In the name of love...

The change in the state government in U.P. has brought new lingo in the environment.The latest is the name of a fictional character, very famous, revered by many as role model but unfortunately tagged with a negative connotation these day. I am referring to the eternal lover Romeo, on whose name,  squads have been formed, thereby equating the love and lust. Shakespeare must be turning in his grave, surely.

In all parts of the world, lovers (both fictional and real-life) have a special place. In India too,many love stories like Romeo & Juliet find place in the legends , on which hindi film industry has done extensive work.

 Let us look at the famous love stories, both fictional and otherwise to have caught the fancy of hindi films.

Telling a story on celluloid is done best when it is a love story. In the first 3 to 4 years of the talkies, there was a spate of films on legendary lovers. As many as 8 films were made on the life and times of half a dozen pairs, bringing literature and history to screen. This is indicative of the potential of love stories in Hindi films, right from their beginning.  However, none of sound tracks are available from that era.Here is a poster of an early film Sassi Punnu released in 1932.

In 1947, Romeo made his first appearance in Hindi films, on release of the film Romeo and Juliet, the only time a film has been made on the characters of the Bard. Sapru and Nargis played the legendary lovers.

 

The 16th century tale is set in Italy, about two star-crossed lovers, whose death ultimately reconcile their feuding families. The words of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, the composition of Husnlal Bhagatram ( the first music director duo of hindi films:many others followed their footsteps) and the voice of Zohrabai Ambalewali, do full justice to the immortal love story of Romeo and Juliet

donon jahaan teri mohabbat mein haar ke

         wo jaa raha hai koi, shabe-gham guzaar ke

Like  Romeo, the character of Majnu is also having a negative connotation.    The society equates  'sadak-chhap' Majnu  and  the Roadside Romeo. For the more discerning people,  Majnu represents the epitome of obsessive  love.

Devdas is also another character ( by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyaya) which is equated with depressed lover. The love story of Devdas and Paro is not as old as the others and therefore does not find a mention in this compilation. Also, the story of  Krishna-Radha , being mythological, is left out.

 

In the 50s, the tragic tale of Laila Majnu was released as a Hindi/Urdu  film , with Shammi Kapoor playing Majnoon ( or Qais, as the character was named) to Nutan's Laila. The medieval tale written by poet Nizami of Ganje , was inspired by Arabian legends, Laila and Qias. Childhood friends-turned-lovers were prevented by the society, banishing Qais to desert  where he turns eccentric  and is called majnoon( madman--the one with junoon-obsession) . Warfare is resorted to make the two lovers meet , but in vain.

Laila Majnu was made as many as 5 times in Bollywood , apart from  a couple of failed attempts        ( Rajesh Khanna's Majnoon to Rakhi's Laila by Kamal Amrohi--shelved). The 70s version was the most popular one, as we will see later.

This is a song in which  Shammi Kapoor, much before his avatar as  Yahoo-screaming, rock-and-roll dancer , plays  Qais, languishing in a desert and Talat Mehmood sings the beautiful song. 

The Fifties also gave us the films based on Shirin Farhad ( 1965), Mirza Sahiban ( 1957) and Dhola Maru ( 1954), the lovers in the same class as Romeo-Juliet and Laila Majnoon.
Each story, however, has a twist !

The Shirin-Farhad saga is actually, a sub-plot of the story of Khusrau and Shirin, another tale by Nizami of Ganje. It is a highly elaborated fictional version of the story of the love of the Sasanian king Khusrau II for the  Armenian princess  Shirin , who becomes queen of   Persia.

Shirin being very beautiful, had lots of suitors and  those who were infatuated with her. Farhad, a sculptor was one of them. Khusrau sent Farhad to carve  stairs in the mountain , after which Shirin would marry him. Gullible as he was, Farhad set out on the mission, to be informed of Shirin's death ( false news) , upon which he kills himself. Shirin , hale and hearty, finally marries Khusrau.

The love story with a happy ending is that of Dhola- Maaru from oral folk traditions of Rajasthan. The story also has the mention of Maroo dying and Dhola wanting to become a male-Sati. Maroo is revived and after they flee on a "flying camel", they live happily ever after. The Chhattisgarh version of the story has a tragic ending, though.

