Nov 17, 2005 12:16 AM
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(Updated Nov 17, 2005 12:16 AM)
Everybody loves a scandal – moreso if the scandal is based on the brick-by-brick disintegration of someone else’s married life. Men discuss it on their way to office, women gossip over it in course of their talks… Children make fun of it in their own inimitable way…. Everyone from the retired armyman, to the local grocer to the good-for-nothing punk to the beggar down the street has an informed opinion about it. Its as if the sight of the dirty linen makes us happy about our mundane life. And if the affair reaches the courts, well… suddenly everyone from Mr. Sharma to Mrs. Verma is not only deeply interested in it but are also privy to details that were so far not known to the warring parties too.
There is something of a voyeuristic streak in all of us. Whether consciously or sub-consciously, all of us take pride in gossiping about the disintegration of someone’ life and also take more than a passing delight in the same. Of course this magnanimity does not extend to our doors, for what can be more cultured and refined than our surroundings. We do not belong to a dysfunctional family such as theirs, do we? The answer is sadly we do… but the answer is often cloaked till the daggers are drawn and the fangs visible and things get murky and messy.
A relationship of marriage is by definition, the most difficult to sustain for it’s the relationship that’s based only on the foundations of truth, trust, love and fidelity. The absence or even the perceived absence of anyone of these 4 difficult attributes can take things to a breaking point.
And what can be worse than infidelity? What can be worse than the deep feeling of betrayal and hurt that pervades the mind on being debased in such a manner by the one whom you love from the depth of your heart? What if the one for whom you intend to destroy the self actually is far-off from your self?
Although there have been many movies on the topic of infidelity and revenge, ‘Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke’ is different from the others since primarily it is a courtroom drama that deals with the repercussions of a love story gone sour and not with the life of the principals in the adultery case. Hence, although the protagonists of the infidelity saga – Sunil Dutt, Leela Naidu and Rehman - occupy important places in the story, the story is actually a brilliant portrayal of the courtroom drama and hence a remarkable film in the art of legal warfare.
Ashok Kumar as Defence Lawyer Byomkesh Mukherjee is tailor-made for his part of the lawyer who’s trying his best to save his client from the jaws of death. The witty repertoire, the biting sarcasm, the quick movement of the body, the engrossing mode of questioning, the frustration on being overwhelmed by evidence all make for a great portrayal of a brilliant lawyer who can go to any limits to ensure his client is safe.
Pitted against a stalwart of Ashok’s stature is one of the greatest actors of Hindi Cinema Motilal as Prosecuting Attorney Ali Khan. As expected, Motilal leaves a trail of perfection as a no-nonsense hard-nosed and highly efficient attorney who will leave no stone upturned to ensure that the case is won and at any cost. The suave mannerisms of the legendary debonair star of the 40s coupled with his intense and poised calm are a perfect counterfoil to Ashok’s emotional gimmickry making the clash exciting as well as satisfying.
Caught between the two as the husband who has been the victim of his wife’s indiscretion and is now facing the gallows for a crime not committed is Sunil Dutt as Capt. Ajay Sahni. The actor portrays the complexity of the role with an earnestness that is infectious as well as emotional. The agony of a man who has been betrayed by his wife and close friend is evident on both the face and the body language right from the drooping of his shoulders to the sudden passion in his voice and upto a flicker of his eyelashes. This performance is definitely one of the best in his career and the actor has done complete justice to the role without resorting to any gimmickry or overacting.
Rehman as Ajay’s philandering friend, Ashok is flamboyant as usual. The actor manages to bring to his role a rare naturalism that’s both mesmerizing and artistic. The manner in which he seduces Ajay’s wife is so brilliantly enacted that there is left no doubt in the mind of the viewer regarding the success of the seduction game and we wait with bated breath as Leela is snared in his trap and succumbs to his vile designs.
Leela Naidu as the wife who has been the subject of the entire drama is artificial in her enactment of the role…. She looks completely lost in the entire movie and would do well to think of acting and not just being content with her beauty; which is of course her only redeeming factor in the movie. Rajendra Nath and Shashikala on the other hand do complete justice to their roles.
Ravi, one of the brilliant but forgotten composers from the past brings life to Rajinder Kishen and his beautiful and imaginative https://lyrics. Rafi again proves his mastery over music with his brilliant rendition of “Koi Mujhse Pucche” a song that begins in the tender aftermath of sweet and innocent love and then reaches it’s crescendo in the hurt-filled pathos of infidelity and hurt. As if to prove his range, on the other hand, Rafi is equally adept at the romantic “Tum Jis Pe Nazar Dalo”. Asha Bhosle proves her vocal virtuosity with her cautious rendition of the title track that rises and ebbs with the flow in the tune.
R K Nayyar was one of the most accomplished but underrated directors of his time…. Inspite of being at the helm of such brilliant blockbusters as ‘Love in Simla’ and ‘Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke”, the director was rarely ever appreciated for his subtle direction. However, when the history of Hindi Cinema is written R K Nayyar will definitely be recorded as the director of one of the best Courtroom Drama ever made in Hindi Cinema.
A little bit of trivia… This film is loosely based on the famed Nanavati case of 1959 that forever changed the role of Indian jurispendence and so one would do well to see it in the light of the event that caused the blooming of such a beautiful movie….
Art imitates life and nowhere is it more obvious than in this movie…
