Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs

This article is written by Sadanand Kamath, a fellow enthusaist 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.

‘Sparsh’ (1980) was Sai Paranjpye’s first feature film. Besides directing it, she wrote the story, screen-play and dialogues.  At the time of making of the film, she faced enormous problems at every stage – from the selection of actors to the submission of the film’s final print to the Central Board of Film Certification and then to the Feature Film Jury of the National Film Awards on due date. And if I go by what the director of the film has revealed through her interviews in newspapers and periodicals and also in her Marathi book, ‘Sai – Maaza Kalapravaas’, the major obstacles came from the producer of the film – Basu Bhattacharya, who was known in Hindi film industry as a stingy producer.

Sometime in the later half the 1970s (the actual year is not known), Sai Paranjpye produced a 10-minute documentary film on the visually impaired for Delhi Doordarshan to be telecast on the World Handicap Day. For this purpose, Sai Paranjpye had to visit a blind school to get a feel of how the blind students study and do extra-curricular activities. She had gone to the blind school with the apprehension in her mind as to whether she will be able to emotionally cope up with when she would witness them in the school.  However, she was pleasantly surprised to observe that the blind students were playing on the ground with a lot of excitement as if they were normal students. She also met the principal of the school who was also blind and had done PhD from the University of Wisconsin (USA). He looked savvy and dynamic – same as how a normal person at his position would look. Then an idea occurred to her that visually impaired persons need to be treated like normal persons more than showering pity and sympathy. This idea was translated in her TV documentary.

Sai Paranjpye, however, felt that 10-minute TV documentary was too short to cover the important aspects of what she had witnessed in the blind school. So, she expanded the subject into a telefilm titled ‘Raina Beeti Jaaye’ with Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Sushma Seth which was telecast on Delhi Doordarshan (year is not known but it has to be sometime in the later 1970s.). The film was well received and there were demands for its re-run on Doordarshan. This encouraged her to make a full-length feature film with a story revolving around a couple – one handicapped with blindness and the other a normal person who is emotionally handicapped. She also covered in the script some day-to-day incidences of the blind students. Thus, the idea of ‘Sparsh’ (1980) was born.

Sai Paranjpye had written the script of ‘Sparsh’ keeping in mind Sanjeev Kumar and Tanuja in the lead roles. However, after agreeing to work in the film, at the last moment, Sanjeev Kumar got himself out of the project when he came to know that the film was to be produced by Basu Bhattacharya. Probably, Sanjeev Kumar had a bad experience in working with Basu Bhattacharya in ‘Anubhav’ (1971) and ‘Girha Pravesh’ (1979). In his place, Naseeruddin Shah was roped in. Since the director was not sure about the working chemistry between Naseeruddin Shah and Tanuja, the latter was replaced by Shabana Azmi who had earlier worked with Naseeruddin Shah. When no one was ready to produce the film, Basu Bhattacharya offered to produce the film under his banner, Aarohi Films. The music direction was entrusted to Kanu Roy, the ‘darbaari’ musician of Basu Bhattacharya as Sai Paranjpye calls him. For lyrics, she selected her favourite, Indu Jain.

The film was to be majorly shot at Blind School Relief Association (BSRA) at Delhi. For the first time, Sai Paranjpye personally realised that Basu Bhattacharya, the producer was a stingy person. He had asked all the actors in the film to come for the shooting in their own dresses. Sai Paranjpye had to arrange for the uniform of the blind students in the film with a donation of cloth from a reputed cloth mill of Mumbai. The producer had arranged the free accommodation to all the actors and the technical staff in the hostel of BSRA which were barely comfortable. There are many more interesting anecdotes while making the film which have been described in Sai Paranjpye’s Marathi book referred to above in her own witty style.

Because of the subject of the film, a couple of philanthropists had given the donations for making the film which was naturally passed on to the producer of the film. In addition, there were many others who have contributed in the making of the film. In the credit title of the film, the list of such persons is bigger  than the list of the main and supporting actors. In short, my guess is that Basu Bhattacharya did not have to shell out much for the financing of the film as a producer.

It is worth noting that when ‘Sparsh’ (1980) was being made, Basu Bhattacharya was already working on his home production, ‘Griha Pravesh’ (1979). Aspersions were cast on the Aarohi Films that a part of the finance meant of ‘Sparsh’ (1980) was diverted for financing ‘Griha Parvesh’ (1979). So, the finance from the producer was not forthcoming on time for ‘Sparsh’ (1980). By the time the  film’s shooting was completed, Sai Paranjpye realised that she was not only the director but also a de facto production controller.

The film’s shooting was completed and was sent for processing at Bombay lab. But the prints had not come back for a long time. In fact, the Lab had not taken the processing of the film since Basu Bhattacharya had not cleared his dues to the lab on his earlier films. Since Sai Paranjpye wanted to send the film for participating in the National Film Awards, there was an urgency to complete the work on time. The producer of the film was not in a hurry to complete the process. Sai Paranjpye met the owner of Bombay lab and requested to take the processing of the film. She also assured him that  she would  arrange to pay for the processing out of her own resources. Thus, the film was processed, dubbed and a print of the film was sent in time as an entry for National Film Awards, 1980. The film won 3 National Film Awards – the best film, Sai Paranjpye for the best screen-play and Naseeruddin Shah for the best actor. The irony was that Basu Bhattacharya as a producer received the best film award for ‘Sparsh’ (1980) in the hands of the President with a cash prize.