Amongst the many love stories of Punjab ( Heer-Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal, Sassi Punnu ) , Mirza Sahiban is one of the more complex one because the parents of the lovebirds were said to be milk-siblings, having been breast-fed by one mother. The tale is beautiful because it mentions that in the climax, Sahiban breaks the arrows of Mirza so that there is no blood-shed. However, her brothers kill Mirza and she dies alongwith him.

Mirza Sahiban had Shammi Kapoor as Mirza and Shyama as Sahiban. The music is by Sardul Kwatra and lyrics by Varma Malik .

                                  


The Sixties started with a bang , with Mughal-e-Azam, the story of Anarkali and Salim. Madhubala as Anarkali scored over Bina Rai's version, a few years back, as did Dilip Kumar's histrionics over Pradeep Kumar's performance in the earlier version.
The magnum opus stood tall over all other stories and "pyar kiya to darna kya" became the anthem of lovers throughout the country.

In the wake of period films reviving after K.Asif's mind-boggling effort, the story of Shahjahan and Mumtaz Mahal also found favour with the film makers, with films like Taj Mahal and  Jahan Ara being made with big stars.

The royal love stories had great music in them, which emphasizes the emotions of love. The composers of these films were stalwarts like Naushad ( Mughal-e-Azam), C.Ramchandra (Anarkali) , Roshan (Taj Mahal)and Madan Mohan( Jahan Ara ).
The quality of lyrics, composition and singing made these scores all-time great . 

The next decade had a lyrical gem of a film called Heer Ranjha, based on the Punjab love story written by Waris Shah. Some historians say that the story was the original work of Shah, written after he had fallen in love with a girl named Bhag Bhari. 
Another view is  that Heer and Ranjha were real personalities who lived under the Lodhi Dynasty and that Waris Shah later utilised these personalities for his story. Shah states that the story has a deeper meaning, referring to the unrelenting quest that man has towards God. The lovers are separated in the story and Ranjha, wandering with ascetics,  is on the verge of renunciation when he learns of the marriage of Heer. As he rushes to her but can not prevent her from consuming poison and he also eats the poisoned laddooo to kill himself.
Chetan Anand made the film as a poetry on screen. Each and every dialogue was a poem in itself. The picturisation and art direction were thoughtfully done and the music by Madan Mohan was out of the world. In fact, for a large part after starting of the film, it did not have any yellow-coloured object on the screen. When the yellow mustard fields do appear on the screen , it is a pleasant experience, underlining the competence of the director.

On the acting front, however Priya Rajvansh as Heer was not as good as the Heer played by Nutan in Heer( 1956). Raaj Kumar played Ranjha to perfection, however.

The Laila -Majnu saga got a makeover in the 70s with Rishi Kapoor playing Qais and  Ranjeeta playing Laila. it is said that during the making of the film, the two stars were on non-speaking terms, being hostile towards each other. Still, their performances do not reflect the ego-related animosity. The music of the film was by Madan Mohan and the lyrics were by Sahir Ludhianvi. The songs of the film became a rage in 1976.
Incidentally, another film called Daastaan-e-Laila Majnu was released in 1974, with a lesser-known cast of Kanwaljeet and Anamika, which sank without a trace.

Without doubt, star power sells in Bollywood.

  
                                

The type of films liked  in the 80s  did not require a serious love story, let alone a period epic. K.Asif's long-delayed project Love and God could be released in 1986 with Sanjeev Kumar playing Qais and Nimmi as Laila. Predictably, the film was anachronistic and could not muster any audience.

The film which, however, hit the right chord was the Sunny Deol-Poonam Dhillon portrayal of the Sohni Mahiwal story,in 1984. The heroine Sohni, unhappily married to a man she despises, swims every night across the river using an earthenware pot to keep afloat in the water, to meet her beloved Mahiwal ( rich trader-turned buffalo herder-turned hermit)  . One night her sister-in-law replaces the earthenware pot with a vessel of unbaked clay, which dissolves in water and she dies in the whirling waves of the river. Mahiwal saw Sohni drowning and jumped into the river to save her and drowned as well. Thus, the lovers were reunited in death.

Sohni Mahiwal was well-received, surprisingly and songs were also very popular.This was the fourth version of the tale, the earlier ones made in 1933, 1946 and 1958. 

