The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

The father behind the son
V.N. Datta

IT is heartening to read Arjuna Datta’s illuminating article on the themes and techniques used by the young budding artist Rahul Bakshi as a creative artist in his paintings (April 6). It seems that Rahul is wrestling with bold and daring ideas in his artistic creations rather than following the old-fashioned and conventional models for his work. The test of a real creative art is breaking new ground and chartering a new course of originality and universality.

I think that Rahul owes this passion of art to his father Hardev Singh Bakshi, though this is not to deny his own efforts and application — Hardev had died when Rahul was six months old. By any standards Hardev was endowed with outstanding artistic gifts. There are many shining stars in the firmament of which we know so little, and Hardev was one of them — belonging to a highly respectable, artistocratic, and affluent family of Amritsar, owning large landed estates and sugar mills, and reputed for excellence in various professions, such as business and medical. Hardev himself was a self-educated man, deeply interested in widening his intellectual outlook and refining his sensibilities. He took little interest in his family business.

Hardev kept himself substantially in touch with some of the leading artists of his times such as Nanda Lal Bose, B.C. Sanyal and Sobha Singh with whom he established personal relations. He was also instrumental in organising an exhibition of Amrita Shergill’s paintings in Amritsar. He tried his hand on painting and sculpture, and produced some notable pieces, but was never satisfied with his performance as he hankered after perfection. He had a marvellous collection of pottery which showed his artistic skill. So much richness lay hidden in him that he struggled desperately to find a true medium to express it. He could not, and therein lay his real dilemma and predicament. We encounter such rare individuals in artistic and literacy domains who remain unknown and unsung. Hardev, alas, was one of them.

In his youth Hardev was determined to lead the life of an ascetic. His own uncle, Harbhajan Singh, 12 years earlier, handsome, fabulously rich and cultured, had given up everything to seek solace in the deeps of forests and the Himalayas further off Rishikesh in UP. The exemplary life of complete renunciation had exercised a profound influence on Hardev. He battled on with life and sought peace which he was never to find. In desperation he went to Wardha to meet Gandhiji and stayed with Acharya Vinoba Bhave for three days at Paunar. His meetings with these two great personalities acted as a great moral and spiritual tonic on Hardev’s life. Henceforth, the Bhagavada Gita became his life companion which convinced him that life is a battlefield to be faced with detachment and disinterestedness for the purification of heart, mind and soul and the good of society.

Hardev’s love for learning became his abiding passion. He sought knowledge wherever he could. He was closely associated with R.K. Kapur and Pandit Arjuna Nath Nausha of Amritsar who were reputed for their erudition and integrity of character. He learnt Sanskrit and promoted it in his ashram at Ganda Singh Wala where he enlisted the services of Sanskrit Pandits. He was himself a fairly good singer and recited from Tulsidas’s Ramayana. He loved Urdu poetry and could reproduce a good deal from Ghalib and Iqbal in his own inimitable style.

Hardev was a regular subscriber to Gandhi’s Harijan and Sardar Gurbaksh Singh’s Preetlari. I remember vividly his visits to Preetnagar where he held discussions with Gurbaksh Singh on socialism and its relevance to India. He read through the entire works of Swami Ram Tirath whose nobility of character and high idealism greatly fascinated him. He had a marvellous collection of books which reflected his variety of interests in art, music, philosophy, literature and religion. He had also studied the Koran, the Buddhist literature and the Upanishadas. He went to Jammu to meet the judge Jankidass for understanding some parts of the Rigveda on which he was a distinguished authority. It was not that Hardev was widely read only, but he had an exquisite taste for the finer things of life. A lover of art, he saw beauty wherever it existed. He was an aesthete in the authentic sense of the term. The things material hardly interested him as he had enough of fortune through inheritance, which he used for charitable purposes.

