A voice that cannot be silenced

Though one of the earliest in certain technical innovations (as revealed by Amitabh Bachchan in a recent tribute), he firmly believed in cinema as a medium of storytelling rather than an excuse for technical razzmatazz. Bachchan also reiterated a favourite Prakash Mehra quote, “People come to watch a story, not to look at the camera’s gymnastics!”

A lot of what Mehra became and his films turned out was due to his early life, when his father left home to turn ascetic. He always hankered for a family and was thus very upset when his son Sumit, after whom he had named his Preview Theatre, migrated to America. He was devastated when his wife passed away after years in coma, and was never the same again. His films showed the importance of family ties in different ways, highlighting the father-son clash in Sharabi or having an orphan as protagonist in Muqaddar Ka Sikander and Laawaris.

He came out openly against Amitabh Bachchan’s attitude, as perceived by him as a lack of gratitude, after Mehra had slalomed him from anonymity to Zanjeer and many diverse highs like Hera Pheri, Muqaddar Ka Sikander, Laawaris, Sharabi and even Jaadugar. “Amitabh never told me that he had signed Manmohan Desai’s Toofan with almost the same story!” was the beginning on his disillusionment with the man he made a superstar.

But at the other end, Mehra always conceded that he was just the tool for Bachchan’s destiny. “Otherwise, why would Dev Anand and Raaj Kumar have refused the film?” he had asked me at our meeting over a decade ago. “Besides, I was destined to make Zanjeer. It was Zanjeer, not me, that made Amitabh a superstar!”      

If his belief in destiny is so strong, what made him film a story like Muqaddar Ka Sikander that stated the opposite, including in its title-song by Anjaan? Says Mehra, “I just liked the story, that’s all. But destiny decides the good things. All we have in our power is to modify a bit of the bad things that happen to us.”

Mehra landed in Mumbai with Rs 30 in his pocket in the mid-50s and began his career ghostwriting songs and dialogues. His first credited work was the popular song ‘Jhankar payal ki tose binti kar’ from Naag Devta composed by SN Tripathi. He later wrote many lyrics and films and after assisting Narendra Suri and Mohan Segal, turned director with the 1968 hit Haseena Maan Jayegi with Shashi Kapoor and Babita.

After two more successes, Mela (1971) and Samadhi (1972) which was Dharmendra’s home production, Prakash Mehra launched Zanjeer, the film that set more trends than any single Hindi film besides catapulting Bachchan and writers Salim-Javed to the top.

And which were those trends? Pran became a stereotype as the hero’s right-hand and bosom buddy, and the dosti-male bonding genre took off. The ‘Angry Young Man’ came to stay, as did the vendetta drama. Ajit became the master-villain, and the film revived his career too. ‘Yaari hai imaan mera’ also is the first modern ‘item’ song in Hindi films.

And that song also revived the qawwali in Hindi cinema in a new form, and it also became the first famous contemporary song on friendship.

In real-life too, Mehra hankered for friends and relationships. Come Vinod Khanna, Raakhee, Rekha or Om Prakash, lyricists like Gulshan Bawra and Anjaan (his favourite), his camera, art direction and editing team and his music makers (Kalyanji-Anandji and later Bappi Lahiri), Mehra tended to repeat his cast and crew. His non-Bachchan hits included Haath Ki Safai and his 1993 production Dalaal, a self-admitted clever reprise of his 1992 flop, Zindagi Ek Juaa.

Music was a key part of Mehra’s psyche and films, and not just because he had started out as a lyricist. He continued to write songs in outside movies right till the 90s, and one of these is the timeless ‘Aur iss dil mein kya rakkha hai’ in Imaandaar. He always wrote at least one song in his own films, whether it was ‘Pag ghunghroo’ in Namak Halaal, ‘Salaam-e-ishq’ in Muqaddar Ka Sikander or ‘Aap ka kya hoga janaab-e-aali’ in Laawaris.

Very particular about his music, which was always integral to the plot, Mehra did agree that he has a musical and audiovisual style of his own. And almost every film of his had a hit score or at least many hit songs.

Mehra’s blockbusters will be remembered for ever. And with their name will always be associated this sentimental man from Punjab who was known to be completely honest in his dealings and a storyteller who never repeated himself — but for that one exception he admitted.