The Power of a Progressive Pen - by Jaideep Sen

Week S of the Authors' Tips Series is proving to be a pathbreaking one. 

In a second post for Alphabet S, Jaideep Sen writes about the significance of social messaging in films, particularly the kind of progressive writing as categorised in Master Screenwriter Salim Khan's films.

Read on...

When my writer friend, Adite Banerjie, mentioned that her blog is doing something called “Week S” which is celebrating any Phenomenon starting with the Alphabet S, I thought it was only apt that I did my next piece on Phenomenal Writer, Salim Saab.

Cinema breaks the time barrier, becomes timeless and its respect is etched in stone when along with the required ingredient of entertainment it also deals with socially relevant issues and progressive characters. This has been the hallmark of Salim Saab’s writing – both as an independent writer as well as in his writing partnership with Javed Akhtar.  

Satyen Kappu in Deewar

The dialogues spoken by Satyen Kappu Ji in Deewar: “Hamari shikayat yeh hain ki hamare aate ke kanastar khali kyon hain” and Kumar Gaurav in Naam:  “Zameer aur pet ki ladaai mein zameer sirf kitabon mein jit ta hain,haqiqat mein jeet pet ki hoti hain” bear testimony to that by equating social and economic disparity to hunger. This is the most raw, naked and hard-hitting expression that a pen can deliver. This outcry is born out of angst and progression out of sensitivity.

Kumar Gaurav in Naam

In their incredible body of work, perhaps the most progressive character that comes to mind is Thakur Baldev Singh in Sholay. On one side, he’s the man seeking revenge for the brutal massacre of his family and on the other we see him as the extremely understanding and sensitive father-in-law who not only senses his widowed daughter-in-law Radha’s sorrow and loneliness but also her tilt towards Jai. He proposes to her father that Radha should get married again.

This scene is remarkably overwhelming because Radha’s own father is hesitant and embarrassed at even the thought of her remarriage and how sensibly and sensitively Thakur Saab explains to him his reasons for the proposal and convinces the Father.

 

What has stayed back with me is how progressive this piece of writing is which can only be a product of extremely noble minds who through art influence society to become a better place to live in. This in turn raises the contribution and respect of cinema to a dignified pedestal.

Sanjeev Kumar and Iftekhar in Sholay

This quality of Salim Saab-Javed Saab’s inspirational writing found its voice in last season’s KBC TV show, where one of its contestants from Himachal Pradesh mentioned that one sad spot in their family was that her younger sister (who was in the audience along with their parents) had lost her husband at a young age and that though they were trying to get her remarried, they were finding it difficult because even today it’s not a very socially accepted norm. The family was in tears at this point and to reassure them Mr. Bachchan had mentioned how he and his fraternity of performing artistes try to do their bit for society through their films. He had also quoted none other than the Epic film Sholay and his track in the film with Jaya Ji as an attempt to create awareness that a widow is entitled to remarry and live a happy life once again.

This just shows how foresighted the Masters of Writing were -- what they wrote in 1973 (released in 1975) is even in 2019, and shall always be, the reference point of the power of a progressive pen. 

Jaideep Sen is a filmmaker and a connoisseur of the art of storytelling