Chhaayaageet #220 - "Look at him. He can't even walk straight."
14th A Road in Khar, Bombay. Now it is called Ahimsa Marg. But lets go back to the time when it was still 14th A Road. There is a building on that street. The ground floor apartment belongs to a veteran music composer. The music composer is a man of affluence. He purchases the plot next to the building and builds a big bungalow for his family.
The ground floor apartment is leased to a veteran lyricist. A film has gone on the floors. The music of the songs has been composed. The lyricist is now given the tunes to write the lyrics.
One day, late in the evening, a car stops in front of the building. The lyricist is in the back seat being dropped off to his rented apartment home. But he has been completely hammered. The driver comes around and opens the door. The lyricist cannot get out of the car. He has to be helped out.
He grabs the open door. He grabs the driver's arm. Somehow he plants his two feet on the ground. It is a herculean task to stand on firm ground. He takes one step forward. Legs feel like jelly. The driver is used to the routine. He doesn't let his precious cargo down. He grabs him with both hands and helps him walk one step in front of the other.
From the bungalow next door, some people are watching this spectacle. They are relatives of the veteran music composer. They cannot help laughing, perhaps even jeering, at the sight of an accomplished man wasted.
"Look at him. He can't even stand straight," their words pierce the lyricist's body like a knife. Even in that intoxicated state he registers the mocking laughs and the accusing words. He stops moving his feet. He looks up at the bungalow's balcony and stares at the people looking down on him.
He drops his head with his shoulders drooped into the driver. Somehow the driver delivers the lyricist to his apartment.
Next morning, the lyricist is still hung over. He decides to start the day with his usual morning routine, a walk on Juhu beach, seeking inspiration for his pen. The incident of the night before keeps flashing before him. "Look at him. He can't even stand straight," they had said. They had mocked him mercilessly. Sigh, the one night that he had had a little bit much of drink and the whole world was there to watch. He pours his feelings into the song.
Shailendra wrote the lyrics of Jungle Mein Mor Nacha and all the beautiful songs of Madhumati (1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, directed and produced by Bimal Roy, and featuring a star cast of Dilip Kumar, Vyajayanthimala and Pran. This song is filmed on Johnny Walker with playback singing by Mohammad Rafi. Rafi Saab sings marvelously in character for Johnny Walker in this song. This was the second time that Rafi Saab had sung so beautifully for Johnny Walker, the first time being in Pyaasa (1957) with the song Sar Jo Tera Chakraye. However, in the song in Madhumati, Rafi Saab outdid himself in lending his voice to Johnny Walker.
The apartment that Shailendra lived in on 14th A Road in Khar was rented from veteran composer Hemant Kumar, who built a bungalow next door.
Madhumati was the biggest blockbuster of 1958 and one of the most commercially successful films of its time. It led the Filmfare Awards with 12 nominations and won 9 awards - Best Film and Best Director (Bimal Roy), Best Supporting Actor (Johnny Walker), Best Music Director (Salil Chowdhury), Best Female Playback Singer (Lata Mangeshkar), Best Editing (Hrishikesh Mukherjee), Best Dialogue (Rajinder Singh Bedi), Best Art Direction (Sudhendu Roy). Dilip Kumar and Vyajyanthimala were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress respectively, along with Ritwik Ghatak for Best Story.
Madhumati's record of most Filmfare Award wins (9) stood for 37 years until Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge won 10 awards in 1995.
Lyrics: Shailendra
Singer: Mohammad Rafi
Music: Salil Chowdhury
*ing: Johnny Walker
Director: Bimal Roy
Film: Madhumati (1958)