Gumrah

Meena (Mala Sinha) is in love with Rajinder (Sunil Dutt). When her sister, Kamla (Nirupa Roy), dies suddenly, Meena gets married to her brother-in-law, Ashok (Ashok Kumar), a barrister, for the sake of Ashok’s two young children. Rajinder re-enters her life and Meena finds herself being drawn to him again. As the two continue to meet behind Ashok’s back, Meena starts getting blackmailed by a woman, Leela (Shashikala), who claims to be Rajinder’s wife…

1963 is a year regarded as a significant one for the Hindi screen woman. There were at least three major films – Bandini, Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke and Gumrah that saw filmmakers making women-centric films with the central character going off the beaten (read traditional) path. If in Bandini, Kalyani (Nutan) follows her heart and goes to her lover, Bikash (Ashok Kumar), instead of the good doctor, Deven (Dharmendra), that society expects her to marry, Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke was ‘inspired’ from the Nanavati murder case and though diluted in that the wife was seduced by her husband’s friend rather than mutually entering into the affair, it was still a case of her committing adultery. Gumrah, said to be loosely inspired by actress Kamini Kaushal’s life as she had to marry her brother-in-law for the sake of his children when her sister died suddenly.

Gumrah is one of BR Chopra’s finest films, Naya Daur (1957) withstanding. Chopra always endeavored to make socially relevant films, yet taking care that his films always catered to popular sentiment. And to be fair to him, he has also done several films that were regarded as bold, highly relevant and ahead of their time. He dared to try a film without songs when he directed the hard-hitting suspense courtroom drama, Kanoon (1960); he produced Ittefaq (1969), in which the heroine is an adulteress and murders her husband with the help of her lover; and in Dhund (1973), he showed a woman, who is married to a paralytic man, take on a lover. Similarly, Gumrah too is a daring and unconventional film for its times as the married heroine is unable to come to terms with her past when her lover shows up in her life again and begins to see him again without her husband’s knowledge.

The film equates the ‘lakshman rekha’ with the sacred threshold of the home inside of which lies the safety of a happily married woman, the true homemaker and explores the consequences of what happens if she crosses the line and goes astray or ‘gumrah.’ In Hindu mythology, Sita suffered when she crossed the line and so must Meena, even if she agreed to marry a man she did not love to become a mother to her nephew and niece. After all, for an Indian woman, marriage was regarded as the pinnacle of achievement with perhaps only procreation being higher on the social scale and here was Meena jeopardizing both her marriage and her motherhood.

To Chopra’s credit, Gumrah does empathize with Meena and shows us just how tough it is for a woman to give up her first love especially as our films have always propagated that an Indian woman loves but once. Hence, the film really comes into its own once the triangle is set up as Meena is made to marry Ashok and Rajinder re-enters her life. Thereafter, the film is gripping with the suspense well-maintained as you wonder if and when she would get caught; especially once she starts getting blackmailed by Leela even if the denouement is a bit too pat. The film captures Meena’s helplessness extremely well as she finds the situation getting messier and more out of hand, finally leading her to attempt killing herself.

Looking at the times, though the premise was bold, the ending had to be ‘acceptable’ and of course, the sanctity and purity of Meena’s marriage had to be preserved. Duty and sacrifice had to take preference to matters of the heart. So yes, Meena finally realizes her mistake of going ‘astray’ and breaks it off permanently with Rajinder to conventionally settles into the life of a dutiful wife and mother. This, even though Ashok has left her free to go to Rajinder if she so wants. The end dialogue – when Meena tells Rajinder “Yahan Koi Meena Nahin Rehti. Yeh Mrs Ashok Ka Ghar Hai.” (No Meena stays here. This is Mrs Ashok’s house) and shuts the door on his face – was met with solid clapping and approval from the audiences and was considered as the highlight of the film, even if appears ever so ‘filmi’ today.

Central to the film are the three extremely competent lead performances. As the woman caught between her husband and lover, Mala Sinha, otherwise having a tendency to work herself into hysterical, melodramatic histrionics of the highest order, responds with perhaps her career’s most effective and largely reined-in performance. Though not the original choice (BR Chopra’s first choice was Meena Kumari), Mala makes the grey-shaded role her own. Both the men, Ashok Kumar and Sunil Dutt, lend able support to her. Though it has to be said that Sunil Dutt walks on thin ice trying hard and does not totally succeed in making his character not appear cad-like as he re-enters Mala’s life after her marriage and encourages her to resume her affair with him. Shashikala vamps it up deliciously as the blackmailer, giving the standout performance of the film as she enters in the last part of the film and practically walks off with it. She deservedly won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film.

The film is a musical triumph for Ravi, perhaps his finest score ever and for singer Mahendra Kapoor who has sung some of his most popular songs in the film. Each of the songs, brilliantly written by Sahir Ludhianvi, be it In Hawaon Mein In Fizaon Mein, Yeh Hawa Yeh Fiza (lovely use of the echo effect), Aap Aaye to Khayal-e-Dil-e-Nashad Aaya or Chalo Ek Baar Phir Se Ajnabee Ban Jaayen Hum Dono was a smash hit. In particular, the last named got Mahendra Kapoor the Filmfare Award for Best Playback singer. It is said that the song was born when Ludhianvi came across his estranged lover, singer Sudha Malhotra, at a party and told her “Chalo Ek Baar…” Mention must also be made of Pran Mehra’s deft editing, especially in keeping up the tension going once the love triangle takes off.

Gumrah was a huge critical and commercial success and also went on to win a Regional Certificate of Merit at the National Awards. The Chopras themselves reworked the film none too successfully as Dehleez (1986) with Raj Babbar, Jackie Shroff and Meenakshi Sheshadri, and Dharmesh Darshan too was ‘inspired’ to make Bewafaa (2005) with Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor, which was nothing short of a disaster. My suggestion is to avoid both these versions and stick to the original.

Hindi, Drama, Black & White