PYAASA, HINDI MOVIE REVIEW OF 1957- CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

PYAASA,  A CLASSIC HINDI MOVIE- CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

First copy and past this link below on Google and watch the Hindi movie on Youtube with English subtitles.

You will NOT be disappointed.

www.youtube.com/movie/pyaasa

I was reminded of this movie today . After my haircut, the barber offered me a head massage. And then he started singing the immortal song of Johnny Walker . This song is recently lifted by BUPA for a commercial advertisement.

Here is the story line in advance.

Vijay is considered a loser by society.   He is a fine poet who thirsts for recognition and fame. His poems are rejected by all publishers, as they are too stark and full of melancholy.  

His brothers torment him as he cannot bring bread on the table.  They sell his collection of poems for the worth of the scrap paper it is written on. 

His college girlfriend, Meena , though in love with him,  is materialistic and marries a rich publisher for financial security,  breaking Vijay’s heart.

Vijay realizes that this materialistic world  is only for  selfish and opportunistic people.  

Once at an old alumni meet at his college he runs into his old love Meena.  Her rich husband Ghosh gets the gut feeling that his wife is in love with her classmate poet Vijay.  

Ghosh hires Vijay to dig out the possibly sordid past of his wife Meena.

In this world of selfish people, a golden hearted whore, Gullabo is Vijay’s only well-wisher .  She chances upon the papers of Vijay’s poems which his brothers disposed off a scrap.  She appreciates his stirring poetry and falls in love with him.

When Vijay learns of his mother’s death he reaches his threshold limit of his tolerance.  In a bout of alcohol powered depression he decides to commit suicide on the train tracks.   

On the way he sees a beggar shivering in the cold .  He gives him his coat and proceeds.  The beggar follows him but his foot gets caught in the tracks, with a train rushing in.  Vijay attempts to save him,  but is unable.

The beggar is killed, but his face and body is badly disfigured.  His coat and  note in the pocket causes people to believe that it was Vijay who committed suicide.

Gulabo goes to Ghosh and gets Vijay’s poems published, by giving up her wealth.  Ghosh does so feeling he can exploit the poems of a dead poet and make a financial killing out of people’s sentiments.  

The poems are a roaring success and  rake in moolah.   The greedy publisher soon learns that Vijay is still alive but in a coma in the hospital.  

When Vijay resurrects from the dead, the people who make money out of his work would rather not see him alive.  He is dismissed as a imposter, and humiliated.

They declare him mad, by bribing all and sundry . They  lock him up in a mental asylum, for claiming he the author of his own book..  

All conveniently maintain that Vijay is dead and this includes his own bribed up brothers who are still claiming royalty.  Vijay with the help of his friend Abdul Sattar escapes from the mental asylum and reaches the hall where a huge congregation is gathered to pay tribute to his works.  

He denounces this corrupt and materialistic world in a final recitation.  He declares that he is not Vijay and walks away with Gullabo, in a dramatic finish.

Here is the old alumni meet song lyrics-- poignant indeed!

Jaane Woh Kaise Log The Jinke Pyar Ko Pyar Mila

Humne To Jab Kaliyaan Maangi Kaaton Ka Haar Mila

( I wonder how many people exist who have received love in return for their love.

Whenever  I asked for flowers, I always received a garland of thorns )

Khushiyon Ki manzil Dhoondhi tho Gham Ki Gard Mili

Chaahat Ke nagme Chaahe tho Aahe Sard Mili

Dil Ke Bhoj Ko Dugna Kar Gaya Jo Gham haar mila

Humne To Jab Kaliyaan Maangi Kaanton Ka Haar Mila ..

( I have searched for happiness and found sorrow

I wanted moments of passion and received only pain

The weight in my heart has been doubled, I have faced such a plaintive defeat

When I asked for flowers, I received a garland of thorns .. )

Bichhad Gayaa Har Saathi Dekar Pal Do Pal Ka Saath

Kisko Phursat Hai Jo Thaame Deewanon Ka Haath

Humko Apna Saaya Tak Aqsar Bezaar Mila

Humne To Jab Kaliyaan Maangi, Kaanton Ka Haar Mila ..

(Every friend has deserted  me after giving me company for a few moments

Who has the time to comfort a jilted lover ?

