Alternate Movies

Ijazaat is another must see indian movie.The movie is directed by padmabhushan S.S.Gulzar , based on a bengali novel by Subhodh Ghosh.You can see the multiple facet's of gulzar in this movie.Gulzar the writer, the director and the lyricist and this is one movie where you cannot point anything wrong in the way he has done his job.Gulzar like basu chatterji, sai paranjpaye and hrishikesh mukerjee is another middle of the road film maker, who has given some beautiful movies.And this is one of his best.

----------------------------story -----------------------
The movie starts with mahendra(nasrudeen shah) & Sudha(rekha) meeting in a railway waiting room. They recognize each other, they are litle uncomfortable with each other at first. Then we come to know that they were married once and the story slowly unfolds as flash backs. Mahendra is in love with maya(Anuradha Patel).They actually live together without getting married. Maya who does not believe in marriage is also in love with him but is non committal on marriage. During that time mahendra is pressurized by his family to marry sudha. Mahendra tries to reach maya but she is not in town.So he gets married to sudha after telling all about his past and relationship with maya.sudha is ok with it, if he completely forgets maya and starts a new life with her. They get married.

Sudha finds that mahender is trying to forget maya, but still her thoughts are with him.Maya comes back and is upset on mahender's marriage. She even tries to commit suicide.Mahendra takes pity on her and gives emotional support. But sudha who is unaware of maya's suicide attempts believes that her husband is still in love with her and leaves him.so after 5 years are so they again meet in that railway waiting room.After discussing all their past, rekha comes to know that maya tried to commit suicide and that's why he had to support her. she feels bad for her decision to leave him. What happened in there lives in the past 5 years after they separated adds a twist and ends with a nice climax
---------------------------------------------------------

This is a romantic movie, but a movie that talks to the matured audience and not to teenagers. It is more about loving after marriage than before marriage. This is a sweet and subtle movie that talks about love in a very sensitive way.There is no big villian who wants to stop the lovers or jealously, hatred that arises in a triangular love story.It is a movie that explores love in a deep way.

The movie is about the 3 main characters and the story is told in a serious of flash backs.This emotional drama unfolds in just one night, with the story alternating between past and present through those flash backs. The movie which starts with the hero getting into the waiting station on a rainy night ends the next morning, when the dark clouds are not there anymore and the sky is clear.The pent up emotions and thoughts are out. It is all clear now, time to move on.

Ijaazat reminded me of maniratnam's alaipayuthe which later came as saathiya in hindi. Alaipayuthey has the same feel of ijazaat, a husband who still hasn't understood the real meaning of love and care waits in a railway station, where his past plays out as a serious of flashback. A new character is introduced at the end of the movie and this character makes the hero realize what loving one's wife really means.

alaipayuthey

Ijazaat beautifully sketches all the 3 characters and does not distract into anything else. Every frame is about these characters, no unnecessary comedy or fight scenes. Songs yes, but they too give more insight into the characters than distract us. It is not a typical run of the mill movie where characters are shown in black and white. In this movie you are made to agree and sympathies with all the characters. The character Maya in any other indian movie of that time period would be a tramp, a life loving free spirited person, a woman who does not belive in marriage is not a character that would appeal to the indian audience.But in ijazaat you understand her too and you are comfortable with her stance on life too.The credit off course goes to gulzar for making the audience agree with that character.This is a pure writers movie, a good story, exploring the complexities of relationships. Gulzar the lyricist has created a poem with this movie.

Cast and Credit:
Rekha .... Sudha
Naseeruddin Shah .... Mahinder
Anuradha Patel .... Maya
Sulabha Deshpande .... Parvati
Shashi kapoor
Shammi Kapoor


Music:


This is another awesome album by the Gulzar,Asha,Burman combo.Another movie with deadly songs by gulzar ,all of them sung by asha.



Mera kuchh saamaan -Asha Bhonsle
Katra Katra milati hai -AB
Khali haath shaam aayee hai -AB
Chhoti si kahani mein -AB

Burman, asha, gulzar

The lyrics are just awesome in the songs.Especially Mera kuch saaman. Pain is always expressed in a crying song a milder version will be where the heroine will sing the song with a drop of a tear in her eyes. But this is a very different one; this is poetic pain, a lyrical pain sung beautifully by asha.

Awards:
In 1987 chithra was on a hatrick for the national awards for best singer, she won the national award in 1985 for "Padariyen" - Sindhu Bhairavi - Tamil

Chithra and ilayaraja

and in 1986 for "Manjal Prasadavum" - Nakhakshathangal - Malayalam.But the R.D.Burman/gulza/asha team broke her hatrick with "Mera kuch saman".Mera kuch saman won gulzar the 1987 national award for best lyricist and singer for asha. But eventually chithra went on to get her 3rd national award the very next year, 1988, for the song "Indupushpam" from the malayalam movie Vaishali.Well a broken hattrick.

In 1988 film fare awards gulzar won the best lyricist for "mera kuch saman", but asha and burman didn't get the singer and music director awards. Reason the entry of two block buster movies tezaab and Qayamet se Qayamet tak.The awards went to alka yagnik for "ek do thenn" and anand milind for QSQT.

listen to Ijazaat songs here in musicindiaonline

Trivia:
Pawan says that the character Maya's penchant for taking off on sudden unannounced road trips was borrowed from Deepti Navals real life persona . Naval - a travel freak is apparently given to taking off on her jeep to far flung places like ladakh, etc...without informing anyone.

Aroma Radio gave this intresting trivia that Gulzar wrote the dialouges for saathiya.

Links
lyrics
gulzar interview in hindu

-------------------spoiler-----------------
Till the end of the movie you are made to take side of the hero and how rekha didn't understand him etc.We are also distracted by their mutual respect for each other and are made to hope for the usual happy ending of the pair getting back together at the end of the movie.But the usual gulzar twist awaits at the end of the movie.At dawn enters sashi kapoor into the waiting room.From him we come to know that rekha got married again and he has come to pick up rekha from the station. Sashi starts telling rekha why he was late, how he was struck in the traffic etc.He then gets her the shawl that she forgets and asks her to wear it as it is cold outside.By these many small gestures he conveys how much he loves and cares for his wife.Our view of the hero mahendra completely changes with those gestures. Even though mahendra was struggling between the 2 women and tried to be sincere, he never loved or cared for his wife sudha like sashi kapoor.He comes to understand what it means to love & care.The audience are left with mixed emotions.You feel pity for the mahendra character and happiness for sudha. Everyone is made to think the mistakes that the character mahender has done and how he could have corrected it.Probably take some lessons from the movie for their personal life.
---------------------------------