To celebrate her birthday, Subhash K Jha turns the spotlight on Padmini Kolhapure’s best, Prem Rog.produced and directed by Raj Kapoor, the 1982 film also featured Rishi Kapoor, Nanda, Shammi Kapoor with music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal.
Raj Kapoor’s songs and song picturizations have always been spoke of in hushed tones. Whether it was the elaborate dream sequence ‘Ghar aaya mera pardesi’ in Awara, the robust dancing of Padmini and Vyjayanthimala in ‘Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai’ and ‘Sangam’, respectively, the grand tragic onstage resonance of ‘Jeena yahan marna yahan’ in Mera Naam Joker, the roomy romance of ‘Chabhi kho jaye’ in Bobby or the sound of morning time eroticism in ‘Bhor paye pangham pe’ in Satyam Shivum Sunderam, a whole thesis can be written on the Raj Kapoor songs.
The one song sequence in Raj Kapoor’s cinema that stands out above all is ‘Bhanwre ne khilaya phool’ in Prem Rog. No matter how many times this writer watches it, this number shot in a tulips garden in Amsterdam (the same one where Yash Chopra later shot ‘Dekha ek khwab ‘ in Silsila) with the myriad -coloured flowers contrasting with Padmini Kolhapure’s widow-white saree , is occasion for goosebumps.
Except for one shot of the heroine poised on a rock for the song ‘Mohabbat Hai Kya Cheez’, Prem Rog was Raj Kapoor’s most non-voyeuristic film after Shree 420. The story pleading for widow remarriage, recorded the transition of a pampered and gamine-like girl from a feudal household, into a sudden widow.
The romantic suggestions with the girl’s faithful childhood friend (Rishi Kapoor) were so subtly projected, we felt we were part of a wonderfully unaffected world of trials and tribulations where the problems were seeking out a resolution through the cinematic rites of social revolution.
Padmini Kolhapure’s heartwarming performance won her the Filmfare award for best actress. But Rishi Kapoor as the strongly supportive friend was no less accomplished. The brilliant dialogues by Jainendra Jain lashed out at primitive rituals and customs with rabble rousing passion. Nanda was persuaded out of retirement to play Padmini Kolhapure’s mother.
