Shame-E- Gham Ki Kasam....

Sham-E-Gham Ki Kasam- Talat Mahmood-Film Footpath 1953- Lyrics  Ali Sardar Jaffree- Music Khayyam

Dilip Kumar was pioneers of the school of method action. He was the last emperor and last word in acting acumen. Although his first movie ‘Jwar Bhata’ bombed at Box office, Dilip Kumar later on created an aura of legendary proportion, and compelled the critiques to idolize his kind of method acting. Dilip Kumar was the first (and perhaps only) Method actor.Traditional theater acting is loud, stylized and flamboyant as practiced by Prithviraj Kapoor, Sohrab Modi, Saigal to name a few.Method Acting attempts to recreate the impression of reality where the actor “becomes” the role. There are two ways of “becoming” the role.

a) By physically living the role, for example, by starving oneself to play a beggar’s role. This method is controversial and often denigrated as “but the actor is not acting”.

b) By understanding and internalizing the role – the Stanislavski Method – based on the idea that great acting is a reflection of “truth” conveyed both internally and externally through the actor.

Dilip Kumar is a practitioner of the Stanislavski method. His refined underplaying in films like “Andaz”, “Aan”, “Jogan”, “Daag” and “Babul” won him high praise. Low pitched modulated dialogue delivery, heart-touching expressions and perfect use of the right arm were his acting hallmarks. “Footpath” where he played a tragic, romantic image with shades of anti-hero showcased his talents at their best.

The story of Footpath runs like this......

Nashu (Dilip Kumar) is an idealist educated youth who writes for a small daily run by Ghosh Babu. His elder brother Bani (Romesh Thapar) and sister-in- law Meena (Achla Sachdev) live with Nashu who loves Mala (Meena Kumari) and both support each other’s views.

Times change and Nashu falls on bad days making it difficult for him to earn an honest living. Though Bani sympathizes with his brother, his sister-in-law does not. Conflicts start in the family and Nashu has to bear a lot of humiliation. Out of sheer desperation he opts for the path of crime and black-marketing.

With Nashu taking to crime the story takes a dramatic twist. He becomes the most trusted associate of Ram Babu (Anwar Hussain). Plunging into the world of evil, Nashu starts earning a lot. He adopts the motto “success at any cost”. Being aware of this, Mala maintains a distance from him. Bani’s heart bleeds in grief and with poverty gripping him, his comfort loving wife Meena deserts him.

At a juncture when Nashu has almost sold his soul to criminals, he receives the news of his beloved elder brother Bani’s death. Nashu breaks down in agony. He reaches Ghosh Babu and asks him to expose the entire black-marketing racket he works for. Nashu also confesses to Mala, he is solely responsible for degrading himself. “Han main bahut gira hua insaan hun,” he admits.In an excellent climax, “Footpath” has Nashu surrendering at the police station and admitting his anti-social and criminal activities. Receiving all required information from him, police arrest the main criminals. Nashu is united with Mala.

The death of Bani, the separation of his girlfriend Mala really shakes Nashu. He is devastated. He comes to know that money is not everything. Relations matter most for happy contented life. His night have become full of pains. Even the blossoming nature and twinkling stars above cannot five respite to him. Only the arrival of his beloved could save his life. He waits for it to happen with sorrow filled eyes. The profoundly meaning lyrics, the ardent rendering of the song by Talat is his silken smooth voice laden with pathos and heavenly music of Khayyam takes the song to a new level. Truly a masterpiece ...

शाम-ए-ग़म की क़सम आज ग़मगीं हैं हम
आ भी जा आ भी जा आज मेरे सनम
शाम-ए-ग़म की क़सम
दिल परेशान हैं रात वीरान हैं
देख जा किस तरह आज तनहा हैं हम
शाम-ए-ग़म की क़सम
चैन कैसा जो पहलू में तू ही नहीं
मार डाले न दर्द-ए-जुदाई कहीं
रुत हंसीं हैं तो क्या चाँदनी है तो क्या
चाँदनी ज़ुल्म है और जुदाई सितम
शाम-ए-ग़म की क़सम
अब तो आजा के अब रात भी सो गई
ज़िन्दगी ग़म के सेहराव में खो गई
ढूँढती हैं नज़र तू कहाँ हैं मगर
देखते देखते आया आँखों में ग़म
शाम-ए-ग़म की क़सम...

                                        

Footpath 1953
Styarcast: Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Achala Sachdev, Romesh Thapar, Anwar Hussain.
Lyrics: Ali Sardar Jafree, Majrooh Sultanpuri
Music: Khayyam
Written by Zia Sarhady
Directed by Zia sarhady
A Ranjit Movietone Film