An eternal journey

Abhas Kumar Ganguly, who the world knows better by his screen name, Kishore Kumar, would have been 92 yesterday. While every one of us knows him for his joyous songs and zany persona (a mask he wore well, I must say), in reality the man was much more sombre and very serious. Virtually all of his films that he made in the latter years, in the post Madhubala phase were serious, introspective films (perhaps a better projection of his inner persona and thoughts than say a Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi or Half Ticket and definitely better than Badhti Ka Naam Dadhi)

Door Ka Rahi was a movie he made, surprisingly in Black and White in 1971. A movie he made with Ashok Kumar and Tanuja. The film shines a brilliant spotlight on Kishore Kumar as a film director and shows us his vision of the world. The film gives a very strong humanitarian message in the simplest possible language. Door Ka Raahi is about Prashant who is on an unending journey for improving society. Door Ka Rahi is all about Kishore Kumar’s personal philosophy. I feel it shows us Kishore Kumar’s inner self and the way he really thought about life with all the ups and downs he personally went through. It shows the endless eternal journey of the human soul in the never ending quest of the eternal. Kishore-da’s all-time favourite “Panthi hoon main us path ka ant nahi jiska” (he seamlessly stitched together two songs by the Great Gurudev, adding plenty of his own ingenuity, to create a masterpiece that is no less enthralling than the originals in question) and “Chalti chali jaye Zindagi ki” are the manifestation of his eternal quest. The exuberance and over the top flamboyance that we think of him by, were really the veil, the mask for this inwardly lonely person. His loneliness and brilliance found expression in his Door Ka Rahi. Tanuja and Ashok Kumar act in a beautiful, calibrated manner and the movie, although not a huge commercial success is definitely worth a watch to see the acting as well as the music.

It is a sign of Kishore Kumar’s greatness, that he requested Hemantada to sing the signature / title song of the movie (when he could have done it himself). He pulled out a beautiful Shailendra poem and composed such a gut wrenching folksy tune with absolutely touching , sombre baritone of the great, one and only Hemantada.

One of my all time favourite songs. Never fails to tear me up every single time I hear it.

चलती चली जाए, ज़िंदगी की डगर
कभी ख़त्म न हो, ये सफ़र
मंज़िल की उसे, कुछ भी न ख़बर
फिर भी चला जाए, दूर का राही

मुड़के न देखे, कुछ भी न बोले
भेद अपने दिल का, राही न खोले
आया कहाँ से, किस देश का है
कोई न जाने, क्या ढूँढ़ता है
मंज़िल की उसे, कुछ भी न ख़बर
फिर भी चला जाए, दूर का राही

झलके न कुछ भी आशा-निराशा
क्या कोई समझे नैनों की भाषा
चेहरा कि जैसे कोरा सफ़ा है
क़िस्मत ने जिसपर कुछ ना लिखा है
मंज़िल की उसे, कुछ भी न ख़बर
फिर भी चला जाए, दूर का राही

An awesome, eternal combination of really meaningful lyrics, a simple, melodious composition and fabulous singing all by legends in their own right. A rare event, but one surely for all times to come.

Have a wonderful day folks, stay safe and away from harm in the Chinese sense. They are surely the greatest threat to humanity in every single way