It took another 4 years for ‘Sparsh’ (1980) to get a theatrical release in 1984. The premier of the film was held at Eros theatre in Mumbai. In 1985, the film won 3 Filmfare Awards – The best film and two awards for Sai Paranjpye for best director and the best dialogue. On the one side, the film was critically acclaimed not only in India but also in International film festivals held at London, Cairo, Beijing and Sydney. On the other side, barring Naseeruddin Shah who got all his dues from Basu Bhattacharya after putting much pressure on Basu Bhattacharya, no one including Sai Paranjpye, Shabana Azmi, Kanu Roy, Indu Jain, playback singer Sulakshna Pandit etc. got their dues from the producer for the film. For music director, Kanu Roy, it was his last film who died of cancer few months after the completion of the film.

Incidentally, Sai Paranjpye, in her film ‘Katha’ (1982) named Farooq Shaikh as Basu who was doing a negative character in the film. Is it symbolic or just a co-incidence?

The star cast of ‘Sparsh’ (1980) includes Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi in lead roles supported by Om Puri, Sudha Chopra, Mohan Gokhale, Arun Joglekar etc with scores of blind students.  Ustad Amjad Ali Khan made a guest appearance in the film as a sarod player.  The film was certified by the Censor Board on January 30, 1980. The film is now available for watching on a video sharing platform with English sub-titles and it is in HD. The gist of the story of the film is as under:

The story centres around the two main characters. Anirudh (Naseeruddin Shah) is the principal of a blind school who is handicapped by his blindness. Kavita (Shabana Azmi), a young widow is emotionally handicapped due to death of her husband. She has become reclusive and shuns the society. Her only hobby is the gardening and singing. Her close friend, Manju (Sudha Chopra) tries to bring Kavita out of her shell and suggests to work for the blind school of which her husband is one of the patrons. But she  does not succeed much.

On a party arranged by Manju on the occasion of her marriage anniversary, she invites Kavita who reluctantly agrees to attend. In the party, Kavita sees Anirudh whom she had briefly met near her house. She meets him and gets formally introduced as a principal of a blind school. After getting to know her background, Anirudh requests her to join his blind school as he finds it difficult to get the required sighted personals for the school. After much persuasion by Manju, Kavita joins the blind school.

After joining the blind school, children are happy with Kavita as they get the motherly treatment which was not there earlier. She makes them participate in extra-curricular activities like handicrafts, sports, plays, music etc. Anirudh is happy that the children have been kept busy in constructive activities. Over a period of time, both Anirudh and Kavita come closer and start liking each other’s company. They get engaged.

However, Anirudh starts developing complex of being visually handicapped. He feels that after marriage Kavita would get projected having made a great sacrifice in marrying a handicapped person. He would always feel low in front of Kavita. He may have to depend upon her after the marriage. So, he decides to call-off the engagement. Kavita is shocked by his decision but she diverts her mind by continuing her work among the blind students of the school. She learns Braille, (the language in which blind students read the books) and translate many books in Braille.

One day, Anirudh comes to Kavita’s house and request her to leave the blind school as according to him, it is creating the resentments among the other visually impaired staff and teachers. Actually, this is an excuse. The real reason is that Anirudh finds himself uncomfortable ever since he called off his engagement with Kavita. This time, Kavita tells him that she would not leave the school as it is her need to be with the 200 students of blind school. And if Anirudh forces her to leave, she would revolt against the order. After the few days of this incidence, Kavita, while in the school comes to know that Anirudh has been transferred to another blind school out of Delhi. Kavita tenders her resignation sighting the reason that the school needs Anirudh more than her.

When Manju comes to know about these developments, she goes to meet Anirudh in his office and tells him point blank that he has been seeing the imaginary issues in his marriage out of his complex and ego without giving any consideration the impact of his decision on Kavita’s life who has once again been emotionally shattered with his decision. After Manju’s friendly banter, the realisation comes to Anirudh’s mind. The film ends with a scene showing Anirudh slowly walking towards Kavita’s house.

The highlight of the film is Sai Paranjpye’s crisp screen-play and dialogues which I feel has made the film more interesting to watch with no melodramatic scenes. Naseeruddin Shah’s restrained performance as a blind principal of the school is one of his bests among his acting in the middle-of-the-road films. Before the shooting, he had spent about a fortnight with the blind principal of BSRA, Delhi to observe his mannerism and conduct. One can observe in the film that Sai Paranjpye has not shown him as blind man in a conventional way which we are used to see in Hindi films. He looks like a normal sighted man. It is only his mannerism in talking, walking, picking up of things etc which gives an impression of a blind man.

