gS] tc ';ke csusxy us muds }kjk contact with the cooperative movement came funsZf'kr ,d fQYe esa eqÖks vfHku; djus ds fy, dgkA through a feature film. ';ke csusxy ml le; MkWD;wesaVjh vkSj foKkiu fuekZ.k ds In 1975, Shyam Benegal who, apart from being {ks= esa dkQh e'kgwj Fks rFkk Hkkjrh; fQYe ifjn`'; dks a much admired documentary and ad film maker,
2 2 ;g dguk csgn t:jh leÖkrk gw¡ fd bl y{; dh vksj the rural women and children. I need scarcely c<+us esa ;g nku gekjh Hkjiwj enn djsxkA —rKrk ds lkFk describe how immensely this donation will help us gekjk /kU;okn A in moving toward that goal. Our most grateful eqÖks tokgjyky usg: dk egt dqN feuVksa ds fy, thanks. n'kZu djus dk volj rc feyk tc eSa 1956 esa dukZVd I saw Jawaharlal Nehru only for a couple of fo'ofo|ky; ds ,d Nk= ds :i esa ;qok egksRlo ds minutes when I came to Delhi as a student of the flyflys esa fnYyh vk;k FkkA ;g og nkSj Fkk tc cM+h ls Karnatak University for a youth festival in 1956. It cM+h jktuhfrd gfLr;k¡ Hkh l'kó lqj{kk xkMks± dks lkFk was an era when even eminent political personages fy, cxSj ;gk¡&ogk¡ ?kwe ldrh FkhaA iafMr th gekjs chp could move around without being accompanied by vk,] xzqi QksVks Ç[kpok;k] dqN 'kCn dgs vkSj pys x,A armed security guards. Panditji came, posed for a group photograph with us, spoke a few words and mudh 'kku vkSj lknxh lnk ds fy, esjh Le`fr esa cl xbZA disappeared, leaving an image of simplicity and vkt eSaus nks dkj.kksa ls bl O;k[;ku ds fy, ^Hkkjrh; elegance indelibly stamped in my memory. flusek vkSj jk"Vª&fuekZ.k* fo"k; pquk gSA igyk ;g fd Today I have chosen the topic ‘ Indian Cinema Hkkjrh; flusek bl lky viuk 'krkCnh o"kZ euk jgk gSA and the Creation of the Nation’ for my lecture for nknk lkgsc QkYds }kjk fuÆer o funsZf'kr igyh Hkkjrh; two reasons. Firstly because Indian cinema Qhpj fQYe jktk gfj'Pkaæ] 21 vizSy] 1913 dks eqacbZ esa celebrates its Centenary this year. The first igyh ckj lkoZtfud :i ls iznÆ'kr dh xbZ FkhA ;g fnu full-length Indian feature film, Raja Harishchandra, Hkkjrh; flusek dk tUe fnu FkkA rc ls vkt rd bl produced and directed by Dadasaheb Phalke, ek/;e us tks vlk/kkj.k ;ksxnku fn;k gS] mlds izfr eSa received its first public exhibition on 21 April 1913 J)katfy u nw¡] [kkldj rc tc eSaus vius thou dk ,d in Bombay, and as someone who has spent a large cM+k fgLlk blh m|ksx esa fcrk;k gS] rks ;g esjh vdeZ.;rk part of my life working in the industry whose birth that day signaled, I thought it would be remiss on gksxhA nwljk dkj.k dqN T;knk futh gS vkSj og ;g gS fd my part not to pay tribute to the extraordinary lgdkfjrk vkanksyu ls esjk igyk laidZ ,d Qhpj fQYe contribution of that medium since then. The second ds ek/;e ls gqvkA reason is much more personal and that is that my first ckr 1975 dh gS] tc ';ke csusxy us muds }kjk contact with the cooperative movement came funsZf'kr ,d fQYe esa eqÖks vfHku; djus ds fy, dgkA through a feature film. ';ke csusxy ml le; MkWD;wesaVjh vkSj foKkiu fuekZ.k ds In 1975, Shyam Benegal who, apart from being {ks= esa dkQh e'kgwj Fks rFkk Hkkjrh; fQYe ifjn`'; dks a much admired documentary and ad film maker,
2 2 fcYdqy ubZ fn'kk dh vksj ys tkus ds dkj.k yksxksa ds had at that time become the focus of attention by vkd"kZ.k dk dsaæ cu x, FksA og fQYe Fkh& ^eaFku* tks MkW- launching out in an entirely new direction on the oxhZt dqfj;u dk liuk FkkA MkW dqfj;u dk ;g fopkj Fkk Indian film scene, asked me to act in a film he was fd xqtjkr dksvkWijsfVo feYd ekdsZÇVx QSMjs'ku ds ik¡p directing. The film was ‘Manthan’, and it was the yk[k lnL; gSa vkSj izR;sd lnL; ;fn nks #i, dk va'knku dreamchild of that genius, Dr Verghese Kurien. It djsa rks lgdkfjrk ds lans'k dks tu&tu rd igqapkus okyh was Dr Kurien’s idea that if the five lakh members Qhpj fQYe ds foŸkiks"k.k ds fy, i;kZIr jkf'k tek gks of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing tk,xhA Hkkjrh; flusek ds bfrgkl esa bl rjg dk iz;kl Federation would each contribute two rupees to the blls igys dHkh ugha fd;k x;k Fkk A fopkjksa esa ,slh fo'kq) kitty, there would be enough of a budget to finance a lkgfldrk dqfj;u vkSj csusxy nksuksa dh [kkfl;r FkhA feature film which could spread the message of cooperation. Nothing like that had been attempted in fQYe esa dksbZ cM+k flrkjk ugha FkkA fLerk ikfVy] the history of Indian cinema until then. The sheer ulh:Ìhu 'kkg vkSj eSa & lHkh vutku dykdkj FksA fQYe adventurousness of the idea was typical of both dh iwjh ;wfuV 'kwÇVx ds nkSjku jktdksV ds ikl laxuok Kurien and Benegal. There were to be no big stars in xk¡o esa #dh FkhA dqfj;u bl fQYe dks bl
3 3 fcYdqy ubZ fn'kk dh vksj ys tkus ds dkj.k yksxksa ds had at that time become the focus of attention by vkd"kZ.k dk dsaæ cu x, FksA og fQYe Fkh& ^eaFku* tks MkW- launching out in an entirely new direction on the oxhZt dqfj;u dk liuk FkkA MkW dqfj;u dk ;g fopkj Fkk Indian film scene, asked me to act in a film he was fd xqtjkr dksvkWijsfVo feYd ekdsZÇVx QSMjs'ku ds ik¡p directing. The film was ‘Manthan’, and it was the yk[k lnL; gSa vkSj izR;sd lnL; ;fn nks #i, dk va'knku dreamchild of that genius, Dr Verghese Kurien. It djsa rks lgdkfjrk ds lans'k dks tu&tu rd igqapkus okyh was Dr Kurien’s idea that if the five lakh members Qhpj fQYe ds foŸkiks"k.k ds fy, i;kZIr jkf'k tek gks of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing tk,xhA Hkkjrh; flusek ds bfrgkl esa bl rjg dk iz;kl Federation would each contribute two rupees to the blls igys dHkh ugha fd;k x;k Fkk A fopkjksa esa ,slh fo'kq) kitty, there would be enough of a budget to finance a lkgfldrk dqfj;u vkSj csusxy nksuksa dh [kkfl;r FkhA feature film which could spread the message of cooperation. Nothing like that had been attempted in fQYe esa dksbZ cM+k flrkjk ugha FkkA fLerk ikfVy] the history of Indian cinema until then. The sheer ulh:Ìhu 'kkg vkSj eSa & lHkh vutku dykdkj FksA fQYe adventurousness of the idea was typical of both dh iwjh ;wfuV 'kwÇVx ds nkSjku jktdksV ds ikl laxuok Kurien and Benegal. There were to be no big stars in xk¡o esa #dh FkhA dqfj;u bl fQYe dks bl 3 3 fLFkfr;ksa ¼flpq,'ku½ dh jpuk dhA fQYe dh dyk funsZ'kd of events emerged. I brought my playwriting Jherh 'kek tSnh us u, fljs ls laokn fy[ksA nhuk ikBd us experience to create some situations after discussing laoknksa dks xqtjkrh jax esa 4 4 fLFkfr;ksa ¼flpq,'ku½ dh jpuk dhA fQYe dh dyk funsZ'kd of events emerged. I brought my playwriting Jherh 'kek tSnh us u, fljs ls laokn fy[ksA nhuk ikBd us experience to create some situations after discussing laoknksa dks xqtjkrh jax esa 4 4 lacksf/kr fd;k FkkA ,sls esa gesa ;g Lohdkj djuk gksxk fd hailed him in public, affectionately, as, ‘Hello, Hkkjrh; flusek m|ksx ;|fi jk"Vªh; vkanksyu ds Award-winner!’ So one must accept that although lkFk&lkFk lekukarj :i ls fodflr gqvk] fdUrq gekjs Indian cinema grew parallelly with the movement usrk jk"Vª ds fotu dks izLrqr djus dh bldh dkfcfy;r for national independence, our leaders did not grasp dks ij[k ugha lds vkSj blls bl dnj nwjh cuk cSBs tSls its potential for projecting a vision of the nation and ;g dksbZ v'kq) pht gksA kept away from it as though it was unclean. bl fo"k; ds p;u esa ,d vU; foMacukRed igyw gS] There is another ironic aspect to this choice of ftldk ftØ djuk eSa t:jh leÖkrk gw¡A bQdks dk the topic that I must point out. The focus of IFFCO Qksdl xkaoksa] —f"k ij vkfJr fdlkuksa vkSj xzkeh.k bykdksa has been on our countryside, on the farmers living in ij jgk gS tcfd Hkkjrh; flusek iwjh rjg ls ,d 'kgjh the villages and dependent on agriculture, while ek/;e jgk gS vkSj 'kgjh vkcknh ij gh mldk /;ku dsafær Indian cinema has been an entirely urban medium, concentrating on the city population. I haven’t been jgk gSA reke dksf'k'kksa ds ckotwn eSa Hkkjr ds flusek?kjksa dh able to get the up-to-date figures despite trying, but la[;k ds ckjs esa v|ru vkadM+s tqVkus esa ukdke;kc jgk] until about ten years ago, there were only 13,000 ysfdu yxHkx nl lky igys rd iwjs Hkkjr esa dsoy cinema houses in the whole of India. Only 13,000! In 13]000 flusek?kj FksA dsoy 13]000 ! xzsV fczVsu tSls NksVs 1948, before television hit Great Britain, there were ls ns'k esa Vsyhfotu vkus ls igys 1948 esa 25]000 flusek 25,000 cinemas in that tiny country! So you can see ?kj FksA rks vki ns[k ldrs gSa fd Hkkjr esa flusek dk izlkj that the spread of cinemas in India has been sparse. fdruk de jgk gSA bu 13]000 flusek?kjksa esa] 2500 ls Consider further that of these 13,000 cinemas, more vf/kd vka/kz izns'k esa] blls FkksM+k de rfeyukMq esa] 1600 than 2500 were in Andhra Pradesh, a slightly smaller dukZVd esa vkSj yxHkx 1300 dsjy esa fLFkr FksA bl izdkj number in Tamil Nadu, about 1600 in Karnataka and dqy 13]000 flusek ?kjksa esa ls yxHkx 8000 pkj nf{k.kh about 1300 in Kerala. Thus out of the 13,000 nearly jkT;ksa esa Fks tcfd Hkkjr ds ckdh fgLlksa esa budh la[;k 8000 were in the four Southern States, leaving only egt 5000 Fkh vkSj vxj vki ;g /;ku esa j[ksa fd ^Hkkjr ds about 5000 in the rest of India. And when you remember that this ‘rest of India’ contained major bu ckdh fgLlksa* esa gh cacbZ] dydŸkk] fnYyh vkSj metropolises like Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, and vgenkckn tSls cM+s egkuxj vkrs gSa ftuesa izR;sd esa ,d Ahmedabad, each with more than a hundred lkS ls vf/kd flusek ?kj gSa rks vkidks eglwl gksxk fd mŸkj cinemas, you realize that the rural areas in the North Hkkjr ds xzkeh.k {ks=ksa esa 'kk;n gh dgha dksbZ flusek ?kj FkkA have hardly had any cinemas at all. A State like e/; izns'k ;k mŸkj izns'k tSls jkT; esa izR;sd esa 500 ls Hkh Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh, had less than 500 de flusek ?kj FksA bu jkT;ksa dh xzkeh.k turk dks fdlh cinemas each and the village populations in those 5 5 lacksf/kr fd;k FkkA ,sls esa gesa ;g Lohdkj djuk gksxk fd hailed him in public, affectionately, as, ‘Hello, Hkkjrh; flusek m|ksx ;|fi jk"Vªh; vkanksyu ds Award-winner!’ So one must accept that although lkFk&lkFk lekukarj :i ls fodflr gqvk] fdUrq gekjs Indian cinema grew parallelly with the movement usrk jk"Vª ds fotu dks izLrqr djus dh bldh dkfcfy;r for national independence, our leaders did not grasp dks ij[k ugha lds vkSj blls bl dnj nwjh cuk cSBs tSls its potential for projecting a vision of the nation and ;g dksbZ v'kq) pht gksA kept away from it as though it was unclean. bl fo"k; ds p;u esa ,d vU; foMacukRed igyw gS] There is another ironic aspect to this choice of ftldk ftØ djuk eSa t:jh leÖkrk gw¡A bQdks dk the topic that I must point out. The focus of IFFCO Qksdl xkaoksa] —f"k ij vkfJr fdlkuksa vkSj xzkeh.k bykdksa has been on our countryside, on the farmers living in ij jgk gS tcfd Hkkjrh; flusek iwjh rjg ls ,d 'kgjh the villages and dependent on agriculture, while ek/;e jgk gS vkSj 'kgjh vkcknh ij gh mldk /;ku dsafær Indian cinema has been an entirely urban medium, concentrating on the city population. I haven’t been jgk gSA reke dksf'k'kksa ds ckotwn eSa Hkkjr ds flusek?kjksa dh able to get the up-to-date figures despite trying, but la[;k ds ckjs esa v|ru vkadM+s tqVkus esa ukdke;kc jgk] until about ten years ago, there were only 13,000 ysfdu yxHkx nl lky igys rd iwjs Hkkjr esa dsoy cinema houses in the whole of India. Only 13,000! In 13]000 flusek?kj FksA dsoy 13]000 ! xzsV fczVsu tSls NksVs 1948, before television hit Great Britain, there were ls ns'k esa Vsyhfotu vkus ls igys 1948 esa 25]000 flusek 25,000 cinemas in that tiny country! So you can see ?kj FksA rks vki ns[k ldrs gSa fd Hkkjr esa flusek dk izlkj that the spread of cinemas in India has been sparse. fdruk de jgk gSA bu 13]000 flusek?kjksa esa] 2500 ls Consider further that of these 13,000 cinemas, more vf/kd vka/kz izns'k esa] blls FkksM+k de rfeyukMq esa] 1600 than 2500 were in Andhra Pradesh, a slightly smaller dukZVd esa vkSj yxHkx 1300 dsjy esa fLFkr FksA bl izdkj number in Tamil Nadu, about 1600 in Karnataka and dqy 13]000 flusek ?kjksa esa ls yxHkx 8000 pkj nf{k.kh about 1300 in Kerala. Thus out of the 13,000 nearly jkT;ksa esa Fks tcfd Hkkjr ds ckdh fgLlksa esa budh la[;k 8000 were in the four Southern States, leaving only egt 5000 Fkh vkSj vxj vki ;g /;ku esa j[ksa fd ^Hkkjr ds about 5000 in the rest of India. And when you remember that this ‘rest of India’ contained major bu ckdh fgLlksa* esa gh cacbZ] dydŸkk] fnYyh vkSj metropolises like Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, and vgenkckn tSls cM+s egkuxj vkrs gSa ftuesa izR;sd esa ,d Ahmedabad, each with more than a hundred lkS ls vf/kd flusek ?kj gSa rks vkidks eglwl gksxk fd mŸkj cinemas, you realize that the rural areas in the North Hkkjr ds xzkeh.k {ks=ksa esa 'kk;n gh dgha dksbZ flusek ?kj FkkA have hardly had any cinemas at all. A State like e/; izns'k ;k mŸkj izns'k tSls jkT; esa izR;sd esa 500 ls Hkh Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh, had less than 500 de flusek ?kj FksA bu jkT;ksa dh xzkeh.k turk dks fdlh cinemas each and the village populations in those 5 5 [kkl volj ij gh fQYe ns[kus dk ekSdk feyrk] fdlh esys states got a chance to see films only on special vFkok R;ksgkj esa laHkor% racwuqek fFk,Vsjksa esaA ogha nwljh vksj occasions, probably in tent theatres, during some vka/kz izns'k ;k rfeyukMq ds NksVs 'kgjksa rd esa] fQYesa yksxksa fair or festival. On the other hand in Andhra or Tamil ds fy, lqyHk FkhaA nf{k.k esa bldk ,d euksjatd urhtk Nadu, even in small towns, films have always been ;g gqvk fd fQYe fLØIV fy[krs le; ges'kk bl ckr dk easily accessible. An amusing fallout of this /;ku j[kk tkrk jgk fd efgyk n'kZdksa dh bl ij D;k concentration has been that in the South when film laHkkfor izfrfØ;k gksxhA ,d vkSjr 'kk;n gh dHkh vdsys scripts are written, the possible response of the fQYe ns[kus tkrh gS vkSj vxj og fdlh fQYe dks ilan womenfolk in the audience has always been an djrh gS rks og vyx&vyx fe=ksa vkSj lacaf/k;ksa ds lkFk important consideration. A woman rarely goes to see a film alone and if she likes the film, she is inclined mls ,d ls vf/kd ckj ns[kuk pkgsxhA bl izdkj os ,d ,sls to see it more than once and with different sets of n'kZd oxZ dk fuekZ.k djrh gSa tks fo'oluh; vkSj equkQsnkj friends and relations, thus creating a remunerative gSA ;gh dkj.k gS fd rsyqxw vkSj rfey fQYe fuekZrkvksa us and reliable clientele. So Telugu and Tamil ges'kk ls ;g iz;kl fd;k gS fd efgykvksa dh ilan dk film-makers have always made a special effort to fo'ks"k [;ky j[kk tk,A fFk,Vj ds bl ?kuRo ds vU; appeal to women. I shall deal with the other results of ifj.kkeksa ds ckjs esa eSa ckn esa ppkZ d:axkA this density of theatres later. ysfdu pkgs og mŸkj gks ;k nf{k.k] flusek us ges'kk ls But whether in the north or the south, the urban 'kgjh vkcknh dks gh viuk y{; ekuk gSA 70 vkSj 80 ds population has always been the target audience of n'kd esa tc eSa fQYesa cuk jgk Fkk] ch vkSj lh Js.kh ds NksVs our cinema: In the 70s and 80s, when I used to make 'kgjksa esa fQYeksa ds ,sls ÇizV ns[kus dks feyrs Fks tks , Js.kh ds films, smaller towns, termed B and C centres, got to 'kgjksa esa igys fn[kk, tk pqds gksrs FksA ,sls esa izk;% os QVs see prints which were worn out from first having had gq, ,oa NksVs fd;s x;s gksrs FksA fdlh fQYe dks lQy rHkh their run in A centres, and therefore often in a tattered or truncated state. For a film to be called a dgk tk ldrk Fkk tc og vius fuos'k dh HkjikbZ dsoy , success, it had to recoup its investment only from the Js.kh ds 'kgjksa ls vkSj og Hkh ,d fuf'Pkr vof/k esa djsA A Centres and within a specific period. This has had bldk tks ,d ifj.kke gqvk gS] mls js[kkafdr djus dh one consequence that needs to be underlined: the vko';drk gS % tSls&tSls gekjs 'kgjksa dk Lo:i cnyrk form and content of our films have changed as the x;k gS oSls&oSls gekjh fQYeksa ds Lo:i vkSj lkexzh esa nature of our cities has changed. You can understand ifjorZu vkrk x;k gSA vxj vki bldk v/;;u djsa rks what was happening in our films at a given time if vki leÖk ik,axs fd ml oä tks 'kgjksa esa ?kfVr gks jgk Fkk you study what was happening in the cities at that mlh le; esa ogh gekjh fQYeksa esa Hkh ?kfVr gks jgk FkkA moment. And Indian cities have changed radically Hkkjrh; 'kgj fiNys lkS o"kks± esa iwjh rjg ls cny x, gSaA over the last hundred years. 