Ijaazat
Encyclopedia
Ijaazat is an acclaimed 1987
India
n Hindi film directed by Gulzar
, based on a Bengali story, Jatugriha by Subodh Ghosh
. . Starring Rekha, Naseeruddin Shah
and Anuradha Patel
in leading roles, the film followed the story of couple who are separated and who accidentally meet in a railway station waiting room and discover some truths about their lives without each other. The film belongs to the realistic, art cinema
genre in India, known as parallel cinema
, and won two National Film Awards
in the music category.
Jatugriha, which inspired Ijaazat, was earlier made into a Bengali movie of the same name in 1964. Directed by Tapan Sinha
, Jatugriha starred Uttam Kumar
and Arundhati Devi.
) getting down at the railway station and making his way to the waiting room just as it starts to rain heavily. A woman, Sudha (Rekha), is already sitting in the waiting room. On seeing him, she tries to hide her face from him but later they confront each others.
Mahender has an accomplished business dealing with photography. He respects his grandfather (Shammi Kapoor
) immensely. Incidentally, he had been engaged to Sudha for 5 years but always made some excuse to delay their wedding. However, this time his grandfather has fixed the wedding on the first week of the following month. He reveals to Sudha that he is having an affair with one of the most radical representations of feminism in a girl called Maya (Anuradha Patel
). He returns to tell Maya, but Maya has disappeared, leaving him some poetry. Mahender then marries Sudha and is quite happy, but the sudden return of Maya causes tensions in their married life. Mahender frequently tells Sudha about all the beautifully poignant, loving and authentic things Maya did over the years that they lived together. Later, Maya tries to commit suicide, and this leads to Mahender spending time with her over a few weeks. Sudha, not knowing about Maya's suicide attempt and therefore believing that Mahender is being unfaithful to her, feels that her marriage was a mistake, and questions Mahender about his intentions. He then tells her strongly that he is going to bring Maya home to talk to her. Sudha is adamantly against this, but Mahender leaves with determination. However, Maya hears Sudha's anger on the phone and by the time Mahender reaches to pick her up, she has gone away. When he returns home without Maya, he finds that Sudha has also left. Mahender, unable to bear the shock, gets a heart attack. In the days and months that follow, he is looked after by Maya. Sudha continues as a teacher in Panchgani. As time passes, Mahender is beginning to feel convinced that it is time for him to bring Sudha back home. But then he gets Sudha's letter saying that she is releasing him from their marriage and that he is free to marry Maya. A sudden uncontrolled outburst from Mahender makes Maya realize that she was the cause for Sudha's departure and that Mahender missed Sudha deeply. Maya suddenly feels estranged at this abrupt change in their relationship and, in the night, rides off on her motorbike. Mahender rushes to follow her in his car to stop her, but then Maya's long scarf gets entangled in the back wheel of her bike, because of which she gets dragged off her bike and strangled to death.
Sudha is deeply grieved on hearing about Maya's end. Later, as the time for their train approaches, Sudha's husband (Shashi Kapoor
) bursts in unexpectedly to pick her up, and Mahender realizes with a shock that Sudha is now married. As Sudha's husband leaves the waiting room with her luggage, Mahender asks her to forgive him. She touches Mahender's feet as a plea for his forgiveness and for his permission (Ijaazat) for her to leave him, something which she had not received the last time they had separated. Mahender grants her wishes, speaks well of her husband, and gives her his blessings for a happy life. Sudha's husband returns to see what is holding her up, and then, seeing Sudha's teary face, it dawns on him that this man must be her former husband. The movie ends with Sudha and her husband moving on along the platform, and Sudha hanging back a little and looking back tearfully and with great regret, as if she does not want to leave, while Mahender stands outside the waiting room looking on forlornly as she recedes from him.
wrote about the film, "One of Gulzar’s most sensitive films, it also remains Rekha’s most poignant performance as the possessive wife, who gives up her husband (Naseeruddin Shah) rather than share him with another woman (Anuradha Patel). Mera kuch saman … can anyone not be moved by it?"
, who is the only playback singer in the film soundtrack. The songs were composed by R D Burman. Two of the four songs are Ghazal
s:
Bollywood films of 1987
-Highest grossing:The top twenty grossing films at the Indian Box Office in 1987:From the above list, the last four films were box office flops.A list of films produced by the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai in 1987:-External links:...
India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n Hindi film directed by Gulzar
Gulzar (lyricist)
Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
, based on a Bengali story, Jatugriha by Subodh Ghosh
Subodh Ghosh
Subodh Ghosh was a noted Bengali author and journalist, with Kolkata-based daily newspaper Ananda Bazar Patrika. His best known work Bharat Premkatha, about the romances of epic Indian characters, has remained a sensation in bengali literature world...
