Daily Times

Half of the screenplay’s job is done the minute actor Dilip Kumar’s hypnotising gaze falls on actress Nargis. The screen sizzles with their intense chemistry every time this incredible pair converse from a distance.

Their equation might not have the obvious ardour they conjured around Madhubala and Raj Kapoor respectively but it’s marked by an intelligence that’s virtually extinct now. On most occasions, they don’t even look into each other’s eyes but the enormity of their affection comes through. It’s like Dilip Humar explains to Rajinder Kumar, in his first and brief appearance as Vijay’s friend in context of a brothel girl he rescues, “Aurat Aur Mard Kei Talukat Hamesha Wohi Nahi Hote Jo Tum Log Sochte Ho. Kutch Aur Baatein Bhi Aisi Hoti Hain Jin Mein Kashish Hoti Hai.” If Dilip’s innate sensuality and familiarity with forlorn roles works favourably for Jogan, Nargis is a picture of sublime restraint in a performance she would rate even above what most believe to be her career best, Mother India. Apart from its taut direction, superlative acting and unusual plot, Jogan offers a gem of a soundtrack. There are 15 songs in the film but at no point does the script, with its less than two hours running time, drag or feel overstuffed with needless melody. Known to have a great ear for music, the multifaceted Kidar Sharma ensures every single composition by Bulo C Rani, penned by Pandit India, CR Sharma and Himmat Rai alongside many of Meerabai’s famous bhajans takes the story forward and underlines the moods of its two characters. Whether Geeta Roy (before she married Guru Dutt) is crooning the merry tunes of ‘Main Toh Girdhar Kei Ghar Jaon’ or struggling with her emotions in ‘Dagmag Dagmag Dole Naiya’, Shamshad Begum’s stirring rendition of ‘Kahe Nainon Mein Naina Daale Re’ or Talat Mehmood’s compelling ‘Sundarta Kei Sabhi Shikari’, every song of this rich album is crucial to the storytelling. Shot in barely 29 days, Jogan is much too assured and able in its ideas, artistry and execution to feel like a hastily finished job. Perhaps the ideals of its story, the solemnity of its romance, the refusal to act on basic impulses and its beautiful albeit sad conclusion, which places soul above sensory pleasure, may sound too surreal for this era. But grace is timeless. And so is sacrifice’.

In 1957, Guru Dutt had got romantically involved with Waheeda Rehman, the break-up of the marriage affected Geeta’s singing career. Geeta Dutt came up with one of her best renditions in the heart-rending “Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam,” composed by SD Burman and penned by Kaifi Azmi where she poured out her pain, anguish and pathos in every word. It seemed that her real-life pains had been submerged in the rendering of this song. However, the box-office disaster of ‘Kaaghaz Ke Phool’ left them shattered, financially and emotionally. In 1964, Guru Dutt died from a combination of alcohol and an overdose of sleeping pills. Geeta then suffered a serious nervous breakdown and ran into financial problems. She tried to resume her singing career, cutting discs at Durg? Puj? and giving stage shows. She performed in a leading role in a Bengali movie, ‘Badhu Baran’ and sang admirably for ‘Anubhav’, which was her final performance to the music of Kanu Roy as she died of liver cirrhosis on July 20, 1972, at the age of 41.