6 6 [kkl volj ij gh fQYe ns[kus dk ekSdk feyrk] fdlh esys states got a chance to see films only on special vFkok R;ksgkj esa laHkor% racwuqek fFk,Vsjksa esaA ogha nwljh vksj occasions, probably in tent theatres, during some vka/kz izns'k ;k rfeyukMq ds NksVs 'kgjksa rd esa] fQYesa yksxksa fair or festival. On the other hand in Andhra or Tamil ds fy, lqyHk FkhaA nf{k.k esa bldk ,d euksjatd urhtk Nadu, even in small towns, films have always been ;g gqvk fd fQYe fLØIV fy[krs le; ges'kk bl ckr dk easily accessible. An amusing fallout of this /;ku j[kk tkrk jgk fd efgyk n'kZdksa dh bl ij D;k concentration has been that in the South when film laHkkfor izfrfØ;k gksxhA ,d vkSjr 'kk;n gh dHkh vdsys scripts are written, the possible response of the fQYe ns[kus tkrh gS vkSj vxj og fdlh fQYe dks ilan womenfolk in the audience has always been an djrh gS rks og vyx&vyx fe=ksa vkSj lacaf/k;ksa ds lkFk important consideration. A woman rarely goes to see a film alone and if she likes the film, she is inclined mls ,d ls vf/kd ckj ns[kuk pkgsxhA bl izdkj os ,d ,sls to see it more than once and with different sets of n'kZd oxZ dk fuekZ.k djrh gSa tks fo'oluh; vkSj equkQsnkj friends and relations, thus creating a remunerative gSA ;gh dkj.k gS fd rsyqxw vkSj rfey fQYe fuekZrkvksa us and reliable clientele. So Telugu and Tamil ges'kk ls ;g iz;kl fd;k gS fd efgykvksa dh ilan dk film-makers have always made a special effort to fo'ks"k [;ky j[kk tk,A fFk,Vj ds bl ?kuRo ds vU; appeal to women. I shall deal with the other results of ifj.kkeksa ds ckjs esa eSa ckn esa ppkZ d:axkA this density of theatres later. ysfdu pkgs og mŸkj gks ;k nf{k.k] flusek us ges'kk ls But whether in the north or the south, the urban 'kgjh vkcknh dks gh viuk y{; ekuk gSA 70 vkSj 80 ds population has always been the target audience of n'kd esa tc eSa fQYesa cuk jgk Fkk] ch vkSj lh Js.kh ds NksVs our cinema: In the 70s and 80s, when I used to make 'kgjksa esa fQYeksa ds ,sls ÇizV ns[kus dks feyrs Fks tks , Js.kh ds films, smaller towns, termed B and C centres, got to 'kgjksa esa igys fn[kk, tk pqds gksrs FksA ,sls esa izk;% os QVs see prints which were worn out from first having had gq, ,oa NksVs fd;s x;s gksrs FksA fdlh fQYe dks lQy rHkh their run in A centres, and therefore often in a tattered or truncated state. For a film to be called a dgk tk ldrk Fkk tc og vius fuos'k dh HkjikbZ dsoy , success, it had to recoup its investment only from the Js.kh ds 'kgjksa ls vkSj og Hkh ,d fuf'Pkr vof/k esa djsA A Centres and within a specific period. This has had bldk tks ,d ifj.kke gqvk gS] mls js[kkafdr djus dh one consequence that needs to be underlined: the vko';drk gS % tSls&tSls gekjs 'kgjksa dk Lo:i cnyrk form and content of our films have changed as the x;k gS oSls&oSls gekjh fQYeksa ds Lo:i vkSj lkexzh esa nature of our cities has changed. You can understand ifjorZu vkrk x;k gSA vxj vki bldk v/;;u djsa rks what was happening in our films at a given time if vki leÖk ik,axs fd ml oä tks 'kgjksa esa ?kfVr gks jgk Fkk you study what was happening in the cities at that mlh le; esa ogh gekjh fQYeksa esa Hkh ?kfVr gks jgk FkkA moment. And Indian cities have changed radically Hkkjrh; 'kgj fiNys lkS o"kks± esa iwjh rjg ls cny x, gSaA over the last hundred years. 6 6 chl vkSj rhl ds n'kd esa 'kgj u dsoy vkt ds vius In the twenties and the thirties, not only were Lo:i dh rqyuk esa NksVs Fks cfYd muds fuokfl;ksa esa dkQh cities smaller than their counterparts today but they gn rd lekurk Fkh A izfl) Çgnh miU;kldkj izsepan us also had much more homogenous populations. vius miU;kl ^jaxHkwfe* ds vkjafHkd vuqPNsn esa ljdkjh Premchand, the famous Hindi novelist, lists in the dk;kZy;ksa] Ldwyksa] cSadksa] cl LVkWi tSlh fofHkUUk laLFkkvksa dh i n t r o d u c t o r y p a r a g r a p h o f h i s n o v e l , lwph fxukbZ gS tks muds le; esa 'kgjksa dh igpku gqvk ‘Rangabhoomi’, the various institutions that djrs FksA ysfdu mUgksaus ,d pht dk mYys[k ugha fd;k gS constituted a city in his time, such as government vkSj og gS & ^ÖkqXxh ¼Lye½* A mUUkhl lkS rhl ds n'kd esa offices, schools, banks or bus stops. The one thing he tks 'kgj Fks muds vanj ÖkqfXx;k¡ ugha Fkha D;ksafd xjhc 'kgj does not mention is the ‘slum’. Cities in the thirties ds ckgj vkSj 'kgj ls nwj jgrs FksA 'kgj dh vkcknh dkQh had no slums since the poor lived outside the city and gn rd f'kf{kr e/;e oxZ dh Fkh ftlesa T;knkrj yksx at a distance from it. The city population was largely educated, middle-class, mostly with salaried jobs or ukSdjhis'kk] osruHkksxh ;k laifŸk ds ekfyd FksA yksx ljdkjh owned property. This population, even when in the ukSdfj;ksa esa jgrs gq, Hkh jk"Vªoknh vkanksyu ds lq/kkjoknh employment of the government, was vaguely dk;ZØeksa tSls& ngst izFkk dh lekfIr] csgrj 'kSf{kd sympathetic to the reformist programme of the lqfo/kkvksa dh vko';drk] xkaoksa esa xjhch mUewyu] L=h f'k{kk] nationalist movement, such as ending of the dowry NqvkNwr&fuokj.k vkfn ls [kkl rkYyqd ugha j[krs FksA system, the need for more educational facilities, alleviation of poverty in the villages, education of bldk urhtk ;g jgk fd] rhl ds n'kd esa vkidks women, removal of untouchability, ending the nsfodk jkuh vkSj v'kksd dqekj }kjk vfHkuhr ^vNwr dU;k* dowry system and so on. tSlh lkekftd vkn'kZokn okyh fQYesa ns[kus dks feyh gSaA bl fQYe esa ,d lo.kZ yM+ds ds izfr ,d fuEu tkfr dh As a result, in the thirties you get films with a yM+dh ds I;kj dks dsaæ esa j[kk x;k gSA fQYe esa ,d vNwr certain social idealism, like ‘Achyut Kanya’, yM+dh vkSj ,d czkã.k yM+ds ds vkilh izse laca/k dks starring Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar, which focuses on a low-caste girl’s love for an upper-caste Lohdkj djus dk rdZ izLrqr fd;k x;k gS fdUrq ;g [;ky boy. The film argues that it is acceptable for an j[kk x;k gS fd I;kj dk ;g laca/k oSokfgd ca/ku dk :i u untouchable girl and a Brahmin boy to fall in love , ys ik,A fQYe ds var esa yM+dh dh e`R;q gks tkrh gS] n'kZd but takes care to see that the love is not vk¡[kksa esa vkalw fy, ?kj ykSVrs gSa vkSj fQYe dks vikj consummated. The girl dies in the end, the audience lQyrk feyrh gSA ;fn czkã.k yM+ds ls ml vNwr ;qorh went home shedding copious tears and the film was dh 'kknh gks tkrh rks fQYe fuf'Pkr :i ls ,d ¶ykWi lkfcr a huge success. If the untouchable maiden had gksrhA actually married the Brahmin boy, the film would certainly have proved a flop. 7 7 chl vkSj rhl ds n'kd esa 'kgj u dsoy vkt ds vius In the twenties and the thirties, not only were Lo:i dh rqyuk esa NksVs Fks cfYd muds fuokfl;ksa esa dkQh cities smaller than their counterparts today but they gn rd lekurk Fkh A izfl) Çgnh miU;kldkj izsepan us also had much more homogenous populations. vius miU;kl ^jaxHkwfe* ds vkjafHkd vuqPNsn esa ljdkjh Premchand, the famous Hindi novelist, lists in the dk;kZy;ksa] Ldwyksa] cSadksa] cl LVkWi tSlh fofHkUUk laLFkkvksa dh i n t r o d u c t o r y p a r a g r a p h o f h i s n o v e l , lwph fxukbZ gS tks muds le; esa 'kgjksa dh igpku gqvk ‘Rangabhoomi’, the various institutions that djrs FksA ysfdu mUgksaus ,d pht dk mYys[k ugha fd;k gS constituted a city in his time, such as government vkSj og gS & ^ÖkqXxh ¼Lye½* A mUUkhl lkS rhl ds n'kd esa offices, schools, banks or bus stops. The one thing he tks 'kgj Fks muds vanj ÖkqfXx;k¡ ugha Fkha D;ksafd xjhc 'kgj does not mention is the ‘slum’. Cities in the thirties ds ckgj vkSj 'kgj ls nwj jgrs FksA 'kgj dh vkcknh dkQh had no slums since the poor lived outside the city and gn rd f'kf{kr e/;e oxZ dh Fkh ftlesa T;knkrj yksx at a distance from it. The city population was largely educated, middle-class, mostly with salaried jobs or ukSdjhis'kk] osruHkksxh ;k laifŸk ds ekfyd FksA yksx ljdkjh owned property. This population, even when in the ukSdfj;ksa esa jgrs gq, Hkh jk"Vªoknh vkanksyu ds lq/kkjoknh employment of the government, was vaguely dk;ZØeksa tSls& ngst izFkk dh lekfIr] csgrj 'kSf{kd sympathetic to the reformist programme of the lqfo/kkvksa dh vko';drk] xkaoksa esa xjhch mUewyu] L=h f'k{kk] nationalist movement, such as ending of the dowry NqvkNwr&fuokj.k vkfn ls [kkl rkYyqd ugha j[krs FksA system, the need for more educational facilities, alleviation of poverty in the villages, education of bldk urhtk ;g jgk fd] rhl ds n'kd esa vkidks women, removal of untouchability, ending the nsfodk jkuh vkSj v'kksd dqekj }kjk vfHkuhr ^vNwr dU;k* dowry system and so on. tSlh lkekftd vkn'kZokn okyh fQYesa ns[kus dks feyh gSaA bl fQYe esa ,d lo.kZ yM+ds ds izfr ,d fuEu tkfr dh As a result, in the thirties you get films with a yM+dh ds I;kj dks dsaæ esa j[kk x;k gSA fQYe esa ,d vNwr certain social idealism, like ‘Achyut Kanya’, yM+dh vkSj ,d czkã.k yM+ds ds vkilh izse laca/k dks starring Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar, which focuses on a low-caste girl’s love for an upper-caste Lohdkj djus dk rdZ izLrqr fd;k x;k gS fdUrq ;g [;ky boy. The film argues that it is acceptable for an j[kk x;k gS fd I;kj dk ;g laca/k oSokfgd ca/ku dk :i u untouchable girl and a Brahmin boy to fall in love , ys ik,A fQYe ds var esa yM+dh dh e`R;q gks tkrh gS] n'kZd but takes care to see that the love is not vk¡[kksa esa vkalw fy, ?kj ykSVrs gSa vkSj fQYe dks vikj consummated. The girl dies in the end, the audience lQyrk feyrh gSA ;fn czkã.k yM+ds ls ml vNwr ;qorh went home shedding copious tears and the film was dh 'kknh gks tkrh rks fQYe fuf'Pkr :i ls ,d ¶ykWi lkfcr a huge success. If the untouchable maiden had gksrhA actually married the Brahmin boy, the film would certainly have proved a flop. 7 7 le; ds bl varjky ij ;g ckr gekjs eu esa dkSa/krh gS What strikes us at this distance is how happy fd ml n'kd ds v[kckj ds leh{kd bu fQYeksa ls fdrus the newspaper reviews of the decade were with the [kq'k Fks vkSj vDlj muds vkn'kZokn ds fy, vkSj rduhdh films, often praising them for their idealism and also mR—"Vrk ds fy, Hkh mudh iz'kalk djrs FksA technical excellence bl n'kd ds nkSjku gks jgs fQYe fuekZ.k dh lajpuk Hkh Film production during this decade was also iSr`d fl)karksa ij vk/kkfjr FkhA fo'o vFkZO;oLFkk Hkh"k.k eanh structured on paternalistic principles. The world ds nkSj ls xqtj jgh Fkh] ukSdfj;ka feyuh eqf'dy Fkha] vkSj economy was undergoing severe depression, jobs esgurkus dh n`f"V ls 'kh"kZ ij vklhu vfHkusrkvksa lfgr were hard to get, and the entire staff working on a fQYe ds lkjs deZpkjh LVwfM;ks ds isjksy ij Fks A LVwfM;ks film, including the actors who got the top billing, viuh izfr"Bk dk vkdyu xq.koŸkkiw.kZ fuekZrk ds :i esa djrs were on the payroll of the studios. Studios valued the Fks] rkfd muds n'kZd mu ij Hkjkslk djsa vkSj LVaV] reputation they had as producers of quality, so their audience would trust them, and different studios ,sfrgkfld] jksekal ;k lkekftd tSlh fofHkUUk fo/kkvksa esa specialized in different genres, such as the stunt film, ekfgj fofHkUUk LVwfM;ks ,d lkFk 'kkafriw.kZ 8 8 le; ds bl varjky ij ;g ckr gekjs eu esa dkSa/krh gS What strikes us at this distance is how happy fd ml n'kd ds v[kckj ds leh{kd bu fQYeksa ls fdrus the newspaper reviews of the decade were with the [kq'k Fks vkSj vDlj muds vkn'kZokn ds fy, vkSj rduhdh films, often praising them for their idealism and also mR—"Vrk ds fy, Hkh mudh iz'kalk djrs FksA technical excellence bl n'kd ds nkSjku gks jgs fQYe fuekZ.k dh lajpuk Hkh Film production during this decade was also iSr`d fl)karksa ij vk/kkfjr FkhA fo'o vFkZO;oLFkk Hkh"k.k eanh structured on paternalistic principles. The world ds nkSj ls xqtj jgh Fkh] ukSdfj;ka feyuh eqf'dy Fkha] vkSj economy was undergoing severe depression, jobs esgurkus dh n`f"V ls 'kh"kZ ij vklhu vfHkusrkvksa lfgr were hard to get, and the entire staff working on a fQYe ds lkjs deZpkjh LVwfM;ks ds isjksy ij Fks A LVwfM;ks film, including the actors who got the top billing, viuh izfr"Bk dk vkdyu xq.koŸkkiw.kZ fuekZrk ds :i esa djrs were on the payroll of the studios. Studios valued the Fks] rkfd muds n'kZd mu ij Hkjkslk djsa vkSj LVaV] reputation they had as producers of quality, so their audience would trust them, and different studios ,sfrgkfld] jksekal ;k lkekftd tSlh fofHkUUk fo/kkvksa esa specialized in different genres, such as the stunt film, ekfgj fofHkUUk LVwfM;ks ,d lkFk 'kkafriw.kZ 8 8 Hkqukuk 'kq: fd;k fd vfHkusrkvksa vkSj laxhr fuekZrkvksa ls These fly-by-night investors seized upon the gh fQYe pyrh gS vkSj mu izfrHkkvksa ij nko yxkus ds fy, realization that what made a film run were the actors Hkkjh Hkjde jde ds Hkqxrku dh is'kd'k djuh 'kq: dj and the music-makers and started bidding for that nhA dqN gh le; esa LVkj flLVe dk pyu 'kq: gks x;k talent offering exorbitant payments. The star system vkSj Øwj izfrLi/kkZ dk lkeuk u dj ikus ds dkj.k pan o"kks± sprang into existence in no time, and the studio esa LVwfM;ks iz.kkyh fc[kj xbZA system, unable to face the ruthless competition, and collapsed within a couple of years. vc 'kgj lQsn dkWyj okys e/;e oxZ ds fy, ugha jgsA ;q)] Hkkjr NksM+ks vkanksyu] eqækLQhfr] caxky ds Now cities no longer remained white collar, vdky vkSj lLrs Je dh ekax tSlh vkinkvksa dh [kcjsa bu middle-class. The war, the Quit India movement, lcus feydj ,sls gkykr cuk fn, ftlls xkao dh vkcknh the inflation and news of disasters like the Bengal famine, as well as the demand for cheap labour, all 'kgjksa esa vkdj clus yxhA vkSj fQj 1947 esa ns'k dk led the village populations to pour into the cities. foHkktu gqvk ftlesa gekjs bfrgkl dk lokZf/kd [kwuh And then in 1947, the country was partitioned--- ujlagkj gqvkA vkrad ls =Lr 'kj.kkÆFk;ksa vkSj xzkeh.k leading to one of the bloodiest massacres in our bykdksa ls mtM+s gq, yksxksa us 'kgjksa esa Msjk Mkyuk 'kq: history. As panic-stricken refugees and those fd;k ftlls gekjs izeq[k 'kgjksa dk iwjk dk iwjk gqfy;k uprooted from the countryside poured into cities , the ukVdh; :i ls cny x;k A cs?kj vkSj lk/kufoghu yksx entire constitution of our major cities changed ftuds ikl u vrhr dk Hkko Fkk u Hkfo"; dh vk'kk] os dramatically, with the homeless, and the destitute, fnYyh] cEcbZ vkSj dydÙkk ds QqVikFkksa ij vkdj clus with no sense of a past or hope of the future, yxsA fQYe m|ksx ds vanj Hkh dkQh dqN cny x;kA covering the pavements of Delhi, Bombay and ykgkSj if'Pkeh ikfdLrku esa pyk x;k] dydŸkk vius Calcutta. Within the industry, Lahore was lost to caxkyh cktkj dk ,d cM+k fgLlk iwohZ ikfdLrku dks [kks West Pakistan, Calcutta lost a major portion of its cSBk] iq.ks esa fQYe fuekZ.k dk dkjksckj can gks x;kA blfy, Bengali market to East Pakistan, film production in Pune closed down, so Bombay became the nucleus cacbZ ,slk dsaæ cu x;k ftlus Hkkjr ds lHkh dksuksa ls which attracted talent from all the corners of India. izfrHkkvksa dks vkdÆ"kr fd;kA The new film makers were driven by the u, fQYe fuekZrkvksa dk ;g ekuuk Fkk fd foLFkkfir conviction that this uprooted and displaced vkSj mtM+h gqbZ vkcknh dsoy vius nSfud thou ds nq[k population only wanted to forget the misery of their dks Hkwyuk pkgrh gS vkSj blh ds vuqlkj os ^iyk;uoknh* daily lives and accordingly plunged into making fQYesa cukus esa Mwc x,] tks laxhr] u`R; vkSj esyksMªkek what was then called ‘escapist fare’---films that flaunted music and dance and melodrama. 9 9 Hkqukuk 'kq: fd;k fd vfHkusrkvksa vkSj laxhr fuekZrkvksa ls These fly-by-night investors seized upon the gh fQYe pyrh gS vkSj mu izfrHkkvksa ij nko yxkus ds fy, realization that what made a film run were the actors Hkkjh Hkjde jde ds Hkqxrku dh is'kd'k djuh 'kq: dj and the music-makers and started bidding for that nhA dqN gh le; esa LVkj flLVe dk pyu 'kq: gks x;k talent offering exorbitant payments. The star system vkSj Øwj izfrLi/kkZ dk lkeuk u dj ikus ds dkj.k pan o"kks± sprang into existence in no time, and the studio esa LVwfM;ks iz.kkyh fc[kj xbZA system, unable to face the ruthless competition, and collapsed within a couple of years. vc 'kgj lQsn dkWyj okys e/;e oxZ ds fy, ugha jgsA ;q)] Hkkjr NksM+ks vkanksyu] eqækLQhfr] caxky ds Now cities no longer remained white collar, vdky vkSj lLrs Je dh ekax tSlh vkinkvksa dh [kcjsa bu middle-class. The war, the Quit India movement, lcus feydj ,sls gkykr cuk fn, ftlls xkao dh vkcknh the inflation and news of disasters like the Bengal famine, as well as the demand for cheap labour, all 'kgjksa esa vkdj clus yxhA vkSj fQj 1947 esa ns'k dk led the village populations to pour into the cities. foHkktu gqvk ftlesa gekjs bfrgkl dk lokZf/kd [kwuh And then in 1947, the country was partitioned--- ujlagkj gqvkA vkrad ls =Lr 'kj.kkÆFk;ksa vkSj xzkeh.k leading to one of the bloodiest massacres in our bykdksa ls mtM+s gq, yksxksa us 'kgjksa esa Msjk Mkyuk 'kq: history. As panic-stricken refugees and those fd;k ftlls gekjs izeq[k 'kgjksa dk iwjk dk iwjk gqfy;k uprooted from the countryside poured into cities , the ukVdh; :i ls cny x;k A cs?kj vkSj lk/kufoghu yksx entire constitution of our major cities changed ftuds ikl u vrhr dk Hkko Fkk u Hkfo"; dh vk'kk] os dramatically, with the homeless, and the destitute, fnYyh] cEcbZ vkSj dydÙkk ds QqVikFkksa ij vkdj clus with no sense of a past or hope of the future, yxsA fQYe m|ksx ds vanj Hkh dkQh dqN cny x;kA covering the pavements of Delhi, Bombay and ykgkSj if'Pkeh ikfdLrku esa pyk x;k] dydŸkk vius Calcutta. Within the industry, Lahore was lost to caxkyh cktkj dk ,d cM+k fgLlk iwohZ ikfdLrku dks [kks West Pakistan, Calcutta lost a major portion of its cSBk] iq.ks esa fQYe fuekZ.k dk dkjksckj can gks x;kA blfy, Bengali market to East Pakistan, film production in Pune closed down, so Bombay became the nucleus cacbZ ,slk dsaæ cu x;k ftlus Hkkjr ds lHkh dksuksa ls which attracted talent from all the corners of India. izfrHkkvksa dks vkdÆ"kr fd;kA The new film makers were driven by the u, fQYe fuekZrkvksa dk ;g ekuuk Fkk fd foLFkkfir conviction that this uprooted and displaced vkSj mtM+h gqbZ vkcknh dsoy vius nSfud thou ds nq[k population only wanted to forget the misery of their dks Hkwyuk pkgrh gS vkSj blh ds vuqlkj os ^iyk;uoknh* daily lives and accordingly plunged into making fQYesa cukus esa Mwc x,] tks laxhr] u`R; vkSj esyksMªkek what was then called ‘escapist fare’---films that flaunted music and dance and melodrama. 