Movie World
Rabindranath Tagore’s stories converted into Bollywood Films – Part 5
Lekin (1991)
By Dinesh Kamath
There are quite many Rabindranath's
memorable stories and novels that were adapted for the screen in Hindi. The
works of Rabindranath Tagore have inspired many cinematic titles in multiple
languages over the years. Many celebrated filmmakers have adapted the Bengali
polymath's classic stories and novels. Let us take a look back at some of the
Hindi language versions of his works on screen.
Loosley based loosely on Tagore's
Kshudhit Pashaan, Gulzar directed this film that tells the story of a man,
Sameer, who finds himself inclined towards a girl, Reva, whose existence is
questionable. Tagore was inspired to write this story after he had stayed in Shah
Jahan's Moti Shahi Mahal palace in Shahibaug, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Vinod Khanna
plays Sameer in the film set in Rajasthan, as Dimple Kapadia becomes the
mysterious Reva. As the story progresses, he has many other chance encounters
with her that leaves him more and more mystified. The film also starred Amjad
Khan, Alok Nath, Beena Banerjee, and featured a special appearance by Hema
Malini. Lekin won multiple National Awards, including one for its music.
Lekin (English: But..) is a Hindi
drama Mystery film made in 1991, loosely based on the short story Kshudhit
Pashaan Hungry Stones by Rabindranath Tagore, and directed by Hindi lyricist
Gulzar. It stars Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Amjad Khan, Alok Nath, and Beena
Banerjee, and featured a special appearance by Hema Malini.
The film was produced by Indian
singer Lata Mangeshkar (Co-Producers: Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Bal Phule), whose
rendition of "Yara Seeli Seeli" won the 1991 National Film Award for
Best Female Playback Singer. The song also won film's lyricist, Gulzar, both
the 1991 National Film Award for Best Lyrics and the 1992 Filmfare Best
Lyricist Award. The film's music director, Lata's brother Hridaynath
Mangeshkar, won the 1991 National Film Award for Best Music Direction. Other
awards included the National Film Award for Best Art Direction for Nitish Roy
and National Film Award for Best Costume Design for Bhanu Athaiya.
Synopsis
The movie takes place in the Indian
desert state of Rajasthan, which gives it something in common with Rudaali,
another off-beat drama set in Rajasthan that was released around the same time
and also featured Dimple Kapadia and Amjad Khan.
The plot centres around a
government employee, Sameer Niyogi (Vinod Khanna), who is sent to Rajasthan to
take inventory of items in the abandoned haveli (mansion) of the long-deceased
Maharaja Param Singh (Vijayendra Ghatge). When he arrives in Rajasthan, he
meets his old friend Shafi (Amjad Khan) who is a tax collector in the area and
lives with his wife Sharda (Beena Banerjee).
Sameer begins seeing what he thinks
could very well be visions of another time and place, visions that he is shown
by a beautiful woman he encounters by the name of Reva (Dimple Kapadia). But is
Reva real or just a figment of Sameer's imagination? The drama that unfolds
catapults Sameer into a different time and place and shakes his own personal
foundation of reality, even as Shafi and his wife fear that their old friend
may be losing his mind. In addition to the excellent performances and overall
haunting quality of the cinematography, the plot twists and guest appearance of
Hema Malini add to the film's charms.
Also, as much as Sameer, Reva and
Shafi, the desert of Rajasthan itself is a character in this film. Rolling sand
dunes and long-deserted havelis create a sense of mystery and wonder, the stuff
of dreams (or nightmares). Old commitments call across distances of not only
places but also time and birth even, Lekin is such a saga.
Lekin is the story of a soul of a
woman, Rewa, caught in a time warp, somewhere between the realm of the living
and the dead. She dies while she is trying to escape her long captivity and her
ominous portending rape by the local Raja. She is caught in a storm in the
desert as she is desperately trying to cross the desert to reach her paternal
home. The winds blow in such a fateful way that her body and soul are left
struggling under their force, till she succumbs and falls and then gets slowly
submerged under the ruthless sands. The man, Sameer, to whom she appears, as a
lost soul, time and again, is perplexed till he finally realises that she does
not want to die, but sorrow and suffering have made her too scared to live.
Rewa thus is the quintessential
representation of many of us who have gone through a traumatic experience that
has wrenched the life out of us. We want our life back, just as it was before
the trauma, but are too scared….to live. We do not want to die but are too
fearful of life itself. So like Rewa, we get caught in no man's land, flitting
between the living and the dead, the real and the unreal, the concrete and the
illusion, the fact and fiction, the conscious and the sub-conscious. And just
like Rewa has the hope that Mehroo (the man who is supposed to be her saviour)
will come and take her across the desert, we all harbour hopes that someone
else will come and break this ever compulsive repetitive cycle of our pain and
suffering and free us from its seemingly inescapable clutches.
The moment we realise that the
compulsive repetitiveness is the creation of our own mind, we free ourselves.
The moment we realise that we are in a prison, the door of which is perpetually
open, we free ourselves. The moment we live in the present, and stop ruminating
on the past or worrying about the future, we free ourselves. The moment we realise
that our soul has no constraints and no one can trap it or stunt it and that it
transcends beyond all boundaries, we free ourselves. We all have to ourselves
escape the deserts of our own minds, just as Rewa ultimately does, all by
herself. The mind can be its own prison and its own salvation. It depends on us
and what we choose it to be. So live every moment. That's all that is ours
anyway.
The film has Vinod Khanna as Sameer
Niyogi, Dimple Kapadia – Reva, Amjad Khan – Shafi Ahmed Siddiqui, Beena Banerjee
– Sharda, Shafi's wife, Alok Nath – Ustad Meraj Ali, Hema Malini – Tara (guest
appearance), Moon Moon Sen – Pammi and Vijayendra Ghatge – Raja Param Singh.
Songs
All the songs from Lekin... were
composed by Hridaynath Mangeshkar and the lyrics were written by Gulzar. Suniyo
Ji Araj Mhario is based on the composition in Raga Vihanginee by Pt. Mani
Prasad. The film has songs like "Yaara Seeli Seeli" sung by Lata
Mangeshkar, "Kesariya Baalma Oji Ke Tumse Laage Nain" – Lata
Mangeshkar, "Kesariya Baalma Mohe Bawari Bole Log" – Lata Mangeshkar,
"Suniyo Ji Araj Mhario" – Lata Mangeshkar, "Main Ek Sadi Se
Baithi Hoon" – Lata Mangeshkar, "Jhoote Naina Bole Saanchi
Batiyaan" – Asha Bhosle, Satyasheel Deshpande, "Surmai Shaam" –
Suresh Wadkar and "Ja Ja Re" – Lata Mangeshkar, Hridaynath Mangeshkar.
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