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This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Films are regarded as director’s medium. He is like a captain of the ship. It is the director’s responsibility to make his film successful – critically as well as financially.
A film director may have directed many successful films but he will generally be known by his one classic cult film. For instance, when we talk about PC Barua, ‘Devdas’ (1935) comes to our mind first though he had directed other successful films like ‘Mukti’ (1937) and ‘Jawaab’ (1942). In case of Mehboob Khan, it is ‘Mother India’ (1957) though he had directed many successful films in the 1940s. K Asif and ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960), Guru Dutt and ‘Pyaasa’, (1957) and Kamal Amrohi and ‘Pakeezah’ (1972) are inseparable. In the international arena, Raj Kapoor is known more for his film, ‘Aawaara’ (1951) than other equally successful films. This is not an exhaustive list.
But there is one film director who is known by his flop film in the genre of satirical comedy. The film is ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’ (1983) and the director is Kundan Shah. In an interview held sometime in 2012 on the occasion of the re-release of the film in digitised version, he had said he considered this film as his failed project though it has attained a cult status.
Remembering Kundan Shah today, October 7th on his 2nd Remembrance Day who excelled in projecting the serious social issues in soft comedies through films and TV serials. I became aware of him with his very first film which I had watched on TV much before he became well known by his TV serials.
I found it very difficult to get the information on Kundan Shah’s early life before he ventured into films and TV serials. A book, ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron – Seriously Funny Since 1983’ (2010) written by Jai Ajay Singh was supposed to have some information about his early life. But the book has remained out of stock for some time. However, a preview of some pages of the book was available online which gave me some information about the early life of Kundan Shah.
Born in a Gujarati family, Kundan Shah spent his childhood in Aden (now in Yemen) and did his schooling there until the age of 13 when his family shifted to Mumbai. He completed his schooling and thereafter his graduation in commerce. He worked for a publishing house for about 4 years before enrolling himself in the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in 1973 for direction. It is at FTII, he found interest in the genre of comedy during the second year of the course.
As a project in FTII, he made a 25-minute diploma film titled ‘Bonga’ (Siren) which the students of direction have to make in the final year. The film was a farcical comedy involving a gang of five people attempting a bank robbery. The cast included FTII students like Satish Shah, Rakesh Bedi, Suresh Oberoi, Om Puri etc. There were no dialogue in the film except each one of the gang of five yelling ‘bonga’. Bhaskar Chandavarkar, an instructor in FTII at that time (who was also a music director) composed the background music. The film was critically acclaimed by his fellow students in FTII. His seniors in FTII like Naseeruddin Shah and Saeed Akhtar Mirza were surprised as to how this serious looking man could have made a graceful comedy film out of the nonsensical ideas.
After completion of his diploma in FTII in 1976, Kundan Shah struggled for a couple of years to find the opening in the film industry. He formed a commune of some of his fellow FTII diploma holders and produce short documentary films. However, in this work, Kundan Shah ran into financial problems. Almost all of his colleagues had already been disillusioned with their career and left for their respective places. Kundan Shah also moved to England with his family and worked there to make enough money to pay off his debt.
Kundan Shah returned to India after about 18 months. He got an attractive offer from the maker of ‘Gandhi’ (1981) to work as Assistant Director for six months at a monthly salary of Rs.10,000/-. The offer was very tempting. He consulted his colleague, Saeed Akhtar Mirza who dissuaded him from accepting the offer as he would mostly be doing the work of crowd controlling during the outdoor shooting. Instead, Saeed Mirza coxed him to write a script and make the film himself. In the meanwhile, Kundan Shah worked as Assistant Director in Saeed Akhtar Mirza’s ‘Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai’ (1980) and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘Sazaa-e-Maut (1981). These association also put pressure on him to direct a film as his FTII fellow students, Saeed Mirza and Vidhu Vinod Chopra had already made films. It is at this point of time, Kundan Shah decided to make a feature film which resulted in making his first film ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’ (1983).
As I came to know from the video clips of interviews of Kundan Shah, Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Sudhir Misra and others, it was a long struggle for completing the film and releasing it. Kundan Shah wrote the story and script based on the experiences of two of his fellow FTII students who after failing to get any assignment from the film industry, decided to open a photo studio and undertake fashion and industrial photography. Their bad experiences in the venture became the main theme of the story coupled with Kundan Shah’s personal experiences in dealing with a rationing office in Mumbai for the release of cement quota for repairs to drainage system in his building where he was the Secretary.
When the script was ready, no producer/financier was willing to invest in the film based on his script. Some financiers termed the script as idiotic. As a last resort, Kundan Shah approached National Film Development Corporation (NDFC) to take a loan for producing the film himself. The total cost film production was expected to be around Rs. 7 lakhs and NDFC would grant the loan only up to 75% of the cost after their Script Committee approved the script. However, Kundan Shah got a pleasant surprise when NDFC not only approved his script but also offered to produce the film under its banner as they thought that the script was an effective commentary on the situations prevailing in the country. So financial side of the problem got sorted out.
