Veteran director Hrishikesh Mukherjee, whose films like Satyakam and Anand redefined Bollywood cinema, died here Sunday afternoon of kidney failure and heart complications He was 83

Bollywood Kollywood Tollywood Malluwood Kannada Hollywood

Bollywood : Hindi Movie News

Film Stars

You are here : Latest Cinema > Bollywood >> Hindi Film News on August

Hrishikesh Mukherjee passes away (LEAD)
Indo-Asian News Service

Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS) Veteran director Hrishikesh Mukherjee, whose films like "Satyakam" and "Anand" redefined Bollywood cinema, died here Sunday afternoon of
kidney failure and heart complications. He was 83.

He is survived by three daughters and a son. His granddaughters Tapur and Tupur Chatterjee are well-known models.

Mukherjee had been admitted to the intensive care unit of Lilavati Hospital in June.

Starting his career in 1951 and working with legendary Bimal Roy as an assistant, Mukherjee directed memorable films like "Anari", "Anuradha", "Anupama", "Mili", "Guddi", "Abhiman", "Bawarachi" and "Chupke Chupke".

Known for gentle humour as well as emotional dramas, Mukherjee's films charmed audiences as well as critics.

He also served as chairman of the state-run National Film Development Corporation and of the censor board.

Mukherjee was honoured with Padma Vibhushan as well as Dadasaheb Phalke award for lifetime achievement in cinema.

'Smile through your woes' was Hrishida's message!

By Harish C. Menon, Indo-Asian News Service

Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS) Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who gave one of the most popular lines to Bollywood - "Jeena isi ka naam hai", is no more. The man who charmed both
critics and viewers with his simple but effective narration died here Sunday. He was 83.

The song "Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisar", which belongs to Mukherjee's classic "Anari" starring Raj Kapoor and Nutan, epitomises his idea of filmmaking. He never flirted
with glamour in his movies. Instead, Mukherjee adopted simplicity and warmth and his best pals and audience loved his style.

He started his career as an assistant director to veteran Bimal Roy in 1951 and it took him six years to direct his first film "Musafir" (1957) with Dilip Kumar.

The film bombed at the box office but it caught Raj Kapoor's attention who was immensely impressed by Mukherjee and recommended him as director for "Anari" (1959).
The film was a huge commercial success and there was no looking back for the director.

Mukherjee had a knack to package age-old ideals as love, austerity and equality with freshness of early morning dew and proved with his films that they were relevant to
routine lives.

Not many filmmakers have had the wisdom and gut-feel to pick up slice-of-life themes like innocent teenage infatuation, neglected wife or daughter and doomed benevolence
at a time when films blindly glorified their protagonists.

One could easily empathise with the infatuated teenage girl in "Guddi" (1971) and feel the frustration of the hardworking but neglected wife without any hard feelings for the
idealist husband in "Anuradha" (1960).

The prolific director, who passed away after a prolonged illness, had by the end of his career taught generations how to make life fun-filled without losing virtuosity.

He took the concept of catharsis to beautiful heights without disturbing the flow and feel-good texture of the movie, which mainly revolved around educated middle-class
families.

Consider this. Even as Anand lies dead and his recorded voice calls out "Babu Moshai", giving goose bumps to the viewers, one could not think of bringing him back but to
only let go.

The last night together of Anuradha (Leela Naidu) and Nirmal Chowdhary (Balraj Sahni) is a concept in itself. The scene where the devastated husband intends to caresses
the sleeping wife's hair but withdraws in contrite may not be a visual delight but it conveys the hero's feelings effectively.

Mukherjee's selection of songs too was of the same feel. They had no idealistic settings or extreme visualisation.

Take Lata Mangeshkar classic "Dheere dheere machal" from "Anupama" for example. The only props seen while actress Surekha sings the song on the piano are a ladies'
handbag and a timepiece - something we find in our drawing rooms.

The peppy Yesudas-Asha Bhonsle number "Janeman janeman tere do nayan" ("Chhoti Si Baat", 1975) is another example of his style where Amol Palekar, wooing Vidya
Sinha, takes the imaginary position of onscreen couple Dharmendra and Hema Malini.

He was equally good with humour evident from "Chupke Chupke", "Golmaal" and "Khoobsoorat". But post "Khoobsoorat" his career headed downhill and he made a futile
attempt to revive it with "Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaatein", starring Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla.

Apart from filmmaking he served as the chairman of National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

As Hrishida begins his last journey, his audience would like to hear him call out once again "Babu Moshai!" and then perhaps, let go

Working with Hrishida was unbelievable experience: Amitabh
Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS) Superstar Amitabh Bachchan was effusive in his praise for director Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who died Sunday, saying he was like a "father figure" to him and his wife Jaya while asserting "they don't create people like him any more".

"Hrishida was like a father figure to me and my wife, Jaya. Working with him was an unbelievable experience because his style of film-making was never to compromise on quality and on the story ideas," Bachchan told BBC News.

Bachchan, who played many memorable roles under Mukherjee, dismissed largely held view that the late maestro's movies had lost touch with modern day audiences.

"I think it's wrong to say his kind of cinema doesn't work any longer. I'm sure if Hrishida were to make those kinds of films again, it would certainly have an audience. "He never pandered to any baser instincts, and he set his own path, which was neither too artistic nor too commercial".

The megastar was lavish in his praise for the late director's superlative art of characterisation.

"They were all exceptionally well-etched and, of course, the greatest opportunity to perform for me has been for his films. His knowledge of the craft was so immense that we just left ourselves in his hands."

"One of the most interesting characters I played was in 'Anand'. I worked with him much before the 1973 film 'Zanjeer' came, where my so-called image of Indian cinema's 'angry young man' was seemingly established," the superstar of the millennium said.

"I will have to admit that most of the interesting characters I played have been in films that were made by him - be it 'Anand' or 'Mili' or 'Chupke Chupke', or 'Bemisal' or 'Namak Haram', or 'Jurmana'.

For an actor of Bachchan's stature, who worked with many directors throughout his career, Mukherjee always deserved a special place.

"I have never worked for an image. I continued working with Hrishida, as we all fondly called him, much after working with other directors like Salim/Javed, Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai, in variously different roles," added Bachchan.

Narrating how Mukherjee was in the sets, the actor said: "We never heard any scripts, never heard any stories - we just came on the sets. He told us to stand there, walk here, say it in this manner, speak like this - that's how he used to direct all of us. So our input was nothing at all. All that you see in his films is entirely his input."

Whenever there was any difficulty in executing a complex character, the late director was always available to ensure the scenes went on without suffering any jolts.

"If it was a complex character like in 'Mili', we would sit together and he would give a one-line description and then guide us as the scenes came," said Bachchan.

"You actually saw your character unfold before you. It felt good - I felt that I had left myself in the hands of a master. One really didn't have to worry because one knew that Hrishida was going to mould you," he added.

But the late director's characters never came from out of the blue. They were invariably close to reality.

His characters were close to reality, and certainly the scenes that were written and the situations that we were put in, were so genuine and real and realistic that they gave great opportunities to actors," the actor.

"His films were full of delightful subtleties and became great cinema. It is difficult to pick one character and say that's the best - there was 'Anand' and 'Abhimaan', 'Mili' too - all of them unbelievable moments in film-making.

Amitabh churned out the choicest laurels for Mukherjee's impeccable editing.

"He was a master editor and knew his craft incredibly well - he would shoot a scene and you would know nothing about it till you saw it," said the superstar.

"And yet when you saw it finished, it was amazing how well he had actually conceived the thing. He could do the last shot first and could put something in the middle days later and it was just marvellous to see a person so gifted.