Manmohan Desai and Hindi cinema’s secularism!

The film-maker Manmohan Desai’s father Kikubhai Desai owned Paramount Studios, which made films during the silent era. Kikubhai died young as a result of which the family’s wealth diminished overnight. Kikubhai’s son and Manmohan’s elder brother Subhash Desai then continued the family business as an independent producer. Some of the films that Subhash produced included Circus Queen, Shaikh Chilli and Samrat Chandragupt (1958).

Some time in the late 1950s, Subhash asked his younger sibling to direct a film for him. Manmohan agreed to do so but on one condition. He wanted Raj Kapoor to act in the film. Subhash went to Kapoor with the idea of a film being directed by his brother. Kapoor was apprehensive given that Manmohan was only twenty-one at the time. To allay Kapoor’s anxiety, Subhash reminded Kapoor that the latter was only twenty-four when he had made Barsaat (1949). As journalist and author Sidharth Bhatia notes in his book Amar Akbar Anthony: Masala, Madness and Manmohan Desai, “Kapoor told the young hopeful that he would act in one shooting schedule to gauge whether the director had it in him.If he did not like the final results he would walk out… Manmohan shot the song ‘Dum dum diga diga’ and when he showed Raj Kapoor the rushes, the star predicted the young man would go far and become a famous director one day.”

Chhalia released in 1960 and was a moderate box-office success. In years that followed, Manmohan Desai came good on Raj Kapoor’s prediction and became one of the leading directors of Hindi cinema, helming outright commercial successes such as Sachaa Jhutha (1970), Dharam Veer (1977), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) and Coolie (1985). The lost-and- found plot line was at the core of most of Manmohan’s films, but to this he added his own brand of zaniness and make-believe to deliver an entirely unique film experience to film- going audiences.

Desai came to be known as some kind of formula film-maker as he often repeated the same plot elements in his films. As Bhatia noted, the “Manmohan Desai cliches” included a differently-abled mother who recovers miraculously, the use of animals and Amitabh Bachchan having to play a drunk character in several films.

Another such discernible element in Desai’s films was the overt secular nature of his films as was best exemplified by Amar Akbar Anthony. Desai often portrayed India’s diverse religious and cultural spectrum by having one or more of his characters from across different communal backgrounds. In Desh Premee (1982) for instance, the different communites that inhabit Bharat Nagar include the Sikhs, the Bengalis, the Muslims and Tamilians. Desai had shown this propensity for cultural and religious egalitarianism early on, in Chhalia itself. One of the most popular songs from the film was the title track, ‘Chhalia mera naam, chhalna mera kaam, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isaayee, sabko mera salaam’. However, as Javed Akhtar mentioned in the recent episode of The Golden Years: 1950-1975 that aired on Sunday evening, the censors objected to the line ‘Chhalna mera kaam’. Consequently, while the original line still features in the film’s record album and on radio, it has been removed from the film. “I wish I could meet the people who asked for the line to be removed.

I would have asked them that even if they had retained the original line, would the people of this country turn deceitful and indulge in dishonesty?” said Akhtar. But to return to the secular theme of Desai’s films, this was actually a near omnipresent feature of yesteryear Hindi films. Many prominent film-makers such as Guru Dutt, Nasir Husain and Shakti Samanta often had a comic sidekick or a supporting character that came from a minority community. Johnny Walker was cast in such roles in Guru Dutt’s films (Mr. and Mrs. ’55, Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool).

Hindi film songs, particularly, the ones penned by Sahir Ludhianvi - ‘Tu Hindu banega na Musalmaan banega’ (Dhool Ka Phool, 1959), ‘Chaahey yeh maano, chaahey woh maano’ (Dharamputra, 1961), ‘Teri hai zameen, tera aasmaan’ (The Burning Train, 1980) – strongly make the case for brotherhood between all communities. A later Manmohan Desai film like Naseeb (1981), had the song, ‘John Jaani Janardhan’, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi. The song features the line, ‘Yeh teeno naam hai mere, Allah, Jesus, Ram hai mere’. Through such songs and presence of characters from different backgrounds, popular Hindi cinema from the past has played an important role in stressing upon the need for communal harmony time and again.

You can catch the next episode of The Golden Years: 1950-1975, A Musical Journey with Javed Akhtar on Sunday at 8 p.m. on Zee Classic!