How Bimal Roy's 'Madhumati' influenced the genre of noir in Hindi films

If ‘Suhana Safar Aur Yeh Mausam Hansee’ is still a song on your playlist when you are setting out on a long drive, it's probably because you don’t remember how Anand’s journey in those hills really ends in Madhumati, Bimal Roy’s foray into the world of ghosts who sing and reincarnate for janam janam ka saath.

Hard to imagine that Bimal Roy, who is known for films with social themes like Do Bigha Zameen, Biraj Bahu and Devdas, made this film. Ritwik Ghatak’s story was so dark, it needed a drunk Johnny Walker thread running through the movie to keep things fun (‘Hum jo thodi si peeke zara jhoome, haai re sabne dekha!’). But no one is fooled. Not even today. We want to bite into that juicy, dark story.

A man from out of town comes to the hills and hears a girl (or is it a spirit?) call out, ‘Aa jaa re, pardesi!’ There’s an undeclared war: Pawan Raaja’s tribals do not enter Raja Ugranarayan’s timber estate, and the residents from the timber estate do not dare venture into the jungles. Anand (Dilip Kumar) is the new estate manager but he breaks all rules. He chases and finally meets Madhumati (Vyjayantimala) and promptly falls in love with her. Madhu is Pawant's (Jayant) daughter. Raja Ugranarayan (played by the menacing Pran) comes riding into town and casts his covetous eye on Madhumati. The ever present, ever so creepy Vir Singh (Tiwari) is there to help.

You know by the pit in your stomach that this is not going to end well. You want to tell Anand to listen to Madhumati’s tribal god and not go! But you’ve been seduced by the music and you’re singing, ‘Ghadi ghadi mora dil dhadke’.

Bimal Roy’s masterstrokes are evident when you watch the long shadows of trees falling on that stone with fascination. When the chorus line of the village belles dance, you’re mesmerised. When Vyjayantimala sings, ‘Chad gayo papi bicchua’ you don’t realise that she’s secretly laughing at you because you are hooked. You sway along the deceptively simple rhythm. Close your eyes, and you can hear it.

It’s been years since you watched the movie and you’ve seen so much noir, you know exactly what Goddard meant when he said, ‘All you need is a girl and a gun’. But this movie insists on defying all definitions. It takes superstition, ‘Mat jaao babu!’ (because the flower falls down and it’s a bad omen), weird science (Madhu has a doppleganger in Madhavi), social themes (cruel zamindar, traditional medicine, alcoholism) and presents a story that keeps you singing, ‘Zulmi sang aankh ladi’.

The songs make you forget all your woes, because ‘baaton baaton mein rog badha jaaye’ and you know, ‘Phiri man pe jaadu ki chhadi, zulmi sang aankh ladi re’.

Even the group song, ‘Rut matwali, jaane jag saara, jaane na maali’ retains the flavour of the mountains. A rare Asha Bhonsle treat and Salil Chowdhury shows us how masterful he was with the tunes. I’m still amazed at the ‘Tan jale man jalta rahe’. One cannot miss the song about the tragedy of doomed lovers, ‘Toote huye khwaabon ne humko yeh sikhaya hai’.

Of course, I haven’t said a word about the creepy mansion and the flashback into pichla janam that the movie begins with. Yes, we step back and clutch the nearest object when the door to the mansion opens on its own and sigh with relief when the tall, scary housekeeper explains that the device to open the door is away from the door.

Now there are brilliant devices in the film to watch out for— memory triggered by ‘Yahan par ek tasveer thee, jo maine banayi thee’, how Anand creeps Raja Ugranarayan out by reminding him of ‘bhataktee aatma’ and scares him with the shadows of gamchha hanging on the door, ‘Darwaze ke peeche kaun hai?’

If you haven’t guessed yet, I’m driving your attention to the weird science in the film. Remember Om Shanti Om? If that is not a tribute to Madhumati, I don’t know what is. The film is also responsible for many movies that use re-incarnation as a theme, starting with The Reincarnation Of Peter Proud, Karz, Kudrat and Karan Arjun, to name a few.

Despite the darkness, the crime and the tragedy in Madhumati, the inimitable Bimal Roy also tells us that there is hope in love. When Bimal Roy announced that he was going to make this very commercial film, many questioned the soundness of his judgement. But we are grateful that he made it. “Hum haal-e-dil sunaayenge, suniye ke na suniye!”

Zee Classic's Bimal Roy Festival will be presented by Boman Irani. During the series, viewers will get a chance to catch exclusive snippets from a documentary on Bimal Roy, courtesy of his son Joy Roy. This will include rare and interesting interviews of Dharmendra, Vyjayanthimala, Gulzar and Ashutosh Gowariker amongst others reminiscing their days with Bimal Roy. Madhumati, the third film of the series, airs this Saturday on Zee Classic at 8 pm.