Gulzar’s 1975 classic Mausam explored the tension between romantic and parental love long before Yash Chopra took up the theme in his movie Lamhe. Both films are based on young girls falling in love with men as old as their fathers.
But the moviegoers had a significantly contrasting reaction to both the films. Unlike Lamhe, which didn’t do well at the box office, Gulzar’s movie was received well. The relationship between Sharmila Tagore’s character Kajli and Sanjeev Kumar’s Dr Amarnath Gil was nuanced. He saw her as a surrogate daughter, she wanted more from him. Even today, nearly 50 years later, critics call Mausam “a fine orchestra of a film with barely a false note.”
That’s high praise for a movie where the protagonist fails to keep his promise to the woman he loved to come back for her, and returns 25 years later to rescue her daughter, Kajli.
Gulzar portrayed Kajli with a mature elegance rather than as a naive young woman. The movie is not without its fair share of drama. But Kajli carries herself with the grace and composure of a woman. In contrast, in Lamhe, the audience is first introduced to Pooja (Sridevi) when she is a schoolgirl, which makes it harder to later accept her romantic feelings for an older man.
“[The] audience accepted 16,000 feet of the film (Lamhe), but the last 500 feet they didn’t digest. It was against their culture or what, I don’t know,” said Chopra in an interview with filmmaker Karan Johar.
Mausam was released the same year that heavyweights like Sholay, Deewar and Jai Santoshi Maa came out. To an extent, it held itself well against these commercial blockbusters, even though critics pointed out that the plot is as old as the hills.
Two love stories
Mausam is not without the usual dose of Bollywood melodrama. As a young man preparing for his medical exams in Darjeeling, Gill falls in love with a local woman, Chanda. When he has to leave for Kolkata, he promises to return for her—but never does. Twenty-five years later, driven by guilt and curiosity, he returns to Darjeeling to revisit his past. He is taken aback to learn that the love of his life is no more and her daughter was molested by a family member and lives in a brothel. That woman is Kajli.
Mausam relies on flashbacks to show the first love between Amarnath and Chanda. It has an unreal ‘too good to be true’ quality. The relationship between Amarnath and Kajli, however, is the one that shows Gulzar’s handling of relationships. He sees Kajli as his daughter and wants to rescue her from the unpleasant world of the brothel. But she interprets his parental love as romantic. Kajli starts imagining a life with him where she can lead a normal life as any other woman.
In one telling scene, when she makes a move on Amarnath, he is disgusted and disappointed with her for bringing sex into the conversation. For Amarnath, thinking sexually about this daughter-like figure is a cardinal sin. Further, the guilt weighs heavy on him because he holds himself to be responsible for her state.
Had he not left Chanda, Kajli would have never landed in the brothel.
Protagonists rule the show
Tagore, who plays both the mother Chanda and daughter Kajli, was applauded for her work in the film. She also won the National Award for Best Actress.
The 1970s was the era of double roles — Hema Malini acted in Seeta Aur Geeta and Rakhee did Sharmeelee. But playing a village belle and sex worker in the same film was quite unheard of at the time.
With a stellar performance in Mausam, Tagore scoffed at the stereotypes of married women losing their oomph and charm after marriage.
Kumar plays a lost old lover here, much like his work in Gulzar’s Aandhi in which he plays the role of a man who wasn’t courageous enough to support his ambitious wife. Both characters are flawed, make mistakes and seek redemption.
Riding on music
Mausam’s background score by Salil Chowdhury and songs composed by Madan Mohan are integral to the plot.
But, Kajli grooving to the song ‘Meri ishq ke lakhon jhatke’ came out of syllabus for the fans. Asha Bhosle’s vocals and Gulzar’s lyrics were a perfect match.
And the choreography by Saroj Khan, whose involvement in the production was pure coincidence, further elevated the look and feel of the song but she was not part of the team to begin with. Her involvement was a pure coincidence.
“Khan was reportedly in the studio for some other movie when Gulzar requested her to teach Tagore a couple of dance steps for the song.
While Meri Ishq ke Lakhon Jhatke was a hit, the true showstopper was gazal singer Bhupinder Singh’s soulful solo track, Dil Dhoondta Hai Phir Wohi Fursat Ke Raat Din.
Gulzar’s poetic brilliance didn’t just give Bhupinder another hit – it gave urban India a voice. It resonated with people caught up in the hurly-burly of city life.
Mausam rode that wave of nostalgia and Bhupinder’s magic.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)