If you have watched the 1972 Bollywood superhit ‘Amar Prem’, you have watched the legendary film director Shakti Samanta (1926-2009) – whose centenary is being celebrated this year – at the peak of his powers. And what a peak that was. For those of us who love Bollywood, Amar Prem is a collection of the brightest and best talents of a generation being harnessed in a single movie to spectacular effect. Starring Rajesh Khanna (at his peak) & Sharmilla Tagore with music from RD Burman (at his peak) and lyrics from Anand Bakshi, the movie itself is based on a novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay.
However, as Nandita Ramnath explains in her tribute to this great director, such peaks of high creativity were frequented in Shakti Samanta’s storied career: “Shakti Samanta (1926-2009) was from the era of Hindi cinema when film school meant a film set. This is where young men (they were nearly always young men) learn the intricacies of how to transform pages of writing into images that moved, spoke and produced feeling.
Samanta was an assiduous student, channelling his first exposure to filmmaking – editing – into a firm grasp of storytelling.
Between the 1950s and 1970s, Samanta rolled out films that are now regarded as evergreeners. Howrah Bridge, China Town, An Evening in Paris, Amar Prem, Aradhana, Kati Patang and Amanush are still remembered for their plots, characters, performances and music – and for making money, a prerequisite for survival in Bollywood.
Samanta worked at a time when directors had to be both formulaic and unique, conventional while also being extraordinary, entertaining even while upholding a sense of morality. Producing volume sometimes came at the expense of quality.
In this regard, Samanta distinguished himself, staying at the top of the pile by paying closer attention than most to the elements that constituted a successful movie. He directed leading actors, among them Ashok Kumar, Madhubala, Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Shammi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan.
Howrah Bridge (1958), a prominent example of Indianised film noir, has the iconic club song Aiye Meherbaan. Madhubala’s singer Edna dances into the frame and to the centre, the camera movements complementing her inviting visage and the come-hither lyrics.”
Ms Ramnath interviews Shakti’s son Ashim for this article in Scroll. Ashim Samanta in turn provides fascinating anecdotes regarding how hard Shakti Samanta pushed the people who worked with him to attain excellence. We learn for example that RD Burman was made to work from dusk to dawn day after day so that the music scores for Amar Prem were of the standard that Shakti Da wanted. That was how the legendary number, ‘Chingari Koi Bhadke’ was born.
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