The next two decades were even more disconnected from old-world charm and whatever love stories were being made from the earlier eras were on the strength of lavish sets and high production values rather than emotional content. Harmesh Malhotra's Heer Ranjha made in 1992 had Anil Kapoor and Sridevi as the main lead.  Sanjay Khan made Taj Mahal in 2005 in which Naushad composed music. These films could neither  attract the audience, nor were they talked about as classics.

The recent period film Bajirao Mastani,  took up a historical tale of  Maratha Peshwa Bajirao (1700-1740) and his second wife Mastani, in which Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone essayed the lovers and the film had a lot of highlights ( songs and dances and fights) , some of them controversial , which is bound to happen  with a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. Interestingly, on this subject the last film made was a silent one in 1925 !

Ending a blog on the topic of love has to be on a profound note. According to ancient Arabic literature, there are Seven Stages of Love.
These are :
1 हब - Hub - Attraction, 
2. उन्स -  Uns - Infatuation,
3. इश्क़ - Ishq - Love, 
4. अक़ीदत - Aqeedat - Reverence,
5. इबादत - Ibaadat - Worship,
6. जूनून - Junoon - Obsession and
7. मौत - Maut - Death-
This seven fold evolution of love is beautifully expressed by Gulzar  and picturised by Mani Ratnam in this A.R.Rahman song from the movie Dil Se. This song is played at all the major turning points of the film where the characters cross each of these 7 check points leading ultimately to their death..

 Inexorably drawn towards each other, the crescendo of love goes on increasing unchecked....

The song is extremely figurative and artistic and the symbolism is not easily understood in first viewing. Each of the above-mentioned love stories have gone through these stages , if you have a closer look.
तू ही तू, तू ही तू, सतरंगी रे

Kissa Kursi Ka

The elections being over, now is the time to have good leaders and better governance. While the apprehensions  about who will  rule the states have been put to rest, there are misgivings on appointment of governments  in a couple of states  and  there is at least one state in which things are clear.

The aspect of political leadership elected by people,  has been dealt in Hindi films quite comprehensively, though it took more than 30 years to show political functionaries on silver screen.

Unlike the West, we have  not been very comfortable with depicting our leaders and showing them to have human emotions and failings. Probably that is the reason no film was made in the first decade and a half after the freedom. Most of the political leaders of those times were alive and, moreover,   so much adored that it actually must have seemed sacrilegious to portray them on screen.

The first mainstream Hindi film to have examined the elected political class seems to be the eponymous Leader ( 1964), starring Dilip Kumar. The film was a commercial venture, packing a lot in the screenplay to have a serious scrutiny of the subject. Still, it was a beginning and amidst the romantic songs coupled with a whodunit , there was a hint of nexus between politics and crime. The song in which the protagonist plays a leader is the idealistic " apni azaadi ko hum"

                                            जो सबक बापू ने सिखलाया, भुला सकते नहीं
                                           सर कटा  सकते हैं लेकिन सर झुक सकते नहीं

The passing away of Nehru and Shastri in quick succession meant that the stature of leaders got a beating and as a consequence, the infallibility of political leaders was short-lived. The country had entered a critical phase  and there was a need to sustain the momentum built up by the leaders of yesteryears.

The films also came  out of the 'golden' period of the 50s and 60s. Barring a  couple of  films ( Dinanath Zutshi playing a  Muslim leader in Garm Hawa who betrays his ilk and Rajesh Khanna playing the local honest corporator who is framed in Apna Desh ) with  oblique references, there was no hope of a full-scale political drama film.

The flash-point was not far and two films were able to capture the developing story in their narrative. The first one was , however, still born as the only print of the film was damaged irretrievably,  to quell the expression. Kissa Kursi Ka was a satire and a spoof on the dictatorial regime and it paid the price. It is another matter that it was remade after a couple of years and exhibited to empty houses. Ironically, Shabana Azmi  and Raj Babbar  the two main protagonists in the film, joined the political party spoofed in the film !

