If I was forced to watch just one director’s movies round the clock for three days, I would chose the films of Basu Chatterjee.
Why?
Nearly all of them are :
~ Simple & breezy
~ Strong script with easy narrative
~ Not taxing the brain or the tear ducts
~ Have a mild sense of humour
~Deal with the common man, hence endearing & identifiable characters
~ And above all, entertaining
BASU WHO?
Well, Basu Chatterjee is a movie director who was extremely popular in the 1970s. Born in 1930 in Ajmer, Basuda has been mainly a Hindi film director despite being a Bengali himself. Low key and publicity shy, he is known mainly through the body of work and his repertoire of films.
INITIAL YEARS
His debut film, Sara Akash (1970) was based on the travails of a young inexperienced bride stuck in a traditional joint family environment. This was the beginning of the parallel cinema and Basuda can be said to be one of the pioneers of this genres.
His next film “Piya ka Ghar” (1971) was a quaint film about life in Mumbai chawls. Jaya Bhaduri plays a girl married into a family living jointly in a claustrophobic one room. Today’s generation may still know the popular Kishoreda song from this film, “Yeh Jeevan hai, is jeevan ka yehi hai rang roop”
LIGHT HEARTED STUFF
After this, Basuda settled down to a genre of light hearted comedy films in his trademark style. During this era, serious filmmakers like Shyam Benegal were making waves with their parallel or “art” cinema. Basu Chatterjee’s films were categorized somewhere between the two extremes of commercial and art – called very aptly as “middle-of-the-road” cinema.
Rajnigandha (1974), Chhoti si Baat (1975) and Chitchor (1976) were stuff made with the common man in mind. Amol Palekar as a unlikely “Hero” was easily identifiable in his shirtsleeves traveling in BEST buses in chappals and working in a typical corporate office at a typewriter with files strewn on his desk.
With Khatta Meetha (1978) and Dillagi, he ventured into more in-your-face comedy successfully, but did continue with light hearted romances with films such “Safed Jhoot” (1978), “Baaton Baaton Mein” (1979), Priyatama (1979) and Man Pasand (1980)
Initially, only upcoming stars were ready to work with him. But very soon, his brand of films became so popular that top stars like Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jeetendra, Neetu Singh, Dev Anand, Tina Munim etc. got Basuda to direct their films.
In the 1980s however, his genre of comedy did not leave much of a mark with some forgettable flicks like “Do Ladke dono kadke”,, “Hamari Bahu Alka”, “Pasand Apni Apni”, “Lakhon ki Baat”, “Chameli ki Shaadi” and “Kiraayedaar”. An exception was the 1983 flick “Shaukeen” where three senior citizens re-discover their youth and the hilarious consequences.
SERIOUS & SENTIMENTAL MOMENTS
Basuda was not only about comedy and light moments. He did a few memorable films which dwelt into introspective areas. His 1977 movie ''Swami'' remains one of my most favorite serious film. With Shabana Azmi in the lead role, Basuda narrated the story of a young girl married to a person whom she does not love, but respects. The lovely music of Rajesh Roshan gave hits like Yesudas’ “Kaa Karun Sajani, Aaye na Baalam”and Lata’s “Pal Bhar mein yeh kya ho gaya”.
He also had Amitabh Bachchanworking with him in “Manzil” (Remember the song: Rimjhim gire saawan, sulag sulag jaaye man)
The 1980 movie “Apne Paraye” starring Shabana once again, nicely brought out the intricacies of a joint family.
But the highlight of his serious cinema was “Ek Ruka Hua Faisla” where 12 members of a jury gradually overturn a verdict in a murder case, which was a foregone conclusion at the beginning of a film. Shot entirely in a single room, the film was just a engrossing discussion between these 12 gentlemen. Basuda was able to hold our attention through this drama.
FORAY INTO TELEVISION
Basu Chatterjee was one of the first few directors from the big screen to be successfully make a mark in TV, when it went commercial in 1984. His 1985 series “Rajani” (with Priya Tendulkar in the lead) had audiences rooting for this housewife crusader.
Even in the short stories serial “Darpan”, he brought to life works of well known authors into single episode skits, which was quite a feat.
Another popular series of his was the late 80s Om Puri starrer “Kakkaji Kahin” where the protagonist played a middleman to politicians.
His final foray was the 1994 detective series “Vyomkesh Bakshi” which had a unknown starcast in some of TV’s most intriguing mysteries.
MUSIC
Basuda had a keen ear for music and chose his tunes with care. His early films had Salil Choudhary giving us hits like “Rajnigandha phool tumhare”, “Na jaane kyon hota hai”, but later on, he experimented with other music directors as well. Some memorable musical partnerships were with Ravindra Jain “Chitchor”, Rajesh Roshan with “Khatta Meetha”, “Swami”, “Man pasand” and “Baaton Baaton Mein”.
FINAL THOUGHTS
A striking feature of Basuda’s movies was that he never relied on star power to sell his films. The movies were fairly low budget, but because they were so well made, he was able to recover his costs in all, and even have super hits in some cases.
His common man was quite different from that of say, Raj Kapoor. Shorn of glamour, melodrama, here he was, wearing everyday clothes, traveling by public transport and mouthing everyday conversation.
Unfortunately, in today’s era of item numbers, foreign locales, glitzy villas and low-jeans, cinema of Basuda’s genre has no place. Whether we will re-cultivate a taste for it in the future is anybody’s guess, but until then we will have to satisfy ourselves with his older work.
