June 5th, 2010

Manmohan Desai

Manmohan Desai

Manmohan Desai

In Mard, Dara Singh matched his strength with a plane!

In Saccha Jhootha, Mumtaz took a truth pill and spilled the beans!

In Amar Akbar Anthony, three sons donated blood to their mother – simultaneously!

In director Manmohan Desai’s world, anything could happen – and did. Implausibilities galloped by before you were given a chance to think and disbelief was sentenced to a perpetual state of suspension.

Desai’s films were given the priorative label of ‘escapist cinema’ but for crores of Indians, they meant a retreat from the harshness of reality. The fact that Manmohan Desai could practically guarantee high-entertainment-quotient hits made him the king of that quintessentially Bollywood genre, the `masala’ film.

Son of film producer, Kikubhai Desai, Manmohan Desai was always enraptured by the world of celluloid fantasy. At 24, he got a chance to direct Chhaliya (’60), with the leading stars of the day, Raj Kapoor and Nutan. Though the film, and Kalyanji Anandji’s music in particular, was appreciated, Desai’s career did not take off. He has spoken of long hours spent near the window, waiting for a producer to appear.

Fortunately for a disheartened Manmohan Desai, good friend Shammi Kapoor came to his aid. Desai directed two inconsequential Kapoor starrers, Bluff Master (’63) and Budtameez (’66) and wrote the story for the successful Rajkumar (’64).

Desai found his forte with the Rajesh Khanna hit, Saccha Jhootha (’70), which encompassed his trademark formula gambits like mistaken identity and lost and found siblings. Though Manmohan Desai insisted that the Sharmila Tagore­ Shashi Kapoor hankie wringer, Aa Gale Lag Ja (’73), was his favourite creation, he remained stridently commercial.

In the mid-70s the nation-wide Emergency delayed the release of some of his films, so in 1977, Desai found four of his hits — Dharam Veer, Chacha Bhatija, Parvarish and the biggest blockbuster of the year, Amar Akbar Anthony – running simultaneously in the theatres. Especially after the reality and review-proof madcap adventure, Amar Akbar Anthony, Desai and Amitabh became the foremost names in entertainment.

His films did not always have Amar Akbar Anthony’s zany sense of fun (even in padre’s robes Amitabh breaks into a neat little jig) but Desai’s multistarrers still managed to have performances that achieved an ensemble rhythm. With Amitabh at the helm, the hits continued with Suhaag (’79), Naseeb (’81), Coolie (’83) and Mard (’85). Unfortunately, in the 80s Desai’s work almost approached self parody.

Abruptly, Desai’s luck vanished with his swan song, Ganga Jamuna Saraswati (’89), a disaster. Simultaneously, even son Ketan’s directorial career floundered after Allahrakha and Toofan. A widower of long standing, Desai made a bid for happiness when he got engaged to Nanda. But plagued by ill health and depression, he finally gave in and chose to end it all. His only unhappy ending ever.

Producers & Directors