Sangharsh songs dilip kumar autobiography

In a tribute to Bollywood legend Dileep Kumar or Yusuf Khan in real life, Ratnottama Sengupta, one of India’s most iconic arts journalist, time-travels to the days when the ‘Fankar-e-Azam’ – the great actor – sprinted about on the sets of Bombay’s studios …spiced up with fragments from the autobiography of Sengupta’s father, famed screenwriter and litterateur, Nabendu Ghosh

“Actually the quality of a performer is also measured by the contrast that he can handle. To do something different, to be humorous, and intimidating, and also to make them feel sorry for you… that is the way people like you.” – Dilip Kumar

On 7July, 2021, I was at a loss — in trying to think of an epithet for the thespian who had just passed away.  So am I now, in deciding where I should start my recollections of the deathless legend. For, Dilip Kumar was already B-I-G when I started understanding the word ‘Cinema’.

I was born in 1955 — the year of Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali in Bengal, Bimal Roy’s Devdas in Hindi films, and also of Azad. Years would go before I learnt that Apu-Durga’s Song of the Road had placed India on the celluloid map of the world. Before I understood that my father, Nabendu Ghosh, had a hand in immortalizing Devdas by writing its screenplay – often dubbed ‘direction on paper.’ And before I observed this curious coincidence: Azad had released the same year as Devdas, the ode to undying, self-destructive love. Curious, because it brought the Monarch of Tragedy with Tragedienne, Meena Kumari, in order to create a comedy! A fun outing where a rich man, Azad, rescues Shobha from bandits; and when she decides to marry him, her family discovers Azad is the bandit.

I became aware of this film only recently, while working on the song Apalam Chapalam – danced by Sayee and Subbulaxmi – for my underproduction documentary on Dance in Hindi Films. That number is a lesson for anyone studying dance. But aeon

This was the first film I watched after Dilip Kumar passed away on July 7 this year. The tributes and reminiscences were still in full flow two days later, on July 9, which marked what would have been the 83 birthday of Sanjeev Kumar. On a Sanjeev Kumar tribute post on Facebook, I read a comment in which someone recalled Dilip Kumar’s remark about Sanjeev Kumar, who was his co-star in Sunghursh: “Is Gujarati ladke ne toh paseena nikaal diya!” (“This Gujarati boy made me sweat!”)

This, I thought, might be an interesting film to review by way of tribute to both Dilip Kumar as well as Sanjeev Kumar. But I had other Dilip Kumar films to also watch: Musafir and Sagina Mahato for the first time, Ram aur Shyam for a long-overdue rewatch. So, while I watched this and wrote the review, I decided the publishing of the review could wait for now.

Because today, August 21, 2021, marks the birth centenary of Harnam Singh Rawail, the director of Sunghursh.  HS Rawail, as he was usually billed, debuted in 1940 with the film Dorangia Daaku, but it wasn’t until 1949, with Patanga (of Mere piya gaye Rangoon fame) that he became famous. Rawail was to make several well-known films through the following decades, but his two best-known works are probably Mere Mehboob (1963) and Sunghursh.

The story, based on Mahashweta Devi’s Laayli Aashmaaner Aaina, begins in Banaras of the 19 century (the riverfront, sadly, looks very mid-20 century). Bhawani Prasad (Jayant), bearded and seemingly benevolent, walks back from the temple after pooja. At his heels follows his grandson Kundan (?). Bhawani Prasad is much venerated, and the way he hands out alms to the poor and blesses those bowing before him, one might be forgiven for thinking him a good man.

Hardly, as one soon realizes. Kundan’s mother (Sulochana Latkar) comes sneaking up, hiding from her father-in-law, to feed Kundan some kheer she’s made for him, and to put an amulet aroun

1990 Indian film directed by Rahul Rawail

Jeevan Ek Sanghursh (transl. Life is a Struggle) is a 1990 Bollywood film directed by Rahul Rawail, produced by D. Rama Naidu. It stars Raakhee, Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit in the leading roles. The film was successful and was the tenth highest grossing Bollywood film of 1990. By titling this film as Jeevan Ek Sanghursh, Rawail paid a tribute to his father's (H. S. Rawail) films; Sunghursh (1968), based on a novel written by the Bengali author Mahashweta Devi. The film was set in the 19th century and showcased the lives of bandits and stars actors like Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Balraj Sahni, Sanjeev Kumar and Jayant.

Plot

Widowed Sulakshana Devi (Raakhee) has three children: two sons, Arjun (Kanwaljit Singh) and Karan, and a daughter, Suman (Shehnaz Kudia). They live in a rented house, and the landlord behaves badly with Sulakshana Devi and robs all her money. Karan decides to rob the landlord but gets caught and is sent to the children's remand home. Sulakshana Devi decides to visit Karan before they leave for Mumbai but realises that he ran away from the remand home. Karan also makes his way to Mumbai, where he is picked up by a garage owner.

During a roadside fight, grown-up Karan (Anil Kapoor) is caught by the police and is offered to work for Devraj Kamat (Anupam Kher), a criminal mastermind. Karan refuses the offer, but Kamat informs his rival Rattan Dholakia (Paresh Rawal). Rattan frames Karan for the murder of a police officer but is freed by Kamat when he agrees to work with him. Karan tries to meet his family through Arjun (Kanwaljit Singh) and Suman (Shehnaz Kudia), but Sulakshana Devi refuses to accept him. Various incidents lead Karan to meet and fall in love with Madhu (Madhuri Dixit), and he decides to leave the underworld. However, Kamat and Dholakia join hands to destroy Karan, as he was a critical part of their underworld operatio

1968 Indian film

Sunghursh ("Struggle") is a 1968 Indian Hindi film directed and produced by Harnam Singh Rawail. It is based on Layli Asmaner Ayna ("Layli Does Not Go To Heaven"), a short story in Bengali language by Jnanpith Award-winning writer Mahasweta Devi, which presents a fictionalised account of a vendetta within a thuggee cult in the holy Indian town of Varanasi. It stars Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Balraj Sahni, Sanjeev Kumar, Jayant, Deven Verma, Durga Khote and Iftekhar. The film was the last one to see Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala working together. Sunghursh was an "Average" grosser at box-office and was the tenth highest grossing film of the year.

The music is by Naushad and lyrics for the songs are by Shakeel Badayuni. Naushad and Badayuni had worked together on many films previously and were "the most sought after" composer-lyricist duo of the time in Bollywood. Sunghursh was popularly mistaken to be a debut film of Sanjeev Kumar.

The director Harnam Singh Rawail's son Rahul Rawail, who is also a director, paid a tribute to this film by titling one of his as Jeevan Ek Sanghursh (1990) starring Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit.

Plot

Bhavani Prasad is a powerful Shakta priest at Kashi. Prasad, a devotee of the black goddess Kali and a thuggee, religiously follows the practice of murdering wealthy travelers who stay in his pilgrim guesthouse and offers them as a sacrifice to Kali. Prasad's son Shankar does not agree with such practices, opposes his father, and decides to leave the village with his wife and their three children: Kundan, Yashoda and Gopal. Prasad forcibly takes Kundan with him to follow in his footsteps and forbids him from seeing the rest of the family.

Young Kundan is now being raised by his grandfather Prasad, who desires to have Kundan as his successor, head of a temple and pilgrim guesthouse on the banks of the Ganges river. Prasad mysteriously kills his son and puts th