Before India’s attainment of independence Hardev wore khaddar and spun it and induced others to do so. Meticulous in matters of cleanliness, he would clean his own lavatory, the practice he adopted after his return from Wardha where Gandhiji insisted on his followers cleaning up the public lavatory by turns. Hardev’s own lavatory experiment raised eyebrows in his family, but he never swerved from it. A staunch nationalist, he would seldom miss a public meeting addressed by Congress leaders in Amritsar. He admired Vallabhbhai Patel much, in fact, more than he did Jawaharlal Nehru whom he thought was sagacious and practical, but Nehru he found rambling and loud. But to Gandhi he surrendered.

During Partition in 1947, his own Amrita Bank situated in Katra Jaimal Singh was burnt, but he bore this loss with poise. In his village Ganda Singh Wala, situated at a distance of three miles from Amritsar, a large number of Muslim families lived. Despite his own loss, Hardev ensured the safe migration of the Muslims to Pakistan when Amritsar was burning with fire due to communal riots.

I think it is this remarkable patrimony that breathes through Rahul Bakshi which I hope will flower into unique and fine artistic creations bringing thereby lustre to his achievement. This writer too, like many others, owes much to Hardev for his encouragement in academic and literary pursuits and I dare salute him for this generosity. Hardev died young when he was nearing 50, and perhaps to him is relevant the well-known maxim: “Those whom God loves, die young”.

Man behind ‘Chann Pardesi’
Suparna Saraswati

TO Chandigarh’s list of celebrity residents, here is yet another entrant, J.S. Cheema of Sector 35. So, what is it that has earned him a place in the roll of honour among the distinguished citizens ? Well take a guess ! Remember the classic Punjabi award-winner “Chann Pardesi”, feature film. He is the producer of the film. Tall, middle-aged with an attitude of thorough professionalism, this enterprising Sikh began his career in 1977 as a sound effects technician ( on contract) with the Punjab drama repertoire which had artistes like G.S. Channi, Vijaya Kashyap, Sunita Dhir, Umesh Kant and others striving towards excellence in the field of theatre and dramatics. The writer of “Chann Pardesi”, Baldev Gill was a friend and aspiring script writer of Cheema. Together, they decided in 1977 to give shape to this project and went to Mumbai to make the scouting rounds for making a film out of it. After surviving the initial hurdles of finding a suitable star cast, the director, technicians, cameraman and so on, the duo ventured into the arena of making their first feature film. Cheema shares some of the most treasured reflections of the decade he had as a producer.

Q: What inspired you to invest in a film without any knowhow of the medium at that time ?

A: Well, the sheer confidence and arrogance of youth prompted me to take the plunge. And of course, I was convinced of the merits of Baldev Gill’s script writing. I knew it deserved a fair chance. Hence, the decision to join hands with him knowing fully well that both lacked the much-needed technical expertise in such a venture.

Q: What was the main consideration while doing the job?

A: To make a good feature film in Punjabi, that’s all. Financial gain was not on the agenda since most of the money that went into the making had been generously and spontaneously pooled in by a host of friends and relatives who also believed in our vision to create a good piece of regional cinema.

Q: What about the film being awarded a National Award as the best feature film ( Punjabi) of the year 1981 ?

A: I think, this really helped us even though usually a National awardee rarely does well at the box office. And “Chann Pardesi” not only became the first Punjabi feature film to have been awarded the National Award,but also become the first to be a silver jubilee hit and bagged the silver medal for being an unprecedented box-office hit, all over. I will never forget that day of May 1981 when at 6 p.m. on Jalandhar Doordarshan , the news flashed that “Chann Pardesi” had been adjudged 1981’s best feature film ( Punjabi). Both Gill and I went to receive the award from the then President of India, Mr Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy. We also had the honour of meeting the jury Chairman (at that time), Mr V.Shantaram, whom I’ve admired greatly and on asking him what got us the award he said: “I think there is potential for seeing something good.” Now, what more realisation could there be for us who also intended a mere production of good cinema.

Q: What, according to you, was the factor response for lending authenticity to the entire film?

A: The entire casts voice dubbing was done in Mumbai, minor artistes were especially taken all the way to dub in their own voice. That made all the difference. The rustic flavour of the language came from those who acted themselves in their own native tongue.

Q: What happened after the 1981 venture? Any other film that you produced?