9 9 fn[kkrh FkhA vktknh vius lkFk dksbZ [kq'kh] dksbZ mRlo Independence had brought no joy, no celebration, ysdj ugha vkbZ Fkh] cl ykbZ Fkh og t:jr tks jktuhfr dks only a need to forget politics and plunge into Hkwykdj dYiuk yksd esa fopj.k djk,A jkt diwj dh amnesia. Raj Kapoor’s ‘Barsaat’ is an excellent ^cjlkr* bldk ,d csgrjhu uewuk gSA d'ehj dks] tks ml example, for in that film Kashmir, which was then at le; jktuhfrd v'kkafr ds dsaæ esa Fkk] fQYe esa ,d ,sls the centre of political turmoil, is only seen as a dYiuk yksd ds :i esa fn[kk;k x;k gS tgka LFkkuh; never-never land where local lasses fall in love with yM+fd;ka Hkkjr ls ?kweus vk, ;qok iq#"kksa ds I;kj esa iM+ tkrh visiting young men from India and spend their entire gSa vkSj viuh lkjh Çt+nxh ml izseh ds ykSV vkus dh vkl esa lifetime pining for their return. The songs of that film dkV nsrh gSaA ml fQYe ds xkuksa ¼'kadj&t;fd'ku }kjk (set to music by Shankar and Jaikishan) are still laxhrc)½ dks yksx vkt Hkh flÌr ls ;kn djrs gSa] ml fondly remembered, the politics is better forgotten. jktuhfr dks Hkwy x, gSaA The explosion in the city population also created a sudden demand for more exhibition outlets 'kgj dh vkcknh esa gqbZ csrgk'kk o`f) us Hkh vpkud for films, but real estate in the cities became fQYeksa ds fy, vkSj vf/kd flusek ?kjksa dh ekax iSnk dj nh] prohibitively expensive, there was no investment in ysfdu 'kgjksa esa vpy laifŸk egaxh gks xbZA u;s flusek ?kjksa building new cinemas, so distributors and exhibitors, ds fuekZ.k esa dksbZ fuos'k ugha gqvk] blfy, bl O;kikj esa who were already established in the trade, found igys ls LFkkfir forjdksa vkSj izn'kZdksa us xq.koŸkk ds lkFk themselves in a position to insist on potential ‘box- leÖkkSrk djus dk tksf[ke mBkrs gq, ^ckWDl vkWfQl dh office successes’ at the risk of quality lQyrk* ds nenkj rjhds viukus ij tksj nsuk 'kq: dj The film reviews of the forties, written by fn;k A educated middle-class critics, provide a perfect pkyhl ds n'kd esa f'kf{kr e/;e oxhZ; vkykspdksa contrast to those of the previous decade, in their }kjk dh xbZ fQYe leh{kkvksa esa fiNys n'kd dh 'kSyh ls vitriolic attack on the vapidity of contemporary myV ledkyhu fQYeksa dh fuLlkjrk ij rh[ks geys fd, films. x, gSaA In the fifties we do get a few films which are ipkl ds n'kd esa gesa ,slh dqN fQYesa fn[kkbZ nsrh gSa concerned with rural poverty and hardships suffered by the farmers. Many of the young film-makers had ftuesa xk¡oksa esa iljh xjhch vkSj fdlkuksa dh rdyhQ+ksa dks been part of the Indian People’s Theatre Association ysdj Çprk O;ä dh xbZ gSA ml le; ds dbZ ukStoku and had deep political affiliations. In 1951, Khwaja fQYe fuekZrk bafM;u ihiYl fFk,Vj ,lksfl,'ku ¼bIVk½ dk Ahmad Abbas made ‘Dharati ke Lal’ on the Bengal fgLlk jgs Fks vkSj mudk xgjk jktuhfrd ljksdkj Hkh FkkA famine. His social commitment is seen actively 10 10 fn[kkrh FkhA vktknh vius lkFk dksbZ [kq'kh] dksbZ mRlo Independence had brought no joy, no celebration, ysdj ugha vkbZ Fkh] cl ykbZ Fkh og t:jr tks jktuhfr dks only a need to forget politics and plunge into Hkwykdj dYiuk yksd esa fopj.k djk,A jkt diwj dh amnesia. Raj Kapoor’s ‘Barsaat’ is an excellent ^cjlkr* bldk ,d csgrjhu uewuk gSA d'ehj dks] tks ml example, for in that film Kashmir, which was then at le; jktuhfrd v'kkafr ds dsaæ esa Fkk] fQYe esa ,d ,sls the centre of political turmoil, is only seen as a dYiuk yksd ds :i esa fn[kk;k x;k gS tgka LFkkuh; never-never land where local lasses fall in love with yM+fd;ka Hkkjr ls ?kweus vk, ;qok iq#"kksa ds I;kj esa iM+ tkrh visiting young men from India and spend their entire gSa vkSj viuh lkjh Çt+nxh ml izseh ds ykSV vkus dh vkl esa lifetime pining for their return. The songs of that film dkV nsrh gSaA ml fQYe ds xkuksa ¼'kadj&t;fd'ku }kjk (set to music by Shankar and Jaikishan) are still laxhrc)½ dks yksx vkt Hkh flÌr ls ;kn djrs gSa] ml fondly remembered, the politics is better forgotten. jktuhfr dks Hkwy x, gSaA The explosion in the city population also created a sudden demand for more exhibition outlets 'kgj dh vkcknh esa gqbZ csrgk'kk o`f) us Hkh vpkud for films, but real estate in the cities became fQYeksa ds fy, vkSj vf/kd flusek ?kjksa dh ekax iSnk dj nh] prohibitively expensive, there was no investment in ysfdu 'kgjksa esa vpy laifŸk egaxh gks xbZA u;s flusek ?kjksa building new cinemas, so distributors and exhibitors, ds fuekZ.k esa dksbZ fuos'k ugha gqvk] blfy, bl O;kikj esa who were already established in the trade, found igys ls LFkkfir forjdksa vkSj izn'kZdksa us xq.koŸkk ds lkFk themselves in a position to insist on potential ‘box- leÖkkSrk djus dk tksf[ke mBkrs gq, ^ckWDl vkWfQl dh office successes’ at the risk of quality lQyrk* ds nenkj rjhds viukus ij tksj nsuk 'kq: dj The film reviews of the forties, written by fn;k A educated middle-class critics, provide a perfect pkyhl ds n'kd esa f'kf{kr e/;e oxhZ; vkykspdksa contrast to those of the previous decade, in their }kjk dh xbZ fQYe leh{kkvksa esa fiNys n'kd dh 'kSyh ls vitriolic attack on the vapidity of contemporary myV ledkyhu fQYeksa dh fuLlkjrk ij rh[ks geys fd, films. x, gSaA In the fifties we do get a few films which are ipkl ds n'kd esa gesa ,slh dqN fQYesa fn[kkbZ nsrh gSa concerned with rural poverty and hardships suffered by the farmers. Many of the young film-makers had ftuesa xk¡oksa esa iljh xjhch vkSj fdlkuksa dh rdyhQ+ksa dks been part of the Indian People’s Theatre Association ysdj Çprk O;ä dh xbZ gSA ml le; ds dbZ ukStoku and had deep political affiliations. In 1951, Khwaja fQYe fuekZrk bafM;u ihiYl fFk,Vj ,lksfl,'ku ¼bIVk½ dk Ahmad Abbas made ‘Dharati ke Lal’ on the Bengal fgLlk jgs Fks vkSj mudk xgjk jktuhfrd ljksdkj Hkh FkkA famine. His social commitment is seen actively 10 10 o"kZ 1951 esa [oktk vgen vCckl us caxky ds vdky ij informing films throughout the fifties and the sixties. ^/kjrh ds yky* uke ls ,d fQYe cukbZ FkhA ipkl vkSj lkB Bimal Rai made ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ about the ds n'kd ds nkSjku cuh fQYeksa esa mudh lfØ; lkekftd uprootment of farmers. Many of the Urdu lyricists izfrc)rk Li"V fn[kkbZ nsrh gSA fcey jkW; us fdlkuksa dh were part of the Progressive Movement. The film cngkyh dks ysdj ^nks ch?kk t+ehu* fQYe cuk;hA mnwZ ds about the peasantry that remains supremely vivid in vusd xhrdkj izxfr'khy vkanksyu dk fgLlk jgsA o"kZ 1957 every Indian’s mind even today is of course esa egcwc [kku }kjk fdlkuksa ds thou ij cukbZ xbZ fQYe Mehboob Khan’s ‘Mother India’ made in 1957. ^enj bafM;k* vkt Hkh gj Hkkjrh; ds fny esa Çtnk gSA fQj Nevertheless it must be admitted that such films, Hkh ;g Lohdkj djuk gksxk fd xzkeh.k thou dh ihM+kvksa dks dealing with the agony of the countryside, are vfHkO;ä djus okyh ,slh fQYesa cgqr de vuqikr esa gSaA woefully few in the body of our films. In fact, by the start of the fifties, our cities have okLro esa] ipkl ds n'kd dh 'kq#vkr rd gekjs 'kgj settled down in their new configuration and a vius u, foU;kl esa 11 11 o"kZ 1951 esa [oktk vgen vCckl us caxky ds vdky ij informing films throughout the fifties and the sixties. ^/kjrh ds yky* uke ls ,d fQYe cukbZ FkhA ipkl vkSj lkB Bimal Rai made ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ about the ds n'kd ds nkSjku cuh fQYeksa esa mudh lfØ; lkekftd uprootment of farmers. Many of the Urdu lyricists izfrc)rk Li"V fn[kkbZ nsrh gSA fcey jkW; us fdlkuksa dh were part of the Progressive Movement. The film cngkyh dks ysdj ^nks ch?kk t+ehu* fQYe cuk;hA mnwZ ds about the peasantry that remains supremely vivid in vusd xhrdkj izxfr'khy vkanksyu dk fgLlk jgsA o"kZ 1957 every Indian’s mind even today is of course esa egcwc [kku }kjk fdlkuksa ds thou ij cukbZ xbZ fQYe Mehboob Khan’s ‘Mother India’ made in 1957. ^enj bafM;k* vkt Hkh gj Hkkjrh; ds fny esa Çtnk gSA fQj Nevertheless it must be admitted that such films, Hkh ;g Lohdkj djuk gksxk fd xzkeh.k thou dh ihM+kvksa dks dealing with the agony of the countryside, are vfHkO;ä djus okyh ,slh fQYesa cgqr de vuqikr esa gSaA woefully few in the body of our films. In fact, by the start of the fifties, our cities have okLro esa] ipkl ds n'kd dh 'kq#vkr rd gekjs 'kgj settled down in their new configuration and a vius u, foU;kl esa 11 11 :i vkSj iz;kstu esa xjhcksa dks /;ku esa j[kdj cu jgh fQYeksa escapist fare on the one hand, often deliberately ls fHkUUk gksA irresponsible in its carefree narratives and bl izdkj ipkl ds n'kd esa geus fQYeksa ds nks indulgence in glamour, with exuberant music and vyx&vyx rjg ds oxks± dk mn; gksrs ns[kkA ,d oxZ dances, and alongside it, a cinema expressing the xkuksa o u`R; ls iyk;uoknh oxZ Fkk] tks izk;% vius eqä cultural notions of the middle-class, insisting on usjsfVOl esa tkucwÖkdj xSj&ftEesnkjku Fkk vkSj pdkpkSa/k esa understatement, genteel emotions and avoidance of vulgarity, a fare which would be palatable to the fy;k FkkA bl oxZ dh fQYeksa esa laxhr o u`R;ksa dh Hkjekj Fkh entire family. Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, Mehboob --- vkSj blds lkFk&lkFk bl flusek esa e/;eoxZ dh lkaL—frd and in their wake, a whole host of directors led by ekU;rkvksa dks n'kkZ;k tk jgk FkkA bu fQYeksa esa bl oxZ dh candidates from the Bengali Bhadralok, like pqIih] dksey Hkkoukvksa dks n'kkZus o v'yhyrk u ijkslus ij Hrishikesh Mukherjee ---created this distinct body tksj fn;k tkrk Fkk rkfd bu fQYeksa dks ifjokj ds lkFk of work. cSBdj ns[kk tk ldsA fcey jkW;] xq#nŸk] esgcwc vkSj lehphu lHkh fQYe funsZ'kd caxkyh Hkæyksd ds _f"kds'k The most famous representative of this school is Satyajit Ray who stunned the world with his eq[kthZ tSls funsZ'kdksa us bl rjg dh fQYesa cukbZ A ‘Pather Panchali’. In its depiction of social reality bl oxZ ds lqfo[;kr izfrfuf/k lR;ftr js Fks] ftUgksaus this film is strongly influenced by the Italian ^ikFksj ikapkyh* tSlh fQYe cukdj fo'o dks pkSadk fn;kA neorealist films, it eschews songs and dances and is lkekftd lPpkbZ dks n'kkZus okyh ;g fQYe dkQh gn rd based on a literary classic. Ray’s depiction of the bVyh ds U;ksfj;fyLV fQYeksa ls izHkkfor FkhA bl fQYe esa poverty is heart- rending but it is the poverty of the xkus o Mkal ugha gS vkSj ;g lkfgfR;d xzaFk ij vk/kkfjr gSA impoverished land-owning class . Ray’s success js }kjk bl fQYe esa fd;k x;k xjhch dk fp=.k ân; established that at least some of our films, which had until then been sneered at wholesale in the West, fonkjd gS ysfdu ;g fp=.k tehnkj oxZ dh fu/kZurk dk could be seen as representative of the best in our gSA js dh lQyrk us ;g fl) dj fn;k fd gekjh dqN culture. fQYesa] ftUgsa if'Pkeh ns'kksa esa frjLdkj Öksyuk iM+k] os gekjh laL—fr esa loZJs"B fQYe lkfcr gks ldrh gSaA A film that had come out at the beginning of the fifties and stood in direct contrast to Ray’s ipkl ds n'kd ds izkjEHk esa js dh bl ekLVjihl ds masterpiece is Raj Kapoor’s ‘Awara’. Indeed myV ,d fQYe vkbZ jktdiwj dh ^vkokjk*A fuLlansg ‘Awara’ , scripted by Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, is a [oktk vgen vCckl }kjk fyf[kr ;g fQYe pkyhl ds supreme culmination of the tradition of song-dance n'kd esa mHkjs laxhr-u`R; ls Hkjiwj ukVdksa dh ijEijk ij melodramas which had emerged in the forties. It has superb music, striking locations, spectacular dream 12 12 :i vkSj iz;kstu esa xjhcksa dks /;ku esa j[kdj cu jgh fQYeksa escapist fare on the one hand, often deliberately ls fHkUUk gksA irresponsible in its carefree narratives and bl izdkj ipkl ds n'kd esa geus fQYeksa ds nks indulgence in glamour, with exuberant music and vyx&vyx rjg ds oxks± dk mn; gksrs ns[kkA ,d oxZ dances, and alongside it, a cinema expressing the xkuksa o u`R; ls iyk;uoknh oxZ Fkk] tks izk;% vius eqä cultural notions of the middle-class, insisting on usjsfVOl esa tkucwÖkdj xSj&ftEesnkjku Fkk vkSj pdkpkSa/k esa understatement, genteel emotions and avoidance of vulgarity, a fare which would be palatable to the fy;k FkkA bl oxZ dh fQYeksa esa laxhr o u`R;ksa dh Hkjekj Fkh entire family. Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, Mehboob --- vkSj blds lkFk&lkFk bl flusek esa e/;eoxZ dh lkaL—frd and in their wake, a whole host of directors led by ekU;rkvksa dks n'kkZ;k tk jgk FkkA bu fQYeksa esa bl oxZ dh candidates from the Bengali Bhadralok, like pqIih] dksey Hkkoukvksa dks n'kkZus o v'yhyrk u ijkslus ij Hrishikesh Mukherjee ---created this distinct body tksj fn;k tkrk Fkk rkfd bu fQYeksa dks ifjokj ds lkFk of work. cSBdj ns[kk tk ldsA fcey jkW;] xq#nŸk] esgcwc vkSj lehphu lHkh fQYe funsZ'kd caxkyh Hkæyksd ds _f"kds'k The most famous representative of this school is Satyajit Ray who stunned the world with his eq[kthZ tSls funsZ'kdksa us bl rjg dh fQYesa cukbZ A ‘Pather Panchali’. In its depiction of social reality bl oxZ ds lqfo[;kr izfrfuf/k lR;ftr js Fks] ftUgksaus this film is strongly influenced by the Italian ^ikFksj ikapkyh* tSlh fQYe cukdj fo'o dks pkSadk fn;kA neorealist films, it eschews songs and dances and is lkekftd lPpkbZ dks n'kkZus okyh ;g fQYe dkQh gn rd based on a literary classic. Ray’s depiction of the bVyh ds U;ksfj;fyLV fQYeksa ls izHkkfor FkhA bl fQYe esa poverty is heart- rending but it is the poverty of the xkus o Mkal ugha gS vkSj ;g lkfgfR;d xzaFk ij vk/kkfjr gSA impoverished land-owning class . Ray’s success js }kjk bl fQYe esa fd;k x;k xjhch dk fp=.k ân; established that at least some of our films, which had until then been sneered at wholesale in the West, fonkjd gS ysfdu ;g fp=.k tehnkj oxZ dh fu/kZurk dk could be seen as representative of the best in our gSA js dh lQyrk us ;g fl) dj fn;k fd gekjh dqN culture. fQYesa] ftUgsa if'Pkeh ns'kksa esa frjLdkj Öksyuk iM+k] os gekjh laL—fr esa loZJs"B fQYe lkfcr gks ldrh gSaA A film that had come out at the beginning of the fifties and stood in direct contrast to Ray’s ipkl ds n'kd ds izkjEHk esa js dh bl ekLVjihl ds masterpiece is Raj Kapoor’s ‘Awara’. Indeed myV ,d fQYe vkbZ jktdiwj dh ^vkokjk*A fuLlansg ‘Awara’ , scripted by Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, is a [oktk vgen vCckl }kjk fyf[kr ;g fQYe pkyhl ds supreme culmination of the tradition of song-dance n'kd esa mHkjs laxhr-u`R; ls Hkjiwj ukVdksa dh ijEijk ij melodramas which had emerged in the forties. It has superb music, striking locations, spectacular dream 12 12 cuh loZJs"B fQYe FkhA bl fQYe esa 'kkunkj laxhr] eksgd sequences, romance and melodrama. And it LFky] n`';] jksekal rFkk Mªkek FkkA ;g fQYe varjkZ"Vªh; Lrj managed to garner a completely different kind of ij iw.kZr% vyx igpku cukus esa lQy jghA tc fufdrk recognition internationally. When Nikita Khruschev [kq'Pksoz us viuh jktuSfrd mnkjrk ds rkSj ij fo'o flusek decided, as a part of his political thaw, to open up the ds fy, lksfo;r ;wfu;u ds njokts [kksys rks og gkWyhoqM dks Soviet Union to world cinema, he was wary of blds izksisxaMk ds Mj ls ugha cqykuk pkgrk Fkk] blfy, inviting Hollywood because of its propaganda risks mlus Çgnh fQYe vkokjk dks vkeaf=r fd;k vkSj bl fQYe and decided to invite the Hindi ‘Awara’ instead. And us rgydk epk fn;kA lksfo;r la?k dk ;qok oxZ tks ;q) ls the film created a sensation. The Soviet youth, weary ?kcjk;k gqvk vkSj jk"Vª ds fy, cfynku nsus dh ckrsa of the war, tired of being told what sacrifices they should make for the nation and their sensibilities lqurs&lqurs ftldh laosnu'khyrk lekIr gks pqdh Fkh deadened by patriotic songs, was electrified by the ^vkokjk* dk lans'k&fd ;qokvksa dks viuh iSr`d ih<+h ds message of ‘Awara’----that the young have a right to ik[kaM ds ckjs esa iz'u djus dk vf/kdkj gS] ikdj tks'k ls question the hypocrisy of the parent generation. The Hkj x;kA bl fQYe dk xkuk ^vkokjk gwa* ¼xhrdkj 'kSysUæ] song , ‘Awara Hoon’, (a lyric by Shailendra set to laxhrdkj 'kadj t;fd'ku rFkk xk;d&eqds'k½ lksfo;r music by Shankar -Jaikishan and sung by Mukesh ) la?k] phu] VdhZ rFkk vQxkfuLrku ds xyh&dwpksa esa taxy swept the Soviet Union, China, Turkey and esa vkx dh rjg QSy x;k vkSj ;g gj ;qok dh tqcku ij cl Afghanistan like wild fire and was on every youth’s x;kA VdhZ esa gky gh esa bl fQYe dks nksckjk cuk;k x;k] tongue. The film was recently remade in Turkey with ftlesa ml ns'k ds izeq[k LVkj eq[; Hkwfedk esa gSaA one of the country’s popular stars in the lead. Vikram miU;kldkj foØe lsB us vius laLej.k esa lquk;k fd dbZ Seth, the novelist, recounts how several decades n'kd ckn tc og frCcr x;s Fks vkSj og Ygklk tkus dh later he was in Tibet, waiting for permission to visit vuqefr ysus ds fy, dkQh le; ls bartkj dj jgs Fks] ,d Lhasa and had been kept waiting indefinitely. One 'kke mUgksaus ,d xkao esa ^vkokjk gwa* xkuk 'kq: fd;k rks u evening he burst into ‘Awara Hoon’ in the village dsoy frCcrh cfYd phuh xkMZ Hkh muds lkFk xkuk&xkus esa square and not only the Tibetans but even the Chinese guards joined him in singing that song. He 'kkfey gks x;sA vxys gh fnu mUgsa ohtk fey x;kA ftl received his visa the very next day. Just as Ray swept izdkj js us if'Pkeh ns'kksa ds fnyksa dks thrk mlh izdkj the West, Raj Kapoor conquered the East. jktdiwj us iwohZ ns'kksa esa viuk LFkku cuk;kA Historically then by mid- fifties we have a bfrgkl ij utj Mkysa rks ipkl ds n'kd ds e/; rd cinema which is unafraid of the dominating presence Hkkjrh; flusek gkWyhoqM ds vf/kiR; ls u dsoy eqä gks of Holywood, indeed with a much larger reach than pqdk Fkk vfirq og vius vesfjdh izfr;ksxh ls vkxs fudy its American rival, presenting itself to the world with 13 13 cuh loZJs"B fQYe FkhA bl fQYe esa 'kkunkj laxhr] eksgd sequences, romance and melodrama. And it LFky] n`';] jksekal rFkk Mªkek FkkA ;g fQYe varjkZ"Vªh; Lrj managed to garner a completely different kind of ij iw.kZr% vyx igpku cukus esa lQy jghA tc fufdrk recognition internationally. When Nikita Khruschev [kq'Pksoz us viuh jktuSfrd mnkjrk ds rkSj ij fo'o flusek decided, as a part of his political thaw, to open up the ds fy, lksfo;r ;wfu;u ds njokts [kksys rks og gkWyhoqM dks Soviet Union to world cinema, he was wary of blds izksisxaMk ds Mj ls ugha cqykuk pkgrk