Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

A class apart

Swanand Kirkire thanks you the moment you remind him of Pyaasa. “It is one of my all-time favourites. The film still retains its innocence and asks some basic questions which are pertinent even today…it’s another matter cinema is no longer concerned about them,” says the lyricist who has won the National Award for his lyrics for Lage Raho Munnabhai.

Sahir Ludhianvi may not have won any many awards for the film, but Swanand, like many, insists it was the revolutionary poet’s best work. “See the range. From ‘Sar Jo Tera Chakraye’ to ‘Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Woh Kahan Hain’. The songs ask all the difficult questions but are set in the popular format.” He agrees the film’s story somewhat reflected Sahir’s real life story.

He calls Pyaasa, an example of how a mainstream film should be. “The film is a great study for somebody who wants to learn shot taking technique. It is difficult to believe how Guru Dutt managed such shots when the technique was not so advanced,” says Swanand, who started his career as an assistant director and is working on his first independent film.

The film lost out to “Mother India” and “Naya Daur”, in a year of multiple hits. “See these two represented the Nehruvian dream, Pyaasa represented the simmering anger underneath. It had Marxist overtones. But it is this variety which makes ‘50s, the golden age of Hindi cinema.”

Swanand calls the scene where Guru Dutt meets Waheeda Rehman for the first time as his favourite. “I also like the last scene where the two walk out of the hall.”

Swanand watched Pyaasa for the first time in the ‘80s on Doordarshan. “Later I studied it when I decided to make filmmaking as a career. It is a pity that no channel shows films of the masters these days.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail