Chhaayaageet #74 - “Kucch samjhe, Kaviraj?”
It is a very good script. The filmmaker is impressed. The story writer is also an accomplished screenplay writer. That helps a lot in storytelling. The scriptwriter had been doing the rounds in the industry narrating the script but there were no takers so far. The young filmmaker is by far the only one most impressed with it.
The story is about the struggle of a young man abandoned at birth by his father. The story resonates with the filmmaker at all levels. His last film was a great success and had allowed him to buy his own studio. This would be the perfect film to be shot in that studio. He can be the producer/director as well as play the lead role. The role of the father, an equally important role, can be essayed by his own father. Only he, with his towering presence, could do justice to it.
But there is a problem. His father does not think much of him. The filmmaker can see a straight refusal coming if he puts the idea forward. He calls the scriptwriter for help.
“I don’t think my father will agree if I ask him. He thinks I am still immature and young to make my own film. Why don’t you ask him?” The veteran scriptwriter knows the father well. He agrees to talk to him. The scriptwriter reaches the filmmaker’s father’s house to narrate the story to him.
“We would like to have you play the role of the hero’s father.”
The father looks extremely pleased. “I like this story. Who is producing this film?”
The scriptwriter has anticipated the question. “It will be produced and directed by your own son. He is also playing the lead role.”
The expressions on the father’s face change quickly. “What! I don’t think he knows how to make a film. Please do not let him spoil your good script. You are so talented. How can you do that?”
The scriptwriter is prepared with his rebuttal. “I am confident in his abilities to make this film. You saw how successful his last one was. He was only the director, but it was a great accomplishment.” Reluctantly the filmmaker’s father agrees to do the role.
In his heart the filmmaker knows that shooting scenes with his father will be a challenge. Why doesn’t he trust him? For some reason, the script echoes his real life.
The filmmaker has an eye for talent and has picked one winner after another from rookie artists. The music is to be composed by the same duo that got their break in his previous film. It was a huge musical success.
He used a couple of lyricists in his previous film. One of them wrote the title song and seems like the right person to write the title song again. The title song is central to the film. The entire essence of the script must come across through that song. It is that important. This means that the lyricist has to know all the intricacies of the storyline. It's time to go through the script again, this time along with the lyricist.
The filmmaker and lyricist reach the scriptwriter’s place. Introductions are made. The scriptwriter barely acknowledges the new lyricist. The next few hours go by in story narration. The scriptwriter covers every nook and cranny to make sure the lyricist can connect with the story.
But one thing is very weird. Over the couple of hours, there is no reaction from the lyricist. No expressions or acknowledgments, no head nods. No questions. Not a word. The body language is completely silent. This is quite troubling for both of them.
The filmmaker cannot hold back and frustratingly throws a satirical question “Kucch samjhe, Kaviraj?” Did you understand anything, Mr. Poet?
The lyricist gives a blank stare at first. Then looking somewhere in the distance he says one line.
Gardish mein tha, par aasman ka taara tha. Awaara tha.
He was lost in the crowd. A star in the sky, a vagabond he was.
Hearing this, the scriptwriter is speechless. Who is this person? How did he perfectly distill the essence of the last few hours into one succinct sentence? He asks the filmmaker to make a proper introduction with the young poet lyricist.
Shailendra wrote the title song Awaara Hoon for the movie Awaara produced/directed by Raj Kapoor and written by Khwaja Ahmed Abbas. It was sung by Mukesh on Shankar Jaikishan’s composition. K. A. Abbas originally wanted Mehboob Khan to direct the film, but the two disagreed over the casting. Mehboob Khan wanted Ashok Kumar to play the judge and Dilip Kumar the son. K. A. Abbas strongly believed that the script had been written for Raj Kapoor and his father, Prithviraj Kapoor, as lead actors.
After Barsaat's success, Raj Kapoor decided to buy RK Studios. Awaara was the first film to be shot in that studio. Raj Kapoor decided to put his grandfather, Basheshwarnath Nath, in his film to have the three Kapoor generations represented. Doing the small role of a judge, the old man would just not read the lines that Raj Kapoor gave him but said whatever he wished. When prompted to follow the script, the old man screamed out: "You will teach your grandfather! Do you know the law better than me? I will say what I have to." Exasperated, Raj Kapoor told his team to quickly take his shots and be done.
In India, the film grossed a record of 23 million rupees in 1951, making it the highest-grossing film up until that time. Within a few years, the movie was released in the Soviet Union, China, and Turkey. The film's success in both the Soviet Union and China has been attributed to the socialist themes expressed in the film. The film Awaara and the song Awaara Hoon are believed to have been among Chairman Mao's favorites.
When the Awaara team toured the Soviet Union, everywhere Raj Kapoor was greeted with sounds of Awara Hoon. The audiences there simply refused to believe that someone else had really sung that song. Then, in one of the live programs, Raj Kapoor had to show the audience that it was Mukesh who had sung the song and he himself had just lip-synched it. On stage, he then dramatically declared, "Raj Kapoor is just a body, Mukesh is my soul." He could not have summed it any better.
Lyrics: Shailendra
Music: Shankar Jaikishan
Singers: Mukesh
*ing: Raj Kapoor
Director: Raj Kapoor
Producer: Raj Kapoor
Story: K. A. Abbas
Film: Awaara (1951)