Fkk] blfy, inviting Hollywood because of its propaganda risks mlus Çgnh fQYe vkokjk dks vkeaf=r fd;k vkSj bl fQYe and decided to invite the Hindi ‘Awara’ instead. And us rgydk epk fn;kA lksfo;r la?k dk ;qok oxZ tks ;q) ls the film created a sensation. The Soviet youth, weary ?kcjk;k gqvk vkSj jk"Vª ds fy, cfynku nsus dh ckrsa of the war, tired of being told what sacrifices they should make for the nation and their sensibilities lqurs&lqurs ftldh laosnu'khyrk lekIr gks pqdh Fkh deadened by patriotic songs, was electrified by the ^vkokjk* dk lans'k&fd ;qokvksa dks viuh iSr`d ih<+h ds message of ‘Awara’----that the young have a right to ik[kaM ds ckjs esa iz'u djus dk vf/kdkj gS] ikdj tks'k ls question the hypocrisy of the parent generation. The Hkj x;kA bl fQYe dk xkuk ^vkokjk gwa* ¼xhrdkj 'kSysUæ] song , ‘Awara Hoon’, (a lyric by Shailendra set to laxhrdkj 'kadj t;fd'ku rFkk xk;d&eqds'k½ lksfo;r music by Shankar -Jaikishan and sung by Mukesh ) la?k] phu] VdhZ rFkk vQxkfuLrku ds xyh&dwpksa esa taxy swept the Soviet Union, China, Turkey and esa vkx dh rjg QSy x;k vkSj ;g gj ;qok dh tqcku ij cl Afghanistan like wild fire and was on every youth’s x;kA VdhZ esa gky gh esa bl fQYe dks nksckjk cuk;k x;k] tongue. The film was recently remade in Turkey with ftlesa ml ns'k ds izeq[k LVkj eq[; Hkwfedk esa gSaA one of the country’s popular stars in the lead. Vikram miU;kldkj foØe lsB us vius laLej.k esa lquk;k fd dbZ Seth, the novelist, recounts how several decades n'kd ckn tc og frCcr x;s Fks vkSj og Ygklk tkus dh later he was in Tibet, waiting for permission to visit vuqefr ysus ds fy, dkQh le; ls bartkj dj jgs Fks] ,d Lhasa and had been kept waiting indefinitely. One 'kke mUgksaus ,d xkao esa ^vkokjk gwa* xkuk 'kq: fd;k rks u evening he burst into ‘Awara Hoon’ in the village dsoy frCcrh cfYd phuh xkMZ Hkh muds lkFk xkuk&xkus esa square and not only the Tibetans but even the Chinese guards joined him in singing that song. He 'kkfey gks x;sA vxys gh fnu mUgsa ohtk fey x;kA ftl received his visa the very next day. Just as Ray swept izdkj js us if'Pkeh ns'kksa ds fnyksa dks thrk mlh izdkj the West, Raj Kapoor conquered the East. jktdiwj us iwohZ ns'kksa esa viuk LFkku cuk;kA Historically then by mid- fifties we have a bfrgkl ij utj Mkysa rks ipkl ds n'kd ds e/; rd cinema which is unafraid of the dominating presence Hkkjrh; flusek gkWyhoqM ds vf/kiR; ls u dsoy eqä gks of Holywood, indeed with a much larger reach than pqdk Fkk vfirq og vius vesfjdh izfr;ksxh ls vkxs fudy its American rival, presenting itself to the world with 13 13 pqdk FkkA og vHkwriwoZ fo'okl ds lkFk fo'o ds le{k Lo;a unprecedented confidence and the world is dks izLrqr dj jgk Fkk vkSj fo'o u;s Hkkjr dh 'kfä ds :i accepting it as representing the vitality of new India. esa mls Lohdkj dj jgk Fkk A Coincidentally, 1955 was also the year of the la;ksxo'k] 1955 esa cUnqax esa ,Ýks&,f'k;u dkaÝsal Hkh Afro-Asian Conference held at Bandung. Twenty- vk;ksftr dh xbZ FkhA Lora= lksp ds vf/kdkj ds fy, seven nations refusing to join either side in the Cold ?kksf"kr 'khr;q) esa 27 jk"Vªksa us fdlh Hkh rjg ls Hkkx ysus ls war met to declare their right to think independently euk dj fn;k Fkk vkSj bl vyxkooknh xqV ds usrk ds :i esa and Nehru emerged as a leader of this ‘non-aligned usg:th mHkjs FksA bl izdkj 50 ds n'kd esa Hkkjr ,d vksj block’. Thus we have in the fifties India leading jktuhfr ds eap ij vxqokbZ dj jgk Fkk vkSj nwljh rjQ politically on the one hand and in the world of fo'o flusek txr esa Hkh mldh /kkd Fkh] ysfdu ;s nksuksa cinema on the other, but the two major achievements egRoiw.kZ miyfC/k;ka Lora= :i ls vyx&vyx ?kfVr gks were happening independently of each other. jgh FkhaA The question I want to tackle now is how is it vc eSa ftl iz'u ij vius fopkj O;ä djus tk jgk gwa that Indian cinema, which had started life only thirty years before as a cheap form of entertainment, og ;g gS fd Hkkjrh; flusek ftlus dsoy 30 o"kZ igys ,d despised by the cultural and political leaders and lLrs euksjatu ds lk/ku ds :i esa viuk thou 'kq: fd;k held in suspicion by the very society it sought to Fkk vkSj ftls lkaL—frd o jktuSfrd usrkvksa ds frjLdkj entertain, had managed to become in the eyes of the dk lkeuk djuk iM+k vkSj tks lekt blls viuk euksjatu world the glory of India ? djrk Fkk mlus Hkh ftls lansg dh n`f"V ls ns[kk og dSls fo'o dh ut+jksa esa Hkkjr dh 'kku cu x;k \ The answer needless to say is complex but I shall try to disentangle the different strands that went bl iz'u dk mŸkj fuLlansg tfVy gS ysfdu eSa fdlh into the weaving of this enormous success. I shall be m|ksx dh lQyrk ls tqM+s fofHkUUk igyqvksa ij izdk'k Mkyus absolutely elementary and distinguish four strands. dk iz;kl d:axkA eSa] blls tqM+s pkj igyqvksa ij izdk'k Firstly, while most regional cinemas Mkywaxk A concentrated on their language markets, from the igyk] ;g gS fd tc vf/kdka'k {ks=h; flusek vius very start Hindi cinema reached out to grasp the Hkk"kk cktkj dks /;ku esa j[kdj fQYesa cuk jgs Fks] ogha Çgnh whole of India. It ignored the specific problems of flusek us 'kq: ls gh lEiw.kZ Hkkjr dks vius dysoj esa lesVus the Hindi region totally and carefully made films dk liuk latks;kA blus Çgnh {ks= dh fof'k"V leL;kvksa dks which could attract audiences in the far corner of the njfdukj djrs gq, cgqr gh lko/kkuhiwoZd ,slh fQYeksa dk country. It thus created a totally new environment in which for the first time in the entire history of India 14 14 pqdk FkkA og vHkwriwoZ fo'okl ds lkFk fo'o ds le{k Lo;a unprecedented confidence and the world is dks izLrqr dj jgk Fkk vkSj fo'o u;s Hkkjr dh 'kfä ds :i accepting it as representing the vitality of new India. esa mls Lohdkj dj jgk Fkk A Coincidentally, 1955 was also the year of the la;ksxo'k] 1955 esa cUnqax esa ,Ýks&,f'k;u dkaÝsal Hkh Afro-Asian Conference held at Bandung. Twenty- vk;ksftr dh xbZ FkhA Lora= lksp ds vf/kdkj ds fy, seven nations refusing to join either side in the Cold ?kksf"kr 'khr;q) esa 27 jk"Vªksa us fdlh Hkh rjg ls Hkkx ysus ls war met to declare their right to think independently euk dj fn;k Fkk vkSj bl vyxkooknh xqV ds usrk ds :i esa and Nehru emerged as a leader of this ‘non-aligned usg:th mHkjs FksA bl izdkj 50 ds n'kd esa Hkkjr ,d vksj block’. Thus we have in the fifties India leading jktuhfr ds eap ij vxqokbZ dj jgk Fkk vkSj nwljh rjQ politically on the one hand and in the world of fo'o flusek txr esa Hkh mldh /kkd Fkh] ysfdu ;s nksuksa cinema on the other, but the two major achievements egRoiw.kZ miyfC/k;ka Lora= :i ls vyx&vyx ?kfVr gks were happening independently of each other. jgh FkhaA The question I want to tackle now is how is it vc eSa ftl iz'u ij vius fopkj O;ä djus tk jgk gwa that Indian cinema, which had started life only thirty years before as a cheap form of entertainment, og ;g gS fd Hkkjrh; flusek ftlus dsoy 30 o"kZ igys ,d despised by the cultural and political leaders and lLrs euksjatu ds lk/ku ds :i esa viuk thou 'kq: fd;k held in suspicion by the very society it sought to Fkk vkSj ftls lkaL—frd o jktuSfrd usrkvksa ds frjLdkj entertain, had managed to become in the eyes of the dk lkeuk djuk iM+k vkSj tks lekt blls viuk euksjatu world the glory of India ? djrk Fkk mlus Hkh ftls lansg dh n`f"V ls ns[kk og dSls fo'o dh ut+jksa esa Hkkjr dh 'kku cu x;k \ The answer needless to say is complex but I shall try to disentangle the different strands that went bl iz'u dk mŸkj fuLlansg tfVy gS ysfdu eSa fdlh into the weaving of this enormous success. I shall be m|ksx dh lQyrk ls tqM+s fofHkUUk igyqvksa ij izdk'k Mkyus absolutely elementary and distinguish four strands. dk iz;kl d:axkA eSa] blls tqM+s pkj igyqvksa ij izdk'k Firstly, while most regional cinemas Mkywaxk A concentrated on their language markets, from the igyk] ;g gS fd tc vf/kdka'k {ks=h; flusek vius very start Hindi cinema reached out to grasp the Hkk"kk cktkj dks /;ku esa j[kdj fQYesa cuk jgs Fks] ogha Çgnh whole of India. It ignored the specific problems of flusek us 'kq: ls gh lEiw.kZ Hkkjr dks vius dysoj esa lesVus the Hindi region totally and carefully made films dk liuk latks;kA blus Çgnh {ks= dh fof'k"V leL;kvksa dks which could attract audiences in the far corner of the njfdukj djrs gq, cgqr gh lko/kkuhiwoZd ,slh fQYeksa dk country. It thus created a totally new environment in which for the first time in the entire history of India 14 14 fuekZ.k fd;k tks iwjs ns'k ds n'kZdksa dks vkdÆ"kr dj ldsaA the same work of entertainment was being enjoyed blls iw.kZr% u;k okrkoj.k cuk vkSj Hkkjr ds lEiw.kZ bfrgkl and shared by different people in different parts of esa igyh ckj ,slk gqvk fd Çgnh esa cukbZ xbZ fQYesa ns'k ds India at the very same time. ‘Devdas’ drew crowds in fofHkUUk Hkkxksa esa ,d gh le; esa cM+h mRlqdrk ds lkFk ns[kh Calcutta as in Bombay. The film song, ‘Chalee re tkus yxhA ^nsonkl* us dydŸkk esa eqEcbZ dh Hkkafr HkhM+ chalee meri naav chalee re,’ could be heard being ,df=r dhA bl fQYe dk xkuk ^pyh js pyh esjh uko pyh sung or hummed in Ahmadabad as in Bangalore. js* caxykSj dh rjg gh vgenkckn esa Hkh yksxksa dks xkrs o Glorious Gohar found fan following and adoration lqurs gq, ns[kk x;kA Xyksfj;l xksgj ds vuq;k;h o iz'kald in Punjab as in Orissa. The success of a film in Delhi ftrus mM+hlk esa Fks mrus gh iatkc esaA fnYyh esa fdlh fQYe had its repercussion on the audience’s attendance in dh lQyrk dk vlj dukZVd ds NksVs 'kgj ds n'kZdksa ij Hkh a small town in Karnataka. The joys and sorrows ns[kk tk ldrk FkkA fQYe dks ns[krs le; n'kZdksa dks vkuan experienced while watching a film were thus o nq%[k dh vuqHkwfr iwjs jk"Vª esa ,d leku vkSj yxHkx ,d gh nationally shared ---and almost simultaneously--by people who were separated by distance, culture, le; ij ns[kus dks feyrh Fkh Hkys gh os n'kZd HkkSxksfyd history, religion and language. In that experience it nwjh] lkaL—frd] bfrgkl] {ks= o Hkk"kk dh n`f"V ls vyx jgs brought together the whole nation. gksaA* bl vuqHko us iwjs jk"Vª dks ,d lw= esa fijks fn;k A As a young boy I loved the stunt films starring tc eSa ;qok Fkk ml le; eqÖks ukfM;k }kjk vfHkuhr Fearless Nadia. She was an Australian dancer of LVaV fQYesa cgqr vPNh yxrh FkhaA og xzhd ewy dh Greek origins who was the star of films made by vkLVªsfy;u Mkalj Fkh vkSj okfM;k cznlZ }kjk cukbZ xbZ Wadia Brothers, who were Parsees producing films fQYeksa dh LVkj FkhA okfM;k cznlZ ikjlh Fks vkSj cEcbZ esa in Bombay. And here we were a whole generation of fQYesa cukrs vkSj ge ;qok ih<+h ds lHkh yksx if'Pkeh ?kkV ds youngsters lapping up her films in Sirsi, a small town taxyksa ds chp esa cls ,d NksVs ls 'kgj fljlh esa ukfM;k dh in the middle of the jungles on Western Ghats. fQYeksa dk vkuan mBk jgs Fks A The second factor was the language of these nwljk QSDVj gS bu fQYeksa dh Hkk"kkA fljlh dh {ks=h; films. The regional language of Sirsi was Kannada Hkk"kk dUUkM+ Fkh vkSj fQYesa Çgnh esa gqvk djrh FkhA fQj Hkh] and the films were in Hindi. Yet we understood the bu fQYeksa ds laokn ge leÖk ysrs FksA okLro esa Hkkjr ds dialogue. In fact generations after generations in xSj&ÇgnhHkk"kh {ks=ksa esa ih<+h nj ih<+h Çgnh dks leÖkus dk Js; non-Hindi regions of India learnt Hindi thanks to the bu fQYeksa dks tkrk gSA gesa ;g Hkh leÖk ysuk pkfg, fd films. And let us note that this language was not bu {ks=ksa esa ;g Hkk"kk jsMhesM Hkk"kk ds :i esa iz;ksx ugha dh sitting there ready-made to be used. In the early sound films we see the dialogue writers struggling to tk jgh FkhA cksyus okyh fQYeksa ds 'kq:vkrh nkSj esa geus find the right idiom: Bhojpuri, Avadhi, Poorabi, all 15 15 fuekZ.k fd;k tks iwjs ns'k ds n'kZdksa dks vkdÆ"kr dj ldsaA the same work of entertainment was being enjoyed blls iw.kZr% u;k okrkoj.k cuk vkSj Hkkjr ds lEiw.kZ bfrgkl and shared by different people in different parts of esa igyh ckj ,slk gqvk fd Çgnh esa cukbZ xbZ fQYesa ns'k ds India at the very same time. ‘Devdas’ drew crowds in fofHkUUk Hkkxksa esa ,d gh le; esa cM+h mRlqdrk ds lkFk ns[kh Calcutta as in Bombay. The film song, ‘Chalee re tkus yxhA ^nsonkl* us dydŸkk esa eqEcbZ dh Hkkafr HkhM+ chalee meri naav chalee re,’ could be heard being ,df=r dhA bl fQYe dk xkuk ^pyh js pyh esjh uko pyh sung or hummed in Ahmadabad as in Bangalore. js* caxykSj dh rjg gh vgenkckn esa Hkh yksxksa dks xkrs o Glorious Gohar found fan following and adoration lqurs gq, ns[kk x;kA Xyksfj;l xksgj ds vuq;k;h o iz'kald in Punjab as in Orissa. The success of a film in Delhi ftrus mM+hlk esa Fks mrus gh iatkc esaA fnYyh esa fdlh fQYe had its repercussion on the audience’s attendance in dh lQyrk dk vlj dukZVd ds NksVs 'kgj ds n'kZdksa ij Hkh a small town in Karnataka. The joys and sorrows ns[kk tk ldrk FkkA fQYe dks ns[krs le; n'kZdksa dks vkuan experienced while watching a film were thus o nq%[k dh vuqHkwfr iwjs jk"Vª esa ,d leku vkSj yxHkx ,d gh nationally shared ---and almost simultaneously--by people who were separated by distance, culture, le; ij ns[kus dks feyrh Fkh Hkys gh os n'kZd HkkSxksfyd history, religion and language. In that experience it nwjh] lkaL—frd] bfrgkl] {ks= o Hkk"kk dh n`f"V ls vyx jgs brought together the whole nation. gksaA* bl vuqHko us iwjs jk"Vª dks ,d lw= esa fijks fn;k A As a young boy I loved the stunt films starring tc eSa ;qok Fkk ml le; eqÖks ukfM;k }kjk vfHkuhr Fearless Nadia. She was an Australian dancer of LVaV fQYesa cgqr vPNh yxrh FkhaA og xzhd ewy dh Greek origins who was the star of films made by vkLVªsfy;u Mkalj Fkh vkSj okfM;k cznlZ }kjk cukbZ xbZ Wadia Brothers, who were Parsees producing films fQYeksa dh LVkj FkhA okfM;k cznlZ ikjlh Fks vkSj cEcbZ esa in Bombay. And here we were a whole generation of fQYesa cukrs vkSj ge ;qok ih<+h ds lHkh yksx if'Pkeh ?kkV ds youngsters lapping up her films in Sirsi, a small town taxyksa ds chp esa cls ,d NksVs ls 'kgj fljlh esa ukfM;k dh in the middle of the jungles on Western Ghats. fQYeksa dk vkuan mBk jgs Fks A The second factor was the language of these nwljk QSDVj gS bu fQYeksa dh Hkk"kkA fljlh dh {ks=h; films. The regional language of Sirsi was Kannada Hkk"kk dUUkM+ Fkh vkSj fQYesa Çgnh esa gqvk djrh FkhA fQj Hkh] and the films were in Hindi. Yet we understood the bu fQYeksa ds laokn ge leÖk ysrs FksA okLro esa Hkkjr ds dialogue. In fact generations after generations in xSj&ÇgnhHkk"kh {ks=ksa esa ih<+h nj ih<+h Çgnh dks leÖkus dk Js; non-Hindi regions of India learnt Hindi thanks to the bu fQYeksa dks tkrk gSA gesa ;g Hkh leÖk ysuk pkfg, fd films. And let us note that this language was not bu {ks=ksa esa ;g Hkk"kk jsMhesM Hkk"kk ds :i esa iz;ksx ugha dh sitting there ready-made to be used. In the early sound films we see the dialogue writers struggling to tk jgh FkhA cksyus okyh fQYeksa ds 'kq:vkrh nkSj esa geus find the right idiom: Bhojpuri, Avadhi, Poorabi, all 15 15 ;g ns[kk Fkk fd laokn ys[kdksa dks lgh 'kCnksa dk p;u djus are tried out and discarded. It is only after years of ds fy, cgqr la?k"kZ djuk iM+rk FkkA Hkkstiqjh] vo/kh] iwohZ experiment that a kind of Hindi is manufactured, lHkh Hkk"kkvksa esa dksf'k'k dh ysfdu lc csdkjA cjlksa ds close to khadi boli, which becomes the standard ijh{k.k ds ckn ,d vyx rjg dh Çgnh cukbZ xbZ tks [kM+h ‘Bambayya Hindi’, an idiom carefully designed to cksyh ds dkQh fudV Fkh tks cEcbZ;k Çgnh ds uke ls tkuh reach out beyond the varieties available in the tkus yxh vkSj Çgnh {ks=ksa esa miyC/k 'kCnkoyh ls gVdj Hindi region. Thus the Hindi films created a blh Hkk"kk esa laokn jps tkus yxsA bl izdkj Çgnh fQYeksa us language-world which could be anywhere in India, ,sls Hkk"kk txr dk fuekZ.k fd;k tks Hkkjr esa dgha ij Hkh with characters with names like Radha and Ram and leÖkk tk lds vkSj ftlesa fQYeksa ds ik=ksa ds uke jke] jk/kk Rehman moving about in a caste-less, class-less vkSj jgeku j[ks x;s vkSj ;g ,slk Hkk"kk txr Fkk tks tkfr world. If today Hindi is accepted as our national foghu] oxZ foghu txr ds :i esa fn[kkbZ ns jgk FkkA ;fn language, the credit must surely go to those dialogue writers of Hindi films in the thirties and early forties. vkt Çgnh dks gekjh jk"VªHkk"kk ds :i esa Lohdkj fd;k tk jgk gS rks bldk Js; 30 ds n'kd rFkk 40osa n'kd ds izkjaHk Let me quickly add that it was not only the esa Çgnh fQYeksa ds laokn ys[kdksa dks tkrk gSA Hindi language that benefitted from the development of films. Some other languages did too eSa] ;g Hkh crkuk pkgrk gwa fd fQYeksa ds fodkl ls in different ways. I belong to Karnataka where dsoy Çgnh Hkk"kk dks gh ykHk ugha igqapk gSA nwljh Hkk"kk,a Hkh literature has been handed down the centuries in two blls vyx&vyx 16 16 ;g ns[kk Fkk fd laokn ys[kdksa dks lgh 'kCnksa dk p;u djus are tried out and discarded. It is only after years of ds fy, cgqr la?k"kZ djuk iM+rk FkkA Hkkstiqjh] vo/kh] iwohZ experiment that a kind of Hindi is manufactured, lHkh Hkk"kkvksa esa dksf'k'k dh ysfdu lc csdkjA cjlksa ds close to khadi boli, which becomes the standard ijh{k.k ds ckn ,d vyx rjg dh Çgnh cukbZ xbZ tks [kM+h ‘Bambayya Hindi’, an idiom carefully designed to cksyh ds dkQh fudV Fkh tks cEcbZ;k Çgnh ds uke ls tkuh reach out beyond the varieties available in the tkus yxh vkSj Çgnh {ks=ksa esa miyC/k 'kCnkoyh ls gVdj Hindi region. Thus the Hindi films created a blh Hkk"kk esa laokn jps tkus yxsA bl izdkj Çgnh fQYeksa us language-world which could be anywhere in India, ,sls Hkk"kk txr dk fuekZ.k fd;k tks Hkkjr esa dgha ij Hkh with characters with names like Radha and Ram and leÖkk tk lds vkSj ftlesa fQYeksa ds