. . Starring Rekha, Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
and Anuradha Patel
Anuradha Patel
-Early life:She was born in Mumbai. She is the maternal grand daughter of famous Hindi actor Ashok Kumar.-Personal life:She is married to actor Kanwaljit Singh. They have two sons Sidharth and Aaditya and a god-daughter, Mariam, who resides in the United States....
in leading roles, the film followed the story of couple who are separated and who accidentally meet in a railway station waiting room and discover some truths about their lives without each other. The film belongs to the realistic, art cinema
Art film
An art film is the result of filmmaking which is typically a serious, independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience...
genre in India, known as parallel cinema
Parallel Cinema
The Indian New Wave, commonly known in India as Art Cinema or Parallel Cinema as an alternative to the mainstream commercial cinema, is a specific movement in Indian cinema, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the sociopolitical climate of the times...
, and won two National Film Awards
National Film Awards
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel...
in the music category.
Jatugriha, which inspired Ijaazat, was earlier made into a Bengali movie of the same name in 1964. Directed by Tapan Sinha
Tapan Sinha
Tapan Sinha , was a Indian film director. He was arguably the most uncompromising filmmaker outside the orbit of Parallel Cinema.-Personal life and background:...
, Jatugriha starred Uttam Kumar
Uttam Kumar
Uttam Kumar is one of the most famous names of Indian Bengali Cinema.Born Arun Kumar Chatterjee in 1926 at Ahiritola, North Calcutta he is widely known as Uttam Kumar and Mahanayak . He remains as much of a cultural icon as he had been in his lifetime...
and Arundhati Devi.
Plot
The movie is a powerful story that deals with feminism and patriarchy in the middle class of India. It is shot in the present and past tense showing lives of the characters Mahender and Sudha as they lived together as well as separately. The movie starts with Mahender (Naseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
) getting down at the railway station and making his way to the waiting room just as it starts to rain heavily. A woman, Sudha (Rekha), is already sitting in the waiting room. On seeing him, she tries to hide her face from him but later they confront each others.
Mahender has an accomplished business dealing with photography. He respects his grandfather (Shammi Kapoor
Shammi Kapoor
Shammi Kapoor was an Indian film actor and director. He was a prominent lead actor in Hindi cinema from the late 1950s until the early 1970s....
) immensely. Incidentally, he had been engaged to Sudha for 5 years but always made some excuse to delay their wedding. However, this time his grandfather has fixed the wedding on the first week of the following month. He reveals to Sudha that he is having an affair with one of the most radical representations of feminism in a girl called Maya (Anuradha Patel
Anuradha Patel
-Early life:She was born in Mumbai. She is the maternal grand daughter of famous Hindi actor Ashok Kumar.-Personal life:She is married to actor Kanwaljit Singh. They have two sons Sidharth and Aaditya and a god-daughter, Mariam, who resides in the United States....
). He returns to tell Maya, but Maya has disappeared, leaving him some poetry. Mahender then marries Sudha and is quite happy, but the sudden return of Maya causes tensions in their married life. Mahender frequently tells Sudha about all the beautifully poignant, loving and authentic things Maya did over the years that they lived together. Later, Maya tries to commit suicide, and this leads to Mahender spending time with her over a few weeks. Sudha, not knowing about Maya's suicide attempt and therefore believing that Mahender is being unfaithful to her, feels that her marriage was a mistake, and questions Mahender about his intentions. He then tells her strongly that he is going to bring Maya home to talk to her. Sudha is adamantly against this, but Mahender leaves with determination. However, Maya hears Sudha's anger on the phone and by the time Mahender reaches to pick her up, she has gone away. When he returns home without Maya, he finds that Sudha has also left. Mahender, unable to bear the shock, gets a heart attack. In the days and months that follow, he is looked after by Maya. Sudha continues as a teacher in Panchgani. As time passes, Mahender is beginning to feel convinced that it is time for him to bring Sudha back home. But then he gets Sudha's letter saying that she is releasing him from their marriage and that he is free to marry Maya. A sudden uncontrolled outburst from Mahender makes Maya realize that she was the cause for Sudha's departure and that Mahender missed Sudha deeply. Maya suddenly feels estranged at this abrupt change in their relationship and, in the night, rides off on her motorbike. Mahender rushes to follow her in his car to stop her, but then Maya's long scarf gets entangled in the back wheel of her bike, because of which she gets dragged off her bike and strangled to death.
Sudha is deeply grieved on hearing about Maya's end. Later, as the time for their train approaches, Sudha's husband (Shashi Kapoor
Shashi Kapoor
Shashi Kapoor , born Balbir-Raj Prithviraj Kapoor on 18 March 1938 in Calcutta , is an award-winning Indian film actor and film producer. He has also been film director and assistant director in Hindi Films. He is a member of the Kapoor family, a film dynasty in India's Bollywood cinema...
) bursts in unexpectedly to pick her up, and Mahender realizes with a shock that Sudha is now married. As Sudha's husband leaves the waiting room with her luggage, Mahender asks her to forgive him. She touches Mahender's feet as a plea for his forgiveness and for his permission (Ijaazat) for her to leave him, something which she had not received the last time they had separated. Mahender grants her wishes, speaks well of her husband, and gives her his blessings for a happy life. Sudha's husband returns to see what is holding her up, and then, seeing Sudha's teary face, it dawns on him that this man must be her former husband. The movie ends with Sudha and her husband moving on along the platform, and Sudha hanging back a little and looking back tearfully and with great regret, as if she does not want to leave, while Mahender stands outside the waiting room looking on forlornly as she recedes from him.
