Many Bollywood films can qualify for the tag of a ‘musical’ so I always found it a bit unfair that the one I watched recently- Parichay- should be remembered as a rip-off of an all-time classic ‘The Sound of Music’
Now, I’ve watched The Sound of Music so many times that I probably know the script by heart, and I DO know the songs well enough to sing them in my sleep (very badly, but the lyrics will be spot on). And when I watched ‘Parichay’ I felt more than ever that it was a very skilful adaptation of the former, not a mere ‘copy’
After all, Gulzar is a highly prolific lyricist, poet, script writer and director in his own right. Why would the creator of such insightful, path-breaking films like Koshish, Khushboo, Aandhi, Ijazat and many more, need to plagiarize a Hollywood musical?
To begin with, the stern disciplinarian Captain with seven children in the original is the retired Col. Rai Bahadur (Pran with a military moustache) and grandfather of five in Parichay. The governess Maria from The Sound of Music is the desperately-seeking-employment Ravi (Jeetendra in a toned-down and much improved version of himself) who agrees to tutor these five unruly children. The sweet sixteen Liesl from the musical is the equally sweet though rebellious Didi (Jaya Bhaduri, always a delight to watch). Mother Superior and the nuns are replaced by Ravi’s loving and supportive Mamaji and Mami. And there end the similarities.
The story trots along perkily, the children try various tactics to shake off this latest ‘Masterji’ in a long line of tutors to no avail. He wins them over by laughing at their tricks, telling them stories of a ‘langda bhoot’ and generally spending time getting to know and understand them. The action is lightly laced with humour all through and even the back story of how the children were orphaned and rescued from dire poverty by their grandfather, whom they resent for having turned his back on their father doesn’t weigh down the narrative.
The romance between Masterji and Didi is shown mainly through glances and gentle by-mistake touch of the hands. They do not waltz in the moonlight or sing about having done something good to deserve this.
There are several scenes that make one smile, chuckle and laugh and what I found refreshing was that the children are just children, not precocious little adults, they sulk, rebel and get up to all sorts of mischief.
One must hand it to Gulzar for extracting such a sober yet pleasant performance from Jumping Jack Jeetendra who was at best an average actor. In fact, the only time he does jump in the film is at the end, from a train moving out of the station. Even then he stumbles, falls and has to be helped to his feet by the heroine!
It’s a musical so how can the music be far behind? In place of Maria singing ‘I have confidence in me’ as she makes her way to the Captain’s house, we have Kishore Kumar singing ‘Musafir hoon yaroon’ in perfect time and rythm to the tonga as it takes Ravi to his Mamaji’s house.
The classic ‘Do- a deer’ is skillfully transformed into the very hummable ‘Saare ke saare’ by Gulzar. It’s proof of the mastery Gulzar has over the medium of words. Listen to this: pa-pa nahin hai, dha-ni-si di-di, Didi ke saath hain saa-re…. Sheer genius. The verdant slopes of the Alps are replaced by the plains of Table Land in Panchgani but by then the viewer is so engrossed in the story that any thoughts of Maria and the Von Trapp family are as elusive as the edelweiss in the mountains.
The only melody that lingers in the mind is ‘mujhe chalte jaana hai, bas chalte jaana’
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