Latest revision as of 04:08, 25 March 2021

[edit] Personal details

Born: September 30, 1922 in Calcutta

Died: August 27, 2006 in Mumbai

[edit] His cinema

Hrishikesh Mukherjee: The king of comedy, The Times of India TNN | August 27, 2016

Simplicity and warmth have always defined Hrishikesh Mukherjee's cinematic offerings over the years. Known to be one of the most popular filmmakers of his time, Mukherjee managed to send out strong social messages that underlined his films. Starting his career in 1951 as an editor and assistant director to Bimal Roy, he later went on to try his hand at directing a film titled 'Musafir' in 1957. However, the film was a disaster at the box office.

Failure didn't stop the talented filmmaker from pursuing his cinematic ambitions, and it wasn't long before director Raj Kapoor took note. Kapoor, who by then was an established name in the industry, was impressed with his skills and recommended him strongly as director for 'Anari' (1959). Starring Kapoor himself and Nutan, the film was well received, both critically and commercially.

Mukherjee's next film 'Anuradha' (1960), that told the story of a doctor who neglects his wife to focus on his work, fetched him the President's Medal Award.

In 1970, Mukherjee made what is considered his masterpiece - 'Anand'. The film gave a complex but compassionate look at the balance between hope, fear, life and death. The film which had Rajesh Khanna in the lead is also regarded as one of his greatest performance of all time. In the film, he played a terminally ill man who wishes to live life to the full before he dies.

Mukherjee kept the winning streak going by putting up excellent films like 'Guddi', a semi-satiric take on the film industry, 'Abhimaan' and 'Chupke Chupke', a comedy about a newlywed professor's joke on his pompous brother-in-law. His films gave the audience a detailed look into the middle-class mentality.

The 1980s, which saw the advent of superstar Amitabh Bachchan as an angry young man out to change the world in Bollywood, coupled with larger-than-life films, saw Hrishikesh Mukherjee's brand of filmmaking fizzling out over time.

He recently attempted a comeback with 'Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate' (1998), but sadly it was a futile effort as the film was considered as a commercial and critical failure. Although his films failed to draw in the crowds and set cash registers ringing, Mukherjee's films still linger on in the hearts and cherished memories of his fans, even after three long decades.

[edit] Anand

Jai Arjun Singh, March 14, 2021: The Times of India

Everyone who loves Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand agrees that it is one of the warmest, most life-affirming of Hindi films. As it turns fifty, the dominant memory is of the terminally ill hero, played by Rajesh Khanna, spreading cheer and inspiration, determined to live a badi zindagi (big life) even if he isn’t fated for a lambi (long) one. But here’s a reminder — for those who have only a highlights-reel memory of Anand — of the deep darkness that underlies this story. Early in the film, Dr Bhaskar (Amitabh Bachchan) is trying to heal slum-dwellers but feeling increasingly hopeless about an unending cycle of poverty and misery. Shortly after he has pronounced a patient beyond help, an old woman comes up with mithai for him; her grandchild has just been born. The celebratory sweet still in his mouth, Bhaskar thinks to himself: “Ek mara nahin, aur doosra paida ho gaya marne ke liye!” (“One hasn’t died yet, and another has been born to suffer the same fate.”) The words, spoken in Bachchan’s intense, caustic tone, are almost a punch to the gut. But they become even more so when one considers this: Hrishikesh Mukherjee — avuncular high priest of the Middle Cinema, maker of so many gentle films whose very titles make viewers smile — this same “Hrishi-da” closely identified with Bhaskar’s pessimism. In an interview once, he cuttingly said, “I have always believed that the power of evil is far stronger than the power of good. A tiny drop of poison can ruin a bucket of milk.” Discussing the genesis of Anand, which he first wrote as a novella before getting it converted into a screenplay, he often spoke about how it was based on his friendship with Raj Kapoor, who was the ray of sunshine in his life (or perhaps the antidote to poison), much the same way Anand would brighten Bhaskar’s horizon.

The film’s initially downbeat, Bhaskardominated tone changes quickly when Anand shows up, bursting through a door as chirpy, star-heralding music plays. (The Raj Kapoor homage is inescapable, especially if you have watched ‘Kisi ki Muskurahaton Pe’ from Hrishida’s Anari.) What follows are a series of heartwarming vignettes, punctuated by lovely songs — and only a few sad moments that aren’t allowed to linger. Anand’s own attitude, as buoyant as the balloons he releases into the sky at the start of ‘Zindagi Kaisi hai Paheli’, is what the film constantly emphasises.

