Parakh (Hindi movie, 1960)

 

Yesterday I was keen on watching an old (in my case it would always mean 'black and white') movie. So was searching for an appropriate movie to watch. Stumbled (yes, that's the word) upon 'Parakh' on YouTube. When the movie had run for about 2 minutes or so, I thought I should try and find it on other OTT platforms and see if a better quality movie was available there. Checked out on Prime Video, Zee5, and Sony Liv; but no luck. So continued watching the movie on YouTube. I was not aware of the plot, director, story writer, or other characters in the movie. But one song is just memorable and I listen to that song quite often. It is among Lata Mangeshkar's favourites too. No wonder! The YouTube link to the song is below:

Link to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTl3-F24thk

Suffice it to say that I could watch the movie for the song also just in case the movie didn't hold my attention! Anyway, this blog post is not about the song; it is about the movie! About 15 minutes into the movie, I thought the story is dragging and there isn't much to recommend about it. No wonder Bimal Roy's directorial venture is not so well known unlike his other movies like Madhumati, Do Bigha Zamin, Sujata, etc. Then a twist happened. The character in the movie whom I thought didn't have much of a role suddenly became an important character!

(No spoilers ahead) The movie is about democracy and a sarcastic though light-hearted take on how it is misused by various politicians. I was surprised that a movie made in 1960 is still relevant today. Probably more relevant now, what with politicians wooing voters with freebies and bribing them with money and favours before elections to vote for them. I was reminded of Cho's Mohammed Bin Thuglak, a commentary on the political landscape in India. In the stage play, before the screen is lifted and the play begins, there is a voice over with a comment thanking the politicians of the day in ensuring that the story and dialogues in the play, which hadn't undergone any changes, remained relevant when I watched it about 2 decades after it was written. The movie makers of Parakh could also be proud of the fact that after 6 decades the politicians of today ensure that the story remains relevant today!

In case you have time and are interested, you can watch the movie here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF269zCOSuM