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You’d be forgiven for thinking that controversy in Bollywood was a 1990’s invention. True, the 1990’s did see a lot of films that tackled stories, which were relevant to and provoked debate among communities in India (for example, Mani Ratnam’s “Bombay”, Gulzar’s “Maachis” and even Lateef Binny’s contrived “Dahek” had ruffled a few feathers). If releasing a potentially controversial film in the 1990’s was a very hard task then imagine how hard it must have been for Yash Chopra to make a film like “Dharmputra” in the 1960’s. This was at a time when the horrors of the 1947 partition were still fresh in everyone’s minds.
The story begins in the early 1930’s and introduces the character of Nawab Badruddin (Ashok Kumar). It is late at night and he has come to visit his neighbour, doctor Amrit Rai (Manmohan Krishna), for some advice. It is regarding a situation involving his daughter, Husn Banu (Mala Sinha). She has committed the grave sin of becoming pregnant outside of marriage. Eager to save his family’s reputation and honour, Nawab Sahib must find the father of his soon-to-be-born grandchild immediately but he is not anywhere to be found. The doctor goes to speak to Banu who is waiting outside his home in a horse and cart carriage. Sinha’s first screen appearance in the film is striking. A delicate beauty, her eyes speak volumes of emotion. Her character is no simple-minded village girl. The doctor asks the pregnant girl: “Yeh dhoka kis ne kiya aap ke saath? (Who has deceived you?)”. “Mere saath dhoka kaun kar sakta hai (Who can deceive me?)”, she replies. Banu explains that she was not deceived by her love, she is an educated girl who knew what she was doing. Her baby is the result of her love for her teacher, Javed Hamid (Rehman). The doctor and his wife Savitri (Nirupa Roy) decide to offer the solution. They will all go to another place for a period of time. Once Banu has given birth there, Savitri and Amrit will adopt the baby. Upon their return to the Delhi community, an announcement is made regarding the arrival of Amrit and Savitri’s newborn child. Departed from his natural mother, who is Muslim, the child is accepted by a Hindu family. The religious differences do not occur in their minds not even at the christening when Banu lovingly names the child Dilip. Indeed, the theme of religious differences only occurs later in the story. Ironically, after the whole situation has been dealt with, Banu meets her true love, Javed, while praying at a mosque. With the approval of Nawab Sahib (who was against their union before Banu fell pregnant), they get married. Instead of causing resentment and anxiety, Dilip only strengthens the bond between the two families. Symbolically, building work is done to join the two houses together to make it easier for Dilip to travel between the two places. Thus the bond between the two families is set in stone never to be broken.
Tragedy comes when Nawab Sahib is killed in rebellion riots against the British government occupying India. Heartbroken, Banu and Javed leave to live far away where it would be easier for them to not meddle in Dilip’s life and let his adopted family take care of him. The second half of the narrative (which flash-forwards to the year 1947) begins with the return of the married couple to their old neglected mansion. Dilip has now grown up to be a handsome young man (played by Shashi Kapoor). Since Banu and Javed have been away for many years, Dilip has abandoned the path that led to their house. The special bond that he had with his natural parents as a child has now been destroyed. He has become an extremely religious person. Except this religious devotion borders on fanaticism leading him to hate Muslims. Angered by the Indian Muslims’ demand for a country of their own (Pakistan), he decides that all Muslims in Delhi must be killed. With a lynch mob, he goes on his way to Banu and Javed’s house to murder them… This film has some interesting political points to make about religion. Aside from the usual commendable points about how people from different religions must live together in peace, “Dharmputra” also suggests that religions are not always right. Irritated by Dilip’s demands about how devoted his future wife should be, Savitri reminds him that religion has not always been kind to women. Until the custom of Sati was outlawed in 1829, a lot of women had to burn themselves on the pyre if their husbands died. Consider the irony in how this speech is coming from a woman named Savitri (in Hindu mythology, Savitri was a woman who was exceptionally devoted to her husband). In this statement is a hidden message about how religion is not perfect and how religious laws can sometimes have devastating effects on societies. But religious fanaticism can also divide people. This is shown in the distance that Dilip and his hateful mob have to travel from one side of the village before they get to Banu and Javed’s house. Dilip is not the small, loving and non-judgemental child who only had to walk a few steps over a wall to give his aunt Banu a hug. Now that he is advocating hate, the distance he has to walk to get to the Muslims’ house has increased. This is Shashi Kapoor’s first role as an adult and a breakaway from the child roles that he did earlier. In his romantic scenes with his new love interest, he is utterly charming. Witness his shy smile and twinkling eyes as he sings “Tumhari Aankhen… (Bhool Sakta Hai Bhala Kaun)” to woo the girl of his dreams. His sincerity and fiery patriotism is inspiring to watch in the song “Jai Janani Jai Bharat”. Sinha and Kapoor have the most important roles in the story and they give impressive performances. The music is composed by N. Dutta and a few songs are very memorable and melodious. In particular, “Saare Jahan Se Acha Hindustan Hamara” has gone onto become one of India’s most loved patriotic anthems. What starts off as an interesting film falls apart in the second half. The second half has a voice-over by a narrator. This is odd as it is not there in the first part and seems more like an unwanted intrusion into the audience’s enjoyment of the story. Rajendra Kumar makes a special appearance, which may make an impact but he has little to do with the actual plot. His over-acting will either annoy or move you. The ending is slightly unconvincing and the build-up to the resolution of the tale is over-melodramatic. Nevertheless, this film is a nostalgic reminder of a certain time when Chopra used to take risks and make movies that were interesting and a little different. And for even just that reason alone, “Dharmputra” is worth watching.
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