Let me begin by saying that I loved this film, although it did lose some momentum and direction towards the end. It is essentially a movie about faith (or the lack thereof: nastik = atheist), and unusually for a Hindi movie (at least in my limited experience), contains a fairly strong condemnation of the hypocrisy in organized religion. Comedian IS Johar both wrote and directed the film, and has a supporting role. A strikingly young and handsome Ajit stars alongside the beautiful Nalini Jaywant—who looks a lot like Nargis, and is absolutely wonderful as Rama, the moral center of the story. The real star of the show, though, is the sublime music by Chitalkar Ramchandra (a severely underrated music director in my opinion) with lyrics by the great lyricist and poet Kavi Pradeep.
The film begins with a song that I have not been able to stop listening to in three days: “Kitna Badal Gaya Insaan” sung by Kavi Pradeep. It made me weep, maybe because the world doesn’t seem to have changed much. It is pictured on Anil (Ajit), his sister Kamala, and their young brother Munna who are fleeing their home after Partition. Their parents are dead, killed in front of Anil.
These are the lyrics as subtitled on my DVD (if anyone can find the Hindi lyrics online, please post a link in the comments!):
See what your world has come to O God
How man has changed
The sun did not change, nor the moon, and nor did the sky
How man has changed
What times are these
Man has become a ruffian today
There are fights somewhere and riots somewhere
Man has shed all his humanity
He is selling his soul to fraud and deceit
How man has changed
Ram’s devotees, Rahim’s disciples
Are all weaving webs of deception
How deceiving, how blind are they
I know what they all are
It is due to their instigation that this country has become a graveyard
How man has changed
Had we not fought among ourselves
Why would matters reach this state
Why would so many families be ruined
Why would children be orphaned
Why would Bapu cry
How man has changed
The violence of Partition has left Anil with no faith in God, but at his sister’s urging he tries to get the priest Tulsiram (Ulhal) to come and help Munna, who is dying. This priest is not interested in a poverty-stricken beggar and throws him out of the temple. When he threatens the indifferent priest in his desperation, Tulsiram has him arrested and put in jail. At his court hearing, Anil lashes out again at the priest and declares his atheism. Not surprisingly, he’s put right back in prison.
Munna dies, and Tulsiram throws Kamala (Roopmala) out of the rest-house belonging to the temple. As she wanders homeless and starving, she is picked up on the street by Vinod Kumar (Raj Mehra) and his servant (a very young Mehmood). They have nefarious plans for her.
When Ajit is released from jail along with his cellmate and now friend Joker (IS Johar), he goes looking for Kamala. When he finds her in the brothel he is angry even though she explains how Kumar tricked her and then forced her to sing (yes, all she has done is sing). He tells her it would have been better had she died and leaves her sobbing. No prizes for guessing what happens next.
When he goes back to ask her for forgiveness, she has already killed herself. Racked with sorrow and guilt, Anil vows to avenge his siblings by tracking down Tulsiram and Kumar. They have both gone on pilgrimages, and Anil and Joker set off in pursuit. Joker sees the irony:
They go from pilgrimage place to pilgrimage place (there’s some spectacular temple footage). In Vrindavan, they see an untouchable boy begging. He is abused by a devotee named Rani Ma (Leela Mishra) when he touches her, and a priest slaps him. Anil punches the priest, knocking him down. Rani Ma indignantly asks who is he is; he answers, I am human—unlike you. She defends her right as a Brahmin not to be defiled by an untouchable.
He scoffs at her, saying her religion should be wiped out. Watching this exchange with interest and not a little delight, is Rama (Nalini Jaywant), who has been praying at the temple. When the crowd disperses, she stays behind, cradling the beggar child. Anil asks if she doesn’t believe in untouchability.
Joker arrives with news that he’s located Tulsiram. That evening, Rani Ma hosts a dance performance in Tulsiram’s honor. Rama—who is his daughter—performs a lovely song: “Kanha Bajaye Bansuri.”
See what I mean about Nargis? Anyway, at the end of the song, Anil sneaks in and stabs Tulsiram, wounding him. Tulsiram recovers, however, and leaves Vrindavan with Rama to escape Anil’s wrath. Anil tracks them down again, this time in Amarnath.
Tulsiram is staying there with his friend Rani Ma’s son Vinod Kumar (yes, that same Kumar), who wants to marry Rama. When Anil attacks Tulsiram, Kumar pushes him down a mountain into a river. They think he is dead, but Rama finds him washed up on shore. She calls a local boatman for help, who takes Anil home. Nursing him back to health, Rama falls in love with Anil (she knows nothing of his enmity with her father).
Seeing that she loves him, Anil decides to take his revenge on Tulsiram by seducing Rama into marriage, knowing that he will never approve it. He asks her to marry him immediately—without her father’s approval. He says that her father will never let her marry a pauper like he is. They get married and spend a night together before she returns to her father.
When Tulsiram discovers that Anil is alive, and the one Rama wants to marry, he is horrified (she doesn’t tell him that she’s already married). He tries to stop her from returning to Anil, but she goes to her husband. She soon finds out the real reason he has married her though, and in trying to get away from him falls into the river. Anil thinks she has drowned and is overcome with sorrow and remorse.
She hasn’t died, though; her father finds her and takes her home. There, she discovers that she is pregnant (it’s no wonder India has more than a billion people, everyone gets pregnant the first time!). She leaves home to keep her father from finding out; she has nowhere to go, and wanders homeless, scorned as an unchaste woman.
What will happen? Vinod Kumar is still lurking about, with the brothel nearby—will he find her? Or will Anil find her? Will Anil regain his faith, or remain an atheist forever? Be warned: there are some missing bits of film in the last hour, which occur at crucial moments (naturally). You will have to piece things together somewhat. It’s worth doing, though.
MemsaabStory 