The uncommon man who made common man the cynosure of all eyes is no more. Not just the art of cartooning but also the subtle skills of making people smile while castigating their inefficiencies has suffered an irreparable loss with the demise of R.K. Laxman. A true Bharat Ratna despite never getting the award.
Most people would agree that Laxman’s common man (which includes his common woman too) is the embodiment of the simple, innocent and morally upright citizens of our country who are generally tied down by the burdens of the world. It is but a sad reflection of our times that the common man is no more the subject of our present day Hindi films as their main protagonists nowadays are generally unidentifiable creatures! Except a few stray aberrations every now and then, the common person is now never the central focus of a story even though he (or she) pays hard earned money at the ticket window to make the film makers and stars roll in wealth.
In contrast, the protagonists of many an old film of the 1950s and ‘60s seem to reflect a Laxman theme. Exuding the same tender warmth and sincerity like his common man, these characters stood for compassion, honesty and hard work but were constantly troubled by a corrupt and irredeemable system, making their lives an endless toil of pathos as well as exasperation. In fact, many subjects of these films seem almost inspired by Laxman’s cartoons wherein the system wrecks havoc upon an individual. And not just the main protagonists but also several other characters in these films also display the same human frailties, amidst chaotic disruptions of national fabric, that were impeccably sketched by Laxman’s brush.
Glancing through some of the best stories of that period you feel many of the dhoti clad “heroes” are upholding the dignity of labour while treading “pot holes of everyday plight” so perceptibly deciphered by Laxman. Whether it is the poet of “Pyaasa” or the postmaster of “Parakh”, schoolmaster of “Jagriti” or Satyapriya of “Satyakam”, Raju of “Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai” or Shambhu Mahto” of “Do Bigha Zamin”, the characters seem part of the milieu in which we were living. Similarly, we identified with the “common woman” like a Mrs D’sa of “Anari” or the adopted girl of “Sujata” just as we did with nurse Radha of “Khamoshi” and bhabhi of “Bhabhi ki Chudiyaan” since they were real and true like many of our unsung heroes (and heroines) of daily lives. We empathised with them because they resembled our own noble parents, teachers and neighbours who waged their silent battles without guns and fury, with an unwavering commitment to truth and honesty. Like Laxman’s common people, they too were bewildered by gigantic upheavals of commercial racketeering and though they did harm to none yet they paid a heavy price for their integrity and ignorance in taking advantage of the system!
A large ensemble of actors from Balraj Sahni, David, Manmohan Krishna, Abhi Bhattacharya, Nazir Husain to Lalita Pawar, Leela Misra, Leela Chitnis, Meena Kumari, Nutan and Sadhana readily come to mind as those who enacted many a “common character” in our cinema. Of course, apart from the well known star performers, there were countless more those rendered marvellous performances in several notable films but remained unsung like the common man in the absence of a blazing advertising campaign. As Thomas Gray put it so poignantly, perhaps they were “born to blush unseen”.
Unfortunately, just as the common man is repeatedly cheated by polity and elite civil society, the Indian film fraternity today has forgotten the central character of this nation. There is hardly a story of a teacher, a clerk, a nurse, a vendor or those portraying the travails of an honest farmer, labourer, a doctor or a lawyer as if these people just do not exist. Even when someone like a Raju Hirani does attempt a story around such persons, the character is ostensibly ethereal rather than real. It is as if our filmmakers, in their quest for the absurd, are afraid of the common man for whom they generally profess their undying affection. Perhaps, Laxman’s demise might inspire some producers to give a little more thought to the common man than they do with their films as well as pricing of tickets!
