These grapes are not sour

Must have watched “Angoor” at least 50 times. Earlier, I couldn’t figure out why the movie was called Angoor. Around the 50^th viewing, it occurred to me that Sanjeev Kumar 2 had landed up in that unnamed town to purchase an angoor orchard. Took me till the 50^th viewing! Was I the original inspiration for that Salman film title, “Tubelight?”

Got hold of a book called “Gulzar’s Angoor” by Sathya Saran and learnt a lot about the film.

This must have been the first time in recorded history that an out-and-out flop film was remade to such masterclass excellence. All the more remarkable because the screenplay was by the same person, Gulzar. The flop film was “Do Dooni Char.” It starred Kishore Kumar, sank without a trace and practically finished the career of Debu Sen as Director. The film has its origins in the play by Shakespeare, “A Comedy of Errors.” In India, the Shakespeare play saw screen space in a Bengali film, “Bhranti Bilas,” starring Uttam Kumar. On Hindi screen, there was “Do Dooni Char,” followed by “Angoor.” It has now been succeeded by a play, “Chakkar Chalaye Ghanchakkar.” Tried to access Bhranti Bilas but couldn’t find it on the net, except for a few short clippings.

Part of the brilliance of Angoor is the background score by R.D. Burman. Romantic, soft tune in the bedroom scenes, a suspenseful tune in the Angoor orchard making the guide seem menacing, low but insistent notes when Bahadur 2 is trying to extract the key, a pip-pip alarm sound rising in crescendo in scenes where the viewer would be alerted to impending trouble (Tanu approaching Ashok 2 in the theatre, Ashoke 2 coming across Bahadur 1 in the market, Mansoor Mian meeting Ashok 2 at the auto stand, and so on). And yes, that tape in Tanu’s room was playing a Begum Akhtar ghazal, “Kya ada thi woh jaane nissar ki …”

Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma were awesome; the latter bagged the Filmare best comedian award for his role. All the three main female artistes have given superb performances, Dipti a little less so than the other two. Moushumi was brilliant. She was expecting her second child during the shooting for the film, hence many long shots.

For me, the best dialogue in the film was when Sanjeev Kumar accuses Dipti Naval of trying to loot his izzat (and not conversely!). Also, the whole new dimension Sanjeev Kumar gave to the word, “Gyaaang!”

Couldn’t find out where the outdoor scenes were shot. The number plates on the vehicles were in Hindi so the field narrows down somewhat.

 

My final take. Several things need to happen before the storyline of Angoor can happen. 

1.     Kids with slanted eyes would grow up to have rounded eyes but would be called Bahadur.

2.    Even though the town could have umpteen number of idle autorickshaws, it could have only one taxi which would be ubiquitous. 

3.    If someone smokes a cigarette, there has to be ganja in it. Ganja is bad and despicable whereas snuff is nice and beautiful. 

4.    The town would have only one Police Inspector and although there are two police stations, he would sit at the smaller one. In addition to all his other duties, like attending a social event in uniform, sorting out relations between brother-in-law and sister-in-law, recovering dues of a goldsmith, etc., he would also be responsible for checking out train tickets. 

5.   Even when one reaches the railway station just two minutes before a train arrives, one can still engage a coolie, run from the taxi with the luggage, unload the luggage, haggle with and pay off the coolie, and still catch the train. 

6.    Ashok 2 needs to believe in magic so that even though his servant jogged from the market and he went by taxi, the servant could reach the hotel earlier. 

7.     One can’t be divorced from the wife against her will after saat phere because she could then switch to witch-dance on one’s head. 

8.    It is okay for a guy to kiss his sister-in-law and arrange for jewelry for his mistress with full knowledge of his wife. 

9.     A guy can be overpowered by a female claiming to be his sister-in-law but once he escapes, he would wreak vengeance and devastation on all, including the Police Inspector, and finish them all. 

10.  It is most important for a goldsmith to know what Ashok Kumar would be called in Urdu if he has any hope of recovering a lost necklace. 

When they were married, Rakhi had once told Gulzar, “Tum agar poetry nahi likhte toh bahut ordinary hote.” Agar bande ka poetic licence nahi hota toh uska plot bahut hi vahiyat hota.

 

P.S.: Lesson from the movie: If the wife does kitkit around the drinking, the way out is to pretend to have gone mad – then, she would insist on the guy drinking, even against his will …