Whenever Hindi parallel cinema is discussed, the names of Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani inevitably come to the fore. Their critically acclaimed films such as Uski Roti and Maya Darpan were based on outstanding literary works. Yet, 27 Down (1973), a National Award-winning film based on the Hindi novel Atharah Suraj ke Paudhe, is often left out of the discussion. 27 Down was directed by Awtar Kaul (1939-74). On the very day the National Award was announced, Awtar died by drowning in Bombay (now Mumbai). It remains the only completed feature film he ever directed. The film was also honoured at the prestigious Locarno and Mannheim international film festivals.
Awtar’s
Heartwrenching Life Journey
In the recently
published book Awtar Kaul: The (In)Complete Story,
Vinod Kaul, former executive director of Rajya Sabha TV and Awtar’s nephew,
writes about the director's life, family, travels and the making of the film.
The book also includes recollections from the film’s cinematographer, sound
recordist and some film critics. Vinod Kaul writes in the book at one point:
“It is bittersweet to think about this film [27 Down] as the
starting leg of so many others and the end of Awtar’s. What all could he have
given us!”
After Bhuvan Shome and Sara Akash, Mani Kaul, Kumar
Shahani and Awtar received loans from the Film Finance Corporation to make
films. 27 Down was made on a modest budget of two lakh rupees.
Raakhee was a successful actress in commercial cinema at
the time, yet, she agreed to star in the film without demanding any
remuneration and also sans makeup.
Commenting on
how he sees Awtar’s filmmaking as distinct from that of Mani Kaul’s and Kumar
Shahani’s, veteran theatre actor and
director M.K. Raina shares an anecdote about Awtar and Mani Kaul:
“Awtar would say, you make cine-ma, I make cine-baap. You operate the camera, I
turn the camera faster.”
Through the
metaphor and symbolism of the railway, Awtar sensitively and skillfully
captured in black-and-white images the dreams, dilemmas and the alienation of a
generation coming of age in independent India; the tensions in relationships
between men and women; social pressures, and the conflict between personal
desire and social responsibility. It still resonates with the youth of India,
particularly those living away from the centres of power and opportunity.
27 Down’s central characters are Sanjay (M.K. Raina), a railway ticket conductor and
Shalini (Raakhee), a typist working for Life Insurance Corporation. Shalini is
responsible for supporting her two younger siblings and grandfather. She works
in Mumbai, far away from her Pune home. Her grandfather does not want Shalini
to enter into a relationship with someone who might distance her from the
family.
Sanjay, the
protagonist, seems to have no place he can truly call home. Like a railway
carriage, he appears condemned to remain perpetually in transit. His
personality is overshadowed by his imposing father, played by Om Shivpuri.
In the film’s
opening scene, Sanjay is asleep on a train. The sound of the moving train is heard,
followed by a voice-over: “Is that the same bridge again?... There are so many
bridges along the way. It feels as though from the beginning until now, I have
been crossing countless bridges. There are people who travel from one place to
another. As for me, I seem to have set out from somewhere only to keep moving
somewhere.”
27 Down was M.K. Raina’s first film. He plays a character incapable of making
decisions, constantly suffocated and caught between opposing
forces. Shalini, meanwhile, is markedly different from the female
characters generally seen in Hindi cinema of that period. Burdened by family
responsibilities, she is a working woman who makes independent decisions about
her relationships and takes the initiative herself. Raakhee portrays the
character with remarkable conviction.
After the film’s
release, in September 1974, Atharah Suraj ke Paudhe
was republished under the title 27 Down. Dedicated
to Awtar, the new edition carried a foreword by Ramesh Bakshi. He wrote that
the novel was the story of a Sanjay belonging to a new generation, who
continually fought an 18-day Mahabharat within
himself—between his wife, his lover, his father, his job, his ambitions, his
indecisiveness and the relentless chaos of life.
27 Down is a classic. It contains certain images of trains and railway platforms
that remain etched in the viewer’s memory forever. Much of the film was shot on
moving trains using a handheld camera. Notably, freshly graduated from FTII,
this was cinematographer A.K. Bir’s first film. He received the National Award
for his work on it. The film’s use of sound, too, deserves special attention. Hariprasad Chaurasia
and Bhubaneshwar Mishra composed the music while Bansi Chandragupta, who had
worked closely with Satyajit Ray, designed the production.
In 2024, the
film’s restored version was screened at the International Film Festival of
India in Goa. Mani Kaul was a great admirer of the film. Raina says it was Mani Kaul who suggested his name to
Awtar for the film. Mani Kaul would go to watch rehearsals at the National School of Drama (NSD) where
he was a student. Later, Awtar and Bakshi went to NSD to meet him and discuss
the book and the scenario. Raina fondly remembers Awtar and the days of making
the film, describing them as a time of “complete madness” when everyone was
equally involved in the creative process.
(For the Outlook )