ik=ksa ds uke jke] jk/kk Rehman moving about in a caste-less, class-less vkSj jgeku j[ks x;s vkSj ;g ,slk Hkk"kk txr Fkk tks tkfr world. If today Hindi is accepted as our national foghu] oxZ foghu txr ds :i esa fn[kkbZ ns jgk FkkA ;fn language, the credit must surely go to those dialogue writers of Hindi films in the thirties and early forties. vkt Çgnh dks gekjh jk"VªHkk"kk ds :i esa Lohdkj fd;k tk jgk gS rks bldk Js; 30 ds n'kd rFkk 40osa n'kd ds izkjaHk Let me quickly add that it was not only the esa Çgnh fQYeksa ds laokn ys[kdksa dks tkrk gSA Hindi language that benefitted from the development of films. Some other languages did too eSa] ;g Hkh crkuk pkgrk gwa fd fQYeksa ds fodkl ls in different ways. I belong to Karnataka where dsoy Çgnh Hkk"kk dks gh ykHk ugha igqapk gSA nwljh Hkk"kk,a Hkh literature has been handed down the centuries in two blls vyx&vyx 16 16 fQYeksa dks jk"Vªh; dyk—fr dk ntkZ fnykus ds ihNs talking about music I want to point out the special rhljk egRoiw.kZ igyw gS laxhrA laxhr dh ckr djrs le; position that that art form has in the upbringing of an eSa bl dyk ds ml fo'ks"k Lo:i dh ppkZ djuk pkgrk gwa tks ordinary Indian. More than any other art form--- vke Hkkjrh; ds ykyu&ikyu ls tqM+h gSA dyk ds vU; painting, dancing, architecture ----it is music that has Lo:iksa tSls isaÇVXl] u`R;] okLrqdyk ls Hkh vf/kd egRoiw.kZ come to define what we may call the Indian laxhr gS] ftls ge Hkkjrh; vuqHkwfr dg ldrs gSaA gekjs sensibility. This is the great contribution of two bfrgkl esa Hkfä o lwQh dh lekukUrj ijEijkvksa dk blesa parallel traditions in our history, the Bhakti tradition cgqr cM+k ;ksxnku gSA bu nksuksa ijEijkvksa us bl ckr ij and Sufism, both of which insisted that you could tksj fn;k fd vki fcuk fdlh vuq"Bku ;k 'kkóh; fof/k ds approach God without rituals---it was enough to surrender to him, sing out to him. Both these Hkxoku rd igqap ldrs gSa vxj ge Hkxoku ds izfr leÆir traditions did much to plant music in the heart of gksdj mudk xq.kxku djsaA bu nksuksa ijEijkvksa us Hkkjrh; daily life in Indian homes, urging Indians to sing yksxksa ds fnyksa esa laxhr ds fy, ,d fo'ks"k LFkku cuk;k vkSj whenever people gathered together ----at temple Hkkjrh;ksa dks tulewgksa] nsoky; ds vuq"Bkuksa] lkekftd rituals, social gatherings, political meetings and lekjksgksa] jktuhfrd lHkkvksa vkSj ;gka rd fd nkg laLdkjksa even funerals. It goes without saying that when they esa xkuk xkus ds fy, izsfjr fd;kA ;g dgus dh vko';drk gathered together for entertainment they would ugha fd tc Hkh og euksjatu ds fy, lewg esa ,df=r gksaxs demand music. It was inevitable that like Indian rks os laxhr dh gh ekax djsaxsA 19oha lnh ds fFk;sVjksa dh theatre in the 19th century, films too should have rjg fQYeksa esa laxhr vijhgk;Z Fkk A music. okLro esa ^ewd fQYesa* dHkh Hkh ^ewd* ugha FkhA bu Actually, ‘silent films’ were never really silent; fQYeksa ds izn'kZu ds nkSjku fi;kuksa rFkk ok;fyu ;k there was always an orchestra of sorts---piano and violins or harmonium and tabla or whatever local gkjeksfu;e rFkk rcyk ;k tks Hkh LFkkuh; ok|;a= miyC/k musical talent was available---was playing during gksrk Fkk] mls ctk;k tkrk Fkk tks bu fQYeksa ds n`';ksa esa the performance, adding to the emotional flow of the HkkoukRed izokg ykrk FkkA ges'kk gh ,d usjsVj gksrk Fkk tks visuals. There was always a narrator who read out 'kh"kZd dkM~lZ dks i<+rk Fkk ;k insZ ij fn[kkbZ tk jgh dgkuh the title cards or explained the intricacies of the story dh ckjhfd;ksa dk o.kZu djrk FkkA ysfdu gekjh ewd fQYeksa taking place on the screen. Nevertheless, our silent dks gkWyhoqM dh ewd fQYeksa ls [krjk iSnk gks x;kA gkWyhoqM movies felt threatened by the Hollywood silent dh fQYesa rduhdh :i ls Js"B] vf/kd 'kkunkj rFkk de films, which were technically superior, more ewY; ij ns[kus ds fy, miyc/k Fkha D;ksafd mudk spectacular, and available for exhibition on more vUrjkZ"Vªh; cktkj cgqr cM+k FkkA economic terms since India was only a small part of their international market. 17 17 fQYeksa dks jk"Vªh; dyk—fr dk ntkZ fnykus ds ihNs talking about music I want to point out the special rhljk egRoiw.kZ igyw gS laxhrA laxhr dh ckr djrs le; position that that art form has in the upbringing of an eSa bl dyk ds ml fo'ks"k Lo:i dh ppkZ djuk pkgrk gwa tks ordinary Indian. More than any other art form--- vke Hkkjrh; ds ykyu&ikyu ls tqM+h gSA dyk ds vU; painting, dancing, architecture ----it is music that has Lo:iksa tSls isaÇVXl] u`R;] okLrqdyk ls Hkh vf/kd egRoiw.kZ come to define what we may call the Indian laxhr gS] ftls ge Hkkjrh; vuqHkwfr dg ldrs gSaA gekjs sensibility. This is the great contribution of two bfrgkl esa Hkfä o lwQh dh lekukUrj ijEijkvksa dk blesa parallel traditions in our history, the Bhakti tradition cgqr cM+k ;ksxnku gSA bu nksuksa ijEijkvksa us bl ckr ij and Sufism, both of which insisted that you could tksj fn;k fd vki fcuk fdlh vuq"Bku ;k 'kkóh; fof/k ds approach God without rituals---it was enough to surrender to him, sing out to him. Both these Hkxoku rd igqap ldrs gSa vxj ge Hkxoku ds izfr leÆir traditions did much to plant music in the heart of gksdj mudk xq.kxku djsaA bu nksuksa ijEijkvksa us Hkkjrh; daily life in Indian homes, urging Indians to sing yksxksa ds fnyksa esa laxhr ds fy, ,d fo'ks"k LFkku cuk;k vkSj whenever people gathered together ----at temple Hkkjrh;ksa dks tulewgksa] nsoky; ds vuq"Bkuksa] lkekftd rituals, social gatherings, political meetings and lekjksgksa] jktuhfrd lHkkvksa vkSj ;gka rd fd nkg laLdkjksa even funerals. It goes without saying that when they esa xkuk xkus ds fy, izsfjr fd;kA ;g dgus dh vko';drk gathered together for entertainment they would ugha fd tc Hkh og euksjatu ds fy, lewg esa ,df=r gksaxs demand music. It was inevitable that like Indian rks os laxhr dh gh ekax djsaxsA 19oha lnh ds fFk;sVjksa dh theatre in the 19th century, films too should have rjg fQYeksa esa laxhr vijhgk;Z Fkk A music. okLro esa ^ewd fQYesa* dHkh Hkh ^ewd* ugha FkhA bu Actually, ‘silent films’ were never really silent; fQYeksa ds izn'kZu ds nkSjku fi;kuksa rFkk ok;fyu ;k there was always an orchestra of sorts---piano and violins or harmonium and tabla or whatever local gkjeksfu;e rFkk rcyk ;k tks Hkh LFkkuh; ok|;a= miyC/k musical talent was available---was playing during gksrk Fkk] mls ctk;k tkrk Fkk tks bu fQYeksa ds n`';ksa esa the performance, adding to the emotional flow of the HkkoukRed izokg ykrk FkkA ges'kk gh ,d usjsVj gksrk Fkk tks visuals. There was always a narrator who read out 'kh"kZd dkM~lZ dks i<+rk Fkk ;k insZ ij fn[kkbZ tk jgh dgkuh the title cards or explained the intricacies of the story dh ckjhfd;ksa dk o.kZu djrk FkkA ysfdu gekjh ewd fQYeksa taking place on the screen. Nevertheless, our silent dks gkWyhoqM dh ewd fQYeksa ls [krjk iSnk gks x;kA gkWyhoqM movies felt threatened by the Hollywood silent dh fQYesa rduhdh :i ls Js"B] vf/kd 'kkunkj rFkk de films, which were technically superior, more ewY; ij ns[kus ds fy, miyc/k Fkha D;ksafd mudk spectacular, and available for exhibition on more vUrjkZ"Vªh; cktkj cgqr cM+k FkkA economic terms since India was only a small part of their international market. 17 17 ysfdu 1929 esa tc cksyus okyh fQYe cuh rks fQtk But once sound came in 1929, the situation gh cny xbZA laxhrdkj HkkLdj pUnkojdj us dgk igyh changed radically. The musicologist Bhaskar cksyrh fQYe ^vkye vkjk* tks 14 ekpZ] 1931 dks fjyht gqbZ Chandavarkar has pointed out, ‘the Salt Satyagraha Fkh] ls dqN ekg iwoZ gh xka/kh th }kjk pyk, x, ued and the new direction given to Indian politics by lR;kxzg o Hkkjrh; jktuhfr dks ubZ fn'kk nh FkhA ml le; Gandhi were only a few months before Alam Ara, Hkkjrh; turk esa vHkwriwoZ tkx#drk Fkh] jktuSfrd the first talkie which was released on March 14th tkx#drk pje ij FkhA 1931. There was unprecedented awakening of the masses in India around that time, a great heightening ,slk izk;% dgk tkrk gS fd fQYeksa esa /ofu ds vkxeu of political awareness.’ ds lkFk gh if'Pkeh fQYeksa us cksyuk 'kq: fd;k rks Hkkjrh; fQYeksa esa xkuksa dk izpyu c<+kA blds ckn mUgksaus dHkh ihNs As has often been said, with the arrival of sound, movies in the West began to talk while in eqM+dj ugha ns[kkA orZeku Hkkjrh; flusek bldk Li"V India they began to sing. And they never looked mnkgj.k gS ckgjh izfrLi/kkZ dk Hk; jkrksa&jkr lekIr gks back; there was now a distinctly Indian Cinema. The x;kA fear of competition from outside simply disappeared cksyus okyh fQYeksa ds lkFk gh xkus fQYeksa ds vfHkUUk overnight. vax cu x;sA vc iz'u ;g Fkk fd fdl izdkj ds xkus fy[ks With talkies, songs became an essential part of tk,a] buds fy, laxhr dgka ls vk,\ dgus dk eryc gS fd the film. The question was what kind of songs could ml le; gekjs ikl jsMhesM jk"Vªh; laxhr dh fojklr ugha be created, where was the music to come from? The Fkh] tgka ls laxhr ys fy;k tk,A vyx-vyx {ks=ksa esa point is there was no ready-made national musical vyx&vyx ijEijk,a FkhaA xzkeksQksu us njckjksa] dksBksa] idiom at hand to be drawn upon. Different regions eafnjksa esa ctus okys laxhr dks cgkj ykus esa enn rks dh had different traditions. The gramophone had helped ysfdu blesa {ks=h; fofo/krk,a cgqr vf/kd Fkha vkSj yxHkx release music from confined concert spaces, such fujkdj.k ls ijs FkhaA mPp oxZ 'kkóh; laxhr dks lgh as darbars or kothas or temples, but the regional ijEijk ekurk Fkk ysfdu bl laxhr dh izLrqfr dk ewy differences were enormous and almost unbridgeable The upper classes looked upon Classical music as fl)kUr [k;ky xkuksa ds :i esa miyC/k FkkA nf{kr Hkkjr esa the only true tradition but the principal way of dukZVd 'kkóh; laxhr izseh fgUnqLrkuh dks ilan ugha djrs presenting this music was in the form of khayal Fks vkSj fgUnqLrkuh Hkk"kk ds izseh 'kkóh; laxhr dksA caxky esa songs.. Devotees of Carnatak classical music in the yksx jchUæ laxhr o LFkkuh; laxhr dks iguk, x;s if'Pkeh South did not appreciate Hindustani and vice versa. tkes dks ilan djrs FksA mŸkj Hkkjr esa ukSVadh ukVdksa esa xk;s In Bengal, Rabindra Sangeet and folk tunes given a westernized hue were popular. In North India songs 18 18 ysfdu 1929 esa tc cksyus okyh fQYe cuh rks fQtk But once sound came in 1929, the situation gh cny xbZA laxhrdkj HkkLdj pUnkojdj us dgk igyh changed radically. The musicologist Bhaskar cksyrh fQYe ^vkye vkjk* tks 14 ekpZ] 1931 dks fjyht gqbZ Chandavarkar has pointed out, ‘the Salt Satyagraha Fkh] ls dqN ekg iwoZ gh xka/kh th }kjk pyk, x, ued and the new direction given to Indian politics by lR;kxzg o Hkkjrh; jktuhfr dks ubZ fn'kk nh FkhA ml le; Gandhi were only a few months before Alam Ara, Hkkjrh; turk esa vHkwriwoZ tkx#drk Fkh] jktuSfrd the first talkie which was released on March 14th tkx#drk pje ij FkhA 1931. There was unprecedented awakening of the masses in India around that time, a great heightening ,slk izk;% dgk tkrk gS fd fQYeksa esa /ofu ds vkxeu of political awareness.’ ds lkFk gh if'Pkeh fQYeksa us cksyuk 'kq: fd;k rks Hkkjrh; fQYeksa esa xkuksa dk izpyu c<+kA blds ckn mUgksaus dHkh ihNs As has often been said, with the arrival of sound, movies in the West began to talk while in eqM+dj ugha ns[kkA orZeku Hkkjrh; flusek bldk Li"V India they began to sing. And they never looked mnkgj.k gS ckgjh izfrLi/kkZ dk Hk; jkrksa&jkr lekIr gks back; there was now a distinctly Indian Cinema. The x;kA fear of competition from outside simply disappeared cksyus okyh fQYeksa ds lkFk gh xkus fQYeksa ds vfHkUUk overnight. vax cu x;sA vc iz'u ;g Fkk fd fdl izdkj ds xkus fy[ks With talkies, songs became an essential part of tk,a] buds fy, laxhr dgka ls vk,\ dgus dk eryc gS fd the film. The question was what kind of songs could ml le; gekjs ikl jsMhesM jk"Vªh; laxhr dh fojklr ugha be created, where was the music to come from? The Fkh] tgka ls laxhr ys fy;k tk,A vyx-vyx {ks=ksa esa point is there was no ready-made national musical vyx&vyx ijEijk,a FkhaA xzkeksQksu us njckjksa] dksBksa] idiom at hand to be drawn upon. Different regions eafnjksa esa ctus okys laxhr dks cgkj ykus esa enn rks dh had different traditions. The gramophone had helped ysfdu blesa {ks=h; fofo/krk,a cgqr vf/kd Fkha vkSj yxHkx release music from confined concert spaces, such fujkdj.k ls ijs FkhaA mPp oxZ 'kkóh; laxhr dks lgh as darbars or kothas or temples, but the regional ijEijk ekurk Fkk ysfdu bl laxhr dh izLrqfr dk ewy differences were enormous and almost unbridgeable The upper classes looked upon Classical music as fl)kUr [k;ky xkuksa ds :i esa miyC/k FkkA nf{kr Hkkjr esa the only true tradition but the principal way of dukZVd 'kkóh; laxhr izseh fgUnqLrkuh dks ilan ugha djrs presenting this music was in the form of khayal Fks vkSj fgUnqLrkuh Hkk"kk ds izseh 'kkóh; laxhr dksA caxky esa songs.. Devotees of Carnatak classical music in the yksx jchUæ laxhr o LFkkuh; laxhr dks iguk, x;s if'Pkeh South did not appreciate Hindustani and vice versa. tkes dks ilan djrs FksA mŸkj Hkkjr esa ukSVadh ukVdksa esa xk;s In Bengal, Rabindra Sangeet and folk tunes given a westernized hue were popular. In North India songs 18 18 tkus okys xkus xzkeh.k laxhr ijEijk ds :i esa izpfyr gq,] from nautanki plays formed the rural performance tcfd egkjk"Vª esa fgUnqLrkuh o 'kkóh; laxhr nksuksa dk musical tradition, while a combination of Hindustani feyk&tqyk Lo:i ns[kus dks feykA yksdxhr muds lhfer and Classical bandishes were available in {ks=ksa esa ilan fd, x;s vkSj vU; txgksa ij mUgsa vkfnoklh Maharashtra. Folk tunes were appreciated in their xhrksa ds :i esa ekuk x;kA fdlh ,d {ks= esa yksdfiz; own limited regions and were looked down upon LFkkuh; laxhr ijEijk nwljs {ks=ksa esa cgqr de gh ilan dh elsewhere as trivial. Local traditions popular in one tkrh FkhA region were rarely appreciated in other parts. fQYeksa ds laxhr funsZ'kd iwjs Hkkjr dks /;ku esa j[krs The film music directors, in their desperate gq, ,sls laxhr dks btgkn djus esa yxs gq, Fks tks iwjs search for an all-India market, had to go in search of miegknhi ds yksxksa dh ilan cu ldsA rhl ds n'kd ds a musical idiom that would appeal to people across the subcontinent. By the mid-thirties, they had e/;e rd mUgksaus bu ijEijkvksa dks feDl djuk vkSj rjkus already started mixing traditions and innovating in fy[kuk 'kq: dj fn;k FkkA LokHkkfod :i ls os v'yhyrk the development of melodies. Naturally they were ijkslus ds nks"kh FkhA vkt] ge ^Hkkjrh; laxhr^ 'kCn dks accused of vulgarizing. Today, we take the term ges'kk jsMhesM rFkk gj txg vklkuh ls leÖks tkus okys ‘Indian music’ for granted as though such an entity Lo:i esa Lohdkj dj jgs gSaA ysfdu ,slk ugha gSA ;g laxhr was always there ready-made and easily understood dk ,slk Lo:i gS ftls gekjs laxhr funsZ'kdksa }kjk cM+s d"V everywhere. Not so. It is a product painfully and ds lkFk leÖknkjh iwoZd cuk;k gSA pkyhl o ipkl ds sensitively created by our music directors. In the n'kd esa ,l Mh ceZu] ukS'kkn vyh] lh jkepUæ rFkk vU; forties and fifties, S.D. Burman, Naushad Ali, cgqr lkjs laxhrdkjksa us Hkkjrh; laxhr dh fojklr dks C. Ramachandra, and so many more----they cukus ds fy, yksdxhrksa dks ysdj muesa 'kkóh; laxhr dh borrowed from folk music, used classical tunes, /ofu;ksa dk iz;ksx fd;k] o jkWd E;wftd rFkk if'Pkeh ikWi] plundered rock music and Western pop which they ftls mUgksaus Hkkjrh; rky o Loj ds fglkc ls iqu% x<+k] dk remoulded to Indian rhythms and lilt, to create an rM+dk yxk;k A Indian idiom. A related problem was , since songs have to blls tqM+h leL;k ;g Fkh fd xkuksa esa u;s laxhr ds have words, what kind of words would go with the lkFk fdl izdkj ds 'kCnksa dk iz;ksx fd;k tk,A vR;f/kd new music? Most popular traditional compositions yksdfiz; ijEijkxr dEiksth'ku mudh futh Hkk"kk lkexzh came with their own linguistic material. Traditional ls vk;k FkkA ijEijkxr [k;ky ;k Bqejh dEiksth'ku dqN khayal or thumri compositions were handed down e/;dkyhu cksfy;ksa tSls Hkkstiqjh ;k cztHkk"kk ;k vo/kh esa in some mediaeval dialect such as Bhojpuri or fd;s x;s FksA nf{k.k esa d`frl] vf/kdka'kr% rsyqxw] rfey ;k Brajabhasha or Awadhi. In the South, kritis, 19 19 tkus okys xkus xzkeh.k laxhr ijEijk ds :i esa izpfyr gq,] from nautanki plays formed the rural performance tcfd egkjk"Vª esa fgUnqLrkuh o 'kkóh; laxhr nksuksa dk musical tradition, while a combination of Hindustani feyk&tqyk Lo:i ns[kus dks feykA yksdxhr muds lhfer and Classical bandishes were available in {ks=ksa esa ilan fd, x;s vkSj vU; txgksa ij mUgsa vkfnoklh Maharashtra. Folk tunes were appreciated in their xhrksa ds :i esa ekuk x;kA fdlh ,d {ks= esa yksdfiz; own limited regions and were looked down upon LFkkuh; laxhr ijEijk nwljs {ks=ksa esa cgqr de gh ilan dh elsewhere as trivial. Local traditions popular in one tkrh FkhA region were rarely appreciated in other parts. fQYeksa ds laxhr funsZ'kd iwjs Hkkjr dks /;ku esa j[krs The film music directors, in their desperate gq, ,sls laxhr dks btgkn djus esa yxs gq, Fks tks iwjs search for an all-India market, had to go in search of miegknhi ds yksxksa dh ilan cu ldsA rhl ds n'kd ds a musical idiom that would appeal to people across the subcontinent. By the mid-thirties, they had e/;e rd mUgksaus bu ijEijkvksa dks feDl djuk vkSj rjkus already started mixing traditions and innovating in fy[kuk 'kq: dj fn;k FkkA LokHkkfod :i ls os v'yhyrk the development of melodies. Naturally they were ijkslus ds nks"kh FkhA vkt] ge ^Hkkjrh; laxhr^ 'kCn dks accused of vulgarizing. Today, we take the term ges'kk jsMhesM rFkk gj txg vklkuh ls leÖks