Next was the selection of actors and the crew for the film. With a budget of only Rs.7 lakhs, engaging the established actors even for the main roles was out of question. Kundan Shah relied on his FTII colleagues and the actors/ crews from IPTA/National School of Drama. The actors included Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Satish Shah, Satish Kaushik, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapoor, Bhakti Bharve, Neena Gupta, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Deepak Qazir, Rajesh Puri, Ashok Banthia and Jaspal Sandhu. Some of the actors also worked behind the camera. For instance, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Deepak Qazir were the Production Controllers. Satish Kaushik was one of the dialogue writers. Renu Saluja was the editor for the film beside the assistant director.
Naseeruddin Shah had revealed in an interview that during the making of the film, he was feeling uneasy with the script as he felt that all he was doing appeared to him to be nonsensical. He had arguments with Kundan Shah on several occasions but at the end it was Kundan Shah whose writ prevailed. Even after the completion of the film, Naseeruddin Shah was pessimistic about the success of the film.
The film was released in a few theatres in Mumbai in and some other cities in August 1983. The film received a lukewarm response from the audience. The film was withdrawn after a week in Mumbai and ran in a few theatres only for morning shows. In Delhi, the film ran for 37 weeks in a single theatre for morning show only. The film was also shown on then newly set up DD Metro Channel on the week-ends for a month or so. Gul Anand, the producer of some off-beat comedy films like ‘Khatta Meetha’ (1978) and ‘Chashme-e-Buddoor’ (1981) after watching the film had said to Kundan Shah that if he had not seen the film and only read the script , he would have thrown it out of his window. This shows how Kundan Shah made an interesting film out of the nonsensical script. The lukewarm response for the film was a setback for Kundan Shah. He did not venture into directing any film for the next 10 years.
After about 30 years, ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’ (1983) was digitally restored and was re-released in November 2012 in multiplexes in Mumbai and in some major cities by which time, the film had already attained a cult status.
In the meanwhile, television was becoming a mass media with a pan India reach. In 1984, Doordarshan permitted the sponsored TV serials produced outside Doordarshan on its National Channel. Kundan Shah and many other persons associated with film industry took this as an opportunity and started their association with the producers of TV Serials. Kundan Shah made his debut on Television by directing some episodes of ‘Ye Jo Hai Zindagi’ (1984). It ran on Doordarshan with 67 episodes some of which were directed by Manjul Sinha and Raman Kumar. Actors were drawn from FTII and theatres. The serial had a phenomenal run which rediscovered Kundan Shah as a master of directing situational comedy.
With the runaway success of ‘Ye Jo Hai Zindagi’, Kundan Shah became the partner in Iskra Films, a TV serial producing company started by Saeed Akhtar Mirza and Aziz Mirza. ‘Nukkad’ (1986) was its first production. The other successful TV Serials in which Kundan Shah was associated with were ‘Wagle Ki Duniya’ (1988) and ‘Circus’ (1989).
After a gap of more than 10 years, Kundan Shah decided to make a film on the script he wrote in the genre of romantic comedy. The film’s original title ‘Albela’ had to be changed to ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na’ (1994) as this title was already registered by someone with Film Producers Associations like IMPPA. As usual for Kundan Shah, the film was delayed for a variety of reasons. The original lead actors, Amir Khan and Juhi Chawla withdrew from the film due to delay in finding a producer/financier. Shahrukh Khan, who was originally taken for the role which eventually went to Deepak Tijori, was promoted as a lead actor with Suchitra Krishnamoorthy.
After completion, the film remained in the cans for nearly 18 months as no distributor was willing to release the film probably due to the hero turning out to be loser in the end. This was the status of this film despite the fact that by this time, Shahrukh Khan was already on his path to become a super star due to box office successes of his films like ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’ (1992), ‘Deewana’ (1992), ‘Darr’ (1993) and ‘Baazigar’ (1993). Finally, Shahrukh Khan in partnership with one of his friends from the film industry released the film in February 1994. Though the film was regarded as an average success after the release, over a period of time, the film has earned more than 5 times its cost and it has also attained a cult status for Kundan Shah.
It was another six years after ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa’ (1994) that Kundan Shah took ‘Kya Kehna’(2000) for direction which was Preity Zinta’s debut film. This was Kundan Shah’s first mainstream film which was devoid of any comedy. On the contrary, Kundan Shah tackled a serious issue of pre-marital pregnancy with sensitivity. As usual for Kundan Shah, this film was also delayed in getting released. Once it got released, it was the pleasant surprise to all concerned with the film that it was a box office hit.
The next in lines of films which Kundan Shah directed were ‘Hum To Mohabbat Karega’ (2000), ‘Dil Hai Tumhara’ (2002) and ‘Ek Se Badkar Ek’ (2004). All the three films flopped at the box office making him to take a virtual retirement from the mainstream films. He returned to his foray of making films with off-beat themes in ‘Teen Behanen’ (2005), based on a real-life story of three sisters who committed suicide because their father could not afford to pay dowry. The film remained unreleased till date. His last film was a political satire, ‘P Se PM Tak’ (2015) which was a disaster at the box office.