The more sophisticated depiction of a political leader's life and times was by Gulzar in Aandhi (1975). Based on a Hindi novel Kali Aandhi by Kamleshwar, the film was termed as a biographic account of a famous leader, played by Suchitra Sen. The film , apart from exploring the personal relations of the leader, also delved in some detail about the machinations and electoral tactics. The film was banned during Emergency and despite the great music, dialogues and narration, could not match the popularity of action films Sholay and Deewar, released in the same year. This song , picturised on the electoral trail is still very relevant

                                                     सलाम कीजिये, आली  जनाब आये हैं
                                                     ये पांच साल का देने, हिसाब आये हैं

The change in the political climate kept on changing in the country and got duly reflected in films, as they became more and more vocal in the 80s. In South India, film stars had a long tradition of moving into politics at the back of their fan following. MGR, NTR and Jayalalitha were not  in politics for cosmetic purpose: they ruled the states as political leaders. This was not so in Bollywood.

Film stars like Nargis and Prithviraj Kapoor were nominated in Rajya Sabha.  Dilip Kumar was chosen Sheriff  of Bombay. However, they were not elected leaders. The shape of things to come was clear in  1984, when the top two stars Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan acted in films which were overtly political. Incidentally, both of them became members of Parliament in their personal capacity, later on.

 The first one was a spoof in which the protagonist is a barber and becomes a compromise candidate for Chief Minister. In order to quell dissidence, he makes all the other minister as Deputy Chief Ministers !
The dialogues were replete with sarcastic one liners ( like mentioning  Tule "Antulay" rupaye after the CM was weighed against currency) and  the film was totally political in nature, with no other sub plot. To the extent that the CM sang and danced, too.

मैं तो हूँ श्री राम अवतार , दूसरा न कोई !

The Amitabh Bachchan  film was Inquilaab , an action drama with political leaders deceiving gullible youth. However, the film had a lot of masala with song-and-dance and also, violence. In fact, the climax showed the protagonist shooting  all the leaders of his party,  Interestingly, the character of one of those shot was based on a prominent opposition leader , who had led the total revolution a few years back !

The 80s also gave us a film which shook off our  faith from  the political class completely. This was Arjun 1985, in which Anupam Kher played the role of a smooth-talking , suave politician who takes Sunny Deol into his fold, only to cast him once his purpose has been served. By this time, the nexus between politicians and criminals was being shown on the screen more often in films, which was perhaps, a reflection of times.

The film exposing the links between politicians and media barons was on full display in the film New Delhi Times ( 1986). This Shashi kapoor film was quite authentic and offered a lot of insights into a world, not hitherto known publicly.

Before the 80s came to an end, the Indian adaptation of Meet John Doe was released as Main Azaad Hoon, which showed the PM also, played by Sudhir Pandey, as one of the characters in the  film, a departure from earlier films. The seeds of struggle between the political classes and ordinary masses were sown,  as far as the Hindi films are concerned.

इतने बाज़ू इतने सर , गिन  ले दुश्मन जान के
हारेगा वो हर  बाज़ी, जब खेलें हम जी जान से  

With the advent of 90s and the winds of LPG ( Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation ), the narrative in Hindi films also changed. Politics entered into every possible field : campuses , businesses, sports and into films themselves.
Ram Gopal Varma brought out the connection astutely in two of his most memorable  efforts,
 Shiva ( 1990) and Satya ( 1998). While the former dealt with political bosses influencing the college scene, the latter is a brutal take on the politics-mafia dovetailing. Both films were accurate and with minimal distractions from the subject which made them authentic.The subject and its treatment left little scope for songs, though there were a few of them in both the films.

 Gulzar , in 1999, made Hu Tu Tu, an emphatic political commentary of the wheeling and dealing in the murky world of power. The clash of politician mother and idealist daughter was a high point of the film and made the film unforgettable. This  was also the time when there was the whiff of scams getting political patronage, a spark which led to major fires in future. The film had a song about it also, known as the "घपला " song !

                                               दुकानें बेचीं तो बिक गए साथ गवर्नर
                                             गाय  भैंस का चारा खा गए ये मिनिस्टर

 On to the next decade.
 There were numerous films showing elected political representatives  of all hues in various avatars, mostly ghastly.
The first one was  Nayak ( 2001), in which a common man becomes Chief Minister for one day, during which he tries to break  the corrupt system. Anil Kapoor acquitted himself very well against Amrish Puri, with the bureaucrat's point of view being projected by Paresh Rawal.
Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi (2005)   was a truthful enumeration of the 70s of India: its Lutyens' crowd, its revolutionary youth and its opportunist political class.
Satta , released earlier in 2003, was another political film showing the rise of a woman in corridors of power and the compromises made for the elevation. Raveena Tandon acted competently in the film making it a memorable watch. The film showed the leaders enjoying the three Ws openly, something that was not shown on screen a few years ago.


