On the occasion of
Father’s Day Jaideep Sen pens a heartfelt piece for Salim Saab who is more than a father figure to him. Read on…
I don’t
remember the context in which I made this particular call to Salim Saab one
evening during the interval of a Film that I was watching at PVR Citi Mall,
Mumbai. But as usual it was enriching because in the course of the conversation
when I mentioned to him that in my understanding, a Love Story comprises of
the relationship between a boy and girl, he stopped me and said that it’s a
misconception that a Love Story is only between a boy and girl. Now that was a
first for me and I immediately felt that some life altering knowledge was going
to be imparted by the gifted Salim Saab.
He said
that a love story can be between a master and servant, between an animal and
his master and mentioned Haathi Mere
Saathi in that context. In that very
moment my already immense respect for Salim Saab shot up uncountable folds and
went through the roof. Such indepth understanding of the emotion of Love, beyond
the expected boy-girl dynamic is completely unheard of, but then that’s what
separates a man from the boys and a genius from the good.
It is purely
because of this understanding that Salim Saab along with his erstwhile partner
Javed Akhtar Saab has written the greatest Love Story between two friends in Sholay, a mother and sons in Deewar and between two brothers in Naam, his first film as a solo writer.
These three
films had an uninterrupted flow of Love from both parties towards each other
but the one complex Love Story riddled with roadblocks was the one between father
and son in Shakti, which brought
together for the first and last time two of the greatest actors of Indian
cinema, Mr. Dilip Kumar and Mr. Amitabh Bachchan in one of Salim Saab-Javed
saab’s greatest scripts ever for which they got the Filmfare Award for Best
Screenplay.
There is
only one word to describe the simmering equation between Ashwini Kumar and his son, Vijay – Volatile.
The
misunderstanding that lodges itself in Vijay’s head as a child takes such life
threatening proportions as he grows into a young man that he is perpetually
doubting the stand and intent of his righteous father. This keeps widening the
gap between them to such an extent that the only bridge that finally connects
them is death, when the cop father has no choice but to shoot his fugitive son.
That
particular moment between the shattered Ashwini and a dying Vijay brings a lump
in my throat even as I punch the keys of my laptop and revisit the
unforgettable death scene. A dying Vijay tells his father: “Bahot koshish ki ki apne dil se aapki mohabbat nikaal doon lekin main
hamesha aapse pyaar karta raha.” (I have tried very hard to remove all traces of love for you from my heart, but I've always loved you.)
I feel these are the most emotionally powerful
words ever said to elevate the emotion of love over hatred and genuinely
heighten the definition of a Love Story.
Jaideep Sen is a filmmaker and a connoisseur of the art of storytelling
Read some of his earlier pieces in this series here...
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