The Father and The Son - My Thoughts on Shakti (1982)

Shakti is a special movie - one that is both the bridge that unites two different eras of Hindi Cinema and also a chasm that seperates one illustrious era from another; so in a way, Shakti is both the harbinger of new tidings from an era that's approaching and the last stand of the final glorious epoch of a golden era.

Although, it's true that the sparks of the coming era had started illuminating the horizons more than 9 years before this event with Zanjeer and Abhimaan in 1973 and the past would still give off illustrious sparks for 9 years more with Karma in 1986 and Saudagar in 1991, this is the moment that can be said to define the confluence point of the two distinct eras.

The first era was the era of the greatest actor ever to grace the screens of Indian Cinema - Dilip Kumar and the second era was the one dominated by the most able follower of the great Dilip Kumar - Amitabh Bachchan - and what was more interesting was to see these two peerless and matchless performers together in the role of an estranged father and son.

A father-son relationship is always special and different from all the other relationships in both the scope and nature of the relationship. It’s a relationship built on the edifice of mutual hopes and aspirations, aims and ambitions and bounded by awe and respect on one hand and hopes and ambitions on the other. The son is the legacy of the father;for the father is the clay that nurtures the mind of the son. The son, then by corollary is the final shape of the efforts of the father - where the father is the sculptor, the son is the statue - the Statue shines in the world as a reminder to the world of the art and talent of the father.

Like the Taj Mahal which is in spirit both a monument to the creator's desire and the sculptor's imagination, alongwith being the monument of love that it is, the son is also the stamp of eternity of a father's dreams and aspirations - or at least some part of what a father may rightly or wrongly believe. Who remembers the name of the sculptor? Hardly any. Who remembers the sculpture? Almost all

What can be then more amazing than to witness a son repudiate the philosophy of a father!

As the poet, Sir Mohammed Iqbal declared once:

Baap Ka Ilm Naa Bete Ko Agar Azbar Ho,
To Pisar Qaabil-E-Meeraas-E-Pidar Kyoonkar Ho?

Every son looks up to his father with awe and respect and hopes to replicate in word and deed the example of his own father. The father is the first role model the son ever had and hence the faith and belief in him is complete and innocent. None is more unfortunate than the father who fails to keep his respect intact for than we have a son disillusioned, a father devastated and a home destroyed.

Equally, a father looks at a son as one who would carry forward his legacy, as someone who will realise those dreams and ambitions, which he could not …. One who will take his hand and proclaim to the world that he could have done a lot more than he could but could not due to reasons far beyond his powers. Nothing is more devastating than the sight of a father who carries in his heart the grief of a son lost due to death or any other reason. Indeed, there is no sight more painful than the pain of a young son on the old, frail shoulders of the father.....

What then, if the father and son are forced to move on lines, wherein destiny has nothing but confrontation for them and nothing else? What if both the father and the son are forced by life and destiny to confront each other for their own values and feelings rather than complement each other in their own ways? Indeed, one can understand the emotions and the frustrations of both the beings involved in this high-stakes, no gain drama - and of course the loser is often the woman caught between the two - the mother of one and the wife of another!

Unlike Hollywood, wherein a father-son relationship has been the plot behind many interesting classics, very few films in India have tried their hands at tacking this love-hate relationship. Shakti (1982) is one of the few films that have tackled this aspect of life beautifully. Shakti is the story of a father and a son caught in a cesspool of duty to the family and duty to the community, commitment to family and commitment to duty and above all the expression of love to a son and to an ideal.

It boasts of one of the greatest coups of Indian Cinema. For the first and last time, we have the greatest actors of Indian Cinema – Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan pitted against each other. Not surprisingly, since such great coups requires brilliant and inspired characterizations, strong and well-defined roles and a powerful script; sadly, the lack of such scripts is a lacuna that's deeply imbibed in the Hindi Film Industry

Look at the actors -

One – the King of Tragedy; other the Angry young Man. One – The Emperor of Acting; the other the Big B. The end result is a movie that stands heads and shoulders above all, in terms of performance quality. Where Amitabh scores with flamboyance, Dilip scores with understatement…. Where Amitabh performs with intensity, Dilip performs with depth and maturity.

Both of them complement each other completely in terms of loyalty and integrity to the character, making the confrontation all the more worthwhile. The matching of minds and understanding of each other’s requirements of both space and silence has been perfected to an art and it’s no surprise that both the actors appear to be in compete harmony with each other – something only possible with those actors who are comfortable with their art to a point of perfection and not insecure about their potential. It’s unfortunate that no other director ever had the guts to match these two perfect actors ever again on screen and no script-writer could think of a script to get these two titans together again.

Dilip Kumar as Ashwini Kumar towers over all with a performance that fetched him his 8^th Filmfare Best Actor Award (the highest number of Best Actor Awards in Hindi Cinema). The role of a father who has fallen in the eyes of his son, the role of a man whose redemption lies in his standing in the way of his own son’s aspirations and who is forced to save the very person who killed his wife asks for a lot more than what an average actor, nay person too, can deliver.

