Page 41 - Seniorstoday March 2024 Issue

Govind Nihalani, starring Jaya Bachchan,
Kabuliwala was based on a short story of the same name, writ- was a multilingual film, adapted from
ten by the prolific Rabindranath Tagore
Kaushal, Madan Puri and Shashikala. It
explored the issue of societal inequality
and exploitation (under colonial rule then)
of the impoverished masses here, amongst
other raging issues. The film’s music was
composed by the late Pandit Ravi Shankar.
It was again, a heartrending and grim story
of the times. Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Satyajit
Ray’s classic was a fabulous adaptation
of Munshi Premchand’s book by the
same name! A master stroke indeed! And
Premchand’s Gaban was made into a film
by directors Hrishikesh Mukherjee and
Krishan Chopra in 1966. The film starred
Sadhna, Sunil Dutt, Kanhaiyalal, and
Anwar Hussain.
Mahasweta Devi, a fiery champion for
the poor and the marginalised, and whose
writings have earned her numerous
literary awards (more than 300 published
works to her credit), had many of her
works made into films, and on issues
that were avoided for fear of censure, in
her times. Sunghursh, directed by H.S.
Rawail, featured Diip Kumar, back in
1968. Behula, made in 1989, dealt with the
face-off between superstition and science.
The more popular ones were the Kalpana
Lajmi directed Rudaali (1993), starring the
gorgeous Dimple Kapadia, and which won
three national awards. It had mesmerising
music as well by Bhupen Hazarika. In
1998, Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa, directed by
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #57 | MARCH 2024
Joy Sengupta, Anupam Kher and others,
also won the National Award for best
feature film in Hindi. In 2006, a Marathi
film based on her writing, Maati Maay
(A Grave-keeper’s Tale) premiered at
the Toronto International Film Festival.
Gangor, an Italian-Indian co-production,
Mahasweta Devi’s Bengali short story
‘Choli ke Peeche’, and it earned awards and
accolades across global festivals in 2010.
Rudaali won three national awards
R. K. Laxman’s story The Guide was the
basis for director Vijay (Goldie) Anand’s
classic film Guide, starring Dev Anand
and Waheeda Rehman. The story explored
the dark areas of the human psyche, way
before it was acceptable in society.
Not many are aware but even the 1966
film Dil Diya Dard Liya was loosely based
on Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.
Directed by Abdul Rashid Kardar, and
ostensibly Dilip Kumar, the stars of the
film were Waheeda Rehman, Pran Sikand,
Rehman and Dilip Kumar himself.
Bimal Mitra novel Saheb, Bibi, Golam was adapted into a classic
love tragedy
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