Politics of love

Gulzar writes and directs this complicated love story of a married couple. Arti (Suchitra Sen) is an Oxford-educated barrister keen to join politics. JK (Sanjeev Kumar) is a hotel manager who is happy with his everyday existence as a common man. Arti’s political ambitions get fuelled by her father (Rehman)’s prodding. Soon differences surface between husband and wife,leading to a split. Nine years later,they come face to face as the political storm around Arti — now known as Arti Devi — brews. Old feelings come to the fore. The realisation is subtle: “Woh rishta hi kya jo haath choothne se tooth jaaye”. Yes. It’s complicated.

It all started when producer J Om Prakash approached Gulzar to direct a film with Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen. Sachin Bhowmick was writing the story. “It was a crime film. I didn’t think the woman’s role did justice to Suchitraji’s talent. I told them that if they want her to come all the way from Kolkata to Mumbai,they should at least give her a role,” Gulzar says. Gulzar was asked to come up with a suitable story. As he started writing the script,it was decided that his close associate,writer Kamleshwar,would write a book on Aandhi — read Kaali Aandhi.

Gulzar asked his favourite actor,Sanjeev Kumar to play JK. The character was named after a waiter in a Delhi hotel who looked after Gulzar when he was writing. Sanjeev,who was already working on Gulzar’s Mausam,registered a small protest. “Sanjeev said to me ki yeh bemaani hai. Tum picture hamesha heroine ki banate ho aur kehte ho ki meri hai,” says Gulzar. As for Suchitra Sen— till date the director and actress address each other as “sir” — Gulzar says,“She was senior to me yet she used to call me sir. So we made a pact that all our lives we will call each other so. She’s wonderful,Suchitra Sir.”

Sanjeev and Suchitra brought to screen such formidable chemistry that with just a look and a smile,they bring out the entire landscape of their relationship. It’s in the way she looks at the house and asks him,“Tumne mooche rakh li?” It’s in the way Sanjeev holds on to the tottering table as she sits in front of him making chai after the famous flashback scene. Gulzar’s little character touches are everywhere. He gives Sanjeev the repeated refrain of “jab main 12 saal ka tha.” There is a lovely line that Arti tells JK: “Tumhare saath agar yeh kavita na hoti toh tum bahut ordinary aadmi hote.” Gulzar borrowed this line from wife Raakhee. “Raakheeji used to say this to me. When she saw the film,she told me in a reproaching manner ki jo bhi main kehti hoon tum dialogue bana dete ho,” he says.

The most famous story about Aandhi came after its release — when it was banned during the Emergency. It was believed that the story was based on Indira Gandhi’s life. “It had nothing to do with Indiraji’s life. She was just the right model for Suchitraji to follow in terms of the walk and the look. People objected to the drinking scenes but I refused to change them since there is nothing wrong if a modern woman drinks. We were in Moscow when we got to know it was banned.” In order to get the ban revoked,Gulzar was advised to add a scene where Arti looks at Indira Gandhi’s picture and declares,“yeh meri idol hain.” The controversy was huge. “I remember J Om Prakashji telling me aapne title se G hata diya hai. I never realised it. I always meant Aandhi and never Gandhi,” Gulzar says.

The music of Aandhi deserves an entire book. RD composed the tune of Iss modh se without even knowing what the word “nasheman” meant. “He thought it’s a place. I had to tell him it meant a nest,” says Gulzar. Tere bina zindagi se was composed on the spot at RD’s house,where he was composing a tune for a Durga Puja album with lyricist Gouri Prasanna Majumdar. “The tune was so beautiful that I immediately started writing lyrics to it,” he says. Pancham,however,lost it when Gulzar told him that he wanted to include dialogues in the song. “He told me that I had no idea of sur- taal but he let me have my way.” For about 18 months,only the Lata bits of Tere bina were played on AIR. No other song from the film was played since they all featured Kishore Kumar,who was banned on AIR by then I&B Minister VC Shukla for refusing to sing for a propaganda programme of Indira Gandhi during Emergency.

harneet.singh@expressindia.com