Raj Kapoor, the showman, an artist who weaves magic through his camera, is often remembered for his 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,” or Ek Din Ratre (The Happenings of One Night) in Bengali, written by legendary Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and directed by thespians Sombhu Mitra and Amit Maitra.
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Willum Skeener
“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 considered by many as 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 forced to enter a house to quench his thirst but is 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, and when he returns the drunkard’s wallet, the cynical city dweller is surprised.
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. He was supported by 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,” superbely performed by Manohar Deepak, Mauji Singh and Kartar Singh, with music by the legendary Salil Chaudhury and written superbly by Prem Dhawan, summarises the whole movie. Other songs, “Jaago Mohan Pyaare” and Shalendra’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.
