Raj Kapoor, the showman, was an artist who weaves magic through his camera. Kapoor the showman had a signature style – larger-than-life movies with grand sets and grander music. But his best work comes in low-key films. One of them is “Jagte Raho,” written by legendary Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. Thespians Sombhu Mitra and Amit Maitra directed this Hindi-Bengali bilungual. Its Bengali title was Ek Din Ratre (The Happenings of One Night).
“Jagte Raho” won the Crystal Globe Grand Prix at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Czechoslovakia in 1957. It also received the Certificate of Merit at the fourth annual National Film Awards.
A satire on our society, “Jagte raho (1956)” is perhaps Raj Kapoor’s best film—both in terms of his own performance and also as his production.
The narrative of the film, through an allegory, reflects the hypocrisy of society and exposes the crimes—big and small—committed behind closed doors and veils of respectability by rich and powerful people who have social standing.
The entire drama unfolds over the course of a night. When a poor villager in search of work in a city is enter a house to quench his thirst. Poor guy chased around by the local people on suspicion of being a thief.
In a beautiful scene that sets the tone for the rest of the movie, he makes friends with a street dog, the only friendly face that he finds, sharing his handful of channa with him.
In another scene, the delightfully drunk Motilal offers him alcohol, much to the villager’s bemusement. The innocent man surprised the cynical city dweller beyond his wits, when he returns the drunkard’s wallet,
Raj Kapoor had very few dialogues in the film. His fear, pain, helplessness, and bemusement were vividly etched on his face and mirrored in his eyes. This was truly a class act from the great Raj Kapoor. The film had a fine ensemble cast, especially Motilal. The film also stars Pradeep Kumar, Chhabi Biswas, Pahari Sanyal, Sumitra Devi, Smriti Biswas, Nana Palsikar, and Daisy Irani. Nargis has a cameo in the film. She comes in the last scene to pour water on a thirsty Raj Kapoor.
The movie has arguably the best bhangra songs ever shot in Hindi films. “Main Koi Jhoot Boleya, Koi Na,” superbly performed by Manohar Deepak, Mauji Singh and Kartar Singh, with music by the legendary Salil Chaudhury and written superbly by Prem Dhawan, summarizes the whole movie. Other songs, “Jaago Mohan Pyaare” and Shailendra‘s philosophical anthology “Zindagi Khawab Hai, Khvaab Me Jhuth Kya Aur Bhala Sach Hai Kya,” picturized on Motilal, set the mood for Jagte Raho’s message.
Jagte Raho on IMDB
