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ON THE SANDS OF TIME:
1976 SHYAM Benegal’s Manthan depicted how the prejudices of politicians and middlemen are overcome to create and popularise milk co-operatives, with new technology. Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah, who represented the voice of progress among the peasantry, earned an inalienable place in movie history for their assured performances.
In Mrinal Sen’s Mrigaya, Mithun Chakraborty became the prey of colonial justice when he murdered the villainous moneylender and took his head to the British officer claiming that he had rid the village of its most savage beast. With that primal beast-on-the-hunt performance, Mithun won the national award. *
Yash Chopra’s Kabhie Kabhie was
classic depiction of love in its many splendoured, turbulent facets
and past impinging on the present. A romantic film in which Amitabh
Bachchan played a poet hurt in love and brooding at the loss for
years. Khayyam-Shair-Mukesh numbers Main pal do pal ka
shaayar hoon, Kabhie kabhie mere dil mein khyaal aata hai, Tere chehre
se nazar nahin hat ti became chartbusters. |
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* Tarun Majumdar’s Balika Badhu brought Rajni Sharma in the title role. Sachin played her sober and embarrassed husband. Asrani and newcomer Kajri stole the show as the inquisitive relatives. Amit Kumar got his first major break as a singer. He sang Bade achche lagte hain, which s became a chartbuster. * When Subhash Ghai could not become a successful star, he became a director with Kalicharan. Shatrughan Sinha played the lead. Sinha temporarily discarded the mantle of villainy to plung into glorified ‘goondaism’. His bombastic dialogues matched by Prem Nath’s phlegmatic outbursts seemed completely overdone. * The Amitabh-Dharmendra starrer Ram-Balram was launched with much fanfare. An unscrupulous uncle brought them up and later on used, abused and misused them for his ulterior motives. One could not dispute the social message and moral overtones as the film was not so much about crime and justice as about family and relationships. * H.S. Rawail’s Laila Majnu brought out the eternal theme of love and romance. Ranjeeta and Rishi Kapoor played the lead with aplomb. Mohammed Rafi was at his best under the baton of Madan Mohan/Jaidev, singing Barbad-e- mohabbat ki dua sath liye ja, Main tere dar pey aaya hoon, Ho ke mayus tere dar se swali na gaya, Yeh dewaney ki zid hai, Likh kar tera naam zameen par, etc. * Shyam Benegal’s Bhumika was based on the autobiography of Hindi/Marathi actress Hansa Wadkar. Smita Patil as Usha raised questions of women’s oppression and exploitation — issues, we as a nation wished to brush under the carpet. Smita Patil funnelled such intensity into the role that she was on a par with the best in the world. * Known for his fetish for perfection, thespian Sanjeev Kumar had a brush with cinematic grandeur in Arjun Pandit and won the Filmfare Best Actor Award. *
Just when Mumtaz reached the peak
of success with films like Khilona, Tere Mere Sapne, Dushman,
Ram Aur Shyam, Aap Ki Kasam she bid adieu to the arc lights after
her marriage with Mayur Madhwani. |
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