Cast
- Rekha as Sudha
- Naseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
as Mahender - Anuradha PatelAnuradha Patel-Early life:She was born in Mumbai. She is the maternal grand daughter of famous Hindi actor Ashok Kumar.-Personal life:She is married to actor Kanwaljit Singh. They have two sons Sidharth and Aaditya and a god-daughter, Mariam, who resides in the United States....
as Maya - Dina PathakDina PathakDina Pathak or Deena Pathak was a veteran actor and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was also a woman activist and remained the President of the 'National Federation of Indian Women'...
as Principal - Shammi KapoorShammi KapoorShammi Kapoor was an Indian film actor and director. He was a prominent lead actor in Hindi cinema from the late 1950s until the early 1970s....
as Mahender's grandfather - Sulbha Deshpande as Sudha's mother
- Ram Mohan
- Rita Rani Kaul
- Ashok Mehta
- Rajesh Bombaywala
- Ashfaq Ahmed
- Bhupinder Sharma
- Sunil Advani
- Monish Prem
- Shashi KapoorShashi KapoorShashi Kapoor , born Balbir-Raj Prithviraj Kapoor on 18 March 1938 in Calcutta , is an award-winning Indian film actor and film producer. He has also been film director and assistant director in Hindi Films. He is a member of the Kapoor family, a film dynasty in India's Bollywood cinema...
as Sudha's husband
Crew
- Director: GulzarGulzar (lyricist)Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
- Producer: R K Gupta, Rajinder Singh Bedi
- Co-Producer: Sweety Mehta
- Story: Subodh GhoshSubodh GhoshSubodh Ghosh was a noted Bengali author and journalist, with Kolkata-based daily newspaper Ananda Bazar Patrika. His best known work Bharat Premkatha, about the romances of epic Indian characters, has remained a sensation in bengali literature world...
(Jatugriho) - Screenplay: GulzarGulzar (lyricist)Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
- Dialogues: GulzarGulzar (lyricist)Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
- Lyrics: GulzarGulzar (lyricist)Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
- Music: R D Burman
- Editing: Subhash Sehgal
- Cinematography: Ashok Mehta
- Art Direction: R K Handa
- Costume Design: Leela Daru
Reception
FilmfareFilmfare
Filmfare is an English-language tabloid-sized magazine about Indian cinema. Published by The Times Group, India's largest media services conglomerate, in Mumbai , it highlights the doings of the Bollywood film scene...
wrote about the film, "One of Gulzar’s most sensitive films, it also remains Rekha’s most poignant performance as the possessive wife, who gives up her husband (Naseeruddin Shah) rather than share him with another woman (Anuradha Patel). Mera kuch saman … can anyone not be moved by it?"
Awards
- 1988: National Film Award
- Best Female Playback SingerNational Film Award for Best Female Playback SingerThe National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer winners are given below. Lata Mangeshkar is the oldest winner in this category, whereas Anjali Marathe is the youngest winner; while K. S. Chithra been awarded for the maximum number of times .-Superlatives:...
: Asha BhosleAsha BhosleAsha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...
: Mera Kuch Samaan - Best LyricsNational Film Award for Best LyricsThe National Film Award for Best Lyrics winners:Vairamuthu won the award for maximum number of times . Javed Akhtar is the only lyricist to win the award for three consecutive years .-References:...
: GulzarGulzar (lyricist)Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
: Mera Kuch Samaan
- Best Female Playback Singer
- 198934th Filmfare AwardsThe 34th Filmfare Award were held in 1989, after a two-year gap. The big winner on the night was Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, which catapulted Aamir Khan to superstardom overnight.-Best Director: Mansoor Khan - Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak *N...
: Filmfare Award- Best LyricistFilmfare Best Lyricist AwardThe Filmfare Lyricist Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.The awards were first given in 1953, however the Award for the best lyricist was first given in 1958.-Superlatives:...
: GulzarGulzar (lyricist)Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in... - Best Story: Subodh GhoshSubodh GhoshSubodh Ghosh was a noted Bengali author and journalist, with Kolkata-based daily newspaper Ananda Bazar Patrika. His best known work Bharat Premkatha, about the romances of epic Indian characters, has remained a sensation in bengali literature world...
- Best Lyricist
Music
The film has four songs sung by Asha BhosleAsha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...
, who is the only playback singer in the film soundtrack. The songs were composed by R D Burman. Two of the four songs are Ghazal
Ghazal
The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...
s:
- Khaali Haath Sham Aayee Hai
- Mera Kuchh SaamaanMera Kuchh SaamaanMera Kuch Samaan is a popular song from the acclaimed 1987 movie Ijaazat, directed by Gulzar, who also wrote the song. The song was composed by R D Burman and sung by Asha Bhosle...
- Katra Katra
- Chotisi Kahani Se