Hrishikesh Mukherjee died on 27th August 2006. A void in the film industry that cannot be filled has been created. If I call him one of the all-time best directors, I will not be wrong. Though the movies he made during ‘my’ time were largely innane and thoroughly out-of-sync with sensibilities of today, his earlier movies are some of the best that Indian cinema has ever seen.
Hrishi da, as he was popularly known, started his career as an assistant to the great Bimal Roy in “Do Bigha Zameen” in 1953. His first movie as director was “Musafir” in 1957 which was a multi-starrer of sorts for its time including Dilip Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Nirupa Roy and Nasir Hussain. Hrishi da was also a Story writer and an editor at various points in his career.
Hrishi da’s friendship with Raj Kapoor is stuff that legends are made up of now. Interestingly enough, Hrishi da himself turned into a legend by claiming that “Anand” – arguably, the best Hindi movie – was a depiction of the friendship between Raj Kapoor and him. To strengthen the myth further, ‘babumoshai’ was the name with which Raj kapoor used to call him. In my opinion, “Anand” is the best hindi movie I have ever seen. (The title of a famous song from this movie has been used as the title of this tribute)
Those who were in their schooldays and college days during the 1960′s and 1970′s remember Hrishi da with great reverence. In those days, Rajesh Khanna was the star. To make him wear short and bland-coloured kurtas and play a terminally ill young man is against every conceivable popular formula. But Hrishi da was known to be a director who went by the strength of his story and screenplay.
“Anari”, “Anupama”, “Satyakam”, & “Abhimaan” were few of his early classics that established his worth as a director of rare value. These movies (Abhiman for sure!) have attained cult status after their repeated telecasts on television.
Hrishi da went on to establish that he was the only director who could make and handle movies of any genre. He is considered to be the king of “clean comedies” and that is because of the movies like: “Bawarchi” (this movie was the inspiration behind the David Dhawan-Govinda “Hero No. 1″), “Chupke chupke” (unfortunately, this movie cannot be remade by anyone!), “Golmaal” (they have only used the name in the recent days, the class is incomparable) and “Khubsoorat” (Rekha’s inimitable performance) to name a few.
Hrishi da would handle the most complex relationships with ease and elan. He didn’t require elaborate setting and millions of dollars to make a movie look good and a hit. He relied on basics to make a movie succeed. Basics like good story and better screenplay with the best direction! Music always conveyed the emotions of the character in his movies.
Hrishi da was undoubtedly the master of the medium. He has worked with every star of every age over the past 50 plus years. From Dilip Kumar to Rajesh Khanna to Amitabh Bachchan to Dharmendra to Anil Kapoor. Everyone will vouch for his mastery over the medium. Hrishi da will be missed sorely by movie fans across the globe. Whoever has watched even a single movie of his will feel a tinge of sadness atleast on knowing of his passing away.
Hrishi da will continue to live in our hearts forever through the classics that he has left behind for us. Thanks Hrishi da.
Links:
Filmography
Had watched Golmaal for the nth time a day before he passed away and praised him. God bless his soul!
banana:
Thanks for your comment!
Golmaal is just the kind of movie you want to watch when you are feeling down! Hillarious is not the word! And Utpal Dutt.. omg.. ROTFL!
Adi: How do you manage to write so many posts?? It’s becoming too difficult for me to read all your posts..
sudhakar:
Well, managing is my job! ;)
LOL!
What I try to do is, keep a time limit of half an hour for a post. Just try to put it up within that half hour. If I complete it to my satisfaction then I post it, otherwise I save it as draft. Then next day, another half hour and you have a post ready! How is the strategy, eh?! :)
Pretty neat strategy…
And a fitting tribute…
Viky:
Thanks! :)
Tribute he deserves!
Golmal is one movie I can watch any number of times…
The image in the header looks very familiar to me. A place near Mysore?
Hey the photo in the header is beautiful..isn’t it shrirangapatnam ?
Sorry da.. But the font is not at all nice :(
But I liked the way the page slowly dissapears when clicked on a link etc..:) ANd the photo on the top is very good…
Yaavdidu? Sangam? Athava Ghosai Ghat?
Oh not to forget.. we will surely miss Hrishi da.. :(
Nice Pic Adi. :)
claytona vices:
:)
kishor cariappa:
Yes. It’s Shrirangapatna, 15 kms from Mysore. One of my favourite places! :)
Preethi:
Yes! It is our very own Shrirangapatna! :)
shark:
Font chennagillva? Sari kane. I will continue in my old style itself. And thanks for your comments on the transition style! Just trying out various things!
Idu Sangam du chitra!
hardu:
Thanks! :)
nice template.. ajaxified? my f/b; fix the fonts for the last 2 posts..
pavan kumar:
Nope. I am on the old blogger service. Not the beta one.
Fixed the fonts. Even I didn’t like the bigger fonts. But somehow I thought that maybe someone will like it. Looks like small is in! ;)
U are absolutely right aditya.. hrishi da is a director who has made indian cinema proud.. Apart from jhooth bole kauva kaate all his other 39 films are a class apart.. The legend lives on..
garcia kafka:
Sure!
Thanks! :)
hmm.. his movies were awesome… i just like them… Golmaal / chupke chupke… u will roll with laughter even to this day… i was very sad that he left
vin:
Thanks for your comment!
Golmaal/ chupke chupke… I still go LOL on just hearing those names! :)