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For those who are reading this article for the first time, I would like to inform you that I am no movie buff, but a music lover and when it comes to Shankar Jaikishan music, you may call me a die hard fan. Most of the songs are heard on a repeat mode which really puzzles my husband Jawahar. He, being a movie buff, would like to watch a different movie each time. On the other hand, if it is a SJ movie, I watch the same movie over and over again. Nothing gives me as much pleasure as when I relax with a cup of tea and listen to a Shankar Jaikishan song, nibbling away on some dark chocolates truffles.
It was one afternoon during my school days that my family went to see a movie while I opted to stay home to read a book and listen to the radio, hoping to catch some SJ songs. As I got immersed in the book, suddenly I heard a song that caught my attention. It was so mesmerizing! The DJ announced that it was from Amrapali. Was I excited about it! I had read the story about the royal courtesan, many years ago and was happy to know that a movie on her life was being made. I decided that I would definitely see this movie since it was going to have all my favorite people. Director Lekh Tandon, lyricists Shailendra and Hasrat and in addition, my most favorite actress Vyjayanthimala in the lead with Sunil Dutt playing opposite her and, above all, Shankar Jaikishan for music.
Despite eagerly waiting for the release of Amrapali, I was constantly wondering if the movie can depict her story convincingly. My father always said that when a story is well known to the public, they would already have an impression of the characters, their looks, behavior, etc. as depicted in the narration and it becomes a big challenge for the movie maker. “Well, let me check it out and see how this movie will turn out to be,” I told myself.
The big day arrived. I had my servant go to the theater and get the tickets for us for fear of them being sold out. Unfortunately, the theater was at quite a distance from my home. I rushed my sisters to get ready fast as we can’t miss even one single moment of the film. Lunch was being served and we sat at the table. Although I am a foodie, I couldn’t enjoy the meal that day as I was too excited about the movie. Being a slow poke, I was only half done when the rest of them were about to leave for the theater. I quickly joined them, half hungry. For all my anxiety, we reached the theater well in advance. I grabbed the tickets from my servant and we all quickly entered the theater. My sister bought several packets of popcorn and potato chips to munch on while watching the movie. I refused them at first thinking they would be a distraction for me, but yielded later since we had at least twenty minutes to kill before the movie began. Soon the lights turned dim and the movie started. Although the story is known to me, it seemed afresh as the movie unfolded on the screen. It was Omkar Sahib’s screenplay with Arjun Dev Rashk and Balbir Singh’s dialogue that impressed me. Lekh Tandon did a fantastic job with picking the right cast and technicians. His long training and experience paid off in creating a masterpiece of a movie. The awesome sets, excellent photography and good editing helped make for a smooth screening.
In the lead role, Vyjayanthimala simply out shone everyone else. Her beauty, grace and poise helped her live the part with me thinking that that was how beautiful Amrapali would have been to have Ajatashatru fall head over heels in love with her. One could never imagine anyone else play the character. I had met her a few years prior and was captivated by her gorgeous looks. She now looked even more gorgeous in this movie. The period costumes, designed by Bhanu Athaiya, were just beautiful on her! Although the outfits were very revealing, they were so tastefully done that there wasn’t a trace of vulgarity in them. Vyju looked simply stunning in them! It made me wonder if one of the Ajanta statues had come alive to play the part of Amrapali coz no other actor had the personality to match like Vyju did. She had a few dances to perform and every one of them was done with the utmost pizzazz. They were an audio-visual treat for me. As for Sunil Dutt, he looked so regal and convincing in his role as King Ajatashatru.
Shailendra and Hasrat’s work was exceptional. And, what can I say about SJ? The composer duo were the perfect choice for music and they once again proved that they, and they alone, could create music for this movie in such an outstanding manner. The lovely lyrics came to life with their beautiful score. The album is one of the best of SJ’s career. They had already proven their ability to compose semi-classical music before. But they took this movie as a challenge since the story belonged to a particular period in time. Being sticklers to perfection, SJ did a lot of research to learn about the musical instruments used during the Magadha period. They composed a fantastic album with five songs in all, out of which, four solos were by Lata and one sung entirely by a chorus. Lata should be ever grateful to SJ for having been given such songs to sing coz they are some of the best of her career as well.
I thoroughly enjoyed Amrapali. The movie turned out to be more than what I expected. Together, Lekh Tandon, SJ and Vyju created art and poetry on celluloid, with support from Shailendra and Hasrat, that will be enjoyed for generations to come. Incidentally, the movie was the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the thirty ninth Academy Awards, but was not a nominee. As for myself, I gave it a AAA rating for excellence in my book. Ever since Jawahar bought me the DVD of Amrapali, I have seen it countless number of times and will continue seeing it. For this alone, I feel that the producer and director owe me a special recognition as the biggest fan of their iconic movie.
110You, Taiyeb Shaikh, Mayank Shukla and 107 others47 Comments
This morning, I called Lekh Tandon to congratulate him one more time for this celluloid masterpiece as that was the least I could do to show my appreciation.
110You, Taiyeb Shaikh, Mayank Shukla and 107 others47 Comments