Finding nuggets and lessons of life, in the music of Basu Chatterjee's films

Radhika Bhirani

rbhirani@gmail.com

It was a rustic, wall-fitted, glass almirah in one corner of a room. Shelves full of VHS tapes of old, gold cinema.

A box style TV and a VCR player took centrestage in the room. And right in front of it was a chair, where my grand-uncle, whom we lovingly called Tayaji Nana, would sit and enjoy his cinematic favourites.

Memories of summer holidays spent at 'Nani ghar', a colonial style bungalow on a quaint, clean and green street of Delhi, are special. And afresh. They will forever be.

And so, the news of Basu Chatterjee's death, took me back to those days. To when Tayaji Nana rummaged through his VHS tapes, often picking Chameli Ki Shaadi or Khatta Meetha. He never got tired of them. Neither did we.

In hindsight, the 'you and I' genre that defines Chatterjee's cinema, was such a binding factor for an audience of different generations, within a home. And so evergreen are these films, that the saga continues.

What also lives on is the music, so lyrically succinct, conversational, poetic and delightfully melodious. 

After a morning made beautiful with songs from Chatterjee's films, it's easy to be consumed by the depth of what some of those numbers say so simply.

'Thoda hai thode ki zarurat hai

Zindagi, phir bhi yahaan, khoobsurat hai.'

If nothing else, perhaps this is one realisation that has dawned upon everyone as life went on in the lockdown in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. No superfluous shopping, no endless socialising, no foreign trips, no fancy spas, no kitty parties, no nothing... and yet, life went on, happily.

'Uthe sab ke kadam,

Dekho ram pam pam

Ajji aise geet gaaya karo...

Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham,

ta ra rum pum pum,

Hasso aur hasaaya karo.'

It's like a school rhyme. Has such a happy vibe. And tells you something important to stay afloat in life; that there will be ups and downs, there will be happiness and sadness, there will be success and failure, but smile, laugh and spread cheer.

'Ye Jeena hai, Angoor ka daana...

Khatta Meetha.'

Sometimes sweet, sometimes sour. Sometimes ripe, sometimes not... Life's like a grape. My takeaway: Enjoy it slow and stead, like you drink wine.