The Sound of Music. Review on Baiju Bawra

Baiju Bawra in retrospect is what one would call a typical B-Grade movie of the 1950s and it would hardly be of major importance in today’s times had it not been for the fact that it changed the perception of the common populace and made a star of 4 commoners – Bharat Bhushan, Meena Kumari, Naushad and Shakeel Badayuni and catapulted Mohammed Rafi to the top of ivy league of singers. It’s not that the public was unaware about these artistes before Baiju Bawra. In fact some of them had a successful career but it was this movie that made them into overnight sensations.

That the world of music is not immune to rivalries is but a common fact, much grounded in history as can be seen in the context of the rivalry between the child genius Mozart and his teacher Salieri. This movie studies the undercurrent of rivalry between the greatest singer of India Tansen and the young but talented Baiju Bawra. The beauty of the movie lies in its portrayal of the lead actors and the manner of depiction that ensures that the viewer does not go home with the notion that one was greater than the other and of course without doubt carries a story that struck deep at the ethos of a country struggling to come to terms with it’s days of cultural glory.

Bharat Bhushan who plays the title role of the young singer Baiju Bawra has brought the commoner-singer completely to life with his extra-ordinary depiction of the sensitive soul. Whether as a man pining for his beloved or a son thirsting for revenge; whether as a singer searching for excellence or as a man frustrated by his incomplete tasks, the actor delivers a finely chiseled performance. The performance is so well-etched that Bharat for ever became Baiju in the minds of Indian viewers and appraised similar roles in almost all his future films, leading to the decline of a promising career once the tastes of the cine-going audiences changed for better or for worse. Still Baiju Bawra marks his hour of triumphant arrival and whatever may have happened later on, nothing can take away from his performance in this brilliant movie.

Meena Kumari as Gauri in her first major role in mainstream cinema excels and her rendition of the role is marvelous. The actress is in her elements and displays her talent that was bound to take her places in the future. The character of Gauri is central to the film but at the same time has to remain in the shadows to the subject of rivalry being played out between Tansen and Baiju. Such a carved role requires utmost caution and perfect understanding since the role has to deliver without disturbing the dynamics of the film, lest the film suffers and this is where the talent of the young actress succeeds. A remarkable performance that saw Meena win the first ever Filmfare trophy.

Surendra as Tansen looms large over the film despite the fact that he has very few scenes in the movie to perform. Still the actor who in tandem with Motilal introduced natural acting to Indian Cinema is omnipresent and true to his billing shows his inherent brilliance in what was one of his last major successes in tinsel town.

Kuldip Kaur in a rare positive role as a dacoit manages to invoke feelings of empathy from the viewers despite little screen credit. Manmohan Krishna, V M Vyas, Bipin Gupta as Emperor Akbar, Radhakishen and Rai Mohan who play the legendary Haridas all play their roles with the usual aplomb. Even the child artistes, Baby Tabassum and Rattan Kumar manage to bring realism in their roles.

And that brings us to the soul of the movie – it’s exceptionally brilliant music.

Naushad has been one of the premier music composers of Hindi Cinema and has given us a number of hits including greats such as Mughal-E-Azam, Mother India, Aan and others. However, if one had to pick only one film as definitive of this man’s command over his subject, it would definitely be ‘Baiju Bawra.’

Each and every moment in this movie can be understood through its music and therein lies the greatness of the score. Another major aspect of the score is the purity of its ragas and the usage of different ragas for different moments keeping the requirement in mind.

Mohammed Rafi scales the heights of greatness with his brilliant rendition of all the different tracks in this movie. The great singer that he was, Rafi displays his mastery over the vocal strings and his immense range that was as wide as the oceans that engulf the land on this earth and could surmount notes as high as the largest peaks on the Himalayas and the lowest depths as the Mariana Trench. Had he abstained from singing after this masterpiece, his name would still shine on the firmament of Hindi Cinema and that proves the vitality of this score and his genius.

From ‘O Duniya Ke Rakhwaale’ admittedly one of the most difficult tracks ever sung by an artiste, wherein the artist effortlessly blends anguish and deep sense of loss with an awesome range to the dulcet-sweet ‘Tu Ganga Ki Mauj’ to the philosophical ‘Insaan Bano’ to one of the best Bhajans ever ‘Man Tadpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj’, the singer only makes me tip my hat off in quiet reverence to the man and the singer.

If Rafi can set the score ablaze, Lata is definitely not behind. With ‘Mohe Bhool Gaye Sanwariya’ and ‘Bachpan Ki Mohabbat Ko’ Lata puts her indelible stamp on the movie. And then we have Shamshad Begum in her elements singing “Door Koi Gaye”. And if this is not enough we have Ustad Amir Khan and Pandit D V Pulusker singing the best ever classical duet as the climactic duel between Tansen and Baiju. Such is the brilliance of Shakeel that each and every song is remembered and played even today and is admired by some of the most strident critics of Film music.

Direction by Vijay Bhatt is the sole sore point. There is no attention to detail and the scenes often disintegrate. The script seems to be completely at the mercy of the cast and the music and luckily both deliver. This is what stops the movie from becoming one of the greatest all-time classics although the music definitely remains a true-blue classic.

To Naushad I would say:

“Bahot Gaur Se Sun Raha Tha Zamaana,

Tum Hi So Gaye Daastaan Kehte Kehte”