                                           मोरे सैयां भये कोतवाल, अब डर काहे का
                                                      मेरे नखरे उठाएंगे सांवरिया
                                                    घूमूंगी लेके सरकारी मोटरिया
                                           मैं लुटाऊँगी सरकारी माल,  अब  डर  काहे का
                                         

    

In the last few years there has been a spate of releases relevant to this theme. Rajneeti, Sarkar ( and sequels), Satyagraha, Aarakshan, Rann, Rakt Charitra, Gulaal  and Chakravyuh, to name a few.  These films have explored various themes such as pursuit of power, quest for legitimacy, perceived injustices and hypocrisy of the powerful.

This song from Satyagraha , written by Prasoon Joshi  lays bare the complex and brutal world of electoral politics and abuse of power.

भई  घोटाला करना खेल नहीं , औक़ात चाहिए
एक अलग ही कला चाहिए, बात चाहिए

As the present day politics leaves no  distinguishing features between real and reel shenanigans, one  thinks that it is better to watch the political news than watching the same events enacted in the darkness of a picture hall.

हम तो हैं परदेस में ...

The preceding week was full of apprehensions about the results of the polls in five states. So much so,  that the attention got shifted from a series of mishaps with our countrymen in foreign lands. As many as three cases of  Indians getting hurt in America were reported, two of them fatally. This has put a big question mark on the safety aspect of Indians,who are  away from their country.


The craze of all things foreign has been an unending one. The fascination starts with the objects and ends with embracing the country itself.  This has been depicted so well in our films and songs, as we explore  in the following narrative:

The first song that comes to mind when we think about foreign objects is , undoubtedly, Mera joota hai japani...the Sri 420 classic. If you look closely , you will observe that the Japanese shoe is in a bad shape. Japan, at that time, was a fledgling economy and its products were not world class. It is a tribute to that nation that they rose to be the leaders in quality production. Lyricist Shailendra made sure that, despite the shoe, pant and cap being alien,  the heart of the protagonist is in the right place and is ...Indian.
Probably that is the message....

Hindi films and the songs have never been starved of creativity. So, not only the objects of use, but we have been labelling the nature also to be nation- specific.  In poetry, the moon has always been a metaphor for the face of the heroine. In the film Insaan Jaag Utha ( 1959), the poet compared the heroine to the moon alright, but then qualified it further: this moon is Indian !

Shailendra was the lyricist again and the song is a light romantic ode.

                                   Ye chanda roos ka, naa ye japaan ka
                      Naa ye amreekan pyare, ye to hai hindustan ka

Going overseas has been a leitmotif in Hindi films ever since  1946,  when V.Shantaram made Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani, a biopic about an Indian doctor who worked in China. In the 60s, in the film Aman, the hero, again a doctor,  is in Japan during the World War period. Incidentally, Nobel Laureate Bertrand Russell played himself in the film.
Amongst the songs we had  " Mere piya gaye Rangoon" and " Saat Samundar Paar Se" , in which  situations have been created about characters going abroad. Romances set in foreign locales became a success formula, with films having titles like like Love in Tokyo, An Evening in Paris, Spy in Rome etc. 

The pride  of being "foreign -returned" was a big ego-booster in the 60s and 70s, for middle-class Indians. The later generations (of those first generation Indians who settled in foreign lands)  form the current Indian diaspora. The process has been mutually profitable for both nations.

This totally justifies the aspirations of the heroine, penned by Anand Bakshi  in Jab Jab Phool Khile ( 1965), when she says that if she ever left India, it will be for America !

The obsession for going to "foren" continued in Seventies , when it was said that

" मुल्कों में इक मुल्क सुना है, मुल्क सुना  अमरीका". 
Many Indians were going to America. Some came back ( mostly when their children reached teenage, for cultural reasons !) and some stayed back. Then there were those who , despite being born and brought up in mofussil India, cocked a snook at the "dust" and filth" of their motherland, saying  "apne america mein to..."

