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BLAST FROM THE PAST

Do Bigha Zamin 1953

A Class apart Nirupa Roy, Balraj Sahani, Nana Palsikar and Rattan Kumar in a scene from Do Bigha Zamin

Every entertainer is not a classic but every classic entertains. Watching Bimal Roy’s “Do Bigha Zamin” all over again one discovered the subtle joys one gets in sticking true to one’s integrity and humanity in adversity that o ne failed to unravel as a teenager. For long, critics have praised it as a milestone in Hindi cinema. On the face of it, it is the story of a farmer Shambu Maheto (Balraj Sahni), who has been hit badly by Bengal famine. The real reason of his sorrow is that the zamindar (Murad) wants to acquire his land on the pretext that Shambu had taken a loan from him. The zamindar desires to build a factory in the village and Shambu’s two-acre land is pivotal to his design. Shambu has to pay back the landlord in three months and hence he moves to Calcutta to look for some other source of money. There he faces problems of a different magnitude. His belongings get stolen. He can’t find a job and his son falls sick. He ends up as a rickshaw puller. When he returns, he discovers the zamindar has already built a factory on his land. He wistfully watches the smoke from the chimney of the factory. A metaphor for his small dreams going into thin air.

Those who think he lost everything are grossly mistaken. Shambu has his morality intact. He has his love for humanity going despite all odds. Roy has finely incorporated these elements. When his son picks pockets to make money, Shambu beats him up.

When the father of the little girls whom Shambu used to ferry in his rickshaw shows his inability to pay him, he decides to carry them for free. It is this simplicity which stays with you and goads you to emulate the poor, unlettered yet pristine Shambu.

Balraj Sahani played Shambu with consummate ease. A man with modern outlook, it is said he worked hard to get into the mould of a lean farmer faced by famine. Legend has it that he spent time with rickshaw pullers in Calcutta and learnt to pull rickshaws. Nirupa Roy as Shambu’s wife impressed as a doting wife. Ratan Kumar as Shambu’s child Kanhaiya moved many with his innocence. Nana Palsikar, Jagdeep and Nazir Hussain filled life in uni-dimensional characters. Many don’t know that Meena Kumari did a guest appearance in the film. She was doing Roy’s “Parineeta” at that time and wanted to be a part of this film. It was Salil Chowdhury who came up with the story idea. His music is plaintive and Shailendra matches the mood with his words. The film is also a great example of team work. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s screenplay is taut and his editing tight. A two-hour film was a rarity then, but he managed it.

Roy was inspired by Italy’s neo-realistic cinema and “Do Bigha Zamin” was his ode to this genre with Indian sensibilities. He launched his production banner with this film. A moderate commercial success in a year when Pradeep Kumar, Bina Rai-starrer “Anarkali” ruled the box office, the film won Roy much critical acclaim and awards at the Cannes and Karlovy Vary festivals.

The film went on to win Best Film and Best Director awards at the inaugural Filmfare Awards and a Certificate of Merit at the National Film Awards. His village versus city and factory versus farmer theme inspired the likes of B.R. Chopra to make “Naya Daur”. But perhaps the biggest compliment for the film came from Raj Kapoor. On seeing “Do Bigha Zamin” he exclaimed, “How I wished I had made this film!”

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