Sharp edge of progressivism
Jaswant Singh

One Yesterday
edited by Saif Hyder Hasan. Rupa and Co., New Delhi. Pages 179. Rs 395.

Twelve famous names, seven from the world of letters and five from the silver screen, form the subject matter of this book. Some of them can, of course, be counted in both categories with equal merit. From the world of literature, we have Ali Sardar Jafri, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Harivanshrai Bachchan, Ismat Chugtai, Kaifi Azmi, Krishan Chander and Mohan Rakesh. With the exception of Harivanshrai Bachchan and Mohan Rakesh (they chose Hindi as their medium of expression), all belong to the world of Urdu literature and were eminent pillars of the Progressive Writers Movement. From the world of cinema, there are Balraj Sahni, Guru Dutt, Kishore Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Satyajit Ray.

Kaifi Azmi gets top billing with five pieces on him. He is followed by Ali Sardar Jafri (four), Raj Kapoor and Satyajit Ray (three each).

Twenty-eight pages are devoted to Kaifi Azmi, and yet it appears inadequate. Son Baba Azmi, wife Shaukat, daughter Shabana and daughter-in-law Tanvi join to present the personality of this great Urdu poet who wrote his first ghazal at the age of eleven. Regarded as one of the finest Urdu poets, Kaifi used poetry as an instrument of social change and stood against communalism, religious fundamentalism and upheld the rights of women. Baba, who grew up to become a cameraman, recalls his poor record in studies and wayward habits but does not remember to have received a reprimand or a sermon from his father.

Wife Shaukat remembers him as a loving father, an ideal husband and a person full of love for ordinary human beings. Daughter Shabana, who always took ‘Abba’ for granted, never got to understand all his work but continues to be overwhelmed by his imagery and the broadness of his vision. In a separate elegy, she recalls that it was his faith in the innate goodness of man that kept Kaifi going through the darkest of times. Tanvi remembers him as a loving father-in-law.

Satyajit Ray was the genius who made path-breaking cinema, wrote the scripts of his films, composed music for them, made documentaries, wrote stories for children, edited a children’s magazine, invented a font,—and all this is on lifetime. Andrew Robinson, his biographer, puts together some of his remarks from his correspondence to give an idea of Ray’s many-sided personality. Ray has been described as imposing and forceful but also reticent and self-effacing; serious but not high-brow; somber but wonderfully humorous; highly generous but at times harshly unfair; sure of himself as an artist but also sensitive to what others thought of him.

Javed Siddiqui, Ray’s script writer for Shatranj ke Khiladi, narrates the various stages of the making of this film, how the ambience of Lucknow of Nawabi days was created, and all the problems he had with making different character speak the kind of dialect used by that particular class. He recalls the special effort he had to make to get Sanjeev Kumar, a Gujarati, to speak Urdu with a Lucknavi accent. Photographer Nimai Ghosh, known for his portraits of Satyajit Ray, recounts, how Manikda (that is how Ray is known among his admirers) helped and encouraged him to become a photographer. Different facets of Raj Kapoor’s personality have been recorded by journalist Bunny Reubin, actor son Randhir Kapoor and music director Pyarelal (of Lakshmikant-Pyarelal team). Bunny Reubin calls Raj Kapoor a part of India’s national psyche and recalls his first meeting with Raj Kapoor after his review of Aawara had raised some debatable points. Randhir Kapoor recalls his meeting with a fanatic admirer of Raj Kapoor to highlight his qualities as a filmmaker, editor, music composer and also a social reformer.

The book contains similar write-ups on the other celebrities, written by persons who knew them best. One hoped that the writers would give a glimpse of the stresses and strains of their professional lives, but they have mostly refrained from walking into that zone and restricted their pieces to personal remembrances and anecdotes. Such episodes, though interesting in their own way, do not have lasting value. The book leaves much unsaid and only whets the reader’s desire to know more about these celebrities.

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