SON OF BHARAT

ACTOR/ENTREPRENEUR KUNAL GOSWAMI PAYS A TRIBUTE TO FATHER AND LEGENDARY ACTOR/FILMMAKER MANOJ KUMAR. FARHANA FAROOK NOTES DOWN HIS MEMORIES.

- FARHANA FAROOK

As a 10-year-old, Manoj Kumar witnessed the tearing apart of India. But it didn't leave him bitter. In fact, the Partition fuelled patriotism in him. Consequently, when he became an actor, Manoj Kumar broke away from romantic soirees to brandish his brand of nationalism. Shaheed (1965) his homage to martyr Bhagat Singh, Upkar (1967) his crusade against brain-drain vis a vis the rural-urban scenario, Purab Aur Paschim (1970) his extolling of the East... are all narratives of idealism. Equally discerning is the disenchantment in Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974), the song Mehengayi maar gayi leaving the then power centres embarrassed. Just as is the distress of the marginalized in Shor (1972). Kranti (1981), an ensemble extravaganza, is an ode to the freedom struggle. Kumar's commitment to the common man's issues of poverty, unemployment, inequality... along with colonial oppression remains unquestionable. The sobriquet 'Bharat' made him synonymous with the land he represented and romanticised. Technically, the filmmaker's signature style was the 'Manoj Kumar shot,' where the camera zoomed in and out from the actor's face. While Kumar's mirror shots were 'reflections' of fantasy, his brooding silences and his face covered with his hand... became part of his idiomatic expression. And even as the music and message of his films deify his image of a flag-waver, Madan Mohan's elegiac Lag jaa gale filmed on Sadhana and him (Woh Kaun Thi?) has entrenched Kumar in the cinematic consciousness forever. Here, son Kunal Goswami shares insights about his legendary father, who passed away on April 4 this year... Read on...

PAIN OF PARTITION