Nargis was born on the first of June in the first half of the previous century – year 1929 to be precise – a clear five decades ahead of me. Those were different times and my understanding of it is largely academic or what has been passed down to me by the connecting generation of my father. Normally, I should not have the temerity to comment on Nargis and her contribution. Yet my fascination for the black-and-white cinema has indeed given me some insight into the cine times of fifties and sixties.
While much of the cinema of those years was essentially a period portrayal with little or no relevance to our times, there still were masters who created cinema of eternal value, and there were players, though only a few, with timeless persona and impact.
Nargis was the first star of the celebrated quartet – the others being Meena Kumari, Vyajantimala and Nutan. Madhubala could lay claim to the same pedestal but, to my mind, she fell short of the quartet by a step or two despite her impish sensuousness and bewitching though askew half smile. Madhubala existed in a lighter vein. That was her forte. Her seriousness was contrived and her performance in Mughal-e-Azam was no exception.
Nargis was a heady cocktail of natural grace and histrionics. Her ‘un-Indian’ looks set her apart and held a stand-alone magnetism for those who craved for a change from over-covered, love-from-a-distance heroines of those times. I guess, her love scenes in Awara must have created a sensation, for those were so ahead of the times. In fact, they look so well connected to and so much in sync to our own times.
However, it was Mehboob Khan, and not Raj Kapoor, who discerned that Nargis was a much greater actress than her popular love-bird image suggested. I wonder, if it was in any one’s ken that a deglamorized Nargis could be the central character of a masterpiece namely Mother India – which perhaps was the strongest message through a popular medium – and it still is – that a woman’s dignity is to be protected irrespective of its consequences – no matter that a son is to be sacrificed. Its present contextuality and relevance should not be lost to us. However, what was amazing was that Mehboob Khan picked Nargis for a role which was so very antithesis of her popular image thitherto. And one will have to marvel at the courage of Nargis to accept this metamorphosis which could have disillusioned millions of her fans. But not only did Nargis came out stronger, she also created a benchmark for excellence which every budding actress swears by.
Earlier, in the year 1949, Mehboob Khan had created another classic – Andaz. It had a love-triangle for its theme – perhaps dealt with for the first time in Hindi cinema. The film was remarkable for its finesse. It was on a theme that is as relevant even now – that flippant ambiguity in man-woman relationship is fraught with dangers. Pitted against two giants of Hindi cinema – Duleep and Raj – Nargis yet held the centre-stage in a stand-out performance. A must-see movie alongwith Mother India for gauging the peerless range of Nargis in a larger backdrop.
Nargis died young – at the age of 52. But she survives in her work epitomized by a beautiful duet of Shri 420 :
Pyar hua ekraar hua
Pyar se dil kyon darta hai dil
……………………………….
………………………………..
……………………………
Main Na Rahoongi Tum Na Rahoge
Phir Bhi Rahengi Nishaaniyaan.
While much of the cinema of those years was essentially a period portrayal with little or no relevance to our times, there still were masters who created cinema of eternal value, and there were players, though only a few, with timeless persona and impact.
Nargis was the first star of the celebrated quartet – the others being Meena Kumari, Vyajantimala and Nutan. Madhubala could lay claim to the same pedestal but, to my mind, she fell short of the quartet by a step or two despite her impish sensuousness and bewitching though askew half smile. Madhubala existed in a lighter vein. That was her forte. Her seriousness was contrived and her performance in Mughal-e-Azam was no exception.
Nargis was a heady cocktail of natural grace and histrionics. Her ‘un-Indian’ looks set her apart and held a stand-alone magnetism for those who craved for a change from over-covered, love-from-a-distance heroines of those times. I guess, her love scenes in Awara must have created a sensation, for those were so ahead of the times. In fact, they look so well connected to and so much in sync to our own times.
However, it was Mehboob Khan, and not Raj Kapoor, who discerned that Nargis was a much greater actress than her popular love-bird image suggested. I wonder, if it was in any one’s ken that a deglamorized Nargis could be the central character of a masterpiece namely Mother India – which perhaps was the strongest message through a popular medium – and it still is – that a woman’s dignity is to be protected irrespective of its consequences – no matter that a son is to be sacrificed. Its present contextuality and relevance should not be lost to us. However, what was amazing was that Mehboob Khan picked Nargis for a role which was so very antithesis of her popular image thitherto. And one will have to marvel at the courage of Nargis to accept this metamorphosis which could have disillusioned millions of her fans. But not only did Nargis came out stronger, she also created a benchmark for excellence which every budding actress swears by.
Earlier, in the year 1949, Mehboob Khan had created another classic – Andaz. It had a love-triangle for its theme – perhaps dealt with for the first time in Hindi cinema. The film was remarkable for its finesse. It was on a theme that is as relevant even now – that flippant ambiguity in man-woman relationship is fraught with dangers. Pitted against two giants of Hindi cinema – Duleep and Raj – Nargis yet held the centre-stage in a stand-out performance. A must-see movie alongwith Mother India for gauging the peerless range of Nargis in a larger backdrop.
Nargis died young – at the age of 52. But she survives in her work epitomized by a beautiful duet of Shri 420 :
Pyar hua ekraar hua
Pyar se dil kyon darta hai dil
……………………………….
………………………………..
……………………………
Main Na Rahoongi Tum Na Rahoge
Phir Bhi Rahengi Nishaaniyaan.
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