This may have prompted a negative connotation to be attached to those who have come back after the "mauj-masti bhari life" in London, as is expressed in this Hasrat Jaipuri song from Vachan (1974)

london se aaya re bhai chhaila,  jiska dil andar se maila-maila
aashiq hai awara pehla-pehla, majnu ka nakara angrezi chela

                                  


Nevertheless, the stream of blue and white collar "brain drain" continued throughout the 70s, despite the third- world treatment meted out at times overseas. The fascination for the "gori chamdi", coupled with a good pay-packet and quality of life attracted Indians unabatedly. Amongst the film-makers who chose to make this as main theme of their films in the 70s  were Manoj Kumar ( Purab aur Pashchim), J.Om Prakash ( Aaashiq Hoon Baharon Ka) and Dev Anand ( Des Pardes).

The plight of Indians away from motherland was best depicted in Des Pardes, with all the songs focussing on different aspects of the phenomenon. This song, written by Amit Khanna,   sums it up:

khushiyan yaheen  pe, milegi hamein  re
apna hai apna, ye des pardes

The sentiments of Indians stuck in  foreign countries was also depicted in 80s, but by then action and crime  had taken charge of the plots of Hindi films and places such as Dubai and Mauritius were explored. Switzerland may have been a fine place for shooting songs, but weaving a story around Indians in foreign land was not attempted till the 90s.

Naam, released in 1986 portrayed the story of a youth going to Dubai and getting caught up in crime, failing to return back, it being a "one-way street". The ghazal on stage by Pankaj Udhas, written by Anand Bakshi was a highlight of the film. The lyrics mirror the sentiments of lakhs of Indians, both here and abroad, with regard to their loved ones.

                                                            तू  ने पैसा बहुत कमाया  
                                                             इस पैसे ने देश छुड़ाया 
                                                           देश पराया छोड़  के आजा 
                                                           पंछी पिंजरा तोड़ के आजा 
                                                            आजा उम्र बहुत है छोटी 
                                                             अपने घर में भी है रोटी 

By this time , a new category of aspirant has dawned on the scene:  wannabe brides !
There were numerous instances of "green card holder" boy coming to India for a month and going back with a "suitable" bride. The situation was fit to be exploited by Hindi film makers. One such film was Pardes in 1997. The story revolved around the journey of a young woman to America for matrimonial reasons and the disillusionment later on.

Hema Sardesai's ' My first day in US' is a rarely heard song, being shadowed by I love my India.

The changing political scenario the world over  means more difficulties for the hopeful immigrants, be it USA or Britain or France. The land of hope is fast turning into a land of hate and one only hopes that this is a passing phase. However, no place can be compared to homeland.

Still, you can be sure that in every era, there will be someone who will keep on singing "I love America"

आज से कॉलेज बंद है ...

The incidents at college campuses in the last week have been so

disheartening. The place for fun and enjoyment, both in curriculum and

extra-curricular aspects  seems to have been turned into near

war-zones. A sign  of times, you will say and I have no

counter-argument to offer.

But one is reminded of the time when this was a place , not only for

for  practical jokes and college romances but also for heated debates

and sit-down dharnas. All these aspects of college life were displayed by songs and scenes in Hindi films, down the years:  a true reflection of

the changing times , as we explore today.

As early as 1947, when so few Indians were fortunate to received higher education, college was 

termed as ....अलबेली (albeli) in the feminine gender !

 This cute song was penned  for the film Samaj Ko Badal Dalo ( 1947), which explains how

even at that time, getting up at 7.30 was so difficult  !

Just go through this song and imagine the plight of the pupils in that era !~

     In the 1950s too, college remained a place for meeting of diverse

people, their  minds and sometimes, their hearts.

Despite the serious subject of Pyaasa, it did have its light moments

when Guru Dutt and Mala Sinha had a thing going as college friends.

There is a scene in which the hero is reciting  sher in the praise of

the heroine,finishing it in time for the entry of lecturer !

By the sixties, the country had experienced more than a decade being

independent and there was still a hope that those who are in college

will get good jobs and make a name for themselves, being the elite .