Even my shadow seems apathetic to my sorry state

When I asked for flowers, I received a garland of thorns .. )

Isko Hi Jeena Kehte Hain To Yunhi Ji Lenge

Uf Na Karenge Lab See Lenge Aansoo Pee Lenge

Gham Se Ab Ghabraana Kaisa Gham Sau Baar Mila

Humne To Jab...

( If this is what they call living, then I will live like this

I won't sigh, my lips are sealed, I will swallow my tears

I don’t care for  sorrow, I experienced it hundreds of times

When I asked for flowers, I only received a garland of thorns .. )

This is why you should NOT take your spouses for any old alumni meet.

Want to read about my last old alumni meet?

Punch into Google search OLD ALUMNI MEET.

If you don’t see my mushy post on page ONE among 30 million posts , then punch in—

OLD ALUMNI MEET VADAKAYIL.

Find out what nostalgia is all about.

Pyaasa is a dark detour in a man’s mind, into one of his biggest phobias – the fear of rejection.

How rejection can destroy and debilitate a genuis and turn him into a puppet of fate.  

Have you not seen strong confident day men turn weak ,wimpy and vulnerable on even losing their jobs or their wife running away with another man? .

So what run away thoughts does this movie Pyaasa stoke in my mann mandir? 

Let me see-

the resemblance of the real life failed affair of poet Sahir Ludhianvi with poetess Amrita Pritam, which is probably the reason why the lyrics of Pyaasa songs evoke naked and intense passion --- 

the amazing music of SD Burman and inimitable songs of Mohammed Rafi and Hemant Kumar—meaningful songs that are apt to the situation  ( unlike the ridiculous BEAT IT - BEAT IT or BABE , BABE songs you hear ) – the film unit was attacked in a Calcutta red light area by pimps, and hence forced to do the scenes with Gulabo in a studio – 

the virgin freshness of actress Waheeda Rehman  — real life words told to dialogue writer Abrar Alvi in a brothel  “ it is the first time that I have been treated with respect, in a place where you hear only abuses” — that the Malayalam movie Kavyamela is based on Pyaasa, where the poet is blind – that even fallen whores have a noble gene and are good listeners--

the bitterness of a poet whose priceless works gets rejected by publishers --  the despair of a poet whose entire life’s work was sold as scrap paper by his own brothers to cruelly taunt him as a loser , which tears his world apart and kicks him out of his comfort zone  – the grief when the poet tries retrieving his poetry sheets from the ’Raddiwaala’ ( scrap seller ) ,  and the latter tells him that they had been bought by a strange lady --   

Vijay’s  inner traumas, agony and frustrations -- the credibility in society of an alcoholic disheveled man roaming the streets , mired  in self pity— the way budding poet Vijay pisses off  Meena while daydreaming of her,  when she is sitting right there next to him in flesh and blood --  the anguish of a sensitive man who has lost his love -- a tortured soul accusing his ex- flame of selling bartering love for comfort and financial security --  

oozing wounds of betrayal -- a rich husband calling his wife a whore resenting her past affair –  the jealous sadistic employer husband treating his clerk ( wife’s past lover) worse than  dirt and firing him when he is done with him – the simmering hatred and jealousy undercurrents portrayed so effortlessly by the rich publisher Rehman— the surprise of a poet when he hears his lost poem being sung by an unknown woman--

a beautiful whore gulabo mocking a sensitive Vijay for having nothing to offer, if you know what I mean —  platonic love between a  poet on the path of self destruction and a young whore -- the brief light moments provided by Johnny Walker in an otherwise mind numbing movie — how loyalties get bought and sold for money like fish in a market place – selfish and ego laden thought processes that guide human value systems--

immoral and vulgar lunges for short term success — how songs are natural and seamless extensions of movie dialogue — how Vijay speaks more with his silence than his words — how material success comes after death riding the crest of a sympathy wave in a vested world – the compassion of a man who is about to commit suicide , taking off his warm coat for a shivering tramp  -- 

a whore pooling her entire life’s earnings to get a dead poet’s handwritten work published as a posthumous book “Parchhaiyaan"  to calm her inner conscience --  how enemies when alive suddenly become friends and relatives in death for material “necrophilia” spoils – the heartache when friends and family refuse to identify Vijay – 

how Vijay finally rejects the recognition he was THIRSTY for all his life , scalded to the soul by the hypocrisy of his family and friends.