Dilip, the thespian proves why he is still considered as the greatest actor to ever perform on the Indian screen with a performance too scintillating to even comment. Although he stands out in each and every scene, among his best scenes are the ones in which he tries out to reason out the reasons behind his losing his son to his adversaries, the climax (Amitabh’s death scene) and the funeral scene. Each and every scene of this actor conveys the truth of the expression “ Still waters run deep”. Throughout, he is like an ocean waiting for a tsunami to be unleashed.

I still remember the pain and frustration inherent in the following lines of dialogue after losing his son forever to the hands of his opponents and the depth and anguish in the actor's eyes as he says it all:

Kucchh Log Aaye, Mere Bete Ke Boli Lagaai Aur Mere Bete Ko Meri Aankhon Ke Saamne Kharid Ke Le Gaye.... Aur Sujata Main Kucch Na Kar Saka

Only an actor of Dilip's calibre could have done the impossible - only an actor of his calibre could have said these lines while sitting in a chair and the camera not even facing him and still had the desired impact - only an actor of Dilip Kumar's calibre.

Amitabh Bachchan as the son (Vijay) shakes you out of your slumber. The anger and agony of a son, who has lost faith in his father is so powerfully conveyed that you cannot but marvel at the man behind the performance. Although, he scores in every scene, few of his outstanding scenes are the one where he’s trying to explain the reason behind his displeasure to his wife, the funeral scene and the final death scene. No lesser actor could have brought into broad relief the feeling of disenchantment as portrayed by this great actor. Right from the opening scene, where he kicks a can purposelessly on the streets, you know you are confronted not with a person but a boiling volcano with the tip intact.

There is a dialogue in the film wherein he's trying to explain his stand to his wife and the dialogues are just awesome

Mere Baap Ki Do Biwiyaan Hai .... Ek Meri Maa; Doosra Vardi ... Ek Ka Bata Main Hoon; Doosre Ka Kanoon ..... Mere Iss Sauteli Maa Aur Sautele Bhai Ne Meri Maa Ko Bandi Bana Diya Hai

The pain of a son who hates his father but cannot stop loving him too is not an easy one to perform and only Amitabh could be strong enough to take this burden on his shoulders. A great performance, undoubtedly.

Raakhee as the mother caught behind the father and son gives one of the best performances in her life. In a role that threatened to be destroyed or atleast marginalized due to two super-actors, Raakhee surprisingly not only manages to hold her own in front of both the thespians but also actually impresses with a performance as restrained as any and as eloquent as any.

Her most memorable scene is the one, where she tries to convince both son and husband of the futility of their antagonistic actions. The sense of authority in the scene wherein she comes to Amitabh and is trying to pack her bags, only to be ticked off and the bewilderment in her eyes is just unbelievable. No one thought that Raakhee could stand up to the twin titans of the Indian Marquee but Raakhee does not only stand, she stands tall. Unfortunately it took a long time for Indian Cinema to recognize the talented actress that Raakhee is and still she has hardly been utilized to her maximum potential.

Smita Patil as Vijay’s wife is commendable. Although, the director has failed to do justice to her calibre and employed her in a more subdued fashion, Smita is the perfect counterfoil to Amitabh’s intensity. Her restrained performance ensures that she is noted in a galaxy of actors, however the heart pines for more. Smita could have definitely been utilized more but for the fact that the film was more geared up to show the clash of the titans and I personally think she could have been utilized better.

Amrish Puri is all meanness personified whereas Kulbhushan Kharbanda is competent in his performance. Anil Kapoor impresses in his cameo, giving glimpses of the nascent future in his earnest performance while Ashok Kumar is as usual effervescent in his own style.

Salim-Javed come up trumps with yet another classic to their name. Although, the film may lack the intensity of Deewar, the success of Sholay or the depth of Trishul, what stands out in this movie is maturity. No other movie of recent times has displayed the same level of maturity in their scenes as Shakti. Their greatest success lies in creating a movie that could match Dilip's depth with Amitabh's fury; Dilip's maturity with Amitabh's rage; Dilip's intensity with Amitabh's pain; many have tried thereafter but none have succeeded. This is where the duo stand apart from their fraternity.

Ramesh Sippy impresses yet again with this beautiful movie on a father and a son. It was no mean task to manage a film with two towering personalities but to his credit, Ramesh has done a great job. In fact, this film has proved that Sholay was no flash in the pan and the director knows how to make a film worth its name in gold.

On a more cautious note, R D Burman disappoints. Although the film has a few hummable numbers, there is nothing to do justice to his calibre and his name. This is not to state that the music is bad but then with a talent like R D and a past record of hits like his, I refuse to accept any mediocre compositions from him. Nothing is expected from R D short of excellence and so when I see anything that's even a shade lighter, I feel that it could have been better. Having said that, I like the semi-ghazal "Humne Sanam Ko Khat Likha", ably sung by Asha and the Kishore - Lata duet "Jaane Kaise Kab Kahan Iqraar Ho Gaya"

In short, a movie for all who want to see a titanic explosion of performances on screen