Choti si kahani se,
Baarishon ke paani se
Saari waadi bhar gayi,
Naa jaane kyon dil bhar gaya,
Naa jaane kyon aankh bhar gaya
I got to watch Ijaazat again after seven years and the more I watched it the more I liked it. Movie starts with this song: Choti Si Kahani Se which is quite ironic and symbolic of the whole movie- a movie which revolves around only three characters and how their lives are interconnected. On a rainy night, Mahinder awaits his train in a small railway station's waiting room. But life, at times, is full of surprises. He meets Sudha there- his ex-wife. From there begins Choti Si Kahani of memories and reminiscences: their journey together through thick and thin of life- a journey of sacrifice- a journey of compromise- a journey of mistakes- a journey that had ended five years ago.
...there is Maya- a wild and free spirit. An impulsive personality who just runs away from life at times- a totally mercurial person- an entity within human body radically different from humans themselves- Mahinder is in love with this girl- this incomprehensible Maya- He was her mentor- her lover- her cohort- her guide- her friend; and ironically she was the same for him. And like always she disappeared unexpectedly and he was forced to marry Sudha by his grandfather. Sudha- she was a total opposite of Maya- she was a symbol of serenity and tranquility- she was what a perfect wife could be- For sometime life had attained normalcy- but not for long.
Maya came back- and now he was stuck in the abyss of dilemmas. He couldn't, for once, forget his love- yet he did not want to cheat on Sudha- a wife that had tried to give him everything. When Sudha gets to know about it- she restrains herself. She tries to be understanding. When she asks Mahinder to give Maya her belongings back which were at Mahinder's place, Mahinder complies. But Maya ironically replies-
Mera kuch saaman tumhaare paas para hai,
Saawan ke kuch bheege bheege din rakhe hain,
aur mere ik khat main lipti raat pari hai,
woh raat bujha do, mera woh saaman lota do,
patjhar main kuch patton ki girne ki aahat,
kaanon main ik baar pehan ke lotayee thee,
patjhar ki woh shaakh abhi tak kaanp rahi hai,
woh shaakh gira do, mera woh saaman lota do,
Ik akeli chatri main jab aadhe aadhe bheeg rahe the,
aadhe geele aadhe sookhe, sukha tau main le aayee thee,
geela mun shaayad bister ke paas para ho,
woh bhijwa do, mera woh saaman lota do,
aik so sola chaand ki raatein, aik tumhare kaandhe ka til,
geeli mehndi ki khushbu, jhoot moot ke shikwe kuch,
jhoot moot ke waade bhi yaad kara do,
sab bhijwa do, mera woh saaman lota do,
aik ijaazar de do bas, jab isko dafnaungi,
main bhi waheen so jaungi...
Ironic- Symbolic. Anguish; it shows- the pain, the irony, the sorrow that she is going through. No one is at fault- but thats how life is... everyone has to go through it. Sudha gracefully walks out of this set up without making it ugly. Mahinder is now left alone without the much wanted care and support of Sudha. Maya as she is- unable and reluctant to understand the gravity of the situation- things just worsen. When Maya finally gets to understand the situation- its already too late.
Gulzar has done remarkable job in turning an ordinary story into a timeless classic. The situations depicted can be related to everyday life- yet its so touching- so sensitive to human desires- one tends to feel absorbed in this movie- Gulzar breaks away from the typical hysterical image of a wife worried about her husband's extra-marital affair. Maya is a character totally out of the blue. At least I haven't come across another movie with the same type of character. Mahinder's character may seem very cliched but Naseeruddin Shah does justice to the role and provides with an exquisite performance. Everytime I see Ijaazat, I tend to find another angle, another quality in the movie- Everytime I go through this journey of remorse and regret, of love and hate, of passion and sacrifice, of wisdom and insanity- I feel absorbed by it even more than before.
Gulzar has done remarkable job in turning an ordinary story into a timeless classic. The situations depicted can be related to everyday life- yet its so touching- so sensitive to human desires- one tends to feel absorbed in this movie- Gulzar breaks away from the typical hysterical image of a wife worried about her husband's extra-marital affair. Maya is a character totally out of the blue. At least I haven't come across another movie with the same type of character. Mahinder's character may seem very cliched but Naseeruddin Shah does justice to the role and provides with an exquisite performance. Everytime I see Ijaazat, I tend to find another angle, another quality in the movie- Everytime I go through this journey of remorse and regret, of love and hate, of passion and sacrifice, of wisdom and insanity- I feel absorbed by it even more than before.
Choti Si Kahani...