Kundan Shah died in sleep of heart attack on October 7, 2017 at his residence. One of the emotional tributes on his death was that of Shahrukh Khan whom he compared like his mother. He said ‘I was 25 when I came to Mumbai. I have stayed in Kundan’s house and I have been fed by his family and taken care of by them’. Shahrukh Khan had worked in a few episodes of Kundan Shah’s TV Serials, ‘Wagle Ki Duniya (1988) and as a lead actor in ‘Circus’ (1989). His close friends who had been regular visitors to his office said that Kundan Shah’s office cupboard was full of film scripts in various stages. Sadly, there were no takers for these scripts to turn them into films.
As a tribute to Kundan Shah on the occasion of his 2nd Remembrance Day, I am presenting a song from ‘Kya Kehna’ (2000) which was directed by him. The song is ‘Ae Dil Laaya Hai Bahaar, Apnon Ka Pyaar, Kya Kehna’. The song is rendered by Hariharan and Kavita Krishnamurthy on the words of Majrooh Sultanpuri which was set to music by Rajesh Roshan. The song has two versions – happy and sad, the latter version being also a inspirational song.
Hariharan lip syncs for Anupam Kher, Chandrachud Singh and Mamik Singh while Kavita Krishnamurthy lip syncs for Farida Jalal, Preity Zinta and Nivedita Bhattacharya (in sad version). On the sound track, some lines of the song have been rendered as duet, but in the film, it is for all the actors present in some scenes.
The tune of the song is a straight lift from Oh Carol, I am but a fool, darling I love you, though you treat me cruel, sung by pop singer, song writer and composer, Neil Sedaka in 1957.
Happy Version
Sad Version
Song – Ae Dil Laaya Hai Bahaar, Apno Ka Pyaar, Kya Kehna (Kya kehna) (2000) Singer – Hariharan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Lyrics – Majrooh Sultanpuri, MD – Rajesh Roshan
Harirahan + Kavita Krishnamurthy
Lyrics
Happy Version
oh……..o
ho o o o o
o o o o o
o o o o
ae dil
laaya hai bahaar
apnon ka pyaar
kya kehna
milen hum
chhalak utha
khushi ka khumaar
kya kehna
khile khile chehron se aaj
ghar hai mera
gul-e-gulzaar
kya kehna…aa
khile khile chehron se aaj
ghar hai mera
gul-e-gulzaar
kya kehna
ae dil
laaya hai bahaar
apnon ka pyaar
kya kehna
milen hum
chhalak utha
khushi ka khumaar
kya kehna
hum tum yun hi milte rahein
mehfil yoon hi sajti rahe
bas pyaar ki yehi ek dhun
har subah-o-shaam bajti rahe
gale mein mehekte rahein
pyaar bhari
baahon ka haar
kya kehna…aa
khile khile chehron se aaj
ghar hai mera
gul-e-gulzaar
kya kehna
oh……..o
ho o o o o
o o o o o
o o o o
ae dil
laaya hai bahaar
apnon ka pyaar
kya kehna
milen hum
chhalak utha
khushi ka khumaar
kya kehna
khile khile chehron se aaj
ghar hai mera
gul-e-gulzaar
kya kehna…aa
khile khile chehron se aaj
ghar hai mera
gul-e-gulzaar
kya kehna
Sad Version
dil ka koi tukda kabhi
dil se juda hota nahi
apna koi jaisa bhi ho
apna hai wo duja nahi
yahi hai wo milan hai jo
sachmuch hai
dil ka qaraar
kya kehna
khile khile chehron se aaj
ghar hai mera
gul-e-gulzaar
kya kehna
ae dil
laaya hai bahaar
apnon ka pyaar
kya kehna
milen hum
chhalak utha
khushi ka khumaar
kya kehna
kuchh apne hi tak yoon nahi
ye hai sawaal sab ke liye
jeena hai to jag mein jiyo
ban ke misaal sab ke liye
dekho kaisa mehak raha
pyaar bhari
baahon ka haar
kya kehna…aa
khile khile chehron se aaj
ghar hai mera
gul-e-gulzaar
kya kehna
ae dil
laaya hai bahaar
apnon ka pyaar
kya kehna
milein hum
chhalak utha
khushi ka khumaar
kya kehna
jo ho gaya so ho gaya
logon se tu darna nahi
saathi tere hain aur bhi
duniya mein tu tanha nahi
saamna karenge mil ke
chaahe dus ho
chaahe hazaar
kya kehna..aa
khile khile chehron se aaj
jag hai mera
gul-e-gulzaar
kya kehna
oh……..o
ho o o o o
o o o o o
o o o o
ae dil
laaya hai bahaar
apnon ka pyaar
kya kehna
milen hum
chhalak utha
khushi ka khumaar
kya kehna
khile khile chehron se aaj
ghar hai mera
gul-e-gulzaar
kya kehna
khile khile chehron se aaj
ghar hai mera
gul-e-gulzaar
kya kehna
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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