tkus okys ‘Indian music’ for granted as though such an entity Lo:i esa Lohdkj dj jgs gSaA ysfdu ,slk ugha gSA ;g laxhr was always there ready-made and easily understood dk ,slk Lo:i gS ftls gekjs laxhr funsZ'kdksa }kjk cM+s d"V everywhere. Not so. It is a product painfully and ds lkFk leÖknkjh iwoZd cuk;k gSA pkyhl o ipkl ds sensitively created by our music directors. In the n'kd esa ,l Mh ceZu] ukS'kkn vyh] lh jkepUæ rFkk vU; forties and fifties, S.D. Burman, Naushad Ali, cgqr lkjs laxhrdkjksa us Hkkjrh; laxhr dh fojklr dks C. Ramachandra, and so many more----they cukus ds fy, yksdxhrksa dks ysdj muesa 'kkóh; laxhr dh borrowed from folk music, used classical tunes, /ofu;ksa dk iz;ksx fd;k] o jkWd E;wftd rFkk if'Pkeh ikWi] plundered rock music and Western pop which they ftls mUgksaus Hkkjrh; rky o Loj ds fglkc ls iqu% x<+k] dk remoulded to Indian rhythms and lilt, to create an rM+dk yxk;k A Indian idiom. A related problem was , since songs have to blls tqM+h leL;k ;g Fkh fd xkuksa esa u;s laxhr ds have words, what kind of words would go with the lkFk fdl izdkj ds 'kCnksa dk iz;ksx fd;k tk,A vR;f/kd new music? Most popular traditional compositions yksdfiz; ijEijkxr dEiksth'ku mudh futh Hkk"kk lkexzh came with their own linguistic material. Traditional ls vk;k FkkA ijEijkxr [k;ky ;k Bqejh dEiksth'ku dqN khayal or thumri compositions were handed down e/;dkyhu cksfy;ksa tSls Hkkstiqjh ;k cztHkk"kk ;k vo/kh esa in some mediaeval dialect such as Bhojpuri or fd;s x;s FksA nf{k.k esa d`frl] vf/kdka'kr% rsyqxw] rfey ;k Brajabhasha or Awadhi. In the South, kritis, 19 19 dUUkM+ esa dEikst dh xbZ Fkh ftuesa e/;dkyhu] /kkÆed composed mostly in Telugu, Tamil or Kannada, 'kCnkoyh dh Hkjekj Fkh A ,sls ^'kCnksa* dh vko';drk Fkh] tks came loaded with their own archaic medieaval u;s laxhr ds lkFk fQV gks ldsaA ,sls O;fä dh t:jr Fkh tks religious baggage. The new music required ‘ words’ ,sls 'kCn x<+s vkSj mu 'kCnksa dk iz;ksx djrs gq, xhr fy[ksA that fitted the new music and someone who could bl izdkj xhrdkjksa dks viuh rkRdkyhu vko';drk dks iwjk create and write with those words. Thus lyric writers djus ds fy, mi;qä vk/kqfud Hkk"kk cukuh iM+hA ;g leL;k had to create a modern language suitable for their laokn ys[ku dh leL;k ls fcYdqy vyx rjg dh FkhA immediate purpose. This was a problem quite bl izdkj m|ksx txr us ^xhrdkjksa* dks tUe fn;kA different from dialogue writing . vki Hkh bl ckr ls lger gksaxs fd xhrdkj o dfo ,d So the film industry created the ‘lyric writer’. leku ugha gksrsA ,d dfo viuh Hkk"kk esa dfork jprk gS vkSj You will realize of course that a lyric writer is not the vius fotu ds izfr fu"Bkoku jgrk gSA ijUrq ,d ^xhrdkj* same as a poet. A poet is creative in his language and ,d vPNk f'kYidkj gksrk gS] tks izk;% nwljksa ds fy, fy[krk faithful to his vision. A ‘lyric writer’ has to be a good gSA og laxhr] y;] o rky dh vko';drk ds vuqlkj craftsman who often has to write to order. He has to lk/kkj.k Hkkoukvksa dks O;ä djus ds fy, lk/kkj.k rjhds ls write simply, deal with simple emotions to the lilt, fy[krk gS] og ,slh Hkk"kk fy[krk gS] tks ml le; vihÇyx pace and rhtythmic demands of the music, and create a text that is immediately appealing. This is where a gksA ;gh dkj.k jgk gS fd cgqr ls vPNs dfo lQy xhrdkj lot of good poets often fail to become successful ugha cu ldsA ,d dfo o xhrdkj nksuksa {ks=ksa esa vikj lyricists. As Gulzar, who has been immensely lQyrk gkfly djus okys xqytkj us dgk gS fd lqfo[;kr successful both as a poet and a lyricist has pointed laxhr funs'kd ukS'kkn vyh us ftu xkuksa esa laxhr funsZ'ku out, the total number of words in songs set to music fn;k gS muesa ls fdlh Hkh xkus esa 'kCnksa dh la[;k vLlh ls by the famous music director Naushad Ali would vf/kd ugha gksxhA xqytkj us ,d jkt dh ckr ;g Hkh crkbZ not exceed eighty! Gulzar has also confessed that a fd dksbZ Hkh xkuk 'kCnksa dh otg ls dHkh ^fgV* ugha gksrkA song rarely becomes a ‘hit’ because of its words. It is xkus dh lQyrk mlds laxhr ij fuHkZj gSA the music that sells. vr% fQYe m|ksx ds fy, laxhr ,d egRoiw.kZ vax gS A So music set up a new cyclical phenomenon: fQYe dh dgkuh esa xkuksa dh t:jr gksrh gS vkSj yksxksa dks film stories needed to have songs and if people liked fdlh fQYe ds xkus ilan gS rks os ml fQYe dks iqu% ns[kus the songs they came back to see the film; thus songs tk,axsA bl izdkj xkuksa dh otg ls fQYeksa dks ,sls n'kZd helped create a repeat audience. Films created feyrs gSa tks ,d fQYe dks dbZ&dbZ ckj ns[krs gSaA fQYeksa esa melodious music and this music in turn assured iz;qä e/kqj laxhr lqfuf'Pkr n'kZd oxZ dks tUe nsrk gS A audience patronage. 20 20 dUUkM+ esa dEikst dh xbZ Fkh ftuesa e/;dkyhu] /kkÆed composed mostly in Telugu, Tamil or Kannada, 'kCnkoyh dh Hkjekj Fkh A ,sls ^'kCnksa* dh vko';drk Fkh] tks came loaded with their own archaic medieaval u;s laxhr ds lkFk fQV gks ldsaA ,sls O;fä dh t:jr Fkh tks religious baggage. The new music required ‘ words’ ,sls 'kCn x<+s vkSj mu 'kCnksa dk iz;ksx djrs gq, xhr fy[ksA that fitted the new music and someone who could bl izdkj xhrdkjksa dks viuh rkRdkyhu vko';drk dks iwjk create and write with those words. Thus lyric writers djus ds fy, mi;qä vk/kqfud Hkk"kk cukuh iM+hA ;g leL;k had to create a modern language suitable for their laokn ys[ku dh leL;k ls fcYdqy vyx rjg dh FkhA immediate purpose. This was a problem quite bl izdkj m|ksx txr us ^xhrdkjksa* dks tUe fn;kA different from dialogue writing . vki Hkh bl ckr ls lger gksaxs fd xhrdkj o dfo ,d So the film industry created the ‘lyric writer’. leku ugha gksrsA ,d dfo viuh Hkk"kk esa dfork jprk gS vkSj You will realize of course that a lyric writer is not the vius fotu ds izfr fu"Bkoku jgrk gSA ijUrq ,d ^xhrdkj* same as a poet. A poet is creative in his language and ,d vPNk f'kYidkj gksrk gS] tks izk;% nwljksa ds fy, fy[krk faithful to his vision. A ‘lyric writer’ has to be a good gSA og laxhr] y;] o rky dh vko';drk ds vuqlkj craftsman who often has to write to order. He has to lk/kkj.k Hkkoukvksa dks O;ä djus ds fy, lk/kkj.k rjhds ls write simply, deal with simple emotions to the lilt, fy[krk gS] og ,slh Hkk"kk fy[krk gS] tks ml le; vihÇyx pace and rhtythmic demands of the music, and create a text that is immediately appealing. This is where a gksA ;gh dkj.k jgk gS fd cgqr ls vPNs dfo lQy xhrdkj lot of good poets often fail to become successful ugha cu ldsA ,d dfo o xhrdkj nksuksa {ks=ksa esa vikj lyricists. As Gulzar, who has been immensely lQyrk gkfly djus okys xqytkj us dgk gS fd lqfo[;kr successful both as a poet and a lyricist has pointed laxhr funs'kd ukS'kkn vyh us ftu xkuksa esa laxhr funsZ'ku out, the total number of words in songs set to music fn;k gS muesa ls fdlh Hkh xkus esa 'kCnksa dh la[;k vLlh ls by the famous music director Naushad Ali would vf/kd ugha gksxhA xqytkj us ,d jkt dh ckr ;g Hkh crkbZ not exceed eighty! Gulzar has also confessed that a fd dksbZ Hkh xkuk 'kCnksa dh otg ls dHkh ^fgV* ugha gksrkA song rarely becomes a ‘hit’ because of its words. It is xkus dh lQyrk mlds laxhr ij fuHkZj gSA the music that sells. vr% fQYe m|ksx ds fy, laxhr ,d egRoiw.kZ vax gS A So music set up a new cyclical phenomenon: fQYe dh dgkuh esa xkuksa dh t:jr gksrh gS vkSj yksxksa dks film stories needed to have songs and if people liked fdlh fQYe ds xkus ilan gS rks os ml fQYe dks iqu% ns[kus the songs they came back to see the film; thus songs tk,axsA bl izdkj xkuksa dh otg ls fQYeksa dks ,sls n'kZd helped create a repeat audience. Films created feyrs gSa tks ,d fQYe dks dbZ&dbZ ckj ns[krs gSaA fQYeksa esa melodious music and this music in turn assured iz;qä e/kqj laxhr lqfuf'Pkr n'kZd oxZ dks tUe nsrk gS A audience patronage. 20 20 vc eSa vius vrhr dh vksj ys tkrs gq, ;g dguk Let me digress a bit and mention that when I pkgrk gwa fd tc eSa dkWyst esa i<+rk Fkk ml le; gekjs ns'k was in college, Satyajit Ray was the only Indian esa lR;ftr js gh ,d ek= Hkkjrh; fQYe fuekZrk Fks ftUgsa film-maker respected in the West, while Japan had if'Pkeh ns'kksa esa lEeku fn;k tkrk Fkk] tcfd tkiku ds Kurosawa and Ozu, France had Renoir, Truffeaut dqjksLok rFkk vkstw] Ýkal ds fjuksbV] VªwQhV rFkk xksMMZ] and Goddard, Italy had Rosselini, Fellini and bVyh ds jkslyhuh] QSfyuh rFkk vUVkSfu;kuh dks ;gk¡ lEeku Antoniani. Frankly, we Indian students were a little dh ut+jksa ls ns[kk tkrk Fkk A lkQ&lkQ dgwa rks ge Hkkjrh; ashamed of our poor showing internationally, we Nk= viuh fQYeksa ds vUrjkZ"Vªh; izn'kZu dh /kwfey Nfo ls were ashamed of the songs and dances in our films, 'kÉenk FksA ge viuh fQYeksa ds xkuksa o u`R;ksa ls 'kÉenk FksA we called them ’escapist fare’. When my colleagues ge mUgsa ^iyk;uoknh* dgk djrs FksA tc esjs lgdehZ ';ke like Shyam Benegal and I made films we made them csusxy rFkk eSaus fQYesa cukb± rks geus cM+s xkuksa o u`R;ksa ds without songs or dances, our style was resolutely fcuk fQYesa cukb±A gekjk fQYe cukus dk rjhdk iw.kZr% what we called, ’realstic’. But look at the scene of ^;FkkFkZoknh* FkkA ysfdu vkt ds flusek txr ds n`';ksa dks world cinema today. Everywhere Hollywood is triumphant. In Italy and Japan, the film industries are nsf[k,A gj txg gkWyhoqM dk ncnck gSA ,d rjQ bVyh o on shaky grounds while France, when it signed the tkiku esa fQYe m|ksx Mxexk jgk gS ogha nwljh vkSj tc International GATT agreement for free trade, argued Ýkal us eqä O;kikj ds fy, varjkZ"Vªh; GATT djkj fd;k rks that the French film industry could not face mlus bl ckr dh odkyr dh fd Ýsap fQYe m|ksx gkWyhoqM competition from Hollywood and insisted on ls eqdkcyk ugha dj ldsxk vkSj mlus fQYe m|ksx dks protective subsidies for their industry. The Indian cpk, j[kus ds fy, vFkZ&lgk;rk dh ekax dhA Hkkjrh; film industry asks for no protective measures--in fQYe m|ksx fdlh lqj{kk dop dh ekax ugha dj jgk gSA fact its main request to the Government is to be left oLrqr% mldh ljdkj ls ;gh eq[; ekax gS fd mls ljdkjh free from Government’s attention. And this stability gLr{ksi ls eqä fd;k tk,A Hkkjrh; flusxk m|ksx dks ;g comes from its music. fLFkjrk blds laxhr ls feyh gSA Most importantly, the film music also created a lcls egRoiw.kZ ckr ;g gS fd fQYe laxhr ls bl new audience for the arts. Traditionally music has m|ksx ds u;s n'kZd oxZ dk tUe gqvk gSA ijEijkxr rkSj ij been restricted to the young women in the family and laxhr ifjokj dh toku efgykvksa rd gh lhfer jgk gS vkSj that too in terms of given, socially accepted og Hkh lekt }kjk Loh—r e;kZnkvksa esa tdM+k gqvkA fQYeh compositions. What film songs did was to give a xkuksa us ÇyxHksn dh nhokj dks rksM+rs gq, ;qokvksa dks vkokt voice to the young---they broke the gender barrier nsus dk dke fd;kA vc iq#"k Hkh fQYeksa esa xkuk xkrs gSa vkSj since even men sang in the films and made it fashionable for the young to follow suit. Film songs 21 21 vc eSa vius vrhr dh vksj ys tkrs gq, ;g dguk Let me digress a bit and mention that when I pkgrk gwa fd tc eSa dkWyst esa i<+rk Fkk ml le; gekjs ns'k was in college, Satyajit Ray was the only Indian esa lR;ftr js gh ,d ek= Hkkjrh; fQYe fuekZrk Fks ftUgsa film-maker respected in the West, while Japan had if'Pkeh ns'kksa esa lEeku fn;k tkrk Fkk] tcfd tkiku ds Kurosawa and Ozu, France had Renoir, Truffeaut dqjksLok rFkk vkstw] Ýkal ds fjuksbV] VªwQhV rFkk xksMMZ] and Goddard, Italy had Rosselini, Fellini and bVyh ds jkslyhuh] QSfyuh rFkk vUVkSfu;kuh dks ;gk¡ lEeku Antoniani. Frankly, we Indian students were a little dh ut+jksa ls ns[kk tkrk Fkk A lkQ&lkQ dgwa rks ge Hkkjrh; ashamed of our poor showing internationally, we Nk= viuh fQYeksa ds vUrjkZ"Vªh; izn'kZu dh /kwfey Nfo ls were ashamed of the songs and dances in our films, 'kÉenk FksA ge viuh fQYeksa ds xkuksa o u`R;ksa ls 'kÉenk FksA we called them ’escapist fare’. When my colleagues ge mUgsa ^iyk;uoknh* dgk djrs FksA tc esjs lgdehZ ';ke like Shyam Benegal and I made films we made them csusxy rFkk eSaus fQYesa cukb± rks geus cM+s xkuksa o u`R;ksa ds without songs or dances, our style was resolutely fcuk fQYesa cukb±A gekjk fQYe cukus dk rjhdk iw.kZr% what we called, ’realstic’. But look at the scene of ^;FkkFkZoknh* FkkA ysfdu vkt ds flusek txr ds n`';ksa dks world cinema today. Everywhere Hollywood is triumphant. In Italy and Japan, the film industries are nsf[k,A gj txg gkWyhoqM dk ncnck gSA ,d rjQ bVyh o on shaky grounds while France, when it signed the tkiku esa fQYe m|ksx Mxexk jgk gS ogha nwljh vkSj tc International GATT agreement for free trade, argued Ýkal us eqä O;kikj ds fy, varjkZ"Vªh; GATT djkj fd;k rks that the French film industry could not face mlus bl ckr dh odkyr dh fd Ýsap fQYe m|ksx gkWyhoqM competition from Hollywood and insisted on ls eqdkcyk ugha dj ldsxk vkSj mlus fQYe m|ksx dks protective subsidies for their industry. The Indian cpk, j[kus ds fy, vFkZ&lgk;rk dh ekax dhA Hkkjrh; film industry asks for no protective measures--in fQYe m|ksx fdlh lqj{kk dop dh ekax ugha dj jgk gSA fact its main request to the Government is to be left oLrqr% mldh ljdkj ls ;gh eq[; ekax gS fd mls ljdkjh free from Government’s attention. And this stability gLr{ksi ls eqä fd;k tk,A Hkkjrh; flusxk m|ksx dks ;g comes from its music. fLFkjrk blds laxhr ls feyh gSA Most importantly, the film music also created a lcls egRoiw.kZ ckr ;g gS fd fQYe laxhr ls bl new audience for the arts. Traditionally music has m|ksx ds u;s n'kZd oxZ dk tUe gqvk gSA ijEijkxr rkSj ij been restricted to the young women in the family and laxhr ifjokj dh toku efgykvksa rd gh lhfer jgk gS vkSj that too in terms of given, socially accepted og Hkh lekt }kjk Loh—r e;kZnkvksa esa tdM+k gqvkA fQYeh compositions. What film songs did was to give a xkuksa us ÇyxHksn dh nhokj dks rksM+rs gq, ;qokvksa dks vkokt voice to the young---they broke the gender barrier nsus dk dke fd;kA vc iq#"k Hkh fQYeksa esa xkuk xkrs gSa vkSj since even men sang in the films and made it fashionable for the young to follow suit. Film songs 21 21 ;qokvksa ds fy, bl O;olk; dks Qs'kuscy cuk jgs gSaA fQYeh expressed yearnings, passions whose open xhrksa us mu bPNkvksa] vfHkyk"kkvksa dks O;ä djus dk volj expression had been forbidden socially, openly and fn;k ftUgsa lkekftd rkSj ij] [kqysvke O;ä djuk oÆtr Fkk to joyous music-- lilting, nonsensical, carefree, with vkSj bu bPNkvksa o vfHkyk"kkvksa dh vfHkO;fä ds fy, y;- new rhymes and often naughtily suggestive words . rky;qä] vYgM+] ÅViVkax rFkk u;s lqj&rkyeqä vkuaniw.kZ I must mention here two innovations which laxhr fn;k] ftlesa izk;% vHkæ 'kCnksa dk iz;ksx fd;k tkrk gSA fundamentally transformed the role of the film song eSa] ;gka mu nks buksos'kuksa dk ftØ vo'; djuk pkgwaxk in social discourse. First was the technique of ftUgksaus lekt lq/kkj ds {ks= esa fQYeh xhrksa dh Hkwfedk esa playback singing, which released the song from the vk/kkjHkwr ifjorZu fd;k gSA igyk buksos'ku gS IyscSd Çlfxax actor and gave it an independent existence. It got an dh rduhdA bl rduhd us xkuksa dks vfHkusrk ls eqä dj autonomous authority to it as a creation of the music fn;k vkSj bls Lora= igpku nhA blls laxhr funsZ'kd o director and the singer. The second innovation was xk;d ds dk;Z dks Lok;Ÿkrk feyhA nwljk buksos'ku gS orchestration, which brought in Western ideas, vkWdsZLVªk dk iz;ksx] ftlls if'Pkeh fopkjksa] if'Pkeh ok|;a=ksa Western instruments and sounds which had never o /ofu;ksa dk lekos'k gqvk ftUgsa igys ugha lquk x;k Fkk A been heard before. These new notes were neutral in terms of the vocabulary of traditional Indian music ;s nksuksa buksos'ku ijEijkxr laxhr dh Hkk"kk ds izfr and enabled innovative music directors to colour the mnklhu Fks vkSj bUgksaus buksosfVo laxhr funsZ'kdksa dks ;g NqV emotional landscape with unforeseen and often nh dh os HkkoukRed ifjn`'; dks vizR;kf'kr o izk;% pkSdkus shocking nuances. For the first time in the history of okyh ckjhfd;ksa ds jax esa 22 22 ;qokvksa ds fy, bl O;olk; dks Qs'kuscy cuk jgs gSaA fQYeh expressed yearnings, passions whose open xhrksa us mu bPNkvksa] vfHkyk"kkvksa dks O;ä djus dk volj expression had been forbidden socially, openly and fn;k ftUgsa lkekftd rkSj ij] [kqysvke O;ä djuk oÆtr Fkk to joyous music-- lilting, nonsensical, carefree, with vkSj bu bPNkvksa o vfHkyk"kkvksa dh vfHkO;fä ds fy, y;- new rhymes and often naughtily suggestive words . rky;qä] vYgM+] ÅViVkax rFkk u;s lqj&rkyeqä vkuaniw.kZ I must mention here two innovations which laxhr fn;k] ftlesa izk;% vHkæ 'kCnksa dk iz;ksx fd;k tkrk gSA fundamentally transformed the role of the film song eSa] ;gka mu nks buksos'kuksa dk ftØ vo'; djuk pkgwaxk in social discourse. First was the technique of ftUgksaus lekt lq/kkj ds {ks= esa fQYeh xhrksa dh Hkwfedk esa playback singing, which released the song from the vk/kkjHkwr ifjorZu fd;k gSA igyk buksos'ku gS IyscSd Çlfxax actor and gave it an independent existence. It got an dh rduhdA bl rduhd us xkuksa dks vfHkusrk ls eqä dj autonomous authority to it as a creation of the music fn;k vkSj bls Lora= igpku nhA blls laxhr funsZ'kd o director and the singer. The second innovation was xk;d ds dk;Z dks Lok;Ÿkrk feyhA nwljk buksos'ku gS orchestration, which brought in Western ideas, vkWdsZLVªk dk iz;ksx] ftlls if'Pkeh fopkjksa] if'Pkeh ok|;a=ksa Western instruments and sounds which had never o /ofu;ksa dk lekos'k gqvk ftUgsa igys ugha lquk x;k Fkk A been heard before. These new notes were neutral in terms of the vocabulary of traditional Indian music ;s nksuksa buksos'ku ijEijkxr laxhr dh Hkk"kk ds izfr and enabled innovative music