SK and Gulzar

Parichay (1972) SK played Nilesh the son of a strict disciplined retired army officer (Pran in one of his most memorable roles), who marries against his fathers wishes and leaves the house along with his newly wedded wife. Wife dies and he has cancer. A talented singer, he trains his eldest daughter (Jaya Bhaduri) in singing and after his death, Grandfather Pran comes over and takes all his five grand children to his home. But bringing up the troubled and disturbed children proves to be a hard task and after changing many teachers, he finds the perfect teacher in Jeetendra, who helps each of the five children become better persons and realize the love in their grandfathers heart through the sound of music.
SK barely had 3 – 4 scenes in this movie, but he performed them so sensitively, that the memory of his character lingers all through out the movie and after. His getup and facial expressions of a middle aged man with cancer, troubled with the thoughts of his children and what will happen to them, after his death, is so subtly portrayed its as if SK speaks with his eyes. That worry about his children after he is gone, always lingers at the back of his mind, while he goes out singing Beetee na beetayee raina with his eldest daughter. How did he let you know what he was worrying about? Beats me.

This movie had the memorable song Musafir ho yaaron ..Na ghar hai na thikana



Mausam 1975.



The song Dil dhoondhta phir wahi Fursat ke Raat din



Playing a man growing old, tired from being a busy pharmaceutical magnate, he drives in his car in the foggy hills, watching the sunset by one of the mountain tops, a tired man, lonesome, searching for his lost soul in these hills. With Madan Mohans haunting music in the background playing Dil Dhoondta hain. as SK looks around the fog enveloping him – this scene has been permanently etched into the minds of each and every lover of cinema. The other haunting song I love from this movie is Ruke ruke se kadam Mausam has both SK and Gulzar going on their cinematic genius Over-Drive.SK played Amarnath Gill who returns to this foggy hill station in the mountains after 20 odd years. He had been at this place years ago to study and become a doctor.
And the movie moves in a series of flash backs through out its entire length a Gulzar trademark. SK as a student falls in love with Sharmila Tagore, has to leave the hill-station to go back home, and never comes back. Tagore gives birth to a daughter (Tagore in a double role), goes insane and daughter takes care of mom until her death. Forced by circumstances into prostitution, the younger Tagore has only memories of her mother and picture of the man whose illegitimate daughter she is.
A chance encounter between SK and the daughter and memories flood back with SK now trying to help his daughter out of the prostitution and lead a better life. The movie ends with SK taking his daughter in his car, from those sad mountain hills to his home in the city, finally both of them accepting each other as father and daughter.
There could be no Mausam without SK, no Mausam without Dil dhoondta hain, no Mausam without Sharmila Tagores brilliant performance and ofcourse no Mausam without the sensitive story and direction of Gulzar.



Aandhi 1975.



Tere Bina Zindagi se koi shikwa to nahi ..will this song ever get old? Tum aa gaye ho noor aagaya ..



When a successful politician Aarti Devi (Suchitra Sen) visits her constituency to campaign for the forthcoming elections, she and her entourage end up staying at the hotel run by her separated husband SK. Memories flood back and they move on the paths to re-unite with each other only to find the opposition party using their getting together as a scandal to tarnish Sens image.SK, as usual, is in his element.



Namkeen 1982.



SK plays a truck driver who arrives in a small town to work for a construction project. Playing a truck driver to the hilt he rents a room in the house of an old woman (Waheeda Rehman) who has three grown up daughters (Sharmila Tagore, a mute Shabana Azmi and the youngest Kiran Virale). With time he grows closer to the entire family and each of the three daughters falls in love with him though he seems to be falling for the eldest daughter Tagore. But with the construction project ending, its time for him to move on to a new town, a new place, look for new work.
A few years later he is shocked to find the youngest daughter Virale dancing at a cheap vulgar tamasha theater, and after talking to her he realizes how the fate of the family changed for the worse. Driving back to the town he finds Tagore and finally realizes he has reached his destination.
Gulzars deft direction shows the different facets of SK while communicating with each of the four women, how he has different feelings for each woman and THAT- he effectively communicates through his voice and body language. Also notice how effectively Gulzar hides the fact from the audience that Azmi is mute until a naughty incident she plays on SK turns into a disaster and the shock with which it is revealed to the audience, that Azmi is mute.
Gulzars sense of humor has always been pleasant and subtle. SK just having moved into the new room tries to switch on the fan, nothing happens. Virale and Azmi stand by the door watching him. After fidgeting much with the fan switch, SK asks Virale to get a stool so he can check the fan out. Virale runs out and gets the stool. SK stands on the stool and spends time checking the fan to find the problem. Virale in the end goes What are you doing?, SK responds I am trying to fix this fan, Virale goes That wont work, SK surprised Why?, and Virale goes with a blank innocent face Because our house has not had electricity for the past many yearsWatch SK closely flowing through a range of emotions IN HALF A SECOND and irritated that he is, he shoots back To main kya itni der se jhak. He cant complete his sentence as both Azmi and Virale rush out laughing their hearts out. And the look on SK says it all – that he was being played all this time by both Azmi and Virale. Perfect comic scene from Gulzar. Perfect delivery by SK.



Angoor 1982.



If Angoor cant make you laugh, not just laugh but have tears in your eyes and you are rolling on the floor begging someone to switch the movie off cause you cant breathe with all that laughing if Angoor cant do that for you, you need to go to a therapist immediately.