Life
is inspiration for every creative art – whether it s the writer who fills his
pen with its ink, or the artist who draws the curves of a model posing for him
onto canvas. Whether it is the lyricist whose words evoke heart-felt emotion or
the musician who often finds his muse from sounds in nature.
And while films are largely fictional in their narration, some
of the most powerful pieces of cinema have been based on real life heroes. And villains.
This however, is neither the story of a biopic or an
autobiographic essay on celluloid. It is the simple instance of a film director
and actor reacting to the poignancy of a real life situation that played out
before his eyes. And he then considered it a moment riveting enough to be
depicted on screen as mirror to society.
The movie was, “Kaagaz Ke Phool.” Its director – Guru Dutt,
who had also cast himself in the lead role of a film director on the decline in
the movie.
The incident happened on the sets of its shooting one day. The
scenes being canned that day had required several extras and all of them needed
to be on call for the sake of continuity. After one shot in that scene was in
the cans, the next would be quickly lit up and then, the extras summoned to
take their positions.
During one of the scenes, it was noticed by Guru Dutt that one
of the women, who was present in the earlier frames of the scene, was now not
at her designated position. He scanned around the set and saw that she was
nowhere there. In an irritated tone, he called for a halt to the shooting. He
asked his production-in-charge, where the women had gone off to – he couldn’t
take the next shot without her.
The production-in-charge immediately barked instructions to
his subordinates and they all began hunting for the woman. It didn’t take too
long for them to find her, for she had gone to a secluded corner of the studio
itself, huddled down with her daughter of about six years next to her. She had
gone there because her baby in arms had began crying and she had taken it there
to breastfeed it. And for privacy on that crowded set.
The assistant who found her immediately lost his temper with
her. “WHERE THE HELL DID YOU DISAPPEAR? CAN’T YOU SEE WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A
SHOT?” And for good measure, he threw in a couple of expletives as well.
When Guru Dutt heard the raised voice and its uncivilized phrasing,
he rushed over to see what the matter was. He immediately sized up the scene
when he saw the young mother hurriedly hand over the baby to the elder sister. His
sensitive character had understood how ruthless life in the city had become.
So driven was it by profit, so single minded it had become
about work – that it had dehumanized people into forgetting about basic human
values. It was one of those rare instances when Guru Dutt became very angry.
Eyes blazing, he caught the film hand by his shoulder and turned him around to
face him.
And in a booming voice that must have rattled his spine, he yelled,
“DON’T YOU KNOW HOW TO TALK? GET OUT OFF MY SET.”
The incident left him shaken. When he had calmed down, he went
up to the woman and apologized on behalf of the crew. He struck up a
conversation with her, made her feel comfortable and told her that she should
finish feeding her child and take as long as it needed. His shot could wait for
her, the entire film unit could also wait.
Later on, when the scene replayed in his mind, he decided that
he must make it a part of his film. He had to hold up a mirror to society, to
show them how business minded and consequently, how heartless it had become.
Where
the signing of contracts, the focus on the business and the counting of money –
all had become greater than the hunger pangs of a child.
No comments:
Post a Comment