directors to colour the mnklhu Fks vkSj bUgksaus buksosfVo laxhr funsZ'kdksa dks ;g NqV emotional landscape with unforeseen and often nh dh os HkkoukRed ifjn`'; dks vizR;kf'kr o izk;% pkSdkus shocking nuances. For the first time in the history of okyh ckjhfd;ksa ds jax esa 22 22 Hkkjr esa lHkh fQYe m|ksxksa esa ls dsoy rfey fQYe Of all the film industries in India it was only m|ksx gh ,slk gS ftlus lkoZtfud tkx:drk iSnk djus the Tamil industry that realized the potential cinema rFkk lkaL—frd iqu:)kj djus ds fy, flusek dh l{kerk had for organizing public awareness and creating a dks egRo fn;k gSA eSa ;gka vkidks rfey vkanksyu ds yEcs cultural reawakening. I don’t want to take you bfrgkl dh tkudkjh nsuk ugha pkgrkA Lora=rk iwoZ ds nkSj through the long history of the Tamil movement. In esa vusd rsyqxw rFkk rfey dykdkj dkaxzsl ds usr`Ro esa the pre-independence era, many Telugu and Tamil pyk;s x;s jk"Vªh; vkanksyu esa 'kkfey Fks&;qok ,eth artists were involved in the national movement led jkekpUæu blds ,d mnkgj.k gSa ysfdu Lora=rk ds lkFk by the Congress---the young M.G.Ramachandran is an example---but with independence, the Congress gh dkaxzsl us mudks roTtks nsuk NksM+ fn;kA eækl esa vusd lost interest in them. In Madras, many sensitive laosnu'khy ;qok ml egku fotujh rFkk lkekftd young men turned to that great visionary and social dk;ZdrkZ isjh;kj bZoh jkekLokeh ukbdj ds lkFk fey x;s activist Periyar E.V. Ramaswami Naicker, and in vkSj 1949 esa muesa ls vusd yksx vyx gks x;s rFkk mUgksaus 1949, many of them split to form the Dravid æfoM+ equs= dM+xe dk xBu fd;kA bl ikVhZ dh izeq[k ekax Munnetra Kazhagam. The Party’s principal demand Hkkjr esa ,d Lora= æfoM+ jk"Vª cukus dh Fkh tks mŸkj ds was for an independent Dravid State, carved out of izHkko ls eqä gksxk rFkk [kqys vke czkã.k o Çgnh fojks/kh India, free from the dominance of the North and gksxkA bldk ,d u;s Lora= jk"Vª ds fuekZ.k dk ,d Li"V quite openly anti-Brahmin and anti-Hindi. That is, it dk;ZØe FkkA bl ikVhZ ds vusd Qkm.Mj rfey fQYe had a clear programme of creating a new, m|ksx ls tqM+s gq, Fks rFkk vanj jgdj os vius tu lzksrkvksa independent Nation. Many of the founders of this dks jktuhfrd f'k{kk nsus ds fy, bldh {kerk dk bLrseky party were connected with the Tamil film industry, djrs Fks rkfd mUgsa vf/kd ls vf/kd ykHk fey ldsA and as insiders they used the potential of the medium for political education of their mass audience to rŸki'Pkkr~ 1953 esa ,eth jkekpUæu bl ikVhZ esa 'kkfey maximum advantage. Then in 1953, the matinee idol gq,A muds lkFk muds pkgus okys vusd dk;ZdrkZvksa us Hkh MG Ramachandran joined the party, accompanied ikVhZ Tokbu dh tks iwjs izns'k esa QSys gq, Fks rFkk mUgksaus ,d by his fan clubs which were spread thick over the 'kfä'kkyh jktuSfrd okrkoj.k rS;kj fd;kA [kqys izpkj ds whole Presidency and therefore provided a powerful fy, ikVhZ }kjk fQYeksa dk bLrseky HkksaM+k yx ldrk gS political leverage. The party’s use of films for open ysfdu og foosdiw.kZ 23 23 Hkkjr esa lHkh fQYe m|ksxksa esa ls dsoy rfey fQYe Of all the film industries in India it was only m|ksx gh ,slk gS ftlus lkoZtfud tkx:drk iSnk djus the Tamil industry that realized the potential cinema rFkk lkaL—frd iqu:)kj djus ds fy, flusek dh l{kerk had for organizing public awareness and creating a dks egRo fn;k gSA eSa ;gka vkidks rfey vkanksyu ds yEcs cultural reawakening. I don’t want to take you bfrgkl dh tkudkjh nsuk ugha pkgrkA Lora=rk iwoZ ds nkSj through the long history of the Tamil movement. In esa vusd rsyqxw rFkk rfey dykdkj dkaxzsl ds usr`Ro esa the pre-independence era, many Telugu and Tamil pyk;s x;s jk"Vªh; vkanksyu esa 'kkfey Fks&;qok ,eth artists were involved in the national movement led jkekpUæu blds ,d mnkgj.k gSa ysfdu Lora=rk ds lkFk by the Congress---the young M.G.Ramachandran is an example---but with independence, the Congress gh dkaxzsl us mudks roTtks nsuk NksM+ fn;kA eækl esa vusd lost interest in them. In Madras, many sensitive laosnu'khy ;qok ml egku fotujh rFkk lkekftd young men turned to that great visionary and social dk;ZdrkZ isjh;kj bZoh jkekLokeh ukbdj ds lkFk fey x;s activist Periyar E.V. Ramaswami Naicker, and in vkSj 1949 esa muesa ls vusd yksx vyx gks x;s rFkk mUgksaus 1949, many of them split to form the Dravid æfoM+ equs= dM+xe dk xBu fd;kA bl ikVhZ dh izeq[k ekax Munnetra Kazhagam. The Party’s principal demand Hkkjr esa ,d Lora= æfoM+ jk"Vª cukus dh Fkh tks mŸkj ds was for an independent Dravid State, carved out of izHkko ls eqä gksxk rFkk [kqys vke czkã.k o Çgnh fojks/kh India, free from the dominance of the North and gksxkA bldk ,d u;s Lora= jk"Vª ds fuekZ.k dk ,d Li"V quite openly anti-Brahmin and anti-Hindi. That is, it dk;ZØe FkkA bl ikVhZ ds vusd Qkm.Mj rfey fQYe had a clear programme of creating a new, m|ksx ls tqM+s gq, Fks rFkk vanj jgdj os vius tu lzksrkvksa independent Nation. Many of the founders of this dks jktuhfrd f'k{kk nsus ds fy, bldh {kerk dk bLrseky party were connected with the Tamil film industry, djrs Fks rkfd mUgsa vf/kd ls vf/kd ykHk fey ldsA and as insiders they used the potential of the medium for political education of their mass audience to rŸki'Pkkr~ 1953 esa ,eth jkekpUæu bl ikVhZ esa 'kkfey maximum advantage. Then in 1953, the matinee idol gq,A muds lkFk muds pkgus okys vusd dk;ZdrkZvksa us Hkh MG Ramachandran joined the party, accompanied ikVhZ Tokbu dh tks iwjs izns'k esa QSys gq, Fks rFkk mUgksaus ,d by his fan clubs which were spread thick over the 'kfä'kkyh jktuSfrd okrkoj.k rS;kj fd;kA [kqys izpkj ds whole Presidency and therefore provided a powerful fy, ikVhZ }kjk fQYeksa dk bLrseky HkksaM+k yx ldrk gS political leverage. The party’s use of films for open ysfdu og foosdiw.kZ 23 23 rkfy;ksa dh xM+xM+kgV 'kq: gks tkrh FkhA Mh,eds ds ÖkaMs esa Black and red were the colours of the DMK flag, and dkyk rFkk yky jax Fkk rFkk egRoiw.kZ n`';ksa esa budk uk;d the hero, in important scenes, appeared in costumes bu jaxksa esa gh fn[krk Fkk A made in these colours. eSa ;gka Jh ,l- —..kkLokeh rFkk bfjd ckuks± dh iqLrd Let me mention two typical scenes, quoted in esa m)`r nks [kkl n`';ksa dk mYys[k djuk pkgwaxk % the book by S Krishnaswamy and Eric Barnouw: nks vkneh taxy esa HkVd tkrs gSaA muesa ls ukStoku Two men are lost in the jungle. The younger O;fä iwNrk gS] D;k gesa mŸkj fn'kk esa pyus dk iz;kl djuk person asks: ’Shall we try going in the northern pkfg,\ rc o`) O;fä toko nsrk gS % ^ugha] ^mŸkj ds yksx direction?’ and the older man replies: “No, the fo'okl ;ksX; ugha gSaA ge nf{k.k esa pysa tgka yksx Hkjkslsean northern people are untrustworthy. Let us go south where people are reliable.’ gSa^A C. N. Annadurai, one of the founders of the lh ,u vUUkknqjbZ tks ikVhZ ds ,d Qkm.Mj Fks ^vUUkk* party, was known as ‘Anna’, which means ‘elder ds uke ls tkus tkrs Fks A rfey esa ftldk vFkZ cM+k HkkbZ gSA brother’ in Tamil. And in a DMK film, in a tense ,d Mh,eds fQYe esa ruko dh fLFkfr esa tgka ,d O;fä situation, where a man pleads with his younger sister viuh NksVh cgu dks mldh ckr lquus ds fy, tksj nsrk gS] to listen to his advice, the girl bursts out: ’Anna, not rc og yM+dh ml ij ^cjl iM+rh gS*% ^vUUkk* dsoy vki just me but the entire nation listens to you.’ eqÖks ugha dg jgs cfYd iwjk ns'k vkidks lqu jgk gS A In 1962, after the Chinese war, DMK gave up o"kZ 1962 esa phu ds ;q) ds ckn Mh,eds us vyx jk"Vª its demand for a separate nation but its demand for a dh viuh ekax NksM+ nh ysfdu rfey jkT; dh mldh ekax Tamil state continued. In 1965 the attempt by the cuh jghA 1965 esa dsUæ }kjk Çgnh dks jktHkk"kk ds :i esa centre to enforce Hindi as the official language led to Fkksius ds iz;kl ds ifj.kke Lo:i ogka O;kid naxsa QSy x;s widespread rioting and the DMK came to power in Tamil Nadu in 1967. The impact of the film industry rFkk Mh,eds 1967 esa rfeyukMq esa lŸkk esa vkbZA fQYe can be clearly seen in the fact that all the four Chief m|ksx dk izHkko bl ckr ls Li"V :i ls ns[kk tk ldrk Fkk Ministers of the State since then have had close fd rc ls jkT; ds lHkh pkj eq[; eaf=;ksa dk fQYe m|ksx ls connections with the industry. Aannadurai was a fudV dk laca/k FkkA vUUkknqjbZ ,d ukVddkj Fks ftuds playwright several of whose plays were adapted to vusd ukVdksa dks insZ ij fn[kk;k x;k FkkA ,e d:.kkfuf/k the screen, M. Karunanidhi was an active script ,d lfØ; iVdFkk ys[kd Fks] ,ethvkj ,d ^lqij LVkj* Fks writer, M.G.R was a ‘super star’ and so was his rFkk mudh mŸkjkf/kdkjh ts- t;yfyrk Hkh ,slh gh lqij successor, J.Jayalalitha. LVkj FkhaA 24 24 rkfy;ksa dh xM+xM+kgV 'kq: gks tkrh FkhA Mh,eds ds ÖkaMs esa Black and red were the colours of the DMK flag, and dkyk rFkk yky jax Fkk rFkk egRoiw.kZ n`';ksa esa budk uk;d the hero, in important scenes, appeared in costumes bu jaxksa esa gh fn[krk Fkk A made in these colours. eSa ;gka Jh ,l- —..kkLokeh rFkk bfjd ckuks± dh iqLrd Let me mention two typical scenes, quoted in esa m)`r nks [kkl n`';ksa dk mYys[k djuk pkgwaxk % the book by S Krishnaswamy and Eric Barnouw: nks vkneh taxy esa HkVd tkrs gSaA muesa ls ukStoku Two men are lost in the jungle. The younger O;fä iwNrk gS] D;k gesa mŸkj fn'kk esa pyus dk iz;kl djuk person asks: ’Shall we try going in the northern pkfg,\ rc o`) O;fä toko nsrk gS % ^ugha] ^mŸkj ds yksx direction?’ and the older man replies: “No, the fo'okl ;ksX; ugha gSaA ge nf{k.k esa pysa tgka yksx Hkjkslsean northern people are untrustworthy. Let us go south where people are reliable.’ gSa^A C. N. Annadurai, one of the founders of the lh ,u vUUkknqjbZ tks ikVhZ ds ,d Qkm.Mj Fks ^vUUkk* party, was known as ‘Anna’, which means ‘elder ds uke ls tkus tkrs Fks A rfey esa ftldk vFkZ cM+k HkkbZ gSA brother’ in Tamil. And in a DMK film, in a tense ,d Mh,eds fQYe esa ruko dh fLFkfr esa tgka ,d O;fä situation, where a man pleads with his younger sister viuh NksVh cgu dks mldh ckr lquus ds fy, tksj nsrk gS] to listen to his advice, the girl bursts out: ’Anna, not rc og yM+dh ml ij ^cjl iM+rh gS*% ^vUUkk* dsoy vki just me but the entire nation listens to you.’ eqÖks ugha dg jgs cfYd iwjk ns'k vkidks lqu jgk gS A In 1962, after the Chinese war, DMK gave up o"kZ 1962 esa phu ds ;q) ds ckn Mh,eds us vyx jk"Vª its demand for a separate nation but its demand for a dh viuh ekax NksM+ nh ysfdu rfey jkT; dh mldh ekax Tamil state continued. In 1965 the attempt by the cuh jghA 1965 esa dsUæ }kjk Çgnh dks jktHkk"kk ds :i esa centre to enforce Hindi as the official language led to Fkksius ds iz;kl ds ifj.kke Lo:i ogka O;kid naxsa QSy x;s widespread rioting and the DMK came to power in Tamil Nadu in 1967. The impact of the film industry rFkk Mh,eds 1967 esa rfeyukMq esa lŸkk esa vkbZA fQYe can be clearly seen in the fact that all the four Chief m|ksx dk izHkko bl ckr ls Li"V :i ls ns[kk tk ldrk Fkk Ministers of the State since then have had close fd rc ls jkT; ds lHkh pkj eq[; eaf=;ksa dk fQYe m|ksx ls connections with the industry. Aannadurai was a fudV dk laca/k FkkA vUUkknqjbZ ,d ukVddkj Fks ftuds playwright several of whose plays were adapted to vusd ukVdksa dks insZ ij fn[kk;k x;k FkkA ,e d:.kkfuf/k the screen, M. Karunanidhi was an active script ,d lfØ; iVdFkk ys[kd Fks] ,ethvkj ,d ^lqij LVkj* Fks writer, M.G.R was a ‘super star’ and so was his rFkk mudh mŸkjkf/kdkjh ts- t;yfyrk Hkh ,slh gh lqij successor, J.Jayalalitha. LVkj FkhaA 24 24 Çgnh fQYe m|ksx us Çgnh dks ,d jk"Vªh; Hkk"kk dk The Hindi film industry helped turn Hindi into ntkZ fnykus esa lgk;rk dh ysfdu ;g f}rh; Hkk"kk m|ksx a national language. But it remained a second- cudj jg x;k tks Çgnh Hkk"kh lekt vFkok bfrgkl dh language industry, unconcerned with the specific fo'ks"k leL;kvksa ij fot; izkIr ugha dj ldk A nwljh rjQ problems of the Hindi language, society or history. rfey fQYesa vius lzksrkvksa dh ekr` Hkk"kk esa cukbZ xbZaA bu Tamil films , on the other hand, spoke in the mother- fQYeksa esa rfey lekt dh xfrfof/k;ksa dks fn[kk;k x;kA tongue of their audiences, and dealt, however rfey fQYeksa esa tks fn[kk;k x;k] rfey ?kjksa esa mldh xwat remotely, with events purporting to be happening in Tamil society. What was said on the Tamil screen lqukbZ nhA rfey fQYeksa us rfey ?kjksa ds thou ds izR;sd echoed in the Tamil home. Tamil films have igyq dks NqvkA vkt lkfgR;] dyk] laxhr] i=dkfjrk] influenced the contours of every aspect of Tamil rfey Hkk"k.k dh y;------izR;sd esa fQYe laL—fr dk izHkko life. Today the literature, arts, music, journalism, the fn[kk;h iM+rk gSA bl izdkj ;g dgk tk ldrk gS fd very rhythms of Tamil speech-----everything rfey fQYe m|ksx us gh oLrqr% rfey fotu dks iznÆ'kr displays the influence of the film culture. In that fd;k x;k gS A sense the film industry can be said to have realized a truly Tamil vision. ,d vU; ekr`&Hkk"kk flusek Hkh Fkk ftlus jktuSfrd ifjn`'; dks O;kid :i ls izHkkfor fd;kA ;g dkjukek That other mother-tongue cinemas too had the vka/kz izns'k esa gqvk] tgka lqij LVkj ,u Vh jkekjko us rsyqxw power to affect the political scene profoundly was ns'ke ikVhZ cukbZA ogka fpjdky ls lŸkk ij dkfct dkaxzsl later proved in Andhra Pradesh, where the super-star dks lŸkk ls gVkdj dsoy ukS eghus ds Hkhrj os ogka ds N. T. Ramarao created the Telugu Desham Party, eq[;ea=h cus A ysfdu VhMhih us xzkl:V Lrj dk dksbZ dk;Z dislodged the firmly entrenched Congress from power and became the Chief Minister, all within a ugha fd;k vkSj dkaxzsl dks rRdky lŸkk ls gVkus ds flok; space of nine months. But the TDP had done no mldh dksbZ fo'ks"k lksp o fopkj/kkjk ugha FkhA mlds grassroots work, had no distinct philosophy except T;knkrj dk;ZdrkZ dkaxzsl esa fofHkUUk inksa dks NksM+dj vk;s the immediate one of overthrowing the Congress Fks vr% rsyqxw laL—fr ij ikVhZ dk izHkko ekewyh jgkA and most of its workers had emerged from the ranks ipkl ds n'kd esa tks fd Çgnh flusek dk ^Lo.kZ;qx* of the Congress. The party’s impact on Telugu Fkk] eSaus Çgnh flusek ij viuk losZ dk dk;Z NksM+ fn;k tks culture therefore has been only marginal. fQYe m|ksx ds fy, bldh miyfC/k;ksa ds fy, esjs rdks± dks I left my survey of Hindi cinema in the fifties, fl) djus ds fy, i;kZIr FkkA o"kZ 1931&1980 rd flusek the so-called ‘golden age’ of the industry, for its us fdlh vU; ek/;e ls izfrLi/kkZ ds fcuk ,dN= 'kklu achievements till that date suffice to prove my fd;k A ml le; ,d Çgnh fQYe fons'kksa esa n'kZdksa dh dqy argument. From 1931 to 1980 cinema ruled 25 25 Çgnh fQYe m|ksx us Çgnh dks ,d jk"Vªh; Hkk"kk dk The Hindi film industry helped turn Hindi into ntkZ fnykus esa lgk;rk dh ysfdu ;g f}rh; Hkk"kk m|ksx a national language. But it remained a second- cudj jg x;k tks Çgnh Hkk"kh lekt vFkok bfrgkl dh language industry, unconcerned with the specific fo'ks"k leL;kvksa ij fot; izkIr ugha dj ldk A nwljh rjQ problems of the Hindi language, society or history. rfey fQYesa vius lzksrkvksa dh ekr` Hkk"kk esa cukbZ xbZaA bu Tamil films , on the other hand, spoke in the mother- fQYeksa esa rfey lekt dh xfrfof/k;ksa dks fn[kk;k x;kA tongue of their audiences, and dealt, however rfey fQYeksa esa tks fn[kk;k x;k] rfey ?kjksa esa mldh xwat remotely, with events purporting to be happening in Tamil society. What was said on the Tamil screen lqukbZ nhA rfey fQYeksa us rfey ?kjksa ds thou ds izR;sd echoed in the Tamil home. Tamil films have igyq dks NqvkA vkt lkfgR;] dyk] laxhr] i=dkfjrk] influenced the contours of every aspect of Tamil rfey Hkk"k.k dh y;------izR;sd esa fQYe laL—fr dk izHkko life. Today the literature, arts, music, journalism, the fn[kk;h iM+rk gSA bl izdkj ;g dgk tk ldrk gS fd very rhythms of Tamil speech-----everything rfey fQYe m|ksx us gh oLrqr% rfey fotu dks iznÆ'kr displays the influence of the film culture. In that fd;k x;k gS A sense the film industry can be said to have realized a truly Tamil vision. ,d vU; ekr`&Hkk"kk flusek Hkh Fkk ftlus jktuSfrd ifjn`'; dks O;kid :i ls izHkkfor fd;kA ;g dkjukek That other mother-tongue cinemas too had the vka/kz izns'k esa gqvk] tgka lqij LVkj ,u Vh jkekjko us rsyqxw power to affect the political scene profoundly was ns'ke ikVhZ cukbZA ogka fpjdky ls lŸkk ij dkfct dkaxzsl later proved in Andhra Pradesh, where the super-star dks lŸkk ls gVkdj dsoy ukS eghus ds Hkhrj os ogka ds N. T. Ramarao created the Telugu Desham Party, eq[;ea=h cus A ysfdu VhMhih us xzkl:V Lrj dk dksbZ dk;Z dislodged the firmly entrenched Congress from power and became the Chief Minister, all within a ugha fd;k vkSj dkaxzsl dks rRdky lŸkk ls gVkus ds flok; space of nine months. But the TDP had done no mldh dksbZ fo'ks"k lksp o fopkj/kkjk ugha FkhA mlds grassroots work, had no distinct philosophy except T;knkrj dk;ZdrkZ dkaxzsl esa fofHkUUk inksa dks NksM+dj vk;s the immediate one of overthrowing the Congress Fks vr% rsyqxw laL—fr ij ikVhZ dk izHkko ekewyh jgkA and most of its workers had emerged from the ranks ipkl ds n'kd esa tks fd Çgnh flusek dk ^Lo.kZ;qx* of the Congress. The party’s impact on Telugu Fkk] eSaus Çgnh flusek ij viuk losZ dk dk;Z NksM+ fn;k tks culture therefore has been only marginal. fQYe m|ksx ds fy, bldh miyfC/k;ksa ds fy, esjs rdks± dks I left my survey of Hindi cinema in the fifties, fl) djus ds fy, i;kZIr FkkA o"kZ 1931&1980 rd flusek the so-called ‘golden age’ of the industry, for its us fdlh vU; ek/;e ls izfrLi/kkZ ds fcuk ,dN= 'kklu achievements till that date suffice to prove my fd;k A ml le; ,d Çgnh fQYe fons'kksa esa n'kZdksa dh dqy argument. From 1931 to 1980 cinema ruled 25 25 vk; dk vk/kk ls vf/kd vÆtr djrh Fkh rFkk fQYe dks supreme with no competition from any other cukus esa ctV dk ,d cM+k fgLlk fons'k ls vfxze ds :i esa medium. At its peak a Hindi film collected more than fey tkrk Fkk ysfdu lŸkj ds n'kd rd bl {ks= esa half its total earnings from audiences abroad and a rduhdh fodkl gksus ls ;g fiNM+rk pyk x;k Fkk A large part of the budget for a film in the making was covered by advances from abroad. But by the 70’s it igyk ÖkVdk rc yxk tc fofM;ks dSlsV Iys;j dk had started getting buffeted by technical vkxeu gqvk rFkk fQYeksa dh ik;jslh us blds O;kid developments in the field. cktkj dks [kRe dj fn;kA First the video cassette player made its rRi'Pkkr~ 1982 esa nwjn'kZu us jaxhu Vsyhfotu dh appearance and piracy of films killed the diaspora 'kq#vkr dh rFkk vius vkidks futh fuekZrkvksa ds gokys market. dj fn;kA dqN le; ds fy, rks flusek n'kZd fFk;sVj ds Then in 1982, Doordarshan introduced colour izfr iwjh rjg ls foeq[k gks x;s rFkk Vsyhfotu lsVksa ds television, and opened itself to privately produced bnZ&fxnZ jgus yxsA soap operas. For a while cinema audiences lkSHkkX;o'k 25 feuV dk Vsyhfotu dk [ksy ftlesa abandoned theatres entirely and clustred around foKkiu dh Hkjekj Fkh] 'kgj ds xjhc yksxksa dh ilan ugha television sets. vk;kA 'kgjh xjhc oxZ muds xhr rFkk u`R;&ukfVdk dks Fortunately the twenty-five minute television vf/kd ilan djrs Fks rFkk lk;a ds le; blds fy, le; fare, interrupted by commercials was not to the taste fudkyrs Fks] os /khj&/khjs flusek dh vksj okil vk;s ysfdu of the urban poor, who preferred their song and vf/kdka'k e/; oxhZ; n'kZd Vsyhfotu ls gh tqM+s jgsA dance melodramas and time to be out of the house for an evening. They slowly returned to cinemas. But the rc uCcs ds n'kd ds vkjEHk esa vkdk'k dks ykSfdd middle class audience remained largely loyal to rFkk dscy Vsyhfotu ds fy, [kksy fn;k x;k rFkk television. miHkksäk ds fy, lSdM+ksa pSuy miyC/k gq,A gesa ;kn j[kuk Then in the early nineties the skies opened up pkfg, fd bl u;s ehfM;k ds fy, lapkj esa yxHkx lHkh with terrestrial and cable television, offering the leL;kvksa&fotqvy dEiksusaV] Hkk"kk dk bLrseky laxhr dh consumer hundreds of channels.. We must jsat vkfn dks Hkkjrh; flusek esa vUos"kdksa }kjk igys gh nwj remember that for these new media almost all the dj fy;k x;k FkkA problems in communication---the visual component, use of language, the range of music---- had already been solved by the innovators in Indian cinema. 