It happened one night….

Very few films have been made with such a temporally taut and telescoped script. The movie in Hindi, one of the most celebrated products to come out of RK Films, was actually made in two languages: Bangla (Ek Din Raatre) & Hindi ( as Jaagte Raho). Based on a story by the left leaning Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, it deals with the happenings of one night when a country bumpkin who has come to the city in search of a better life, meanders into a large housing complex in search of water, is mistaken for a thief, turning his life (& also those of the denizens of the urban abodes) upside down. His discovery of the seamy sides of lives of apparently respectable people changes the perspective for him (& for the audience). A wonderful, slick, straightforward storyline, narrated effectively. It had a wonderful musical score by the genius Salil Chowdhury. This is a wonderful song filmed on Motilal who was an amazing actor of the black and white film era. https://youtu.be/GQZaG5SZRYk

The song in the Bangla version was sung by my favourite singer and an undercelebrated maestro, Manna Dey, Ei Duniya Shobi Hoi, and picturized on Chhabi Biswas, a very big name in Bangla films of the era. There is an extremely interesting metaphorical interaction between the fugitive Raj Kapoor and a young Daisy Irani towards the end of the movie. Nargis is seen in a cameo at the end singing Jaago Mohan Pyaare ( changed to Jaago Mohan Pritam in Bangla), & would mark her last on-screen appearance with Raj Kapoor. A very symbolic slaking of his thirst at her hands.

The film was a huge popular and critical success, directed by Amit Maitra and Sombhu Mitra, it’s leftist ideals appealed in particular to the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc, (as with many of Raj Kapoor films) & it won (albeit in a shortened version) the Crystal Globe at the Karlovy Vary film festival in Czechoslovakia. It was a massive hit in the USSR, collecting nearly $10 million in box office collections in that country alone. (Equivalent to ₹ 600 Crores in today’s terms). Great lyrics by Shailendra and fabulous lensmanship by Radhu Karmakar make this movie a must-watch delight to the senses.

Have a great day ahead, folks. Take care as the summer recedes.