A: After a gap of a few years, I produced another film that was originally titled “Muklawa” and was to be in Punjabi but due to the 1984 and post-Bluestar problem, it got renamed as “Waris” and was made as a Hindi feature film with a budget of Rs 85 lakh in 1984.

Q: How did this fair as another ambitious project?

A: Well, we (Baldev and I) had gained certain amount of experience in the medium, but because of the political upheaval in the state of Punjab, certain factors did alter its course of success. For instance, we shot most of the film at Rajpipla in Gujarat and Nasik and only a marginal shooting took place near Karnal. Also, the star studded cast prolonged the release as well as the production of this film. However, the choice of Smita Patil, in the lead role did wonders for the film. She was just the character Baldev had conceived. With absolute sense of professionalism she learnt the minute details of the Punjabi way of life in villages. For example, the churning of butter, shot in the film came after she had actually learnt the style from a Punjabi rural woman who helped Smita master the art well.

Q: What do you attribute your short lived success in this field to?

A: God’s grace, an understanding spouse and a very supportive family, including friends, and of course, the honest intention with which I treaded on this path for a decade.

Mantris in tough competition
Amita Malik

THE ratings race is on again, this time between old rivals Zee and Star Plus. Zee got off the mark first (they are now in the third episode) with “Pradhan Mantri”, devised and scripted by veteran editor and political columnist M.J. Akbar, dialogue by Sridav Lani and with reputed director Ketan Mehta at the controls. The “Pradhan Mantri” is K.K. Menon of “Bhopal Express” fame, with Suchitra Pillai as the anchor and Sumitra Iyer as the woman politician — a tribute to how South Indians have invaded the Hindi screen, first big and now small. Quite enchanting as the Pradhan Mantri’s wife is Malavika Tiwari, written off casually as a model. But I seem to remember her acting on the small screen some years ago in “Kashish” then “Chanakya” and more recently as Tipu’s wife in “The Sword of Tipu Sultan”.

Obviously the first episode was hurriedly revised to push in some defence scandals and make it topical following Tehelka, and it shows in the frantic pace at which the over-crowded first episode was rushed through. By the third episode, “Pradhan Mantri” has nicely stabilised and is set on course, and the Pradhan Mantri’s visit to the front (echoes of Kargil with some spectacular location shots) together with excellent acting by Menon, who skilfully conveys the physical as well as mental image of the honest politician, shows Mehta at his best and one will certainly look forward to future episodes.

“Ji Mantriji”, to be followed by “Ji Pradhanmantriji”, on the other hand, is an adaptation of BBC’s internationally acclaimed series, “Yes Minister” and “Yes Prime Minister”, with Nigel Hawthorne, Paul Eddington and Derek Fowlds, the famous trio of minister, civil servant and secretary in the eternal politician vs bureaucrat warfare, which is not difficult to adapt to Delhi, where the British system of government still lingers on. Viewers will recognise the authenticity of the locales (including North Block) and the diplomatic faux pas by the naive mantriji over American vs desi computers which almost leads to an international incident. Here it is the excellent casting, brilliant dialogue and outstanding acting by the principals, which has given the serial a brilliant start. Farooque Sheikh and Jayant Kripalani, both seem to have a natural flair for this kind of satire — their impeccable style of dialogue as well as rich facial expressions adding to the richness of their roles. But the two real surprises of the serial are, first Paritosh Sand, who is quite as good as his British counterpart as the private secretary, and the director, Smeeta Chakrabarti, whose first serial this is and an excellent professional debut.

Special kudos also to the two Hindi writers who adapted the dialogue in Hindi, although keeping as much to the original as possible. Alok Tomar has done an excellent job in the first part of the serial and we shall await Purshottam Agarwal’s work when “Ji Pradhanmantriji” follows. I must also give a pat on the back for the incidental music to Manish Verma, an NDTV staffer, which cleverly picks up the humour in the dialogue. And, of course, R.K. Laxman’s cartoons are right on target.

TAIL-PIECE: In a week overwhelmed with the Bangladesh border and Jayalalitha, I would like to make a brief mention of the Zee special on Assam politics as a curtain-raiser to the elections. It was well-documented and the interviews intelligently conducted.