A retrospective mode
NILOSREE BISWAS
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Not all successful hits can be remade. Some, such as `Namak Haram' and `Kala Patthar,'just don't lend themselves to it.
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FRIENDS OR FOES: Namak Haram
As the betel leaf chewing Shahrukh Khan croons the immortal Benarasi song, `Khaike Paan Banaraswala ,' this Diwali, one wonders how many in the long list of forthcoming remakes would make an impact. The question, of course, is whether the remakes would outshine the original. Besides this certain minor questions also arise. Can all the major blockbusters be remade? Do they have the potential to be adapted beyond a certain time frame ?
As for now, with the release of `Don,' `Umrao Jaan' and `Sholay,' let the world watch the replicas amidst the heaped popcorn and froth and coke in the cosy Inoxes across the country, while `others' (films of Amitabh Bachchan which have not been eyed for a remake) will be in the pages of cinematic history. But the point is films such as , `Namak Haram' and `Kala Patthar' can never be remade because the social conditions that inspired the making of such films are missing. Both `Namak Haram' (1973) and `Kala Patthar' (1979) were set at a time when several political and social changes were at work.
The two Bachchan-starrers portrayed the protagonist's conflict with the self, the ethics they stood for and the final conversion. Not only did the protagonist undergo a change in terms of social conditioning but he was also shown getting into the process of declassification. In a life that is ruled by hip-hop shopping and Spanish holidays no scriptwriter would think of pushing the protagonist into a declassification process.
In `Namak Haram' the two main characters are economicallyfar apart. In a twist of events Somu takes up a job as a labourer in Vicky's mill, befriends his fellow-workers, gets some monetary relief for injured workers and is elected union leader. Unwittingly Somu is drawn towards the working class and takes the stand, which Hrishikesh Mukherjee clearly marks as `pro people'. As Ravi Vasudevan, in one of his acclaimed essays on Indian cinema mentions, " The 1970s was the time when the state, social and civil institutions, organisational frameworks, and cultural forms in India underwent a crisis whose ramifications were not immediately clear." Trade Unionism as a fiery brand resistance tool was slowly on the downslide. Instead resonance of individual action was surfacing.
At this juncture Gulzar and Biresh Chatterjee jointly wrote `Namak Haram,' where Bipinlal Pandey (trade union leader, played by A.K. Hangal) was portrayed as a corrupt leader. Today with globalisation it is not possible to introduce a character that's neither saintly nor corrupt, in the main narrative.
A step further
`Kala Patthar' went a step further to denounce trade unionism and also drew attention to labour issues such as job security, poverty and illiteracy. `Kala Patthar' can be considered as the last of the trilogy somewhat loosely concerning the theme of an individual's protest against the system, immortalised by Yash Chopra's Vijay.
`Kala Patthar' indicates the responsibility of the welfare state and hits out at nationalisation. The notion of a system falling apart continued till `Mashaal' (1984), when Chopra decided to take a complete `U' turn towards what has repeatedly been marked as his core area of expertise — romance.
For viewers, it may be a phase from which Chopra moves on but for the more discerning film analyst it is not so. Rachel Dwyer in her immensely popular work on Yash Chopra mentions why `Kala Patthar' was crucial for reasons not understood apparently. One was the break-up of Chopra with his scriptwriter duo Salim-Javed. Both Somu and Captain Vijay chose a mill and mine respectively as their space.
When Somu realises that his world has undergone a tremendous change he decides to make the slum his home. So does Vijay, who leaves the army environment of a mega metropolis.
With so much of narrative layering, neither `Namak Haram' nor `Kala Patthar' can be a top choice for a remake, though sequels of the films are a possibility.
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