Jeevan Se Bhari Teri Aankhen...

Harnam Singh Rawail, known more as HS Rawail (1921-2004), born on August 21, was one of the few film directors of the Hindi film industry blessed with a long life, stretching from a good two decades prior to Independence to a few years into the new millennium.

In an industry where failures at the box office are red marks on a director’s sustainability, Rawail’s career was marked with a lot of stumbles in his initial phase before he made it big with his 1963 Muslim social ‘Mere Mehboob’. Starring Rajendra Kumar and Sadhana, the film went on to be a rage for its story and the lilting music of Naushad. Shakeel Badayuni’s lyrics, especially of the title number – “Mere Mehboob Tujhe Meri Mohabbat Ki Kasam” - is heard with relish even today by a legion of fans of not only the stars but also of the music composer who was a rage then.

The 1968 film ‘Sunghursh’, which saw Dilip Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar for the first time went on to elevate Rawail’s stature further in the industry. Filming a story written by the legendary writer Mahasweta Devi, Rawail brought a pastoral ambience to his film which had Vyjayanti Mala as its heroine. The composer-lyricist duo of Shakeel Badayuni and Naushad weaved magic once again and the song “Mere Pairon Mein Ghunghroo” is a folk number still reverberating all across North India, with the music director including the mesmerising musical strains of eastern UP in it.

In the ‘70s, when Rajesh Khanna made his mark, Rawail featured him in a repeat of his Muslim social genre with ‘Mehboob Ki Mehndi’, which sailed on the superstar craze and went on to be a lukewarm success. Later in 1976, his release ‘Laila Majnu’ starring Rishi Kapoor and Ranjeeta Kaur with its music by Madan Mohan was a humongous hit, with the womenfolk thronging the theatres all through its silver-jubilee run. However, the ‘80s were not kind to Rawail Sr as his son Rahul Rawail took over. His last film ‘Deedar-e-Yaar’ in 1982 crashed badly despite a slew of stars from Jeetendra to Rishi Kapoor to Rekha to Reena Roy.

Asit Sen (1922-2001) is yet another celebrity director who finds a pride of place here. Among the few Bengali film directors who continued to successfully remake his home state ventures into Hindi, Sen is known for a few major releases like ‘Mamta’, ‘Khamoshi’, ‘Anokhi Raat’ and ‘Safar’. The last mentioned is remembered for the performances of its top star collection ranging from Sharmila Tagore to Feroz Khan, not to mention the redoubtable Rajesh Khanna.

The songs in this film “Jo Tumko Ho Pasand” sung by Mukesh sits comfortably alongside the touching “Jeevan Se Bhari Teri Aankhen” by Kishore Da. Sen had a range of actors with whom he worked – from the legend Dilip Kumar who acted in his first-ever triple role film ‘Bairaag’ (1976) to Dharmendra, who proved he could emote well in an understated sort of way in a few of his films. Asit Sen death anniversary falls on August 25.