For decades, the formula for romance in Hindi movies has pretty much stayed the same. The conflicts might change, but Hindi films want you invested in the journey of the lead couple as you root for their happily ever after. But Gulzar’s 1977 film is an anomaly in that respect. Starring Hema Malini and Jeetendra, the film leaves you convinced that Jeetendra’s Inder is kryptonite to Hema Malini’s Aarti. The film, which was written by the director himself, is a tragic tale of a woman who is doing really well in life until Inder walks in and ruins it all. But, the film doesn’t see it that way. Gulzar’s interpretation of the story paints Inder as the one who deserves pity even though he is directly responsible for Aarti losing her sight.
Aarti holds three things very dear to her life and in quick succession, she loses them all and in some way or another, Inder is responsible. After she loses the love of her life Chandan (Dharmendra, in a cameo), she becomes a recluse, but there too, Inder disrupts her grieving process and makes matters worse. When she has lost her sight and doesn’t want Inder in her life anymore, he lies and pretends to be someone else. When she breaks a sacred promise to honour the memory of her late lover, Inder again disrupts everything. It is more than obvious that Aarti should stay away from Inder under all circumstances but Gulzar tries to project Inder as the one who is living with survivor’s guilt. It was during an accident with Inder’s car that Chandan lost his life. All through the course of the film, it understands this guilt but tries to convince you that this is another form of love. We never see Aarti falling in love with Inder, but we do see Inder trying hard to make her life better.
kinara Directed by Gulzar, Kinara released in 1977. (Photo: Express Archives)
Gulzar has such sympathy for Inder that he projects his little gestures as sacrifices. In one scene, a character actually compares Aarti and Inder’s wounds and boldly states that Aarti’s injuries are just physical so she’ll heal with time but Inder won’t recover from his heartbroken state. This happens a few minutes after she has lost her sight because of Inder’s immature actions. Even though the film doesn’t blame Inder, it is also fully aware that Aarti deserves better.
Which is why, the last few minutes of the film feel like they were reshot after distributors rejected the initial cut. Though we don’t know if that really happened, but the jerky jump in the end surely feels like even the filmmaker wasn’t fully convinced with it. After the audience has stuck by Inder and Aarti for two hours, we see Aarti turn into a helpless woman who apologises to Inder for no reason. At one point, she is actually pleading with Inder to stay around even though less then 15 minutes ago she has asked him to never see her again.
Inder gets his hero sendoff that almost all heroes get in romance movies and the film gets its happy ending, even though it isn’t earned.
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First published on: 27-05-2023 at 08:03 IST
Tags:
Bollywood Rewind
Gulzar
Hema Malini
Jeetendra
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