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ShareThe father of middle of the road cinema, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, dealt with the middle class in most of his movies giving some of the gems which will easily survive the test of time. Out of the 42 titles he directed, here is a 'looking back' to 18 titles which exudes the rainbow of emotions in the simplest form.
After assisting another veteran Bimal Roy and consequently making his debut with Musafir, he tasted the smell of success with Anari. After the gradual progression with Anuradha, Asli-Naqli and Do Dil, he started his journey towards the zenith with Anupama where a troubled father-daughter relationship revealed the battle of love and hatred.
Then came Ashirwad and one of the landmarks of his career, Anand. Encapsulating the praise for Anand would be something like defining life. With Anand, Hrishida and his association with Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna gave birth to some of the
radiant cinematic gems like Bawarchi, Mili, Chupke Chupke, Alaap, Jurmana
and Bemisal.
There has to be a special mention for special films like Golmaal and Khubsoorat, where laughter is actually genuine unlike the slapstick humour of the current era and you feel happy with the aftereffects.
Beyond the family dramas, he explored star struck teen theme with Guddi (a first of its kind) and the clash of east-west with Kissi Se Na Kehna and a little bit of mystery flavour with Buddha Mil Gaya. His penchant for great dialogues and soothing music was remarkable and timeless.
Ironically, this master film-maker's name is never taken in the same breath with directors like Satyajit Ray, Bimal Roy, or Guru Dutt.
He never manipulated plots to show grand sets or there is no sense of 'deliberate art' to show his craft in his films. In fact, he was such a smooth operator that his craftsmanship was so merged with the background that you just don't notice it.
He is the one who made art marry commercial cinema through his movies, where he refused to take on particular path. Just the middle of the road and the hands spread to soak the beauty from both sides. It made him smile and millions of Indians still feel the same.
