Amar Prem

the 1989 Bengali film

1972 romantic drama film by Shakti Samanta

Amar Prem is a 1972 Indian Hindi romantic drama film directed by Shakti Samanta. It is a remake of the Bengali film Nishi Padma (1970), directed by Arabinda Mukherjee, who wrote screenplay for both the films based on the Bengali short story Hinger Kochuri by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. The film portrays the decline of human values and relationships and contrasts it by presenting an illustrious example of a boy's innocent love for a neighbourhood tawaif(courtesan). The movie is about a school boy, who is ill treated by his step mother, and becomes friends with a courtesan neighbour. Nishi Padma (Night Flower, 1970), for night flowering jasmine, was made by Arabinda Mukherjee with Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterjee as leads. When Samanta saw the film, he was so impressed by the performance of Uttam Kumar, that he decided to remake it. However, he decided to make some changes in the script. The original film was based on the Bengali short story Hinger Kochuri, written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay,. The title derives its name from a typical Bengali late afternoon snack, kachori, made with of fried dough stuffed with lentils, and hing (asafoetida). His stories had previously been adapted by Satyajit Ray as Pather Panchali (1955) and the Apu Trilogy. Shakti Samanta asked Mukherjee who also wrote Nishi Padmas screenplay to write a Hindi version, with Ramesh Pant, a longtime collaborator with Samanta penning the Hindi dialogues. The famous dialogue, "Pushpa, I hate tears" though also there in the original, was merely part of a dialogue, Samanta decided to use it to great effect, delivered in Rajesh Khanna's trademark style. Samanta has been using music directors like O. P. Nayyar and Shankar Jaikishen, but chose R. D. Burman once again after Kati Patang (1971), who also laboured to produce one of his best scores; later in an interview Samanta recalled: "Pancham (R. D. Burman) would go into his room and work from 9 o'clock in the morning till 9 o'clock in the night for Amar Prem."

Amar Prem takes forward the popular genre of self sacrificing mother or woman prevalent in the decade as seen in Aradhana (1969) and Kati Patang (1971), though seen as early as in 1957 in Mother India, though here it places a wronged wife Pushpa in the narrative. When her husband marries the second time, due to her apparent infertility, she is kicked out of her home, her mother and community both abandon her, subsequently she is tricked into prostitution. As Pushpa is introduced to the audience singing a genteel mystic Meera Bai like bhajan, Raina Beeti Jai, Shyam Na Aaye (Night is passing, Shyam (Krishna) hasn't arrived), calling on to Krishna; however in many part of the film she is treated by her environment as common prostitute. This blurring in representation of a courtesan and a common prostitute has been a recurrent feature in mainstream Bollywood cinema, just as the theme of the fallen woman is. meanwhile, B. R. Ishara had already made the bold film Chetna (1970), with Rehana Sultan, clearly ringing in the end of monochromatic filmi version of prostitutes and courtesans, which was seen in films like Bimal Roy's Devdas (1955), B. R. Chopra's Sadhna (1958) and even in Guru Dutt's classic Pyaasa. As the film evolves, Pushpa is no longer the fallen woman; she is not just redeemed — Anand Babu tells her, Tumne is kamre ko mandir bana diya (You have turned this room into a temple) – but in the end is deified, as she chooses to relinquish her profession and makes a living washing utensils, quietly suffering societal and psychological abuses all through the film, instead of fighting back or standing up for herself. This is also conveyed with the use of symbolism like the handful of mud being taken from Pushpa's brothel grounds to make goddess Durga idols prior to the annual Durga Puja festival, a popular festival of goddess worship. Further towards the end of the film, her purity is compared with that of the Ganges itself by Anand Babu, when she finally visits the banks of Hooghly river, a distributary of the sacred Ganges River to break her bangles after her ill treating husband dies; and in the very end, the juxtaposition of the home coming of Durga idols used in Durga Puja festival just as Nandu is taking Pushpa home. This makes her a veritable model for womanhood, although conservative and affirming patriarchal traditions. The fallen woman, solely longs to marry the man, but in vain, Pushpa too is reunited with Anand Babu in the end, however this is only a momentary meeting, and Anand Babu suggests she goes home with her foster son, Nandu as a mother. The film also deals with the theme of urban melancholy, of the bhadralok, the gentlefolk, through Anand Babu, a businessman trapped in a bad marriage, whose wife is constantly busy in beauty parlours and parties, and seeks company in Pushpa and alcohol. Pushpa, herself lonely, fulfills her maternal instincts through Nandu, a young boy in the neighbourhood, often ill treated by his step mother. Thus three lonely people become surrogates for each other and create their own family unit, even though briefly, as Anand Babu defines it, "Koi agar apna na hoke bhi bahut apna ho, toh ise kya kehte hain? Bahut pyara rishta, na?" (If someone is bound to you in spite of not being related to you, isn't that a lovely relationship?) Also through his song, Kuch To Log Kahenge, Anand Babu mocks society's moral judgement and hypocrisy, as he consoles a despondent Pushpa by singing, "Sita bhi yahan badnaam hui" (Even Sita (King Rama's wife in Ramayana) was insulted here) relating to an episode in epic, where in Sita having returned from captivity of demon king Ravana, she had to prove her purity, and even then was banished by Rama to the forest.