The scene where Meena tries to prove her point of view to Vijay , a  male-female confrontation, is impressive.  The final shocking climax just jerks you out of your indifferent slumber—

Pyaasa sees some of Sahir’s best work, ’ Yeh mehlon, yeh thakhton… ’ when Vijay returns from the mental asylum , to attend his own death anniversary and tribute to his works.

Check out the English translation of this poignant song which is surcharged with feelings of contempt .

This world, of palaces,  thrones, and crowns

This world, of despots, of clans

This world, of greed, of autocrats

This world, what can be gained by having it?

Each body is wounded, every soul is thirsting

Despair in all eyes, sadness in the hearts

Is this really the world or the rule of the diabloical?

This world, what can be proved by having it?

Here, a man’s existence can be toyed with

Here, are the colonies of murderers

Here, death comes cheaper than life

This world, what can be had by having it?

Here, youth stumbles like a social abomination

Here, young bodies are decked for sale in the bazaar

Here, love is transacted as in barter and trade

This world, what can be gained by having it?

This world, where man has no value

Where loyalty is not expected, friends mean nothing

Here, love neither deserves nor demands respect

This world, what can be achieved by having it?

Burn this perversion, demolish this tyranny

Remove it from my sight, this despondency

To you it belongs and you alone can keep the world

This world, what can be made by having it?

At the end of the movie when the audience troops out of the cinema hall , you don’t get to see a single forehead which is not creased in heart aching introspection .  The last song “ Jaane Woh Kaise Log The”  just reverberates in their minds.

When you see the movie again, new thought flow through your mind as you have fresh interpretations,  you read more in the silence between dialogues,  you see more symbolism in the deep shadows, revealing that this masterpiece in indeed multilayered and for thinkers , not mindless bumpkins.

Here is the timeless story of a one person’s search for his own identity in society and losing his very recognition in process.

Pyaasa means “Thirsty One”.  Its title is a bit ambiguous and you can ping it the way you infer.

Who is the thirsty one? 

The one for love? 

The one for a relationship?

The one for wealth?

The one for appreciation?  

Johnny Walker as Abdul Sattar ( the happy go lucky Tel MalishWala ) provides the much-required comic relief.  Without him, this movie could have been 2 hours of intense heartache . Every actor and actress live their roles— and this cannot be gauged by reading English subtitles..

This movie’s theme  transcends time and is still relevant 56 years later.  Will merit, talent , hardwork, honesty, sincerity, compassion really help in this decadent, corrupt, street smart modern winners’ world?

  

Check out how myths get shattered !

The scene where he tries his best to prove his identity to his own people and fails is one of the best in cinematic history.  What touches a raw nerve is the scene where he has the selfish world at his feet and simply chooses to renounce it, on his own terms . This is the same society who sold fake inferior poems in his name, thinking he is dead, and hence were not happy to see him alive.

Pyaasa’s climax is considered as a classic masterstroke.  Indian movies are known for it’s escapist ending, catering to happy dreams, NOT gruesome reality.

Does any human being cry , other than for selfishness?  

Is there a quest in every human being to feel wanted by society ?  

Does a man feel good when he self destructs on his own terms?  

Is it possible to wake up a man who is pretending to sleep ?

Does money govern everything in modern life?

Is there anything worse in life than being declared mad for claiming to be yourself?

Not many people know that the director, Guru Dutt ( Vijay the actor ) , committed suicide seven years after the release of Pyaasa.

THIS MOVIE WHICH SWAM UPSTREAM , IS A MUST SEE.   

ONLY PROFOUND THINKERS CAN GET TO THE ONION LAYERED CORE.

I PREDICT THAT THIS MOVIE WILL RESURFACE AND TAKE ITS RIGHTFUL POSITION AHEAD OF INTERNATIONALY ACCLAIMED  MASTERPIECES  ( INFLATED BY LOBBIED UP CRITICS AND MEDIA ) .   

-- SO SAYS CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL.

Grace and peace! ( note: it is OM shanti -- NOT om shande )

CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
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