Ek Hi Film Se – I know some have been waiting for this film to be featured on EHFS and this time I choose ‘GUIDE’ which is an ensemble of dance, music, spectacle and vacillating emotions. Most of us have seen this film. But this is a classic and can be seen, heard and appreciated again. Certainly not an easy film to comment on….each one has his/her own interpretation. But such is the impact of this film that despite each one interpreting the message differently, it has a quality that everyone relates to. Hope you will savour the presentation as much as I enjoyed compiling it with my thoughts coupled with info drawn from various sources online and off it. GUIDE is RK Narayan’s complex and layered novel which Vijay Anand recreated as a film in 1965 with the same name, in which he deftly mixed existential philosophy with the song-and-dance formula. It is a film about the spiritual degradation and resurgence of a small town tourist guide Raju (Dev Anand). While the film may not be entirely faithful to the book, the film makers need to be applauded for the courage for taking up a rather difficult subject to be put on screen. A milestone in Indian cinema, GUIDE turned out to be a near perfect Indian film (without the pretences of a typical art film). Its huge canvas was filled with drama, realism, escapism, superlative music and the entire philosophy was conveyed through fine performances of the actors who in turn were remarkably guided by a perceptive director. Waheeda Rehman comes to life as the capricious, defiant and enchanting Rosy, and Dev Anand is every bit Raju Guide who goes from guiding tourists in Rajasthan to guiding the much-married Rosy out of a suffocating marriage into a super career as a dancer. The tempestuous relationship between Raju and Rosy is traced against the backdrop of pristine locations, primary colors and rugged monuments of the Rajasthani landscape gorgeously cinematographed by cameraman Fali Mistry. The film is strongest on the inception of their relationship, when Raju slowly becomes aware of the depth of Rosys sorrow and of the abuse she receives from the rich Mr. Marco, to whom her mother married her in a desperate bid for respectability -- a sour hypocrite who lusts after stone images as also flesh while despising his own beautiful young wife. Raju gradually begins guiding Rosy to believe in herself and in her talents, eventually giving her shelter in his home despite the voyeuristic and scandalous rebuke by his neighbors and the outraged opposition of his relatives. Rajus courage and compassion, and the hypocrisy of respectable societys attitude toward public women are powerfully portrayed, as is the chemistry between him and Rosy. Their later falling out, at the height of Rosys success, is rendered more sketchily -- the film implies (in contradiction to its earlier message), that worldly success inevitably corrupts and that career women must indeed construct (in Rosys words) a sort of fortress around the heart. Rajus hurt over this rejection helps to drive him to melancholia, booze, and gambling; a lingering jealousy of the rich Mr. Marco (whose surname Rosy still bears) prompts his fateful act of forgery. In the last lap of this fascinating and beguiling drama of love, deception and redemption, Raju the guide is transformed into a saint, the saviour of a drought stricken village. Waheeda Rehman danced like a dream with Master Hiralal choreographing some fabulous numbers. When she dances like a woman possessed to a frenzied piece of music, laughingly breaks a mud pot singing “Dil woh chala”, stands in the caves her scholar husband is studying and screams, “Marco main jeena chahti hoon,” she spoke for millions of Indian women who were suppressing their talent and suffocating in bad marriages. Rosy was a breaker of rules in a society (and by reflection a cinematic tradition) in which docile, sacrificing, suffering women were (are) the ideal. In one of her most memorable roles WR had Lata Mangeshkar’s voice making Rosy a ravishing mirror of enigma and emancipation. Of course Mohd Rafi too rendered memorable songs for Dev Anand in the film. The only duet of the film - the Kishore-Lata combination singing ‘Gaata Rahe Mera Dil’ is one of the top romantic songs composed in my list. SD Burman can easily be considered the other hero of the film. The music score of GUIDE, penned so passionately by Shailendra, is perhaps one of the finest works of art in a single film and remains a reference point for many a composer looking to create music that reflected a gamut of emotions such as uncertainty, torment, helplessness, despair, love, faith, hope & happiness. SDB’s magnificent effort externalizes every phase of this bitter-sweet love story—be it Rosy’s song of liberation “Kanton se kheench ke” or Raju’s expression of estrangement “Din dhal jaaye”. SDB had a unique gift for composing songs that seemed to fit perfectly into the visuals. He would start a song without any prelude music or with minimal prelude to ensure the song ‘fits’ into the visuals. Rafi’s Tere mere sapne is one such example. When you see the film, the silken smooth voice of Rafi seems to be a natural fit for the scene. Rafi glides effortlessly through the song and leaves you with a soothing, caressed feeling. A better use of songs (SD Burman surpassed himself) to deal with a highly dramatic situation and carry the narrative forward would be hard to find. For me, while Dev Anand & Waheeda Rehman gave stellar performances, the person who emerged heroic was the director of the film. Treating the story in his inimitable style, Vijay Anand was completely non-judgmental about the characters—all of them, even in their moments of weakness came across as human and vulnerable. It’s not very often that one finds characters with so many complex shades in a mainstream Hindi film. In spite of its offbeat plot and unusual characters, Guide was successful at the box office. It remains a masterpiece of popular cinema with direction, technique, storytelling, music, dance, drama, performances all coming together as a perfect whole
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 19:02:02 +0000
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