The score and soundtrack for film was composed by R. D. Burman, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi. The soundtrack was melody based, which gave Lata Mangeshkar her finest classical solo of the decade, Raina Beti Jaaye, set in an unusual blend of two Ragas, Todi in mukhara or the opening verse and Khamaj in the antara. Burman had heard his father, music composer S. D. Burman sing, Bela Boye Jaye, which he said was on his mind, while composing the song. Bakshi's lyrics, created a Meera bhajan like idiom for the song, employing the Krishna Radha motif. as R. D. Burman recounted in a later interview, "But where's the composer in you in this tune, Pancham (Burman's nickname)?" and went on to explain: " For Sharmila here is something more than the nautch girl she plays. Her motherly instincts have been aroused by that kid. Your tune therefore must communicate all the agony of the nautch girl wanting to be the mother she can never be. Do it again, your way, but with the moving human situation in mind." and later Burman called it his "best lesson in music" from his father. Finally, Burman roped in his father, S. D. Burman to sing "Doli Mein Bithai Ke Kahaar" in his typical bardic voice, and the song which appears twice in the film, was to become one of the most memorable songs of his career as a playback singer. The song "Kuchh Toh Log Kahenge" is considered to be one of the most loved filmi songs of all time. # Title Singer(s)Duration 1 "Doli Mein Bithai Ke" S. D. Burman5:43 2 "Raina Beeti Jaye" Lata Mangeshkar5:20 3 "Chingari Koi Bhadke" Kishore Kumar5:38 4 "Kuchh Toh Log Kahenge" Kishore Kumar4:56 5 "Yeh Kya Hua" Kishore Kumar4:33 6 "Bada Natkhat Hai Yeh" Lata Mangeshkar4:53

Prior to the release of the film, a special show was organised in Delhi, where Gen Sam Manekshaw invited the cast, however the next day a blackout was declared, as the Indo Pakistani War of 1971 had begun. The film was commercially released in January 1972.

Though 1972 was a year of the big films Pakeezah, Dushman and Beimaan, upon its release, Amar Prem was eighth amongst Khanna's top releases in the year. Samanta achieved a hat trick of hits with Rajesh Khanna, which started with Aradhana (1969) and Kati Patang (1971). with hits like "Chingaari Koi Bhadke", "Kuchh Toh Log Kahenge", "Yeh Kya Hua" sung by Kishore Kumar and "Raina beeti jaaye" by Lata Mangheskar.

After the film's success, the Rajesh Khanna–Sharmila Tagore pair, which had already achieved success in Aradhana (1969), worked again in Yash Chopra's Daag (1973) and Basu Bhattacharya's Avishkaar (1973), besides films like Chhoti Bahu (1971), Maalik (1972) and Raja Rani (1973). Rajesh Khanna's dialogue "Pushpa, I hate tears", which appeared five times in the film, was not only parodied over the years, Apart from her work with Satyajit Ray, lead actress Tagore's films with Samanta including Amar Prem, defined her screen image for her career. The film's success also affected the fashion trends of the time, the puff sleeved blouses, which were first seen on Devika Rani in the 1950s were revived again after Tagore's character Pushpa wore them through the film. In July 2009, after Samanta's death in April of the same year, Amar Prem was the inaugural film of a retrospective on Shakti Samanta Films organised in Delhi.