26 26 vk; dk vk/kk ls vf/kd vÆtr djrh Fkh rFkk fQYe dks supreme with no competition from any other cukus esa ctV dk ,d cM+k fgLlk fons'k ls vfxze ds :i esa medium. At its peak a Hindi film collected more than fey tkrk Fkk ysfdu lŸkj ds n'kd rd bl {ks= esa half its total earnings from audiences abroad and a rduhdh fodkl gksus ls ;g fiNM+rk pyk x;k Fkk A large part of the budget for a film in the making was covered by advances from abroad. But by the 70’s it igyk ÖkVdk rc yxk tc fofM;ks dSlsV Iys;j dk had started getting buffeted by technical vkxeu gqvk rFkk fQYeksa dh ik;jslh us blds O;kid developments in the field. cktkj dks [kRe dj fn;kA First the video cassette player made its rRi'Pkkr~ 1982 esa nwjn'kZu us jaxhu Vsyhfotu dh appearance and piracy of films killed the diaspora 'kq#vkr dh rFkk vius vkidks futh fuekZrkvksa ds gokys market. dj fn;kA dqN le; ds fy, rks flusek n'kZd fFk;sVj ds Then in 1982, Doordarshan introduced colour izfr iwjh rjg ls foeq[k gks x;s rFkk Vsyhfotu lsVksa ds television, and opened itself to privately produced bnZ&fxnZ jgus yxsA soap operas. For a while cinema audiences lkSHkkX;o'k 25 feuV dk Vsyhfotu dk [ksy ftlesa abandoned theatres entirely and clustred around foKkiu dh Hkjekj Fkh] 'kgj ds xjhc yksxksa dh ilan ugha television sets. vk;kA 'kgjh xjhc oxZ muds xhr rFkk u`R;&ukfVdk dks Fortunately the twenty-five minute television vf/kd ilan djrs Fks rFkk lk;a ds le; blds fy, le; fare, interrupted by commercials was not to the taste fudkyrs Fks] os /khj&/khjs flusek dh vksj okil vk;s ysfdu of the urban poor, who preferred their song and vf/kdka'k e/; oxhZ; n'kZd Vsyhfotu ls gh tqM+s jgsA dance melodramas and time to be out of the house for an evening. They slowly returned to cinemas. But the rc uCcs ds n'kd ds vkjEHk esa vkdk'k dks ykSfdd middle class audience remained largely loyal to rFkk dscy Vsyhfotu ds fy, [kksy fn;k x;k rFkk television. miHkksäk ds fy, lSdM+ksa pSuy miyC/k gq,A gesa ;kn j[kuk Then in the early nineties the skies opened up pkfg, fd bl u;s ehfM;k ds fy, lapkj esa yxHkx lHkh with terrestrial and cable television, offering the leL;kvksa&fotqvy dEiksusaV] Hkk"kk dk bLrseky laxhr dh consumer hundreds of channels.. We must jsat vkfn dks Hkkjrh; flusek esa vUos"kdksa }kjk igys gh nwj remember that for these new media almost all the dj fy;k x;k FkkA problems in communication---the visual component, use of language, the range of music---- had already been solved by the innovators in Indian cinema. 26 26 ;g lR; gS fd MhohMh] fcx] ¶ySV LØhu okys lLrs It is true that with DVD, big, cheap flat screen Vsyhfotu tks vkidks flusek izkstsD'ku dk vkuan nsrs gSa] televisions which give you the feel of a cinema ohfM;ks xsEl] eksckby Qksu rFkk vU; iksVsZcy midj.k tks projection, video games, mobile phones and other de vk; okys yksxksa rd Hkh vklkuh ls igqap cuk;s gq, gS] ds portable devices that are easily accessible to even vkus ds ckotwn flusek dk Hkfo"; mTtoy fn[kkbZ ns jgk gS those who are not moneyed, the future of cinema rFkk fQYe m|ksx dks blds fy, la?k"kZ djrs jguk gksxkA continues to look fraught and yet the industry flusek gkWy vkdkj esa NksVs gks x;s gSa ysfdu eYVhIysDl us continues to fight back. Cinema halls have shrunk in ,d u;k cktkj rS;kj fd;k gS rFkk bl le; bldh igqap size, but the multiplexes have created a new market-- dsoy /kuh yksxksa rd gSA eeZLi'khZ ckr ;g gS dh bu -alas! for the present at least accessible only to the rich. The heartening fact is that because of these eYVhIysDl ds dkj.k u;h fQYeksa dh ,d 'kkunkj Qly multiplexes there has been an excellent crop of new rS;kj gks jgh gS tks ,sls ;qokvksa }kjk rS;kj dh xbZ gS tks bl films, created by young people who seem to be in ek/;e ds laiw.kZ fu;a=.k esa fn[kkbZ nsrs gSaA fuf'Pkr :i ls total control of the medium. The industry certainly bl m|ksx esa izFke Js.kh dh izfrHkk dh deh ugha gSA does not lack first-rate talent. pwafd esjk oDrO; fQYeksa ds ckjs esa gS vr% ;g mfpr Since my lecture has been about our films, it is gksxk fd eSa bldk lekiu gky gh dh fQYe ftlus eqÖks only proper that I should conclude by referring to a csgn izsfjr fd;k gS] dk gokyk nsrs gq, d:aA bl fQYe dk recent film I have admired immensely. It is a film uke gS ^f'ki vkWQ fFkflvl* tks ;qok funsZ'kd vkuan xk¡/kh called ‘Ship of Theseus’, a first film of a young dh igyh fQYe gSA bl fQYe esa dksbZ xhr o u`R; ugha gS A director called Anand Gandhi. It has no songs and blesa rhu dFkk,a ,d lkFk pyrh gSaA ;g fQYe fo"k; dh dances. It weaves together three narratives. n`f"V ls tfVy] nk'kZfud n`f"V ls ftKklk mRiUUk djuh Thematically it is complex, philosophically intriguing, technically daring. And its title refers to okyh rFkk rduhdh :i ls lqn`<+ gSA bldk uke IywVkpZ ds the Theseus paradox stated by Plutarch. When a ship }kjk fn;k x;k gSA blesa ,d leqæh tgkt dks blds has been restored by carefully replacing every one of vyx&vyx fgLlksa dks /;kuiwoZd cnydj bls nqckjk its different parts, does it remain the same old ship or rS;kj fd;k x;k gSA D;k ;g ogh iqjkuk tgkt jgsxk vFkok has it become something new and different? The dqN u;k o fHkUUk gksxk\ Hkkjrh; fQYe m|ksx vuUr iScanksa Indian film industry has gone through xBtksM+ksa] lek;kstuksa rFkk cnykoksa ls gksdj xqtjk gS vkSj endless patching, bandaging, adjustments and bls blh xfr ls vkxs c<+uk gS A ;g fQYe gekjs fQYe transformations and yet it has held on to its course. m|ksx ds fy, ,d loZJs"B dyk—fr gS A The film provides a perfect metaphor for our industry. 27 27 ;g lR; gS fd MhohMh] fcx] ¶ySV LØhu okys lLrs It is true that with DVD, big, cheap flat screen Vsyhfotu tks vkidks flusek izkstsD'ku dk vkuan nsrs gSa] televisions which give you the feel of a cinema ohfM;ks xsEl] eksckby Qksu rFkk vU; iksVsZcy midj.k tks projection, video games, mobile phones and other de vk; okys yksxksa rd Hkh vklkuh ls igqap cuk;s gq, gS] ds portable devices that are easily accessible to even vkus ds ckotwn flusek dk Hkfo"; mTtoy fn[kkbZ ns jgk gS those who are not moneyed, the future of cinema rFkk fQYe m|ksx dks blds fy, la?k"kZ djrs jguk gksxkA continues to look fraught and yet the industry flusek gkWy vkdkj esa NksVs gks x;s gSa ysfdu eYVhIysDl us continues to fight back. Cinema halls have shrunk in ,d u;k cktkj rS;kj fd;k gS rFkk bl le; bldh igqap size, but the multiplexes have created a new market-- dsoy /kuh yksxksa rd gSA eeZLi'khZ ckr ;g gS dh bu -alas! for the present at least accessible only to the rich. The heartening fact is that because of these eYVhIysDl ds dkj.k u;h fQYeksa dh ,d 'kkunkj Qly multiplexes there has been an excellent crop of new rS;kj gks jgh gS tks ,sls ;qokvksa }kjk rS;kj dh xbZ gS tks bl films, created by young people who seem to be in ek/;e ds laiw.kZ fu;a=.k esa fn[kkbZ nsrs gSaA fuf'Pkr :i ls total control of the medium. The industry certainly bl m|ksx esa izFke Js.kh dh izfrHkk dh deh ugha gSA does not lack first-rate talent. pwafd esjk oDrO; fQYeksa ds ckjs esa gS vr% ;g mfpr Since my lecture has been about our films, it is gksxk fd eSa bldk lekiu gky gh dh fQYe ftlus eqÖks only proper that I should conclude by referring to a csgn izsfjr fd;k gS] dk gokyk nsrs gq, d:aA bl fQYe dk recent film I have admired immensely. It is a film uke gS ^f'ki vkWQ fFkflvl* tks ;qok funsZ'kd vkuan xk¡/kh called ‘Ship of Theseus’, a first film of a young dh igyh fQYe gSA bl fQYe esa dksbZ xhr o u`R; ugha gS A director called Anand Gandhi. It has no songs and blesa rhu dFkk,a ,d lkFk pyrh gSaA ;g fQYe fo"k; dh dances. It weaves together three narratives. n`f"V ls tfVy] nk'kZfud n`f"V ls ftKklk mRiUUk djuh Thematically it is complex, philosophically intriguing, technically daring. And its title refers to okyh rFkk rduhdh :i ls lqn`<+ gSA bldk uke IywVkpZ ds the Theseus paradox stated by Plutarch. When a ship }kjk fn;k x;k gSA blesa ,d leqæh tgkt dks blds has been restored by carefully replacing every one of vyx&vyx fgLlksa dks /;kuiwoZd cnydj bls nqckjk its different parts, does it remain the same old ship or rS;kj fd;k x;k gSA D;k ;g ogh iqjkuk tgkt jgsxk vFkok has it become something new and different? The dqN u;k o fHkUUk gksxk\ Hkkjrh; fQYe m|ksx vuUr iScanksa Indian film industry has gone through xBtksM+ksa] lek;kstuksa rFkk cnykoksa ls gksdj xqtjk gS vkSj endless patching, bandaging, adjustments and bls blh xfr ls vkxs c<+uk gS A ;g fQYe gekjs fQYe transformations and yet it has held on to its course. m|ksx ds fy, ,d loZJs"B dyk—fr gS A The film provides a perfect metaphor for our industry. 27 27 viuk Hkk"k.k lekIr djrs gq, eSa bQdks dk iqu% Let me end by saying again how grateful I am vkHkkjh gwa fd mUgksaus eqÖks vkt ;gk¡ vkeaf=r fd;k rFkk eqÖks for this invitation, which has helped me sort out my fQYe m|ksx ds ckjs esa vius fopkj O;ä djus dk volj own thoughts on my medium. feykA Thank you. /kU;okn A GIRISH KARNAD fxjh'k dukZM 28 28 viuk Hkk"k.k lekIr djrs gq, eSa bQdks dk iqu% Let me end by saying again how grateful I am vkHkkjh gwa fd mUgksaus eqÖks vkt ;gk¡ vkeaf=r fd;k rFkk eqÖks for this invitation, which has helped me sort out my fQYe m|ksx ds ckjs esa vius fopkj O;ä djus dk volj own thoughts on my medium. feykA Thank you. /kU;okn A GIRISH KARNAD fxjh'k dukZM 28 28 Dr. Girish Karnad Eminent Author, Noted Cinema and Theater Personality - A Profile Dr. Girish Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language. He was born in Matheran, Maharashtra. His initial schooling was in Marathi. In his childhood, in Sirsi, Karnataka, he was exposed to travelling theatre groups, ‘Natak Mandalis’ as his parents were deeply interested in their plays. As a youngster, Shri Karnad was an ardent admirer of Yakshagana and the theater in his village. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Arts with Mathematics and Statistics, from Karnataka University, in 1958. Upon graduation he went to England and studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lincoln and Magdalen colleges in Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar(1960–63), earning his Master of Arts degree in philosophy, political science and economics. He worked with the Oxford University Press, Chennai for seven years later he resigned to take up writing as a full-time profession. During 1987–88, he was at the University of Chicago as Visiting Professor. During his tenure at Chicago ‘Nagamandala’ had its world premiere at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis based on Dr. Karnad's English translation of the Kannada original. He made his acting as well as screenwriting debut in a Kannada movie, Samskara, the movie won the first President's Golden Lotus Award for Kannada cinema. Over the years he had acted in a number of Hindi and Kannada feature films and worked with directors like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Shyam Benegal. 29 Dr. Girish Karnad Eminent Author, Noted Cinema and Theater Personality - A Profile Dr. Girish Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language. He was born in Matheran, Maharashtra. His initial schooling was in Marathi. In his childhood, in Sirsi, Karnataka, he was exposed to travelling theatre groups, ‘Natak Mandalis’ as his parents were deeply interested in their plays. As a youngster, Shri Karnad was an ardent admirer of Yakshagana and the theater in his village. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Arts with Mathematics and Statistics, from Karnataka University, in 1958. Upon graduation he went to England and studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lincoln and Magdalen colleges in Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar(1960–63), earning his Master of Arts degree in philosophy, political science and economics. He worked with the Oxford University Press, Chennai for seven years later he resigned to take up writing as a full-time profession. During 1987–88, he was at the University of Chicago as Visiting Professor. During his tenure at Chicago ‘Nagamandala’ had its world premiere at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis based on Dr. Karnad's English translation of the Kannada original. He made his acting as well as screenwriting debut in a Kannada movie, Samskara, the movie won the first President's Golden Lotus Award for Kannada cinema. Over the years he had acted in a number of Hindi and Kannada feature films and worked with directors like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Shyam Benegal. 29 He made his directorial debut with Vamsha Vriksha (1971). It won him National Film Award for Best Direction along with B. V. Karanth, who co-directed the film. Later, he directed several movies in Kannada and Hindi. He has made number of documentaries and films, many of his films and documentaries have won several national and international awards. Dr. Karnad has often used history and mythology to tackle contemporary issues in his writing. He has translated his plays into English and has received acclaim. His plays have been translated into some Indian languages and directed by renowned directors. He is active in the world of Indian cinema working as an actor, director, and screenwriter, in Hindi and Kannada earning awards along the way. He was conferred ‘Padma Shri’ and ‘Padma Bhushan’ by the Government of India and won four Filmfare Awards where three are Filmfare Award for Best Director - Kannada and one Filmfare Best Screenplay Award. He is recipient of numerous awards such as Sangeet Natak Akademi award, Kannada Sahitya Academy award, Sahitya Academy award, Kalidas Samman, Rajyotsava Award. He is a recipient of the Jnanpith Award in the year 1998, the highest literary honour conferred in India. He was conferred D. Litt by Karnataka University in 1994 and Honorary Doctorate by University of Southern California. Dr Karnad’s plays are written in Kannada and have been translated into English as well as some Indian languages. He has been the voice of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India, in the audio-book of Kalam's autobiography “Wings of Fire”. Most recently, he served as director of the Nehru Centre and as Minister of Culture, in the Indian High Commission, London. 30 26th tokgjyky usg: Lekjd bQdks O;k[;ku Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial IFFCO Lecture Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial IFFCO Lecture is being organized by IFFCO every year to promulgate the cooperative principles and ideology advocated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Architect of Modern India. The Cooperative Award Ceremony is a source of encouragement and inspiration to Cooperative leaders which recognizes their efforts and spirit for the overall growth of the society. oDrk@ Speaker MkW- fxjh'k dukZM] lqizfl) ys[kd] fo[;kr fQYe o ukVddkj Dr. Girish Karnad, Eminent Author, Noted Cinema and Theater Personality 15 uoEcj] 2013 ¼'kqØokj½ vijkºu & 3-00 cts Friday, 15th November 2013, at 3.00 P.M. bafM;u QkjelZ QfVZykbtj dksvkijsfVo fyfeVsM INDIAN FARMERS FERTILISER COOPERATIVE LIMITED