The period during study had to be spent in honing skills of singing,

dancing, acting and in general, having a good time !

Despite the

natural walls between the genders in the society, college was seen as

a place for the forward-looking, enlightened people, who will take

India to a more progressive and prosperous future. This is spelt out

so well in the song of the eponymous film College Girl 1960
सुबह सवेरे साइकिल की कतारें 
गुंचों की और कलियों की तकरारें 
ना माथे पे पसीना, ना दिल में कोई कीना  

यही तो है यही तो है , प्यारे जीना

The environment started to change soon after. Mediocrity was setting

in and the bright sparks were few and far between. The films continued

to show the stage songs having songs and dances  but

it was being felt that all was not well.
By the time 70s dawned, the

restlessness of the students was visible and this song from Umang

1970, featuring the young Subhash Ghai as the hero summed up the

sentiment aptly.
 Still this was an energetic response to the troubled

times, wishing to reverse the rot that was stemming in.
 

The mid and late seventies really did us in. The whole country was

engulfed in protest, eruptions and unemployment after education. At

one level  the competition was rising to become cut-throat, and then

there were strikes and marches and sloganeering.
     It was during the seventies that the epic confrontation between Student Naseeruddin Shah and Director Girish Karnad took place at the FTII, Pune.
During the 70s .

There were some good films on the subject like Mere Apne,  Imtihaan, Anjaan Raahein and Abhi to jee lein, portraying the angst of the youth, in and out of college. However, romantic angles were generally  present, diluting the backdrop.. 

Escapism was the classic response of Bollywood to anything serious.
There was also a growing 

feeling that colleges have ceased to be " shiksha ke mandir"On the contrary, 

the summer vacations were a cherished period.
तभी तो , the college song

to have made it to the popularity charts was this one
" aaj se college band hai"

.
Soon we started seeing flabby heroes ( actually in their 30s , 40s and 50s) as

college students running round campus trees with equally old heroines.  Rajesh Khanna, at 32 was a student in Aap Ki Kasam , Rajendra Kumar, at 41 in Dharti. But the icing on the cake is this.
The senior-most  college student would certainly be a 52 -year  old Manoj Kumar in Clerk !

However, there were exceptions and we saw a very young ensemble cast

of  Farooque Sheikh, Deepti Naval, Neena Gupta, Kiran Vairale, Satish Shah and Rakesh Bedi as college students in Saath Saath 1982 , singing this lively

gossip song, with teachers chipping in...

Amongst more realistic depictions was a small film with future stars.

Holi had Aamir Khan and Ashutosh Gowarikar, now needing no

introduction. The tense story of a holiday being denied on the Holi

day and the ensuing power struggle was a stroke of creativity, though

the film remained unsung. This song, however, remains as one of the

few canteen songs, with the impromptu use of cutlery as musical

props !

It was Aamir Khan again, who mirrored the aspirations of a large number of college-leaving boys and girls ( and their parents) when he sang the immortal lines," papa kehte hain bada naam karega" in the film Qayamat se qayamat tak ( 1988). The hopes and enthusiasm of the youth were hinged on getting  that "bada naam" !

koi engineer ka kaam karega 
business me koi apna naam karega
magar yeh toh koi naa jaane 
ke meri manzil hai kahaan

                                                               The conflict could not be, however, wished away.

The late 90s and early films of 2000 decade brought forth the ugly side through films like Yuva, rang de basanti and 3 idiots... All three depicted the life of students, their dashed hopes, trials and tribulations, their struggles to fit in a structured system and the consequences of failing to do so.

talli hoke girne se samjhi hamne gravity
ishq ka practical kiya tab aayi clarity

The paathshala song above,  in Rang De Basanti ( in fact, the whole narrative of the film) brought out the anguish and pain behind the boisterous exterior very well.  So did the sunshine song of 3 Idiots . This was however, more intense and laid bare all the ugly truths and falsehoods.

likh likh kar pada hatheli par 
alpha beta gaama ka chhaala
concentrated H2SO4 ne poora
bachpan jalaa daala 

So, here we stand. at the closed gates of colleges which were designed to be catalysts of change and transformation, leading to progress.
Let's hope the gates open ...and soon. 

Amen