Gulzar’s  Classic Aandhi Completes 50 Years On 13 February

Gulzar Saab gave us three classics in 1975. Khushboo, Mausam and Aandhi. Among them   Aandhi  was  the one that whipped  up  a serious storm.

  During  the year of Sholay and the dreaded Emergency came this political fable that was far-reaching  in its  resonances.Aandhi  is the story of  Aarti  Devi (Suchitra Sen) who arrives in her constituency to fight the elections with Chandra Sen(Om Shivpuri). All hell breaks loose when Aarti Devi is espied with the  owner of the hotel where her entourage stays.In a series of typically Gulzarian flashbacks  Aarti Devi re-lives her past with  JK(Sanjeev Kumar).

   The film seemed to borrow  sheafs from Mrs Indira Gandhi’s life-story,down to an overbearing politician-father(Rehman) whose ambitions on his daughter’s behalf destroy her marriage.The film exudes a wistful elegiac tone that haunts us.Then there’s  Suchitra Sen,specially brought to Mumbai from Calcutta,to play the central  role.

    Ms Sen stands so tall and stately  that it would have been impossible for any actor except Sanjeev Kumar to stand  up to her.Rahul Dev Burman’s Kishore Kumar-Lata Mangeshkar duets  “TereBina  Zindagi Se Koi Shikwa To Nahin”,“Iss Mod Se Jaate Hain”, and “Tum Aa Gaye Ho Noor Aa Gaya hai” add considerably to the relentless romantic resonance of the drama.

8 Unknown Facts  About Gulzar’s Aandhi  Which  Clocks  50 Years On  February 13

By Subhash  K Jha

1. 1975  was  a decisive year  for  Hindi cinema. It was the year of all-time hits  Sholayand Jai Santoshi Maa, Deewaar  and Chupke Chupke . It was also the  year of two momentous  Shero films Julie and Aandhi. The latter  brought  the  legendary  Suchitra Sen out of  Kolkata  for a rare foray  into Hindi cinema. Her first  Hindi film since  Asit Sen’s Mamta in  1966.
2. Gulzar’s first choice to  play the politician in Aandhiwas Vyjayanthimala. But she had retired  a few years earlier and  could not  be persuaded to change her mind.It  was Sanjeev Kumar  who was keen to work with Suchitra Sen.
3. Gulzar had three releases in  1975, Khushboo, Mausamand Aandhi  , all  masterpieces. Two of them starred Sanjeev  Kumar  as men much older than his  actual age. The actor par excellence always  grumbled to his buddy Gulzar that he  cast him in old men’s role and  also cast him in women oriented films like Namkeen, Mausam and Aandhi. When  Gulzar Saab narrated  Aandhi to Sanjeev his reaction was, ‘Yaar,yeh toh heroine ki kahani hai. When will you make  movie for me?’
4. Interestingly   for Aandhi, Sanjeev  Kumar won the Filmfare award, Amitabh  Bachchan  lost the trophy for Deewaar .Suchitra Sen lost it to  Laxmi in  Julie.
5. The Emergency  was on in 1975 and the rumour  spread that Aandhi was  a bio-pic on Mrs Gandhi.After  23 weeks in movie theatres, Aandhi was  banned  by the  Government and  pulled  out of theatres. It never  reached  it optimum level of commercial performance.
6. More than anything else, Aandhi is today remembered  for its music by Rahul Dev  Burman.  Selecting the  best  from the  three Lata Mangeshkar-Kishore Kumar duets Tere bina Zindagi se  koi shikwa, Tum aa gaye ho noor aa gaya hai and  Iss mod se jaate hainis an impossible choice. R D  Burman considered Aandhi along  with   Amar Prem and  Kinara,to be  his  finest. He was  shocked when Aandhi wasn’t even  nominated  for the Filmfare award. But he  did get nominated for two other inferior soundtracks  of Sholay and Khel Khel Mein in the year of Aandhi.
7. 7.      Aandhiwas  about the price  a woman has to pay for her career. Ironically, the  director  separated  from his  wife as she  wanted  to pursue her career after marriage.
8. Scandalpoint: during the  shooting of Aandhi in Kashmir  Sanjeev  Kumar got drunk and behaved inappropriately with  Suchitra Sen.