Some landmarks in Indian Cinema Raghunath Raina* The National Film Awards , 2001 were given under the shadow of the death of that legendary figure of the Indian Cinema – Ashok Kumar.
He had passed away in Mumbai on December 10, just two days back. Dadamoni, as the great thespian was known to his friends and admirers, had his 90th birthday, about two months before his sad exit, on October 13.
After the death of his talented and versatile younger brother, Kishore Kumar on October 13, 1987, he never celebrated his birthday. This time his friends made him cut the birthday cake a day in advance, on October 12.
Ashok Kumar towered for almost 60 years over Indian cinema. He slipped in and out of hit after hit through decade after decade. By a providential coincidence, he started his film career at the Bombay Talkies, founded by Himansu Rai and Devika Rani with the noted German film maker Franz Osten as the company’s chief director. The studio set new technical and professional standards for Indian films.
Ashok Kumar came into lime light with Bombay Talkies’ Achhut Kanya in which he played the lead role against Devika Rani. Working along with India’s first ‘dream girl’ was an awesome experience for the budding actor. Devika Rani was the first educated, upper class, foreign-trained actress, who chose to make films her career and bewitched millions through the thirties and forties.
It was only befitting that at the Awards function, the President joined others to pay tributes to him and watched some clips from his films.
Ashok Kumar’s oeuvre reads like a veritable classification of the milestones in Indian cinema. From the best socials (Achhut Kanya, Kangan, Bandhan, Jhola, Kanoon) to the best romances (Bandini, Mahal, Gumrah) and the best character roles (Mere Mahboob, Bahu Begum, Aashirwad, Mili, Khubsoorat), the actor built a benchmark with whatever he undertook.
Till today, the 1940’s Kismat stands out as a landmark for more than one reason: for creating the first archetype of the anti-hero with Ashok Kumar’s perfect portrayal of a thief who loses his heart to a handicapped girl; for striking the first "Quit India" note in popular cinema with chart buster "Door hato aye duniawalon, Hindustan hamara hai" and for becoming the first blockbuster of Bollywood with a record run of almost two years.
But more than his histrionics on the screen and his expansive career which stretches from pre-Independence India to turn-of-the-century India (his last film was the 1990’s starrer Return of the Jewel Thief), Ashok Kumar lived larger than life as an intrinsic part of Indian psyche. Be it blowing enigmatic smoke rings in Jewel Thief, standing tall before Madhubala’s seductive charms in Aiye Mehrban, playing a fun-loving father in Khubsoorat or beaming the tube with a characteristic smile in a popular soap, Dadamoni remains an undeniable essence of Hum Log: the quintessential Indian who is multi-dimentional has an appeal that transcends all boundaries and lines forever as a man of all seasons.
Besides remembering Ashok Kumar, the other highpoint of the 48th National Film Awards function in Vigyan Bhavan was the ovation for Asha Bhonsle, winner of the country’s highest film prize, the Dada Saheb Phalke Award. She is the sixth woman film personality to win this most prestigious and coveted award since it was institutionalised in 1970.
By a happy coincidence the first award winner was also a woman, Devika Rani. The others who have won this award are : Sulochana (1974), Kanan Devi (1977), Durga Khote (1984), and Lata Mangeshkar (1990). Although Devika Rani, Sulochana and Kanan Devi were also singers, it is the two Mangeshkar sisters who have received the award solely for their playback singing.
Singling out Asha Bhonsle for lifelong contribution to Indian cinema has been a felicitous choice. She continues to play in the heart-strings of millions in India and abroad. If her sister, Lata, is known as the ‘singing queen’ Asha is easily the ‘queen of versatility’.
It sounds incredible that in her 68 years she has sung for film artistes less than half her age as well as for long-established heroines. She sings pop with the same elan as she renders devotional songs and bhajans. The sensuality in her voice mysteriously melts away when singing emotional and poignant songs. And, she has sung more than 12,000 songs in as many as 18 languages in film and non-film musicals.
Asha was born in a musical family of Sangli and she got her first chance to sing in the Marathi film Majha Bala, when she was just ten. (She was born on September 8, 1933). Her playback debut was in 1948 with the film Chunariya. Music directors soon noticed an impish resource in her voice and started offering her assignments.
