Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s death anniversary: The much-loved maker of Gol Maal and Chupke Chupke is as relevant as ever

Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Raj Kapoor share a light moment. (Photo: Express Archive).

Real and relatable

As you grow older, observing your surroundings, you realise that real people argue, debate and discuss. There are certain homes where the dining table conversations may be intellectual or mundane or even mockery of an emotional crisis another family member is going through but the point is that everyone does have a sound and cultivated thinking, a mind with opinions which are freely expressed. Their education, the books they’ve read and the places they’ve been to defines them, forms their ideologies, firms their faith and gives them a standpoint on a particular topic. I grew up in one such household. There was a room for disagreement amongst its members, yet each person was valued, irrespective. Relations didn’t break in a jiffy. There was no melodrama.

I deeply connected with most of the characters in Hrishida’s films because strangely enough, it seemed as if I knew them too well just like my own. His films didn’t give its characters ‘good people-bad people’ classifications. They were not judged. They were allowed to be. I realised my relation with people was similar. Once I grew up, I understood Subir’s ego or Shekhar’s anger and I can confidently say that I do get their crisis. Bhaskor Banerji, Piku, Rana, Budhan, Moni kaki, Kaku, Dr Chaddha, Vicky, Biji, Ashima… I’ve tried my best to form deep relationship with all the characters of my stories just so that I know each and everything about them because I believe that only when I know them inside out, will the people viewing the film will relate to them. Comedy can happen only when the absolute real truth is known. That is base for finding humour. In Gol Maal, the truth was that in spite of his good education, a young man who is also a guardian of his unmarried sister, was jobless. He gets an opportunity at Bhawani Shankar’s office but the conditions attached would have made it impossible for him to get the job. Hrishida used humour to get through this crisis in that brother-sister’s life. He allows Amol Palekar’s character, Ramprasad Sharma, to lie and deceive and he does it so beautifully using his knowledge on every subject, his charm, his affection and responsibility for his family and his loyalty that no one could object or write him off as a liar or a cheat. The truth in Vicky Donor is that a man who goes donating his sperms all over town but not being able to have his own child, is a harsh one. In Piku, taking care of an ageing father, living a single life in a big city, letting desires be defeated by duties, it’s again not comedy material. But because of my own certain life experiences and the life that I have imagined through the cinema of stalwarts like Hrishida, I feel humour is the best tool to handle those grim patches. Be it for my characters in my films or for my personal use, his cinema and humour has certainly influenced me personally.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films had an incredible progressive quality about them. Here he is seen interacting with actor Sanjeev Kumar. (Photo: Express Archive).

Hope, humour and a progressive quality

Hrishida’s films have an immense progressive quality about them. Even though Anand is about death, it is his philosophy that makes a subject this dark so hopeful. There’s a famous moment when Anand tells Bhaskar that it’s not how long you live, it’s about how well you’ve lived. Doesn’t matter long or short but has it been great? For me, that’s the triumph of Anand. Hrishida made us believe that death doesn’t necessarily end life. Shiuli’s death didn’t really take away Shiuli from Dan (in the recent October). With Bhashkor’s death in Piku and Shiuli’s death in October, I’ve tried to understand what losing a loved one is and I have come to the same conclusion that death is yet another incident in our lives. Satyakam, Anupama, Anuradha, these are extremely poignant films that nudge you to look inwards and reassess your own ideologies.

(Juhi Chaturvedi is the scriptwriter of the acclaimed October, Piku and Vicky Donor. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s cinema has been a key inspiration for her. She spoke to Shaikh Ayaz)