The title of the film ‘Sparsh’ is very apt which literally mean ‘touch’. But in a broader sense, it means ‘feeling’ which is the essence of the film. I will highly recommend the readers of this Blog to watch the film, preferably in one seating if not already seen.

‘Sparsh’ (1980) has 3 songs, all written by Indu Jain and sung by Sulakshna Pandit. The songs have been set to music by Kanu Roy. I am presenting the first song ‘Geeton Ki Duniya Mein Sargam Hain Hum’ sung by Sulakshna Pandit and chorus. In audio clip, there is an additional stanza. Overall, it is an inspirational song.

With this song, ‘Sparsh’ (1980) make a debut in the Blog.

Notes and Acknowledgements:

1. Some of the information about the background for making the film ‘Sparsh’ (1980) is based on an interview conducted by Sridhar Rangayan and Saagar Gupta titled ‘Queen of Humour: A Candid Interview with Award-Winning Director and Writer Sai Paranjpye,’ South Asianist, Vol 2, No.3 (2010).
2. The anecdotes and trivia included in the article are based on the Marathi book, ‘Sai – Maaza Kalapravaas’ (2016) written by Sai Paranjpye.

Video

Audio

Song – Geeton Ki Duniya Mein Sargam Hain Hum (Sparsh) (1980) Singer – Sulakshana Pandit, Lyrics – Indu Jain, MD – Kanu Roy
Chorus

Lyrics

geeton ki duniya mein sargam hain hum
phoolon mein khushboo ke parcham hain hum
gaao bachcho
geeton ki duniya mein sargam hain hum
phoolon mein khushboo ke parcham hain hum
phir se gaao
geeton ki duniya mein sargam hain hum
phoolon mein khushboo ke parcham hain hum
 
chalte hain kadmon mein manzil bhare
mutthi mein khushiyon ki kunji dhare
chalte hain kadmon mein manzil bhare
muthi mein khushiyon ki kunji dhare
toofaan mein ghir jaayen kashti hain hum
taazi hawaaon ke jhonkhe hain hum
shabaash
geeton ki duniya mein sargam hain hum
phoolon mein khushboo ke parcham hain hum
geeton ki duniya mein sargam hain hum
phoolon mein khushboo ke parcham hain hum
 
nannhe dilon mein ummeeden hazaar
beejon mein jaise chhupi ho bahaar
nannhe dilon mein ummeeden hazaar
beejon mein jaise chhupi ho bahaar
kismat ki bagiya ke maali hain hum
kal ke karishme dikhaayenge hum
aa ha
geeton ki duniya mein sargam hain hum
phoolon mein khushboo ke parcham hain hum
geeton ki duniya mein sargam hain hum
phoolon mein khushboo ke parcham hain hum

chhote umar mein  akal se badhe
himmat ki mitti mein khele badhe
bolo
chhote umar mein akal se bade
himmat ki mitti mein khele badhe
taaron ko choo aayen itna hai dam
sir chadh jo bole ko jadoo hain hum
geeton ki duniya mein sargam hain hum
phoolon mein khushboo ke parcham hain hum
phir se gaao
geeton ki duniya mein sargam hain hum
phoolon mein khushboo ke parcham hain hum

——————————————–
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————

गीतों की दुनिया में सरगम हैं हम
फूलों में खुशबू के परचम हैं हम
गाओ बच्चो
गीतों की दुनिया में सरगम हैं हम
फूलों में खुशबू के परचम हैं हम
फिर से गाओ
गीतों की दुनिया में सरगम हैं हम
फूलों में खुशबू के परचम हैं हम

चलते हैं कदमों में मंज़िल भरे
मुट्ठी में खुशियों की पूंजी धरे
चलते हैं कदमों में मंज़िल भरे
मुट्ठी में खुशियों की पूंजी धरे
तूफाँ में घिर जाएँ कश्ती हैं हम
ताज़ी हवाओं के झोंके हैं हम
शाबाश
गीतों की दुनिया में सरगम हैं हम
फूलों में खुशबू के परचम हैं हम
गीतों की दुनिया में सरगम हैं हम
फूलों में खुशबू के परचम हैं हम

नन्हें दिलों में उम्मीदें हज़ार
बीजों में जैसे छुपी हो बहार
नन्हें दिलों में उम्मीदें हज़ार
बीजों में जैसे छुपी हो बहार
किस्मत की बगिया के माली हैं हम
कल के करिश्मे दिखाएंगे हम
आ हा
गीतों की दुनिया में सरगम हैं हम
फूलों में खुशबू के परचम हैं हम
गीतों की दुनिया में सरगम हैं हम
फूलों में खुशबू के परचम हैं हम

छोटे उमर में अकल से बड़े
हिम्मत की मिट्टी में खेले बढ़े
बोलो
छोटे उमर में अकल से बड़े
हिम्मत की मिट्टी में खेले बढ़े
तारों को छू आयें इतना है दम
सर चढ़ जो बोले वो जादू हैं हम
गीतों की दुनिया में सरगम हैं हम
फूलों में खुशबू के परचम हैं हम
फिर से गाओ
गीतों की दुनिया में सरगम हैं हम
फूलों में खुशबू के परचम हैं हम