| Rajnigandha | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Basu Chatterjee |
| Screenplay by | Basu Chatterjee |
| Story by | Manu Bhandari |
| Based on | "Yehi Sach Hai" byMannu Bhandari |
| Produced by | Suresh Jindal |
| Starring | Amol Palekar Vidya Sinha Dinesh Thakur |
| Cinematography | K. K. Mahajan |
| Edited by | G.G. Mayekar |
| Music by | Original Score & Songs: Salil Chowdhury Lyrics for songs: Yogesh |
Release date |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
Rajnigandha (transl. Tuberose) is a 1974Hindi film directed byBasu Chatterjee. It is based on the short story "Yehi Sach Hai" by noted Hindi writerMannu Bhandari.[1][2] The movie starredAmol Palekar,Vidya Sinha andDinesh Thakur in the lead.
Rajnigandha went on to win the Best Picture, the Popular Award and the Critics Award at theFilmfare Awards in 1975. It was considered to have a realistic outlook of urban middle class on cinema in 1974, an era when potboilers were rulingBollywood, a genre which was later called the Middle Cinema.[3] The film was the first screen role ofVidya Sinha and first Hindi film ofAmol Palekar, both of whom went on to work withBasu Chatterjee in many films. Rajnigandha was remade into Bengali in 2012 asHothat Shedin.
Deepa is a graduate student in Delhi who is in a long-term relationship with Sanjay, whom she plans to marry. Sanjay is a loquacious, humorous, and a good individual who is also rather lackadaisical and forgetful with no sense of punctuality.
A job interview call from a college in Mumbai re-acquaints her with her college boy-friend Navin whom she had split up with under acrimonious circumstances. Navin is in every way the antithesis of Sanjay: He is very punctual and looks after her during her stay in Mumbai. Navin shows her the city and helps her with the job interview. This rekindles Deepa's feelings for him, and she finds herself torn between the two men and between her past and her present. Upon her return to Delhi, she feels that her first love is her true love. She receives a letter stating that she has got the job in Mumbai. At the same time Sanjay comes to her house and tells her that he has got a promotion, which would require him to stay in Delhi. Deepa then feels that she should forget the past and marry Sanjay, opting not to move to Mumbai for the job.
The original story,Yahi Sach Hai (1960), written in diary format was by Mannu Bhandari, an important writer of the Nayi Kahani literary movement ofHindi literature in the 1960s. While writing the screenplay, Basu Chatterjee transposed the story fromKanpur and Kolkata to Delhi and Mumbai in the film.[4][2]
Director Basu Chatterjee's original cast wasShashi Kapoor,Sharmila Tagore andAmitabh Bachchan. Then he switched to Bengali actors,Aparna Sen andSamit Bhanja. Even classical dancerMallika Sarabhai was to be cast as lead, but her final MBA exams clashed and eventually debutante Vidya Sinha got the role after she responded to one of the ads placed by Basu Chatterjee.[5][6]
This was the first Hindi film of Amol Palekar, who at that time was a less known theater actor. In an interview in 2015 with S.M. Irfan onRajya Sabha TV, Palekar described the circumstances in which he made this switch to mainstream acting. During one of their meetings at the "Film forum" (one of the leading film societies ofBombay at that time) Basu Chatterjee showed Palekar the story "Yahi Sach Hai" byMannu Bhandari to read. Once Palekar finished reading it, Chatterjee showed him the script that had been written based on this story. He thereafter asked him if he would like to play the leading role in it. Palekar, a trained artist from theJJ School of art and a theater actor had at that time worked in twoMarathi films includingShaantata Court Chaalu Aahe, bySatyadev Dubey andGovind Nihalani.[7]
The principal photography of the film started with 20-day schedule in Mumbai in 1972, which wrapped up in 16 days. This was followed by a 15-day schedule in Delhi. However, after that the film's producer, Suresh Jindal who was also a first time film producer struggled for the next two years to obtain the remaining funding. A potential distributor even offered finance for the film if it was reshot with a different lead actor. The film was completed eventually in 1974 with same leads.[5][8]
The film's music director wasSalil Chowdhury rendered commercially successful tracks and the songs were written byYogesh.Mukesh sang "Kai Baar Yuheen Dekha hai," for which he won theNational Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer.
All lyrics are written byYogesh; all music is composed bySalil Chowdhury
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kai Baar Yuheen Dekha hai" | Mukesh | 3:22 |
| 2. | "Rajnigandha Phool Tumhaare" | Lata Mangeshkar | 3:24 |
On 6 September 1974, a trial show, whereRajshri Productions bought the Mumbai territory for distribution, the film was first released with single print atAll India Radio's Akashwani theatre in South Mumbai. Thereafter through word of mouth, the film gained rapid publicity, and became asleeper hit, spreading to many theatres.[5][9] ActorAmol Palekar who made his Hindi film debut with the film, went on to make 'Debut Silver Jubilee Hatrick' with subsequent Basu Chatterjee films,Chhoti Si Baat (1975) andChitchor (1976), and all Silver Jubilee hits in Mumbai.
| Year | Category | Cast/Crew member | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Best Male Playback Singer | Mukesh for "Kai Baar Yoon Bhi Dekha Hai"[10] | Won |
| 1975 | Critics Award for Best Movie | Basu Chatterjee | Won |
| Best Film | Suresh Jindal (for Devki Chitra) | Won | |
| 1975 | Best Editor Award | G. G. Mayekar | Won |
| Best Indian Films Award | - | Won | |