She evoked widespread public attention in Raj Kapoor’s Boot Polish (1953). Her song "Nanhe Munhe Bache Teri Muthi Mein Kya Hai" in the film under the baton of Shankar Jaikishen and the duet with Talat Mehmood, "Chali Kaun Se Des Gujariya Tu Saj-Dajh Ke" gave a boost to her career. But her big break came in 1957 when the music director O.P. Nayyar used her to sing the heroine’s songs in Tumsa Nahin Dekha and Naya Daur. And she did not look back since.
Asha widened her horizon in the 1990s by singing pop. Her album with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, ‘Legacy’, received a Grammy Award nomination, making her the first Indian popular singer to receive this rare honour. Later, she collaborated with Boy George in he internationally-acclaimed "Bow Down Mister". She then composed and sang her first solo album "Aap Ki Asha" followed by albums like "Rahul and I", "Asha Once More", and "Janam Samjha Karo". Recently, she has come out with "Kabhi to nazar milao" with Adnan Sami. Her range is so wide and her renderings so dulcet that it is difficult to analyse her virtuosity. It is best to acknowledge that her songs will continue to be sung by generations.
Of the other awards, the coveted Swarna Kamal for the best feature went to the Malyalam film Shantham directed by Jayraj. He is a regular national award winner beginning with Desdanam (three awards), Kaliyattam (two awards) and now the top prize for Shanthanam. In between his Karunam won the Golden Peacock for the best Asian film at the International Film Festival last year. Shantham addresses the very contemporary issue of political rivalry and violence. Malyalam films won six more awards including the debut film Sayahannam by R. Sarathi. The best direction award went to Ritpurano Ghosh for his feature Utsab. His every film has won a national award beginning Uneshe April (1995) followed by Jahan, Asook, and Bariwali. For Shyam Benegal, receiving the Kamal seems to have become a habit. Almost all his earlier works – Samar (best feature), Sardari Begum, The Making of the Mahatma, Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda, Bhumika – have spelt an honour for the directors. This time he won the award for the best Hindi film Zubeida.
Amol Palekar received his fourth consecutive national award while Javed Akhtar picked up his fourth Kamal for his song in Refugee and also gave the composer Annu Malik his first award. The Bollywood stars Anil Kapoor and Raveena Tandon won the best actor and best actress awards, which proved rather controversial.
The top award for non-feature films was won by talented film-maker, writer and linguist, Arun Khopkar, for his Rasikpriya for artistically weaving visual metaphors to the rhythms of Hindustani classical music. The award for the best book on cinema went to journalist Anupama Chopra for her book on the film Sholay – that box office phenomenon. Two journalists Vasiraju Prakasam and Suresh Sharma received the award for being the best film critics.
Over the years, National Film Awards have acquired great prestige and are ardently coveted. Unlike the popular awards, these go through a rigorous process of selection first at the regional level and finally by a jury consisting of eminent cineasters. Here the criterion is not just the popularity of the film. The test is excellence in different departments of film making.
The films considered are from all regional languages, even dialects. This gives an opportunity to directors working in different languages to receive national and even international attention. Thus many regional film makers have come into prominence and at the same time made their films accessible to wider audiences.
It is for these reasons that ever since the awards were instituted in 1953, the top award winning films are regarded as the milestones of Indian cinema. The film directors who figure in the role of honour include Sohrab Modi (Mirza Ghalib), Satyajit Ray (Pather Panchali- 11955, Apur Sansar-1959, Charulata-1964, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne-1968, Seemabadhu-1971, and Agantuk-1991); Mrinal Sen (Bhuvan Shome-1969, Chorus-1974, Aakaler Sandhane-1980); V. Shanta Ram (Do Ankhen Bara Haath-1957); Tapan Sinha (Kabuliwala-1956, Hatey Bazarey-1967); Adoor Gopalkrishnan (Swayanvaram-1972, Kathupursham-1995); Renu Kariat (Cheema-1965); T. Pattabhiram Reddy (Samskara-1970); Girish Kasarvali (Ghatashradha-1971, Tarbane Katha-1986, Thai Saheb-1997); Shaji N. Karun (Piravi-1988, Vanaparstham-1999).
This, of course, is not an exhaustive list. Many more directors, script writers, cinematographers, lyricists, actors and actresses acquired all-India status and prestige through National Awards.
