बाकी कुछ बचा तो . . .

The most important event this week was, undoubtedly, the budgetary speech by Finance Minister
 ( also speaking for Railways, for the first time ). While the economists and pundits will continue to unravel how good or bad the budget was, it is sufficient for the common man  to know if his pocket will become deeper or it will get burnt by a hole.
The economic indicators associated with the budget like GDP, Inflation, per capita income etc. all converge at one point....
will I spend more or save more ?
महंगाई कम होगी या बढ़ेगी ?

The issue of spending more than one earns had been often picked up by hindi film scriptwriters and lyricists and to good effect.

Remember the fun-filled Kishore Kumar song in , which made his exasperation with no money at hand into a comic question !

Kamaata Hoon Bohut Kuchh- 1954

 While a lot of hindi film content is about money and its manifestations, the issues related to saving money and its falling value have been addressed rarely.We have been en-cultured into believing that जितनी लंबी चादर हो , उतने पैर पसारो , a graphic analogy of avoiding being a spendthrift.

It must have been, indeed, a herculean task to weave a complete story of a film around being economical, when the reigning mood in films was of romance and singing round the trees. It is to the credit of director duo of S.S.Balan and S.S,Vasan, who made the film Teen Bahuraniyan , raising the bar of social dramas above emotional transactions and hitting where it pinches !

The three daughters-in-law have a lot to learn and it is learned the hard way, thanks to the patriarch Prithviraj Kapoor.

aamdani atthanni kharcha rupaiya 1968

The fact that commercial film-makers knew the pulse of the public was emphatically demonstrated by Manoj Kumar in Roti Kapda aurMakaan (1974), when the country was reeling under unimaginable inflation and lack of employment, not to forget hoarding, black marketing and adulteration. No wonder, very soon a mass movement akin to Quit India was perceptible ,leading to clamping down of Emergency in the country.

The words of Varma Malik in the title song sung by Lata, Mukesh, Chanchal and qawwal Jani Babu, making his debut in films, Mehangaayi maar gayi ( which was the top hit song that year in the only hit parade Binaca Geet Mala),  said it all :

 पहले मुट्ठी विच पैसे लेकर 
थैला भर शक्कर लाते थे 
अब थैले में पैसे जाते हैं 
मुट्ठी  में शक्कर आती है

mehangayi maar gayi- 1974

But he was not the only film-wala .
 Dream-maker Manmohan Desai, the sultan of masala cinema came up with Roti in the same year
( actually released on the same date!) and this also had a scathing attack on the the economic offences leading to shortages, expressed by Rajesh Khanna on screen in  the words of Anand Bakshi.
Both films competed for eyeballs and both were superhits, such was the mood of the nation .

हीरे मोती तुमने छुपाये 
कुछ हम लोग न बोले 
अब आटा -चावल भी छुपा तो 
भूखों ने मुहं खोले 
भीख न मांगे, क़र्ज़ न मांगे 
ये अपना हक़ मांगती है 
पब्लिक है, ये सब जानती है

Surprisingly, the art film directors did not see the economic hardships of the middle class noteworthy of a film  except oblique references. ( Gaman, which dealt with rural mass making a beeline for cities in search of employment, Susman-dealing with hand-weaving industry and Sookha-  politics of famine)

They too shifted to showing the underbelly of cities and corporate world.

Opening up of economy in 1991  meant a lot of foreign  goods and  services  and it seems , no  one was complaining. However, after a decade of LPG ( Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation) , the murmurs of high prices and low expendable income started getting louder, at least in Bollywood.


Taking a cue from the 1968 song , a slapstick comedy titled Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya (2001)  brought home the sane principle of judicious spending. The times had changed and it was not only the housewives who had to be responsible for running the house: husbands had to contribute ! Comic portions apart, the song gave the message loud and clear---save or perish !

Next up was a great spectacle by Anusha Rizvi and Mahmood Faouqi  in their  iconic Peepli Live (2010) which shows how the common man is snared in various nexuses, leading to his economic deprivation, summed up beautifully in the song ( sung by Raghuveer Yadav and the singers of Brij Mandal of Bhadwai).

An interesting trivia about the song is  that a leading national party challenged the song "Mehangai dayan khaye jat hai"  alleging that the song referred to one its leaders. However, the argument did not sustain and the case was dismissed by the court holding that the said leader  was not responsible for the rising inflation in India. 

mehangayi daayan -peepli live--2010

Following up quickly was Prakash Jha  in his Chakravyuh (2012),inspired by 1973 Hindi film Namak Haraam,  presenting the point of view of the fringes of social ecosystem: the Red Brigade. The confrontation between the ruling and ruled manifested itself in the song , written aptly by  Turaz and sung by Kailash Kher. Interestingly, the entire schedule of shooting was wrapped up in a short period of two months.

महंगाई ने हमारा भट्टा   बिठा दिया 
चले हटाने गरीबी को , गरीबों को हटा दिया

Mehangai ki mahamari-2012

The fact that this is an issue close to everyone ( as they say, पैसा किसको काटता है !), 
it was not long before the non-conventional film-makers took it up. 
The latest kid on the block is Anshul Sharma who had assisted in a few films ( Dev D, Pyar Ka Punchnama , No Smoking etc.) and has come up on his own in satirical Saare jahan se mehnaga (2013), in which he gave credit to the professors of BITS campuses also !

As we try to cope up with the monthly home budget, post- demonetization and imminent re-monetisation, leading to less cash  ( or is it cash-less ) economy, one can only see the pink currency notes and wonder:
 “Use less cash OR useless cash” …

खैर जो भी हो, पैसा बोलता है ( a rarely heard qawwali from Sabri Brothers—re-worked into a Bollywood song.