In our country, movies are mostly about glamour, richness, beauty, grandeur etc. Basically all the possible words that can be used to describe something that is slightly beyond the reach of the common man – the one who makes up the big class of India – THE MIDDLE CLASS. But it is this very class which loves the movies, partly for entertainment and partly because it’s like being in a dream. A dream which they saw every day and night, but which still was so distant, that they lapped up any movie that was dished out. A plot was barely essential, as long as there was an item number, a gorgeous damsel in distress, a macho hero to become her savior and a savage villain to spoil the settings and get punished for it in the end.
Majority of the movies worked around this and to come up with something which didn’t stick to these standards, meant gambling. However, there was one director in particular who mastered in simple story telling. He was none other than, Hrishikesh Mukherjee. His movies made the Great Indian Middle Class relate to almost every scene. Stories were churned out from situations which were part of everyday life. His movies were light, more often than not had a witty plot and were laced with dialog that sounded brilliant yet next-doorish. Comedy was his forte but he was versatile enough with serious cinema too.
There could be an argument saying that most of his films had plots with characters that lied a lot. GOLMAAL, KISI SE NA KEHNA, BAWARCHI, CHUPKE CHUPKE, NARAM GARAM to name a few had LIES as the crux. Even his last film as director JHOOTH BOLE KAUWA KAATE was like that. But, Hrishikesh Mukherjee was not a stereo-type. He loved to make movies with a message. As they say, communication is more about how well a message is understood than how well it is conveyed. That’s where the simplicity in story telling came from. He did make masterpieces like ANAND and ABHIMAAN, which dealt with complex subjects like death and ego. But then again, he always found a way to add entertainment in all his movies.
Another facet about his movie-making that deserves mention is MUSIC. He worked with greats like SD Burman, RD Burman, Salil Choudhary and needless to say the songs were memorable. To go with their wonderful compositions you had fabulous lyrics from wordsmiths like Gulzar, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Anand Bakshi and the like. Just like the content of his movies, Hrishida’s movie songs also struck a chord with the general public.
Overall, Hrishikesh Mukherjee knew how to strike the right balance in his films. He neither indulged in opulence nor did he stoop low with production values. So not only did he find an audience with the middle class but also found fans in all strata of society – because somewhere, somehow we all follow the law of averages. I hope we get many more blessed and great directors like him. Amen.
Majority of the movies worked around this and to come up with something which didn’t stick to these standards, meant gambling. However, there was one director in particular who mastered in simple story telling. He was none other than, Hrishikesh Mukherjee. His movies made the Great Indian Middle Class relate to almost every scene. Stories were churned out from situations which were part of everyday life. His movies were light, more often than not had a witty plot and were laced with dialog that sounded brilliant yet next-doorish. Comedy was his forte but he was versatile enough with serious cinema too.
There could be an argument saying that most of his films had plots with characters that lied a lot. GOLMAAL, KISI SE NA KEHNA, BAWARCHI, CHUPKE CHUPKE, NARAM GARAM to name a few had LIES as the crux. Even his last film as director JHOOTH BOLE KAUWA KAATE was like that. But, Hrishikesh Mukherjee was not a stereo-type. He loved to make movies with a message. As they say, communication is more about how well a message is understood than how well it is conveyed. That’s where the simplicity in story telling came from. He did make masterpieces like ANAND and ABHIMAAN, which dealt with complex subjects like death and ego. But then again, he always found a way to add entertainment in all his movies.
Another facet about his movie-making that deserves mention is MUSIC. He worked with greats like SD Burman, RD Burman, Salil Choudhary and needless to say the songs were memorable. To go with their wonderful compositions you had fabulous lyrics from wordsmiths like Gulzar, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Anand Bakshi and the like. Just like the content of his movies, Hrishida’s movie songs also struck a chord with the general public.
Overall, Hrishikesh Mukherjee knew how to strike the right balance in his films. He neither indulged in opulence nor did he stoop low with production values. So not only did he find an audience with the middle class but also found fans in all strata of society – because somewhere, somehow we all follow the law of averages. I hope we get many more blessed and great directors like him. Amen.