Two years earlier, Mukherjee had made a darker film, Satyakam, which he always cited as his personal favourite — even holding its boxoffice failure as evidence of its refusal to provide easy sops to a mass audience. Watching these two films — which have a few structural similarities — back to back can be revealing. If Anand is like a nourishing broth on a winter’s night, Satyakam — about an uncompromising man who is repeatedly disappointed by an imperfect world — can feel a bit like biting into a lemon. (Imagine what Anand would be like if Dr Bhaskar had been its protagonist and Anand never came through that door.) Satyapriya, the hero of Satyakam, and Dr Bhaskar are both Serious Men, weighed down by unflinching idealism which turns to cynicism and despair. They are also unimaginative and rigid, prone to seeing the world in black and white. And they have little patience for fantasy or make-believe — qualities vital to the Hrishikesh Mukherjee universe, which is so often about the healing power of masquerade or naatak.

Hrishi-da may have defensively viewed Satyakam as a more serious, hence better, film than his box-office hits, but “popular” doesn’t have to mean unserious. And it is significant that the best-loved and most enduring Hrishikesh Mukherjee films today — with Anand first among them — are the ones that have the widest ranging view of human nature and a sense of fun. Like Ram Prasad in Gol Maal and Professor Parimal Tripathi in Chupke Chupke, Anand Sehgal understands the importance of those qualities. He knows that for zindagi to be “badi”, one should experience it in all its dimensions: be flippant, crack goofy jokes with the nurse who is trying to get you to rest, do silly things like accost strangers and address them familiarly (until you find that one person who is willing to play along); recognise that we are all “rangmanch ke kathputli” (puppets on life’s stage), and that each man in his time must play many parts.

My appreciation for Anand has grown with time: watching it on a big screen once with a hall full of enthusiastic fans, I found myself more invested in the central character, and in Khanna’s charismatic star presence which must have had such a huge impact in 1971. But increasingly, I also feel that in Dr Bhaskar’s journey over the course of the story one sees Hrishi-da locating his own inner Anand and engaging in a form of self-healing — by making a film that manages to be breezy and meaningful, playful and profound at the same time.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] As a director

1957 Musafir

1959 Anari

1960 Anuradha

1961 Chhaya

1961 Mem-Didi

1962 Aashiq

1962 Asli-Naqli

1964 Sanjh Aur Savera

1965 Do Dil

1966 Anupama

1966 Biwi Aur Makan

1966 Gaban

1967 Majhli Didi

1968 Aashirwad

1969 Pyar Ka Sapna

1969 Satyakam

1971 Anand

1971 Buddha Mil Gaya

1971 Guddi

1972 Bawarchi

1972 Sabse Bada Sukh

1973 Abhimaan

1973 Namak Haraam

1974 Phir Kab Milogi

1975 Chaitali

1975 Chupke Chupke

1975 Mili

1976 Arjun Pandit

1977 Alaap

1977 Kotwal Saab

1978 Naukri

1979 Gol Maal

1979 Jurmana

1980 Khubsoorat

1981 Naram Garam

1982 Bemisal

1983 Achha Bura

1983 Kissi Se Na Kehna

1983 Rang Birangi

1985 Jhoothi

1986 Hum Hindustani (TV Series)

1988 Lathi

1988 Namumkin

1990 Agar Aisa Ho To (TV Series)

1990 Rishte (TV Series)

1992 Talaash (TV Series)

1998 Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate

[edit] As a producer

1957 Musafir

1960 Anuradha

1968 Aashirwad

1971 Anand

1971 Guddi

1972 Bawarchi

1972 Sabse Bada Sukh

1975 Chupke Chupke

1975 Mili

1977 Alaap

1979 Gol Maal

1980 Khubsoorat

1998 Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate

[edit] Story/ screenplay

1953 Do Bigha Zamin

1957 Musafir

1961 Mem-Didi

1966 Anupama

1968 Aashirwad /

1971 Anand

1971 Guddi

1972 Bawarchi

1973 Abhimaan

1973 Namak Haraam

1977 Alaap

1983 Achha Bura

1983 Rang Birangi

1998 Chitrashalabham

1998 Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate

[edit] As an editor

1953 Do Bigha Zamin

1953 Parineeta

1954 Biraj Bahu

1954 Naukari

1955 Garam Coat

1957 Gotoma the Buddha

1958 Lukochuri

1958 Madhumati

1958 Yahudi

1959 Anari

1961 Char Diwari

1961 Gunga Jumna

1962 Aashiq

1962 Banarasi

1966 Pinjre Ke Panchhi

1967 Chemmeen

1967 Ghar Ka Chirag

1968 Aashirwad

1968 Chhotto Jignasa

1968 Mere Hamdam Mere Dost

1969 Pyar Hi Pyar

1969 Pyasi Sham

1969 Yakeen

1970 Dastak

1971 Anand

1971 Jawan Muhabat

1974 Nellu

1975 Mili

1981 Baisakhi Megh

1981 Professor Pyarelal

1983 Coolie

[edit] As an actor

1972 Bees Saal Pehle